NC State assistant coaches Adam Howard, Vernon Hamilton, and Brandon Chambers met with Wolfpack Sports Network for the Weekly Radio show!
COACH HOWARD
For those not watching or not in attendance, Adam Howard joins us. We'll go a little bit short this first segment. We've got questions rolling in here, and we'll do our best to kind of siphon through those and pepper them amongst all three coaches. Coach, congratulations on a big win over UNC.
Yeah, man. It was a lot of fun. When you take this job and you come to Raleigh, those are the ones you kind of have circled on your calendar. There's a lot of folks in town for it and a lot of excitement in Lenovo Center.
First off, testament to our fans and the crowd. That was unbelievable. And that place got as loud as I've been a part of a few moments there, and to our guys' credit, and Coach Wade spent some time with those guys to get them ready to bounce back, because we know how much that game not only means to us as it's the next game on the schedule, but we understand where we're at and the importance of that game.
Did it feel different off the top?
It did, yeah. First game down here in the triangle against one of those neighbors of ours. Our guys had been talking about it for some time and they were excited about it as well, but it did. Those are the games you want to be a part of, and certainly our guys came out ready to roll. Glad to have that one under our belt and get out of there with a good victory.
Is it fair to partition this as such that I can say you're the offensive coordinator, Brandon's the defensive coordinator, Brandon Chambers just took a seat now. There he is. There's our guy, Brandon Chambers. And Vernon Hamilton, player development. I mean, these things blend to some degree, but is it fair to partition it that way?
Yeah, I think so. I mean, everybody has a say in it. Coach is involved and has a decision on all of each component of the program, and Vernon's got his hands in both the offensive side with the player development and the defensive stuff as well. So yeah, we all work well together, but I think that's fair.
All right, so give me the big picture, state of the union on the Pack offense right now. You didn't shoot as many threes last ballgame against the Tar Heels. You took it inside, talked to Coach Wade a little bit about that in postgame after the fact, but you're one of the top three point shooting teams in America. You've got incredible weapons on the squad. Break down the offense for me as it stands right now here.
Yeah, I think everybody kind of gets caught up in playing fast and shooting a lot of threes, and for us, we just want to get the best quality shot that we can get. And obviously with the personnel that we have, started out early on in the season, really a lot of player movement, ball movement, and then we kind of got into understanding who we have as a team, and we got to give some of these guys like Quadir Copeland a lot of freedom to be able to do what he does best, and that's he's a big guard and get two people on the ball and play through him and Darrion.
When those guys are running on parallel tracks in terms of usage, our team's pretty good. And so just making sure we get those guys the ball in the right spots and then be able to look for the guys like Paul McNeil, Matt Able, and the guys that can get it going. And we are blessed to be able to have a very good shooting team. I think your ceiling as a team depends on how well you shoot the basketball.
And I've been a part of some programs. We were at Nebraska, we were third in the Big Ten and got a double bye in the Big Ten tournament for the first time, and ever since they've joined the Big Ten, and it's because we led the league in three percentage and three-pointers made.
And I think your team just goes to another level when you can make shots. Certainly, we have to blend what coach is comfortable with too in terms of being able to attack the paint and have some physicality and get to the free throw line and such.
But we're just always looking for the best quality shot. And so whether that's be able to get to the rim against UNC, we knew they're going to be in a drop coverage, so we were going to have to live with a few mid-range jump shots. Typically, we don't want that, but threes and layups and free throws I think are the best approach. And luckily, we have a team that can really shoot the basketball.
We've talked more about Nebraska basketball on the Pack broadcast, probably the history of the NC State basketball broadcast. Chucky and I, we had a score update that came back in the studio once talking about the Cornhuskers. We were like, yeah, the Cornhuskers. We've been talking about Cornhusker basketball and the history of this.
Well, you've been there the last few years. They're in their best stretch. Not only have you been there in their best stretch, you were probably at Morehead State for its best stretch with Kenneth Faried and all that that was, beat the four-seed Louisville Cardinals, went on to Sweet 16, as I do recall.
And then you were at Southern Miss, NIT. You were at Tennessee, went deep. You were with the Troy Trojans, and you went to the NCAA. What is going on with Adam Howard and winning programs, and what's a common thread?
Just being associated with good people. Having an opportunity to work with great coaches and been a part of a few programs that have had great players. You mentioned Kenneth Faried at Nebraska. A few all Big Ten players there with great coaches, great people.
