NC State head coach Wes Moore met with the media to preview the ACC tournament, March Madness, and much more!
NOTE: Click the video player above to watch the full zoom call!
Opening statement...
Yeah, obviously we're excited. I love to call this March Madness is upon us. But yeah, I'm pleased with the way we're trending coming into the tournament and all.
Obviously, it's a big challenge. The double-bye is a double-edged sword. Again, I think if your goal is to try to win the tournament, you need that double by, it helps a lot.
But at the same time, you're going, I mean, right into the fire. When you get that double-bye, you're going to be playing a really good team right off the bat. And so there's no warm up.
It's on right from the beginning. But again, we're excited about it. I'm proud of this group for finding a way to finish in the top four and getting that double by.
And I think that's in this league with so many great teams. It's a nice accomplishment, and we're looking forward to it.
Yeah, Wes, I actually wanted to ask you about Khamil. She had a post on Twitter this weekend about a friendship that she's made with a young fan this year and just how this really helped her kind of fall in love with basketball again. What's it been like to see not only that, but just the way she's found herself in the sport this year?
Yeah, I think it was tough on her at first when you transfer in, you're leaving your teammates and, a place that you had been two years. And I think it's a big, a tough transition. You come in here and we, just trying to find your way and how you fit in the system on the court, how you fit in the locker room with your teammates.
And it took a little while, but I think, as we had about Christmas time and all, I think she really started feeling comfortable and she's great with kids. All our players are really good with fans and kids and things like that. So I appreciate that about each of them.
But I think Khamil especially really loves kids and has a good time with them. And I think, again, because of that, fans and especially young fans gravitate to her.
Hey, Wes, how have you seen Zoe's leadership evolve and grow over the season? Yeah.
Yeah, I think that's been a big part of our, trending upward. I think early in the year, it was a big adjustment for her. I mean, for one thing, just playing with Saniya and Aziaha and Madison Hayes and being used to that, knowing each other, having, having that connection, playing with them for a couple of years.
I think it was an adjustment for her. And then I think and I think she struggled to, enjoy the game at that time. And I think then, this team, like I said, started coming together, gelling, playing better.
And and she was a big part of that. Obviously, she, has really stepped up, not only scoring the ball, but also really getting her teammates involved. I think that's probably the biggest improvement and step she's taken as a point guard.
She's getting everybody else on the court involved in helping them play better. And because of that, our team has taken a big jump. So definitely nice to see her having fun, have the whole team enjoying it and playing well together.
Okay. Hi, Coach Moore. With the tournament coming up this week, what do you expect your team, what do you want your team rather to execute consistently, regardless of matchup?
Well, I think always defending and rebounding, defending with energy, flying around, no plays off, no relaxing. You just can't afford to do it this time of year and against this caliber of opponents. Like I said, whoever we play, it's going to be somebody really, really good.
And ever possession is critical. And we've had moments this year where we've struggled to stay focused, stay on edge, ready to pounce, as I'd like to say. So I think that's a big part of it.
And I think offensively, sharing the ball. We're a lot better when we swing it. We were, we're pretty good in transition.
And we've got players that are good off the bounce one-on-one. But you can't fall in love with that and do it every time down. You've got to, reverse the ball, swing the ball, get some movement, make the defense have to go from help to on the ball defending and looking for opportunities to attack that when it happens.
And then, as always, rebound is the most important part of the game. We've got to limit our opponents to one, one and done. And we need to get some second and third looks ourselves, especially this time of year, you may have a game where you don't shoot well, but you still have to win if you're going to survive in advance.
So defending, rebounding, those things are things you hopefully can do every day.
Yes, sir. Quigley has sort of improved lately as she's beaten a mark. I thought in Durham, not only she hit in the three-pointers lately, but I thought Durham and maybe the weight game, she hits a mid-range drive off when they were close. Could you just speak to that and speak to how important depth is going to be?
Yeah, I agree with you. I think Devyn's found her confidence a little bit. I've always known she's a great shooter. And as you mentioned, if you close out too hard on her, she's good taking it off the bounce for the pull-up jumper.
She shoots it well. And we need her. We need that extra score.
