NC State guard Paul McNeil Jr. met with the media to discuss the 96-78 road win over Wake Forest.
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Yeah, Paul, Coach said this week that he really wanted the team to have a better offensive performance today, considering y'all didn't shoot the ball well when they came to Raleigh. How important was it to kind of, get some of those shots off on that 9-0 run?
That's what Coach want. We want to get the job done. There ain't too much to say about that. It's just plain and simple. We know what we got to do, and, we know that whatever Coach want us to do, we got to do it. So that's all I got to say about that.
Paul, we know Wake likes to sag their coverage a lot and keep you from not getting inside shots. How important is it for you and Darrion and other guys to be able to get going from behind the arc in this one?
Remember, we put the work in for it. Work's going to show, work's going to pay off, and it don't matter what the defense out for. However the game goes, how the game goes, just don't trust our work here. You see the results.
Paul, you guys have been excellent on the road, 5-0 in ACC road games. What's the secret to the success on the road for you guys?
We had a long summer. We had a lot of road games, so that really prepared us most for other teams. Just being in the summer, waking up at 5:30am and being out there for two, three hours, maybe, putting in a lot of work. So I really say over the summer really built us with it. So it's no surprise to us.
Yeah, I have a two-part question, sir. First of all, where's the confidence level of you individually in the team right now? It seems like it's about at its highest point.
Oh, yeah. It's definitely high. Like I said, we're going to trust our work. As long as we put the work in, it doesn't matter. If shots don't fall, it's basketball. You're not going to get hit about too much. But, yeah, so our confidence is definitely high. We got to trust our teammates to shoot the ball and make the shot. So that's our biggest thing.
And my second question, sir, because of the way you guys have played since the Tech game at home, the value of these games coming up in February are really high. What does it mean to be playing really meaningful basketball in the stretch run that's ahead?
Yeah, I mean, it means a lot to us. First, we're blessed to be in the position. I think every game we play is beautiful.So this is just another game for us. We don't take it as just a big game. Well, this is a beautiful game. Every game means something to us. We're going to take it there and take it to the other game.
Coach Wade talked this week about wanting to change something in the philosophy in terms of you guys' schedule to be able to prepare for noon games. What was that like, and what all did that entail?
Well, it was just really just getting extra rest, a little extra rest. That's really all. We do the same thing. We just step in a little later than usual, and that helps us out today.
How much do you feel like it paid off?
Definitely, got the win. That's all that matters. So we got the win. I guess it paid off a lot. But, yeah.
Paul, how much did it help seeing that first corner three go down early? Took you guys a few minutes to get a shot, but how much did that one go down? Could then Darrion be able to hit a couple after that? And it seemed like, from there, it was you guys were rolling.
Oh, yeah. We definitely got it going. I mean, it don't matter if the first shot went or not. The next shot went in. That's our mindset. That's our mentality. So, I mean, it meant a lot to us, but at the same time, it don't because, you can make the first three and miss the next three. So it's just trying to get what you want.