And so that's it. Just being in situations where you can bring value to some degree, whatever that is, whatever is needed, and own in on those skills and relationships and spending time with players and just making sure that we carry out what the head coach is looking for. But certainly been very fortunate in this last stop before coming with Coach Wade.
Leaving Nebraska, working for a guy like Fred Hoiberg, was really tough to leave. We kind of got it going after the first three years had a little bit of a slow start and won, average 20 wins a season out there for three years. And couldn't be happier for that group in the year that they're having right now. And hopefully, they get the monkey off their back and win their first ever NCAA tournament game this year. And I'll be proud and be rooting for them as long as we're not matched up with them.
That's right. Not up against a pack. Maybe another part of the bracket. You played in a Sweet 16 as well. You were a Hilltopper. Western Kentucky with that Courtney Lee team. Of all the squads you've been with, of all the winning that you've been a part of, is there a common thread? I mean, I touched on that in the previous question, but I want to kind of sit on that for a second.
What is winning basketball? Different styles, right? I don't know if Western Kentucky played exactly like this NC State team. I know Morehead State wasn't exactly like this NC State team. But what is it about certain teams that figure out ways to win and figure out ways to go deep in March?
Yeah, I think when you're in like one big leagues, whether it's Morehead State, Southern Miss, Western Kentucky, if you have one of the best guards in the league and the best big in the league, you're going to go far. And certainly when I was at Western Kentucky as a player, we had Courtney Lee. He was the 22nd pick in the NBA draft, best player to ever play there. He was actually best man at my wife's and I's wedding.
Yeah. Is that right?
Yeah, really cool. She's here tonight. Yeah, my wife and kids, Renee and Eli, Emma and Easton over there. The pit's one of their favorite places to eat, so it's worked out great. But, on that team, we had Jeremy Evans, who went on to play in the NBA, won the NBA Dunk Contest Championship one year. Kenneth Faried, was obviously drafted 22nd in the first round. And DeMonte Harper was the first team all-conference player at Nebraska. We had Rienk Mast, who was an all-conference big, with Casey Tominaga, who was an all-conference guard, and the list goes on and on.
So I think when you have, multiple players that are, all-league players, in terms of, their production and ability to, to go out there on a night in and night out, knowing that they're at the top of the scouting report, like we do with, Copeland and Williams and Ven-Allen Lubin this year, it's just, it all comes down to the players. Like Coach tells you all the time, tricky players, not tricky plays. And so the better player you have, the better coaches you are, and a lot of it comes down to that.
So is there maybe some of the common thread then is an ability to find the right guys, to find talent, to have an eye for talent that transfers from either a high school level or now maybe the portal or whatever it might be, even abroad.
There's as much of that now as there ever has been. Of course. Sometimes it's hard to do that though, that not everybody hits, not everybody finds the right guy for the right spot. How, what are the challenges there? Is that one of the common threads from all those spots?
Yeah, I think so. And it may take a little longer than, than most places, there's not a ton of continuity anymore. And so, when you're putting together a new roster, certainly like this one, and that's coach and our staff, a ton of credit, to be able to, get off to a good start and continue to figure each other out throughout the year.
When you take over a program and you only keep one guy and you have to go out and get a bunch of new guys, it's going to take some time, and I think just having a head coach like Coach White that understands the landscape of college basketball and recruiting in this era and putting together a team in terms of, he's done it at a high level, in the SEC, in the A-10 and some of the, best jobs in the country, with their respective leagues.
I think you just, you got to be able to know what you, how you want to play and you can't get too much of one thing and try to get it all to blend and nobody's better than that than Coach White.
Adam Howard right now, assistant, as Coach Wade's on the road here for this one. Great to see everybody. 82-58, the win over UNC. We've got some fan questions here that are rolling in. Coach Howard, I want to ask you, I asked you a little bit about the UNC game, but let's talk a little more about the UNC game. 82 points in that ballgame.
I'll ask Brandon some defensive stuff. What went well early against the Tar Heels? And then as game flow moves on, what's your process like when something is working? Do you try to tweak it to not let them adjust? Are you more reactive once they do something? Break down the offensive play against the Tar Heels for us.
