Post-game interview with Damon Stoudamire
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00:00 >> We just, we didn't, I won't even say we didn't play well tonight.
00:10 I think we, it was one of those games where I felt like our group thought it's
00:15 gonna be easy from the standpoint of we come out here threes, they hit threes, and
00:19 it's like we're in a game, don't play like that.
00:21 So we actually, I thought we forgot the game plan.
00:24 We forgot the game plan.
00:28 And when you forget the game plan against a team like Clemson,
00:32 they pound you, and get them credit.
00:38 I still, with everything they did, making shots and all that,
00:42 I still thought coming into the second half, we just had to make adjustments.
00:46 And I felt like we could get back into the game, but
00:49 it just never materialized.
00:51 A lot of times, you can waver this time of the year.
00:57 You got five games left.
00:58 I've been there before as a player, and it gets tricky,
01:04 cuz it's easy to see the end.
01:07 But at the same time, too, when you get to a point on the floor in the game,
01:14 and I've been on both sides of these, from the standpoint of Clemson,
01:21 you have to coach and tell him, play the right way.
01:28 Make the extra pass, do the right thing.
01:30 You know what I mean?
01:31 Let's get out of here, nobody get hurt.
01:33 That's what you're praying for, being the head coach over there.
01:37 And then when you're on the other side, like I was tonight,
01:40 you just wanna see who got a competitive spirit.
01:42 And for me, the last eight minutes of the game, I just felt that was quick.
01:49 And I'm not all right with it, but I'm all right with it,
01:52 because that's a reflection on me.
01:55 And so I've always had a saying, and it was preached to me when I was younger.
02:01 At times, if you're not gonna respect what's on the front of your jersey,
02:05 respect what's on the back, cuz we all got a legacy and a family name.
02:08 And how that's defined should mean something to you.
02:12 And a couple weeks ago, I told the guys,
02:17 I said the reason I do what I do and I get up every day to try to help you guys
02:22 be successful is because when we go into record books at Georgia Tech,
02:27 because the record books are still gonna print what they gonna print.
02:31 You don't wanna be known as the losing team, simple as that.
02:36 And so what I see a lot of times with kids, and it's human nature.
02:44 I never forget it.
02:45 When I played my last game, I remember when we lost in college, we was in Dayton.
02:50 Lost in Dayton, five seed against a 12 seed.
02:55 And when the game was over, hell, I was going to NBA draft,
03:01 and I didn't know what to do.
03:02 Damn, what do I do now?
03:03 Do I, what we doing?
03:07 Where we going?
03:08 Do I gotta find an agent?
03:10 How do I do that?
03:12 I need to talk to coach, I don't know what to do.
03:13 I had to have a game plan.
03:15 And so what I try to do is get guys,
03:18 it don't matter whether you're a freshman or you're a senior.
03:21 You gotta play the game the right way, you gotta finish it out the right way,
03:26 because you don't get none of this back.
03:28 And that's what I learned.
03:30 We was in Boston every single day when we went to the finals,
03:34 because we started off so bad.
03:37 I'd be in the staff meetings, and I said, man, we don't get this back.
03:42 Everybody give what they got.
03:45 It don't matter, play your role, stay lane driven.
03:47 And that's what we didn't do.
03:49 Six assists, nine turnovers.
03:55 They switching, we didn't create the advantages the same way we did
04:00 the last game, and again, I relate that back to what I told them.
04:05 We thought it was gonna be easy.
04:06 We came out, we hit some threes, and the game was just kind of smooth.
04:11 It was almost like a glorified NBA game at the moment, but they buckled down.
04:18 We had a couple times early to get it inside, but I thought we settled.
04:21 We took bad shots.
04:22 So it is what it is.
04:24 I'm with the process.
04:25 I'm all right with it.
04:26 I'm not all right with it, but I'm all right with it, see?
04:28 Cuz I didn't sign up for this to be the coach that
04:36 was only gonna be here for the good times.
04:41 I knew that there could be some rough patches when I signed up for this, and
04:45 I was all right with that.
04:45 And I will be all right as we move forward.
04:50 Because to me, the way I see it, and I've never said this before,
04:54 this will be the first time anybody ever hears me say this.
04:57 When I get my guys up in here, it's gonna be different.
04:59 I'm just telling you.
05:02 And I'm all right with saying that, because my type of guy,
05:10 whether he make it a bucket, whether he's not making a bucket,
05:15 he's gonna have pride in front of him.
05:18 But in front of the jersey and the bat, each and every day.
05:23 [BLANK_AUDIO]
05:26 >> Kelly?
05:27 >> What do you think got the team out of sorts when they blitzed and
05:35 hit those first couple threes, and then you guys tried to respond back,
05:39 hit the threes instead of sticking with the game?
05:41 What, I guess, goes into that process where guys just kind of break down and
05:45 suffer in the offense?
05:47 Maybe don't play defense as hard as they should, and
05:49 there's still those mental breakdowns.
05:51 >> Well, when you play games like how we played tonight against teams,
05:56 we did, they essentially did the same thing they did against us.
06:01 We adjusted at Clemson.
06:03 They switched ball screens.
06:04 We came out of the corner, we threw it in the box.
06:07 And he made plays.
