Jan. 10, 2011
– Opening remarks
“We’re disappointed in the results of our first ACC game at Boston College. We’ve been looking for some inside scoring for the last couple of weeks, and Kammeon Holsey came up big Saturday with 18 points in the game. If that trend continues, and Daniel Miller continues to improve his play, I think that will mean some good things for our team moving forward.”
On Holsey’s performance in his last three games (13 vs. Mercer, 18 vs. BC)
“He’s coming off an ACL injury last year when he red-shirted. When he has a game like he did against Charlotte (1 point), it’s just because his legs are sore. He couldn’t actually practice yesterday. He had to take is a little easy because he was sore after logging his most minutes of the year (at BC). When his legs are strong, I think he can be a consistent double-figure scorer.
“This is the first time I’ve had a player who had an ACL injury, but I’ve always been told it takes about a year to completely make it back.”
On playing a bigger lineup (Holsey along with Miller)
“I think it’s worked out very well. When Kam is active and moving well, he can score. Both are very good passers. We’ve been trying to get Daniel Miller to be more aggressive when he gets the ball in the low paint area. He’s probably unselfish to a fault, which is not all bad. But he’s got a side of his game that he needs to take advantage of, and that’s the ability to score.
“The Boston College game was a tough matchup (for Nate Hicks) because of the way they run their offense. But I expect Nate to play more against Clemson because they play more half-court and have some size. He had an excellent practice Sunday. That’s the one thing I really appreciate about him. Regardless of how many minutes he plays, he comes out and works really hard. He’s going to be really good. His future is very bright.”
On Mfon Udofia’s performance against BC
“He’s a guy that we count on to set a tone defensively. Offensively, he’s more aggressive than Moe Miller in terms of getting to the basket. We like the idea of bringing him off the bench because he gives us a lot of energy and defensive toughness. That’s one of the reasons we got back into the game against Boston College in the first half. He and Nick Foreman gave us a spark.”
On whether Iman Shumpert’s defensive performance is affected by his occasional cramping
“No, it doesn’t. He’s a very well-conditioned athlete. I think we’re starting to get to the bottom of the cramping problem. He wasn’t affected much Saturday. He’s capable of doing it. When you look at some of the close losses we’ve had, I can’t pin it on the fatigue or some of those things he’s had. It’s a shot or a play here or there that had made a difference. Those games were definitely there for us to take.”
On Shumpert leading the Jackets in four statistical categories
“We had a kid at Villanova, Kerry Kittles, that I think did that one year. Shumpert is having a tremendous seasons. He’s missed significant parts of second halves where he was one the way to having a big game. Against Richmond, he was on his way to having a 30-poitn game until he missed significant time in the second half. The same thing happened against Georgia. We’re getting to the point where we’re managing that a lot better and not have to go through the rest of the year and not have that issue come up.
“He’s starting to shoot the ball better. If he shoots the ball more consistently, he’ll have an all-league type of season. Defensively, rebounding and passing, he’s playing at a very high level.”