Yeah, I think we just got off to a great start. Our guys had the right mindset, andyou could just feel there was a different energy from all of them. We got the tip and we had some stuff we wanted to kind of go at early, and obviously with the two big guys that they had out, their depth up front, those guys were going to try to, Zayden High and Stevenson and those guys were going to have to play a lot of minutes, so we wanted to be aggressive with those guys and make them guard, and we thought Vin had a very favorable matchup, against Zayden High, and we got him the ball early, down low to kind of establish himself, I think with this group, there's so many weapons. It's just trying to get, guys' touches early. We went right to Darrion on the second play.
They switched out, and he had one of the smaller defenders on him, and we got him the ball, what we call the porch, it's kind of like that Charles Barkley area, let him back down, smaller guys, and he was just locked in. It's unfortunate what happened to him, right around the 15-minute mark because, he was ready to go. He was locked in and, at seven points right off the bat, and so, with this group, I think it's just trying to, continue to find the hot hand and, allow, I mean, our defense, got off to a great start.
I mean, they were great. It was a solid defensive effort for 40 minutes, but when we're playing off of stops and misses, we have a miss package, so when we get a defensive stop, there's stuff we want to do out of flow off a miss based on how the floor is spaced and let our point guards read that, and then we have certain actions that we want to run off and make, when the defense. They've scored it, and we're taking it out of the net, and the defense is set, there's certain things that we want to do, but when we get a miss, and we're playing off a miss, we want our guys to get out and be aggressive and play fast.
And so, we've got a bunch of talented guys that have played at a high level and have played a ton of college basketball, so giving those guys freedom to play, with some concepts, and some rules within, the transition and the flow of basketball, but, it's really just kind of that second and third side, the play, we call it the play within the play, so after we run an action, just kind of getting, continuing to allow the ball move, and if we have the right matchup, obviously, we'll let Q and Darrion, play in space, and then from there, it's just getting the right guys in the right spot, allow them to use their size and their mismatch ability to play, but, our guys were ready.
Matt Able, got thrown in there early, with a lineup that we like to see him with, with Paul, Q, and Darrion, and some older guys that are where he can kind of, be himself, and, and I can't say enough about him, I mean, the game just started to slow down a little bit for him, and he's made a huge jump, and he and the coach spent a ton of time together watching film, and so, when we go through that process.
We're constantly evaluating what guys can do and where we need to get in the ball, and, trying to have certain guys out there on the floor together because, Q's good with a lot of guys, and, he can get guys shots, and Darrion, playing some point when Q's off the floor to kind of get his usage right up, and so there's a lot that goes into it, but, to the most, to, we find something that works, we stick with it, and allow those guys to just kind of, be players and play with freedom, but, give them some concepts for them to play, and, we trust our guys.
Question here from Gary, there's Gary here in attendance, Gary was, is kind of one of our informal coaches on the staff, he was dubbed that in show, shaking his head no, we all know the answer's yes, right, that's what it is, Gary wants to know, from coach to coach, how much emphasis do you place on discussing your position in the standings with the team?
Yeah, I mean, I think it, with every game, once it gets to this point, you're obviously playing for stuff, and that second seed, or, the double buys is really important, and so, yeah, we talk about it, in terms of, what it means each game, but there's really just a standard that we want to play to each and every day, and you guys have heard coach off of big win, talk about finishing the game the right way the last six minutes, and so, as each game has its own, level of importance.
We do discuss and we talk about it, but we talk about playing the right way, and finishing games, and getting off to the right start, and finishing the half, and, being solid in the middle, sprinting through the finish, and so, but, yeah, we talked about that in the Miami game, and then, obviously coming off of that one, everything was kind of out of the window.
And it was just like, hey, we got, we need a win, no matter what, no matter who's next, whether it was North Carolina, Duke, Pittsburgh, it didn't matter, we just needed to win, and, obviously, last night with Clemson, losing it, the thing changed a little bit, and so, it'll be something that as we get down the stretch here, we're reminding our guys, how important it is, and, it makes a big difference when you're trying to win a championship when you're looking at a double bar, or having to play three, four games.
All right, last question here, and then we're going to cut you loose and get Vernon or Brandon on here, as a coach, how much do you use film to assess your own decisions along with player execution?
Oh, a ton, yeah, I mean, the coach and I watch every offensive possession together, and, there's things that we like that we did, there's things that we thought would work that wouldn't work, and we'll tell the guys, hey, listen, thanks for, trying to do what we asked you to do here.
