NC State head coach Wes Moore met with the media to discuss the 83-55 win over Florida State.
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Opening statement...
Yeah, I was proud of the way our team came out after, a tough loss the other night. I thought we came out with a lot of energy and defensively we were flying around and we were pretty disciplined though. We did what we needed to do to defend, again. And then offensively we hit shots, so that's always a good thing too.
But, it's nice that everybody was able to contribute some and, like I said, that we could come out after a tough loss and bounce back and show, a lot of resiliency. And I appreciate the fans coming back too. Appreciate them being here and, we have high expectations. Our fans do, our team does, coaches do. So, we're going to continue to fight and battle and try to get to a point where we, clean some things up.
And probably more you all want to hear, but I'm going to go ahead anyway. I was disappointed. First half we had nine assists, four turnovers. Second half we had four assists, eight turnovers. And when you have a lead, you want to be, you want to be smart with the ball, value the ball.
And then we also gave up 19 offensive rebounds. Their post players in particular really hurt us. Part of that was our posts were having to help on the drive and our weak side wasn't getting over and boxing out that post that was left. So, we still had things we have to improve on. But like I said, I loved our energy and effort and all those things.
After the Carolina game, you talked about the team maybe settling for some shots. Did you feel like that was definitely corrected?
Well, when they're going in, it feels better. So, first half, obviously, Zamareya shot the heck out of it. And we had others step up and hit some big shots. And so that always helps. And like I said, the other night, we did probably settle for some shots. But then as a coach, I got to try to help them get better shots.
And that's what disappointed me in the second half. I thought we took some tough shots, could have made a, could have kicked the ball out maybe, could have made an extra pass. You got to play the game. I mean, if you have a lead, big lead, then, you don't want to be reckless with the ball.
So, if you don't have a good look, let's eat some time. So, we still have some learning to do there. I just, I think this team, maybe because we don't have any seniors, this team sometimes doesn't, maybe look at the situation and make good decisions. So, that's an area, again, as a coach, coaching staff, we got to try to help them.
Against North Carolina, the team only shot two free throws, tonight, they shot much more than that, was that the team just being more aggresive?
Yeah, I definitely thought we were more aggressive. I thought we should have shot more free throws the other night, too. But again, we could have been more aggressive. So, tonight was better, got to the foul line, made 12 out of 14.
So, again, like I said, we were probably getting down here. But again, I think in the second half, we maybe did settle some.And I don't know how many we shot in the first half. But, we got to continue to be the aggressor.
Ya'll scored 23 points in transition tonight. Is that kind of a number that you went to with the team to kind of validate how important defense is turning into offense?
Defense into offense, no doubt, no doubt. You got to get stops. And, again, we gave up too many offensive rebounds, especially in the second half. And that, that makes it tough to run, too, when you're having to take the ball out of the net. So, definitely, you want to point out those possessions where we were able to turn them over or get a stop and get out and run.
You got Va. Tech coming up. And how important is it over the next few weeks to do that?
Definitely, the next three games, really, it happens every year. And I think, again, because we've had some success, February is always tough because they're wanting big games in February. And we got three really tough ones on the road now.
So, starts at Virginia Tech, third game in seven days, not ideal. Then we go to Notre Dame, and then we go to Duke. So, it's going to be, that's a key stretch right here.
We're going to have to play really well. We're going to have to play with some toughness. And I think that's an area we need to get better at. When you're on the road, things aren't always going to be easy. You're going to have to really battle.
So, it is a big, big, big stretch for us right here coming up. Most of these teams are kind of in our same area, three or four losses. So, it's going to be big.
How do you sell it, though? Do you sell it as an opportunity? Do you sell it as a challenge? How do you as a leader sell that to the kids?
Well, I mean, I've been preaching it. This is going to be, a challenging stretch. And we knew tonight we needed to come out and bounce back and take care of business, so to speak, but bounce back after a tough game Monday. And I've been telling them this is going to be a critical stretch.
And, road games in ACC are tough. And then now when you're playing three of what I consider, top-tier teams, it's a big challenge. So, we're going to have to maybe do things. I think, again, tonight we did a lot of things well. We're going to have to build on that.
When you look at the NCAA tournament resume, I know the women's game implemented the quad system when evaluating, where to fit. I want to know, and you might not have even thought of this, but there's a pretty drastic difference in how the quads are broken up between the women's game and the men's game. Is that something that,as a coach you even noticed that you thought of?
I have no clue what the men's quad is, so I wouldn't be able to compare the two. The only thing I don't like about the net, which, again, I think the community is pretty smart and they don't put everything on the net, but it rewards you for, in the non-conference. They say it rewards you to play a tough schedule. It also rewards you if you play a weaker schedule and beat people bad, which I don't like.
Now, again, you still have to be efficient, but I just think there are certain teams that don't play anybody in the non-conference, but their net is still high because they're winning by 40 or 50.
So, that's what I don't like about it, but at the same time, one reason we schedule like we do is we want to, have strength of schedule and quad ones, all those things available to us, but the ACC provides us plenty of chances for that too.