06:09 The one thing about Bob, I think, he's inconsistent, but
06:14 I think he's young, he's a freshman.
06:16 As much as I say it's all right, you know what I mean?
06:19 Cuz he's gonna learn, he's not gonna be that way.
06:21 Next year, he won't be that way.
06:23 But the thing about it is you took bad shots.
06:27 I can point out a bunch of bad shots that we took because I think we thought
06:30 the game was gonna be easy.
06:32 Like we got low in the sleep.
06:34 They rocked us to sleep, what I like to call it.
06:36 And then next thing you know, you look up, it's 19 to 9.
06:38 It was 9 to 9, and it was 19 to 9.
06:41 And then we kinda was going back and forth, and we never recovered.
06:45 You know what I mean?
06:46 I'm always an adjustment guy.
06:48 Everybody in here knows what I say.
06:49 Threes beat you, twos don't.
06:51 I know they went into halftime hard, and Shefflin were three for three piece.
06:58 But that was all right, we can make that adjustment.
07:00 It's a lot of games.
07:01 I mean, one stop, one score, you go back, that's how you gotta play the game.
07:06 But I just thought we never got into a rhythm.
07:08 We lost our rhythm by taking a bunch of bad shots in the first half.
07:13 And it started early, and we never recovered.
07:15 And I always say this as well, because with the naked eye,
07:21 most people don't understand what I'm saying.
07:23 It's hard to beat a big man off the dribble.
07:25 It's actually harder than what people think.
07:28 The numbers say it never works.
07:31 And if you're a really good guy and you're a dude, you can do it.
07:35 But the reason I do a lot of passing and cutting and
07:37 try to get guys involved in the hit-unders and the pocket pass,
07:40 because we don't really have that team.
07:43 And I think at times our guys take it personal instead of taking it as,
07:47 man, that's how we gonna be good.
07:48 That's how we gonna be good.
07:49 And so that's what I think happened.
07:53 And hey, you had games like this.
07:58 Again, I told our guys as we move forward, we're playing teams that,
08:04 for the most part, are trying to play for something.
08:07 So we gotta make a choice.
08:08 [BLANK_AUDIO]
08:11 >> Rob.
08:12 [BLANK_AUDIO]
08:17 >> It looked like when their guys got in the lane,
08:19 they were always looking for the shot.
08:22 And a lot of times when your guys got in the lane,
08:26 it just seemed like they didn't have the confidence to take the shot.
08:29 They were looking to get rid of the ball and
08:31 pass it to somebody maybe a foot away from them.
08:34 >> I mean, I think a lot of it is, where I'm from, we call it,
08:41 you gotta know how to get downhill, you gotta know how to bend a corner.
08:45 And I think that's a reference that most people use, but
08:48 we don't necessarily have that on a consistent basis.
08:54 And again, that's why I try to keep the court space,
08:58 that's why I try to pass and cut.
09:00 And when we don't do that, we look crazy.
09:03 Our guys just, they won't buy into it on a consistent basis.
09:08 When they buy into it, we look pretty good.
09:09 But when we don't buy into it, we have six assists and nine turnovers.
09:15 Then we get indecisive about what we're doing.
09:18 We're a team that needs to play well early to gather confidence.
09:22 And when we don't gather confidence, collectively,
09:25 at times we're not built like that to come back in the game.
09:28 [BLANK_AUDIO]
09:31 >> Anything else for Coach?
09:32 >> If you wanna wrap this up.
09:35 >> When you talk about that confidence, it seems like Kapari's one of the guys that's
09:41 starting to get that confidence and you can start to see it with his play.
09:45 I mean, what do you see from him?
09:47 >> You know, he probably a guy that hates me.
09:51 >> [LAUGH] >> But listen, see,
09:56 I'm a little different.
09:58 See, if I can get on a kid to make him better, and I'm the one
10:04 that's yelling at him and screaming at him to get him to do the right thing, and
10:09 I'm the motivator, I'm all right with that.
10:11 Tell my kids that I don't care.
10:12 That's what we gotta do to make you a better player, and I'm all right with that.
10:18 He have his moments.
10:19 I want more though.
10:21 I don't care, I want more.
10:23 He always this close to having everybody in here out there,
10:27 this close every game.
10:28 So we go back to a play and say it every game.
10:30 And I'm all right with saying it, cuz I say it to him.
10:33 It's different, I'm not saying it, cuz he did play well, he had his moments.
10:37 But man, he got a little more in him.
10:38 But man, to have a little more in you, man, everybody, dog and all that.
10:43 Nah, man, you ain't gotta do that.
10:45 Man, you just gotta play hard.
10:46 You gotta play hard.
10:48 Just gotta play hard every play.
10:51 So what happens is, he gotta get consistent with playing hard every play.
10:56 Because right now, he has his moments, but
11:01 he struggles at times when he doesn't play hard.
11:06 But I'll give him a lot of credit, because he fought the big boys down there today.
11:10 He did, he fought them.
11:12 And I'd be the first one to tell him, he fought them, he did a good job.
11:15 I thought he did about as well as he could do in there.
11:18 And he made some big time plays as well.
11:21 So I'm happy with Tafar, but he gotta keep getting better.
11:24 He can't be satisfied with this.
11:25 >> Okay, coach, thank you.