But they guarded a certain way, and then there's tons of ways to build relationships with guys, and clip up individual and show them, what they're doing well, what they need to do more of, what they need to stop doing more of, or excuse me, less of, and so, yeah, film is one of the greatest teachers that we have, and that's something we spend a ton of time with, we'll make edits for each guy, and whether I watch it with a guy, or coach watches it with a certain, a few guys, we spend a ton of time, both offensively and defensively, as a staff, with guys to go through the film.
Coach said Matt Able is one of the best he's ever coached at translating film to the court. You concur with that? You've seen that also?
Yeah, yeah, no, those two spend a ton of time together. They watch every minute that Matt plays together, and they've got a great relationship and trust with one another, but there is, just certain things, if you want to teach him how to, ghost the ball screen, we call it a trigger, but, you can show it to him one time, and then he's got it down, and, he's a very, very, very smart, high IQ kid. Impressive.
COACH HAMILTON
On the upcoming games...
Great opportunity we have some good matchups. We have Duke at home obviously, Stanford at home. Two teams that play a good basketball, but we are as well. So it's a lot to be excited about no doubt.
All right, you're the all-time steals leader at Clemson. Go back there and get a big win. Just have the tiebreaker over them. 271 steals in your Clemson career. You're a player doing that with Will Wade as an assistant—as a grad manager, yes, is what he was. What was your relationship like with Will Wade then? And it must have gone well because here you are all these years later. What was what was your dynamic like with him?
Coach has been the way he is now his entire life. He's always been driven. He's always had that confidence and you just you knew that he was gonna be a star
Really?
I knew it. You could tell like as a grad manager you could—I mean his commitment. He was one of the first guys in, last one to leave. He was constantly working with the players, talking to the staff, trying to help every way that he could. And I think a lot of that carried over and translated to the success that you see him having today.
So, okay, he's there early. He's a grad manager. Did he make himself kind of invaluable in some way? He's referenced that—that's his advice to other folks starting out is like: make yourself indispensable. Is that what—
Yeah, he did. I mean he was someone who was willing to do things that maybe other people didn't want to do. And when you look at someone who has that type of work ethic and is willing to do those things, it adds value and you see it as a coach. And I think that's what Coach Brownell saw—Coach Wade—that he had a bright future.
All right, so you—you are in this great college career, right? You go play pro ball. Okay. You come back to Clemson, your grad assistant there for a few years, and then you go to the NBA, and then you go to Korea. Yeah, right. So what'd you learn in the NBA? And let's start there. What'd you learn with the Dallas Mavericks? You were on the player development staff there.
I was fortunate enough to cultivate a very close relationship with Dennis Smith Jr. there. That's kind of where the ties go back to him at NC State. That was his rookie year. He had just gotten drafted to the Mavericks. So I spent a lot of time working with him in the gym. And I think have an opportunity to work underneath someone like Rick Carlisle, who is so highly respected both as an NBA coach and as a player, that it was a lot that I could take and learn from him.
And if you look at the job he's done in Indiana with Haliburton and the job he did with the Mavericks—getting to the NBA Finals, winning the NBA Finals—it being a former ACC guy, it was a lot of information that I could take from working underneath someone like him and try and apply that into what I do now.
How is it like me with Dennis in Dallas?
It was it was good. Dennis obviously is an elite athlete, he's a great person to be around and I think for him, he's wanting to get back around and be around the program. I saw him a couple times this summer. He was he was super excited about Coach having an opportunity to have the job here.
All right, so you go from the NBA and you're there a couple year—one or two years in Dallas—and you go to Korea. So how did that come about and what was going on out in Korea that pulled you out there?
So Jim Kelly, who at the time was one of the head scouts for the Dallas Mavericks, they talked to me about doing a little bit of international scouting and I have an opportunity to work with one of the teams over there and personally I thought, "All right, I've had NBA coaching experience, college coaching experience, and to have a chance to have some international coaching experience as well to add to kind of what I've already known and give myself a chance to see the basketball from—see basketball, excuse me, from a different perspective and see if there was something I could take from there as well." And it was a wonderful experience, I really enjoyed my time over there.
So you get off the plane—had you been to Korea before?
Never.
Okay. Get off the plane and you're where? Seoul?
Seoul, South Korea.
You're in Seoul.
Yes.
And and then what? Yeah, you don't speak the language I'd imagine—I'm just guessing. Yeah, right. And what happens? What's what's that like? What'd you do?
