Oct. 13, 2008
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WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Wake Forest held its annual Basketball Media Day this afternoon in the Budd Gym in the Miller Center. Head coach Dino Gaudio and all of the players were on hand to speak with the media.
Gaudio and the Deacons begin practice this Friday, Oct. 17. Wake Forest opens the 2008-09 campaign on Nov. 14 against North Carolina Central.
Below is a sampling of quotes from Media Day.
Head Coach Dino Gaudio
On who will be able to make shots for the team in 2008...
"Hopefully, it's a collective effort. I think we're looking for three-point shooting from Jeff Teague, Gary (Clark) and Harvey (Hale). I think James (Johnson), despite shooting 27% from three during ACC play, will be a better three-point shooter. I really believe that extra foot will make a big difference for everybody."
On the high expectations for the team this season...
"I'd rather have high expectations than not have them. I was at Army and our talent wasn't as good as the other teams. I'd much rather have these expectations than the other. I think we're a very young team still with one senior. I'll bet we're still the youngest team in the ACC. We have some experience with Jeff (Teague) and James (Johnson). Although they're sophomores, they've played a lot of basketball for us. We're young, but we're not completely inexperienced."
On keys to success for this season...
"I told our team the three biggest factors coming into the season were number one eliminate distractions. For us those distractions are things off the court, in the classroom if we're not doing well. Second thing is leadership. If we get one guy leading us, we have a chance to be good. If we get two or three guys leading us, we could be very good. The third thing is, when you have young, talented guys is chemistry and getting the team to play together."
On which player on the team makes a big improvement this season...
"We're hoping, maybe, it's
Gary Clark. I think Dave Weaver is our best defensive low-post player. He's a terrific defender both on the ball and off the ball defensively. I don't know if there's a better low-post defender in the league than David. We're looking for big things out of him as well."
On how he has grown after his first year at Wake Forest...
"The coaching part was easy. I've been doing it so long. The biggest adjustment for me was the demands on your team. You get tugged at in so many directions that you can't focus on what you need to focus on. I've done a better job of saying no. I called coach (Roy) Williams at North Carolina at the end of the season and asked him how he managed his time. He said when that season starts, absolutely no. No speaking engagements. It can be too much. That's the way we're handling all that stuff now. I think last year was atypical with what happened to Skip. There were so many things that we had to do out in the community that needed to be addressed."
On what defenses the team will run this season...
"I think primarily we're a man-to-man team. The defense that we put in last year was a big change from our prior six seasons here. We changed our defense completely. We would be out on the floor extended and denying and that's not what we're doing now. The second year of that defense is always better. We're hoping that the older kids can now teach the younger kids what's expected of them. We're really thinking that our defense will be better than it was last year."
On the incoming freshman class...
"This freshman class is much-ballyhooed. I think Rivals had it as the number one freshman class in the country. I told (Dave) Telep that you need to evaluate how good the freshman classes were one year later. I don't think James (Johnson), Jeff (Teague) or Gary (Clark) were even in the top 25 or 30 in the country. If you evaluated that class after last year, with two of those kids on the All-ACC (Freshman) team, I bet it'd be top five in the country. This class is number one now, but maybe they won't be in the top 30 after this season. I think it remains to be seen how good this class is. The class we had last year that are sophomores now is pretty good."
Senior Guard Harvey Hale
On the what it will take for the team to succeed...
"It's about chemistry with this team and how well we play with each other. Can we fit those new guys into our system and can we fit those new guys into being impact players for us right away? That will determine how big of a year we have."
On how the team can prevent not living up to expectations...
"By working hard. Everybody loves each other on this team. We've worked hard in the offseason. A lot of guys have been pushing each other in the weight room and in conditioning these past weeks. We've been really pushing each other in open gym and being competitive. That's what's going to help us get farther. Once you have guys pushing each other, that just makes it better for your team."
On expectations being higher this year...
"I go everywhere and people are saying `we're looking for a big year from you guys, Harvey'. I think the community is salivating on how good they want us to be. They're salivating for us to show the world why Wake Forest is what it is. Last year it was a stepping stone, but this year could really be that key year."
Junior Guard Ishmael Smith
On the timetable for his return...
