No. 21 Virginia head coach Ryan Odom met with the media to discuss the 76-61 win over NC State.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch.
Opening statement...
Yeah, obviously a good game for us. We're coming off a three-over time loss. Our guys were obviously disappointed with our effort at Virginia Tech and wanted to just play better. And you never know how that's going to go after a tough defeat like that. Sometimes it can snowball on you. And I thought our guys did a nice job getting off to a good start and continuing that through the first half.
The theme of this game for us was just being disciplined. In our last game, we were not as disciplined as we needed to be. And it bit us in a multitude of ways.And I thought our guys did a nice job of forcing some misses and being disciplined early in the game to block out and come up with rebounds so that we didn't have to face their stout press the entire first half. And I think that was certainly helpful for us getting off to a good start. And the confidence just kind of kept brewing from there, growing from there, and our guys continued on.
Second half, it got hairy there, and our guys responded in a positive way and were able to finish the game off. But we have a ton of respect for Coach Wade and NC State. Certainly that was not their A game. Tonight, I've watched enough film to know they're really, really talented. Holloman goes out, obviously a key player for them. I hope he's okay. You never want to see anyone injured. But happy for our team and looking forward to getting back to Charlottesville and getting ready for the next one.
State got it down to an eight-point lead early in the second half. They had all the momentum. What was the key to your guys' response from then on out?
Just being connected, being connected, defending a little bit better, taking care of the ball. Some of that was our miscues, just a little bit casual with the ball. The ball gets knocked out of our hands, and all of a sudden it ends up in a layup. We almost have a layup, and it gets knocked out. We had several of those to start the second half. We knew they were going to come at us. This is a really good basketball team, in NC State. They have talented guys and an awesome coach. We knew they were going to come at us.
The key was, how are we going to respond when they do? I think their response was excellent. Let's meet toughness with toughness, and let's get better. Be more together, and trust, and not defer. Be confident. When you have the shot, you take it. When you have the drive, take it. I think we were able to leverage our size a little bit on the wings at that point, to be able to get into the interior, which created some openings for our guys to make shots.
Ryan, Sam Lewis matches his career high today. Why was he such a focus in your offense, when he really hasn't been a first option very often this year?
We don't always have a first option, quite honestly. We do have a leading scorer everywhere I've coached. The open guy is the go-to guy. Certainly, we run plays for specific guys at times, but it's more about moving the ball. The ball will find you, and it's your turn. Sam was ready tonight. His teammates found him, and he knocked it down. We have tremendous confidence in Sam and his ability to make shots and make the right play.
What is the adjustment to get that offense bouncing back after the Tech game the other day?
I think playing in transition was one. We played a lineup in the Virginia Tech game, which was a little bit of a slower lineup. Devin and Thijs, and then a seven-footer, either Ugo or Johann. That's not a lineup that we've played a ton. We did play some tonight. That lineup typically slows a little bit. It's a little bit more methodical, bigger.
We played it a ton in that game. Chances coming off a sickness after Christmas. Jacari is out. It's not excuses. It's just the facts of what happened in that particular game. Then it's three overtimes. It just naturally slowed. We encouraged our guys to do their job, get up the court, push the ball when we get stops, and try to be us.
How much emphasis did you place leading up to this game on improving the defensive rebound?
A ton. We talked about our ability to force misses. Our guys have done that all year. Our two-point field goal percentage has been really good. Our three-point percentage defense has been really good. Teams get to the free throw line.Some of that is a function of us not being disciplined enough or consistently enough to be physical and hit people to then come up with rebounds. We can't go out like that. We have to be a team. It's going to be physical. It's going to defeat the defensive rebound. That really helps our offense when we're able to do that.
Ryan, on the technical foul, what about the call on Onyenso set you off?
I was just irritated at quite a few things at that point. Irritated at my team. Irritated. I shouldn't do that. That shouldn't be something that I do, but the guys responded. Certainly, we had three veteran officials out there. They're all excellent and did an excellent job today overall.
We're going to miss coaching calls. Refs are going to miss. Officials are going to miss calls at times, and they own up to that. We have to own up to when we make mistakes as coaches and players, and it's just part of the game. Our guys needed a jolt of energy there, and I think they did a nice job of responding.
You mentioned the tempo, sir. I think it was at the eight-minute timeout after that. Y'all pressed after the free throw. Is that kind of accentuating what you want to speed up the game?
Yeah, we try to press after every made shot, after every free throw. That's just how we play, and occasionally we'll call it off depending on the opponent, but it's just what we do.