Speaker 1 I was trying to find the first American restaurant that I know. No, it was it was it was a wonderful experience. You realize once you get over there how far you really are. Yeah, from over here. And just being in that type of position where culturally everything's so different—from the language to the writing to just trying to go over there and have an impact immediately and never had been so misunderstood just because it's—culturally is so different.
I bet so. And I apologize, I'm gonna butcher this—yeah—Jeonbuk? Jeonbuk. Jeonbuk. The KCC Egis? So the league—so you're just in Korea. You didn't leave South Korea for any other, right? Okay, you're in Korea for like two years. Two years.
Speaker 1 Yeah, but you—so that's a long time. It was it was. I picked up a little bit of Korean. Did you—that didn't—had a chance to get a lot of—Kim? Drop any Korean, right? Put you on the spot.
Yeah, you could put me on the spot. And I say, "Oh, I'm not saying Kamsahamnida." That means thank you. Say it: Kamsahamnida. Kamsahamnida. Yeah, so it was good and and then okay, so now you at some point in this, you get back in touch with Will and you go back now to to college ball and you hook back up with Will in Baton Rouge.
Yeah, I mean that was obviously I stayed in touch with Coach over the years and he kind of was aware of what I was doing and I saw the success Coach was having and I ran into him down at the Final Four his last year at VCU and I was like, "Coach, I'm trying to get back." And he was like, "Of course, Vernon." We talked about it and he was waiting for that perfect opportunity.
And I think that's when he had four All-SEC players, three first-round NBA draft picks that he was like, "Hey, I need someone specifically to work with those guys," and he felt like that was me and that's where we were able to reconnect. Okay, and so you're connected now, player development, trying to bring guys from this college space to the NBA. Yeah, right. And you've got Paul McNeil Jr.
You have Matt Able. You have Darrion Williams. You've Quadir Copeland. You've got this—this whole slew of talent. You got a guy like Copeland who, as Coach Wade has said, is maybe exceeding preseason expectations in terms of his quality of play. You're with the—at McNeese last year?
When you've got a guy like that who's blossoming and emerging, how much does that affect your plan in season where you go, "Hey, we need to kind of scrap the expectation of a blueprint and and feed this guy a little bit more because he's got 16 assists and no turnovers in Dallas?"
Yeah, I think obviously the job that Coach Howard's done has just been unbelievable as far as with our offense and his ability to open up lanes for Quadir, allow him to play his style to play. I mean, it's not oftentimes you have someone like him who is as talented as he is and the way he plays is a little unorthodox, but you have a coach that knows how to one push him like Coach Wade and two, someone like Coach Howard knows how to open up the floor and kind of give him the keys.
And I think that we realized that ourselves during the offseason, just kind of watching the play, like his growth, his maturity—like some of the things at McNeese that kind of would kind of get him flustered or frustrated, you notice that he's grown through and now if he turns the ball over he still gets back on defense and he doesn't allow it to affect him. And he's all about the next play and making the right play and it's been an unbelievable teammate.
I don't think he gets nearly enough credit for bringing guys like Paul along—excuse me—and Matt Able like he does a great job with that, making those guys look good. You got to have a dynamic point guard who can find open shots for those guys. I mean, Coach Howard, I mean, it's hard enough alone to generate 16 threes let alone make 16 threes. So that all that goes into our ability to be able to share the basketball and make each other better.
Paul's played a lot more minutes this year than last year, back end of last year. There were some glimmers. He had that incredible high school career here in state, but you've worked with him on what? And what has Paul been able to evolve into and excel at as now he's—he's popping with all of his dreams out in front of him and on expectations and projections.
Yeah, I mean, I think seeing Paul's growth daily from where he was in the summer—our entire strength and conditioning program helping him put on some weight to get a little bit stronger to be able to get a little bit more separation going into a shot. And I think Jojo Anderson has done an unbelievable job pumping confidence into the kid.
And I think that goes back to having a coach like Coach Wade—when you have someone who has the utmost confidence in you, who's not gonna take you out for missing a shot, who's gonna encourage you to take the next open one, take the next contested one because we all know Paul can make it no matter what. So I think all of those factors kind of go into why Paul has had the success that he's had.
Coach said he had a neon green light. It's just the full—it's the full bright green light. Is he as good a shooter as you guys have—coaches used—as you've coached?