"With injuries like this you don't want to rush it, but I should be back in three weeks. I was in a cast for two weeks and I've been in a boot for a week. Now I'm starting rehab. This is my first week of rehab. I have three weeks in this boot and hopefully by November 1, I'll be cleared to play. We're not going to rush it if it's not feeling good."
On forming with Jeff Teague one of the best backcourts in the country...
"We developed a chemistry around the middle of the year. That's when we started to play well together. I told him if I had made some of my free throws, we probably could have been the best backcourt in the country. It's something I've been working on. We really found a connection in the Duke game. We were rolling. He played well and I just kept feeding him the ball. He started getting confidence in his three-point shot. I told him that all he had to do was shoot it because then no one could guard you with the ability you have off the dribble. It was tough that we lost four of our last five games."
On if this is the slowest he's been in his life...
"I think it is. I think I came out of my mom's womb fast. I think this is a good thing because now the game slows down in my mind. The injury allows me to watch game tape of last year, watch practices from this year and be more of a vocal leader. I think the game has slowed down in my mind, but I'm not going to slow down at all."
Junior Guard L.D. Williams
On if the team's defense can continue to improve...
"We were happy, but we weren't all that happy with how our defensive strides. We moved up, but we didn't move up far enough to get us to where we needed to be at the end of last season. These first couple of workouts we have with our coaches before practice starts have all been defensive-oriented. Everything is defense. It's kind of frustrating because we have all these guys who can score the ball. Our foundation is going to be in our defense."
On if Coach Gaudio has changed from last season...
"Last year he was a little more forceful. He wanted us to not make as many mistakes. This year he's taking a different approach. It's not that it's less forceful but it's more teaching. We've got a couple of new guys, and we're still getting used to the defense. We're learning new things every day. It's more of a teaching approach. And then once we learn everything it will be more of a sergeant/general type deal."
Sophomore Guard Gary Clark
On each player learning their role...
"Right now we're working on balance. We all want to know our roles and how we can help the team. If we all just accept our roles, we'll be alright as a team as a whole."
On where he thinks the Deacs will finish in the ACC this year...
"Right now it's not up to us. We just have to go out and play every game hard and just try to win. And wherever we fall after that, is where we fall."
Sophomore Forward James Johnson
On if there are any games you have circled on schedule...
"I have all the games circled. I want to play hard all game every game. I'm not going to take any plays off. We're just going to try to win every game we can."
On how he and freshman forward Al-Farouq Aminu will fit into the lineup together...
"That's for our coaches to decide. We don't know yet. We've been running different plays where I'm at the three most of the time and he's at the four most of the time. And then the next day I'll go at the four most of the time and he'll go at the three most of the time. We're just trying to have a different kind of view of things. If there's a big guy guarding me, obviously I'm going to go to the three. If there's a big guy guarding him, then he can work the three too. It's going to be hard for people to guard both of us, so it's going to be fun this year playing with him."
Sophomore Guard Jeff Teague
On the outlook for this season...
"I think we're going to have a great year this year. We have all of the tools to be a great team. If we don't, it will be a disappointing season. Hopefully we do what we're planning to do this year...contend for an ACC title and get better every day."
On the three freshmen...
"They're all special. Farouq (Al-Farouq Aminu) is a special talent. You really don't see people like him with that kind of wingspan and ability to drive the ball. I think Ty [Walker] is going to make a big difference with his shotblocking ability. We expect Farouq and Tony [Woods] to do well, but Ty no one is really talking about him. He's going to be a great shotblocker and great defender for us."
Freshman Forward Al-Farouq Aminu
On blending in despite his many accolades and accomplishments...
'I have great teammates. I never try to put myself above anybody. It only matters what you do in college once you get to college, so nobody even looked at my high school accolades."
On what he expects to contribute to the team...
"I think I can work my hardest and play hard every night and give my team a chance to win."
On playing with sophomore forward James Johnson...
"He's really become like a big brother to me. He's taken me in, and we hang out all the time now. We've just been able to mix our games together. He's a real good player and I'm a smart player as well. So in open gyms we've been able to see how each other plays and just work off each other."
Freshman Center Tony Woods
On the advantage you gain by practicing against the other Wake Forest big men...
"It helps a lot because Ty [Walker] blocks everything so you have to get creative. Weav (David Weaver) is just strong so you have get a little nifty around the basket."
