Oct. 29, 2008
ATLANTA, Ga. -
Wake Forest's Dino Gaudio, Harvey Hale and L.D. Williams attended the 2008 ACC Operation Basketball on Sunday at the Marriott Marquis in Atlanta. Here is a sampling of their quotes from the ACC's annual media day.
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
On the style of play the Deacons will use this year...
"We're going to try to play the same way as we did last year. We're going to play fast and push the ball. Now I tell the guy's all the time we cannot have a one-man break, we have to have a five pack. We are going to play the same defense we played last year, which was very good for us. We went from 147 in the Pomeroy rating defensively to 58 by the end of the year. Hopefully we are a better rebounding team. With these guys being a year older, a year stronger, and with the influx of the three freshmen, we should be a better rebounding team."
On the three-point line change...
"I really think that it's going to have a bigger affect then a lot of people think. Kids now don't shoot at the line. I think teams are going to be who they are. If they are man-to-man they are going to play man-to-man. I think there is a chance you might see a little more zone. I think it will open the post a little bit. On our court we now have the old black line, a white men's line, and a light NBA line. Now when we travel it might not be that way. So there is going to be some confusion."
On expectations for your team this year, with five starters back...
"We will be better than we were last year. I'd rather have those types of expectations than the other. I've coached at Army. We are going to go about our business the same way. You better get ready for each and every game or else it's a long bus ride home."
On the freshmen coming in...
"This is not a disparaging word on those kids, but I think there is too much publicity surrounding them. Believe you me they are terrific players. I look at it like this, the experts picked the kids that were freshmen for us last year, and they weren't a top recruiting class. One year later if we re-evaluated them that recruiting class would have been top five. Maybe this class is or it isn't, but I don't think we will know until a year later."
On what fueled the defensive improvement...
"We completely changed our defense. We went from denying, extending, out on the floor defense to Coach Dick Bennett's pack line defense. It was radical from what we were doing in the past, but the kids bought in and they believed in it. We were a much better defensive team because of it and hopefully that continues."
Wake Forest Senior Guard Harvey Hale
On a couple of keys for success this year...
"Well I think we are going to have to change up a bit what we do. James Johnson and Al-Farouq [Aminu] are kind of the same player, and to be really good we are going to have to put them in at the same time. We still want to push the ball, and that's something we can do with Ishmael Smith."
On the new freshmen...
"One thing I really respect about our freshmen is that they really listen. Sometimes freshmen come in and try to step over guys instead of listening. Being a senior I'm not better than them but they listen and respect the older players. I think that's what makes you good as a team and as a player."
On Carolina being the national favorite from the ACC...
"I think we know that North Carolina is a really good team. They have two or three of the best players in the country, they have everybody coming back, and they have a really good recruiting class coming in. They deserve it. People around the league know that we are going to have to go out and play harder. I think when we went to North Carolina (last season) we had a good game, but we just have to fight more. They are going to play hard in every game and on every position. We need to do that and match their intensity."
On winning on the road in the ACC...
"That's something I haven't done since I've been at Wake. I've won at home a lot, but on the road I haven't done a good job. That is something that separated us last year. I think it's the tradition that makes it hard to win on the road. The crowds, the different venues, the different coaches are all aspects that are difficult to overcome. There is a `wow' factor also to the coaches you play, thinking `Wow I'm about to play Coach K or wow I'm about to play Roy Williams.' Sometimes you are in awe instead of playing the game and that makes it hard to win on the road."
Wake Forest Junior Guard L.D. Williams
On the continuing effect of the death of Coach Skip Prosser...
"I'll never move on from the death of Coach Prosser, he taught us so many things, more than just basketball he taught us about life. Every day we walk in the locker room we see Coach Prosser quotes."
On Coach Gaudio's increased coaching experience from last year...
"Last year he tended to be more lenient with us. He had been a head coach before but none of us were his, so last year was him learning about us. Last year it was still kind of Coach Prosser's team, but this year Coach Gaudio grabbed the reins a little bit tighter."
On where the team is at now, as opposed to last year at this time...
"My first two seasons here people didn't expect big things out of us. They didn't believe that we had the guys to compete in the league or the talent, but this year they are saying these guys are ready. We're third in the conference, fifteenth in the country so it's different this season. We have to live up to our expectations."
On players running out of gas in the game...
"Last season we lost one game in overtime, one at the buzzer, and a few games within the last five minutes of the game. This year I feel like we're more mature and more ready to finish out games. Like I said we've grown up a little bit and we know that in the last five minutes of the game we've really got to buckle down."
On the three-point line change affecting the players' perspective...
"As long as you get your shots up, it's really not going to affect you. It's not really that much farther back; a foot and a half isn't going to change the game much. I think I'm one of those guys that can hit a 12-foot pull-up and Harvey really likes mid-range too. So we can really get more comfortable shooting that mid-range jumper because it's not as crowded."