He's as good of a shooter as I've ever seen and I've—like I've worked in the NBA and worked at the highest level. I was fortunate enough to spend some time in some NBA training camps myself in the NBA and it's it's rare that you see someone who can one get the shot off as quick as he does, the elevation he has on a shot, and his ability whether it's contested or uncontested to be able to shoot the ball the way he does. That's very impressive.
Yeah, I mean, he's the best shooter in America.
I wouldn't bet against him, I’ll tell you that.
He leads the ACC, right? All right. Let's talk a little bit about—I want to talk to you about Darrion—I want to talk to you about Darrion kind of at that point—that point-four spot, right?
That's a really unique—he's a really unique player. Have you—have you ever coached anybody quite like him? He's like a point-four—he's hard to—I don't really have a comp for him, right? And when he's right, he's—he's actually top five in percentage in ACC and three-point percentage.
I mean, Darrion is special. A lot of times people don't quite understand all the value that he brings offensively and I think that his ability to play out of the post, his ability to bring the ball up the floor, the ability to pass—I think that for a lot of people they get to see it firsthand when they see him live and see him play.
And I think someone like Trendon Watford, who played for Coach as well, who's on a multi-year deal in Philadelphia, has a very similar skill set. Where like our whole objective is to get the ball in Darrion's hands and allow him to make the plays and all the time that doesn't show up in a stat sheet, but what he does is you just—you got to be thankful that you have him.
Yeah. All right. So you've been a lot of—a lot of good teams at different levels in different places—the NBA, Korea, dealt with some of the best players in the world. Last year—you—the win over Clemson in in the NCAA tournament. Coach has mentioned like this edge, right? When this team—with this NC State team's at its best, he's tried to help them find that edge.
Didn't feel like they had—you guys had it in Louisville, right? Didn't have it that game—kind of got away with it in Dallas. He was—he was pretty upset after the the SMU game—yeah—because you're up big and then—sure sure—I had that—exactly—I had that block late to kind of save it. Did you have it against UNC? Is it hard to maintain it? Is that the difference? Is that part of the difference? Is it kind of a focus and a mentality and and and a sort of seriousness, if—for lack of a better word?
I'll say this. I've known Coach half my life and after the Miami game I've never been so scared in my life. There's somebody who works for him so I wasn't surprised whatsoever that the edge was there. I was actually trying to avoid him all day leading up to it, not having to see him because he was—you could just see the steam coming on out of his head. But one thing about Coach, he maintains his composure.
He met with us as a staff, he talked to us about what these next couple of days leading up to this Carolina game should look like, what it means for these fans, what it means for this community and we were all bought in. And the energy was just different. I was just telling Coach Chambers when we're sitting down, I had chills during the starting lineup against Carolina because you could just tell that it was it was a different environment that night.
Is it hard to sustain that—is it hard to go? I would imagine it's—for lack of a better word—kind of—kind of draining, right? It's exhausting, maybe, comes to mind—it's hard to do that game after game. But me now, it's time—it's—it's getting toward crunch time, right? But is that a challenge? Is that hard to do?
I mean, if you were at that game, then you realize it. We have the best fans in the ACC. And anytime you have an opportunity to play in front of a crowd like that and they support you the way they do, it's a wonderful feeling.
If we can have that the rest of the way out, I feel really good about our chances to win these next four games. But no matter what, I mean Wolfpack Nation has been right there with us throughout the entire year. Ups, downs, good, bad, stayed consistent, showed up every night and we appreciate that.
COACH CHAMBERS
Really pleased to put Brandon Chambers here to work tonight. Brandon, the air quotes defensive coordinator.
The job no one wants. But everyone has an opinion about. No, I was just telling Chuck that the defense is a hot topic with the fan base and I love it. I love it. I love it all, the passion, the excitement, but no, I'm excited to be up. I told you when I got up, I was like, I'm a long time listener, first time caller. I love that. I'm usually watching. Now we take the curtains back, I get to see your setup. I won't be as, Coach Wade can be very--
I’ll go with this, what's the word you're about to drop here right now?
I love Florida. I love the Florida State game.
Yeah.
Apparently he doesn't want to talk about it.
I texted him today and I said, Hey coach, have safe travels.Excited to talk about the Tallahassee game with the boys. Can't wait to go 60 minutes in Florida State.
But that's what makes him great. He's never too high, never too low. He's always about the next thing and stays present. It's funny, we'll walk in the office or we'll be joking with him, man, great, that was awesome. And he'll be like, move on. We got Carolina next, we got Virginia next. And I just think if you look across the country at the best coaches in any sport, they're very process oriented.
They're very focused on what it takes to win. We could all sit here and if we were resting on and going back to and revisiting those wins and that's what we're going to hang our hats on, that's setting you up for failure. That's how you drop a game you shouldn't drop. If you look at Coach Wade's career, he's always been about the next thing and next thing and next thing and next thing.
It's worked for him. It's definitely worked for him.You've known him a while. You've known him a long time. You were a manager at VCU while Coach Wade was an assistant at VCU. Has he always been the way he is? Has he always had this same sort of fire and energy? What was Will Wade like at VCU as an assistant?
So, believe it or not, at VCU he was not as, he's fiery, but not as, as a head coach you got to have a little bit different demeanor, but he's actually toned down as a head coach. If you can believe that.
Is he really?
Yeah, if you go back to his Chattanooga days and see, it was like a full scale military operation. Like some of his former players will come back and talk about, man y'all got it easy and y'all got it. And I joined him, rejoined him at LSU and I, will sit there and be like, man coach, you kind of like loosened up and then I'll hear those stories and I'll be like, oh.
So, but no, he was awesome. I think the number one thing with coach as whether it be the fan base or obviously, with you being on the road or being around the program, donors, alums, our players, they talked about it in the post game the other day.
He's a unbelievable relationship builder and he's very much about getting to know you and the personal touch side of things is huge with him. And so even back then, like he's always been my guy. I graduate from VCU. We went to a final four. I'm coaching at a division three school in Northeast Pennsylvania that you would never heard of.
Let's talk about that if you'd like to. Misericordia.
Misericordia. You said it right. There's a step up from Jayme the other day.I told you, I listen to it all. I'll never get it wrong. And I told you at practice, I can't even pronounce it.
I told him afterwards, I said, now I'm rooting for you to get a technical. I said that in front of coach. I said, now I need an opportunity to, and that's how I would get it in there.
So, but I'm, we're, we went to the first NCAA tournament in school history and we're driving to NYU to play the game and coach Wade texts me, Hey, go kick their ass.
Oh, that's awesome.
Like, so he was lying. That's D3. That's a D3 different level. And, and, that's how he, that's how he's been. And then he calls me, when he was at LSU and he's, Hey, would you be interested in coming? I'm like, absolutely. I just, he's about the right stuff. And he's, he's always been there for me and been more just a, a head coach.
Have you always been a defensive guy? How did that, this relationship evolve? No, I don't want to overstate the there's, it's not like there's no bleed over to offense and defense in this.I've watched you guys in your process enough to understand there's, it's collaborative and there's a lot of input, but, but you, you come in and a scout and you insert the defenses that always been a focus for you. How did that develop?
So it kind of happened by default. So when I went to LSU, Bill Armstrong, who's now the head coach at McNeese was our associate head coach and defensive coordinator. And, my role was basically as a special assistant to help coach with the offense and build with the defense in any capacity.
And so by doing that, I just kind of assimilated into knowing the defense. And so when then, when Vern and I got to McNeese state, both of us took over the defense there and, and, it's kind of evolved from there, but no, I was not always a defensive guy.
I was very similar to, to coach in the sense of being an offensive guy.But now it's like, it's funny cause I don't even see half the game that just, you just kind of always tune into the, the defensive side of the ball, but, in a perfect world, I'd love, to pitch a shutout and it, the score to be in the fifties and coach says that's not aesthetically pleasing and that he would rather, he would rather the score to be in the eighties and nineties.
Well, you had, you had both, you're the best of both worlds. Last game, you had an 82-58 final against UNC. We did have a defensive question from Jackson. Jackson is here in attendance somewhere. He's attentive. Last show, he, coach had asked us to track how many times players fall down on defense as an unofficial stat.
Chucky and I tasked the one and only Mad Dog with a, with a statistician responsibility during the game.
I bet it was a lot.
He came up with 11. He came up with 11 times.
It's hard to play defense when you're on the ground.
Players fell down. So, for one, I just wanted to confirm for coach if he's listening or if he's not or if he's aware. We did get this on the air. We had a job to do.We were tasked with. We took care of that. So that's, that's for one. But two, you're the defensive guy. He was, how do I?
We don't teach that.
I was going to say, he was not, not super active.
We would prefer them to be on their two feet.
So yeah. So he was critical is a, is a reasonable word in some way of this. And we are up against the break in a couple of minutes, but yeah, I just wanted to kind of highlight that. I don't know.
What are your thoughts on, on coach saying guys are kind of not, they're not, they're not falling down, but they're, they've been on the ground a lot.
Yeah. And he, I mean, trust me, he, he showed the guys in the postgame film, but part, part for us, it's, it's, we're switching a lot as well. And so you're constantly cross-matched now. That's no excuse. You know you've been around the program and seen how we practice and seen our shoot arounds and walkthroughs. We, we, we don't excuse or make excuses or give them any out with that.
But the other part of it too, is we try to be very handsy and cause deflections and like coach says, rather say woe than go. And so, and my, my, my rule is if you go, you better get it. And the problem is sometimes we don't get it.
And so when you don't get it, whether it be you're diving on the floor for a loose ball or you're trying to get your hand in a passing lane or, it, it can result in a bad play, but it's not, I, I would hope that the players are not doing it intentionally.
Second in the league in steals. You're, you're over eight steals a game. So it's, it's worked well.
That's a coach Wade maxim. And obviously having Vernon Hamilton on staff, he was a great defensive player and just a ball hawk, but coach would, coach likes to steal the ball because he can get back on offense.
Our final segment of this week's show, we've had a really good time talking to Vernon Hamilton, talking to Adam Howard, and now talking to Brandon Chambers. Brandon Chambers, 58 points allowed. We haven't talked a ton with you about the UNC game. What went right against the Tar Heels?
Well, we were just talking off-air about the force and physicality and, you know, meeting the challenge, and obviously our guys were excited to play the game. That goes without saying, the guys that had returned. Snell and Paul talked about the significance of it.
Obviously for Ven, it was a huge game for him, but so we were excited to play. We met the challenge. We knew Coach talked about the one-game bump, just because guys are out, they obviously played well against Pitt, and they were going to come out ready to rock and roll and, give them hope or give them any confidence early.
It could be for a long night, and I thought, to start the game, we were excited, we were energetic, we were flying around, and that, as well as our offense, hitting shots, it's, it's just kind of snowballed into a big win, and I think it was an all-around success for the most part.
I would say so. I would say 82-58. That'll work against the Tar Heels. This question, this is a backup question here from Jackson. How do you keep your team with that kind of edge going into the Virginia game, but with all this time off? Is the time off, is it well-timed, right?
You don't have a game this Saturday. Is it unfortunate because you lose momentum after a big win? What's your sense of, it's almost like a football bye-week question?
Yeah, we obviously had the bye-week earlier in the year. We actually brought officials in earlier in the year, did a little inter-squad scrimmage sort of deal, but I think one of the geniuses of not only our staff, but more importantly Coach Wade, is that he doesn't, it's not like a set, you know, rigorous. I think that's where his, the years of coaching have come into play, and then he also talks to, whether it be Vernon Hamilton, hey, how is D5 feeling?
Or Adam Howard, who's been, relentless in the gym with Musa and Terrance, and, just kind of getting engaged on their bodies, and so today, like Coach Howard had him playing three-on-three games and, keeping it light and fun and getting in the gym, but getting a sweat, but not killing them, and, Vernon being in there with the guys, and so you want to keep it competitive and keep.
You obviously be out there and get a little sweat and burn, but you don't want to kill them or, completely take the day off or completely take time off where they lose that edge or that spark or competitive nature, and I think that's where Coach Wade is at his best. He doesn't, burn the guys out, and he also doesn't rev them up too much, in an off, off week.
You have seemed like you made some change. We've got about a minute left, so this question's hard to answer this quickly, but what would you like to see through the rest of this regular season into the postseason defensively? Do you want to just keep good going, 58 points against the Tar Heels? You made adjustments after the Auburn game that resulted in a ton of great success, right? Do you just want to say, hey, yeah, let's keep this as it is, or do you make any tweaks here down the stretch?
Well, I'd like to not see any more career nights. That'd be the first go, but no, I say that jokingly because, our defense is a very unique defense, but we obviously create a lot of steals and create havoc, but I think the biggest thing is just playing with that force of physicality. I think it translates to all aspects of our defense. I think rebounding the ball, guarding the ball one-on-one, being able to guard your yard with your matchup, but more importantly, finish possessions. Our first shot defense is elite.