We need that lift coming in. But we also need to just be solid at that position because we've got some pretty talented players around that spot. But Devyn, she's been here, this is her second year now, and it's, I think, kicking in some.
But I think the biggest thing is confidence. I'm telling you, I see it every day in practice. She shoots the heck out of it.
And she hasn't always done that in games for whatever reason. But I think we're seeing that now. And like I said, it's a great time to be able to add that to our offensive arsenal.
So yeah, happy for Devyn. I think she's enjoying it. And happy for our team because it gives us a big lift.
My follow-up question, sir. What are the traits, characteristics and habits that it takes for a team to become a conference tournament champion?
Yeah, like I said earlier, you have to really be locked in and you have to play every possession like it's the last possession. Everybody, at the end of the game, everybody gets locked in, right? But I think you've got to do that because every possession, a lot of these games are going to come down to, one, two, three-point game, one possession.
So I think you start there. Like I said, sometimes in the postseason, maybe the first time you've played in the venue and maybe you're a little nervous, whatever, you may not shoot as well as you normally do. And I think that's where, defending and rebounding and being consistent in our effort in those things is big.
And like I said earlier, too, I'm repeating a lot of this stuff, but just sharing the basketball, not getting caught up in one-on-one, not having the ball stick in one person's hand too much, but being willing to share it and, you know, get everybody else involved.
And I think, again, this team has shown flashes of all those things, but we've got to put 40 minutes together for, hopefully three days in a row. So that's a big ask, but I have seen improvement in those areas, and hopefully we take another jump this weekend.
Hi, Coach. So many people feel that being in Greensboro is a home game for Carolina or State. Everybody knows you have one of the best fan bases in the country. How concerned, well, you're not concerned, but what are your thoughts around how many fans will come on down and make Duluth feel really warm and a wonderful place for ACC women's basketball?
Yeah, I just, I think change is always, a little different for everybody. And I do think, the footprint of the ACC has always been in North Carolina. And so it has been not just for us.
I mean, you've got a lot of teams that were easy drives and brought fans, but obviously our fans are really good. And we've always had to take other teams extra tickets and seats. So that's been great.
And it's no doubt it's been, been great having a lot of red in the arena. But, again, this is exciting. We're going someplace new.
And at the end of the day, those fans aren't on the court. So it's, it's up to those players that are out there to make plays and to bring the energy. And hopefully, though, we're going to see a lot of fans travel.
I'm confident that we'll have a lot of red down there and probably not as much as in Greensboro, but I still think we'll have a lot of fans travel. And hopefully we can make that a home court advantage, NC State West.
Good afternoon, Coach Moore. How has your team stayed connected and grounded through the ups and downs of the season?
Yeah, I think that's been a big part. I really saw, like I said, the biggest change. I thought we played a really tough non-conference schedule, one of the top, I think one of the top two or three in the country as far as the net and a challenge of it.
And we lost some close games. I mean, that's what's still kind of biting us is, you lose in overtime at Oklahoma, you lose in overtime to Louisville, you lose close games to some of these other teams, one possession games. And I think because of that, it's hard when winning makes everything better.
The plane trip's better, the food's better, the bed you sleep in is better, your teammates better, my breath isn't as bad maybe, who knows, whatever. Everything's better when you're winning. And so we went through a stretch there, we lost a few games.
I struggled with what to do, but when we went to Miami, our first conference, maybe our second conference game, I can't remember which one, but anyway, it was before Christmas, we went to Miami and we debated whether to go down a day early, extra day early because we were out of class and we decided to do it.
And I thought that was really good for our team too. We were near a big mall, okay, so the players hung out together, they went to the mall together, they were able to walk to different places and eat together.
And I think that was good bonding time for our team for those couple of days. Plus, it was warm in Miami, okay, that always helps too. And I just think our team kind of united a little bit there.
Still ups and downs, we've still had our moments, but I think our team's really come together and we're in a really good spot right now. Like I said, they're having fun, they're enjoying being around each other. And as I found out on that Final Four run a couple of years ago, when you're having fun and happy, nobody wants it to end.
And so hopefully that happens now. Hopefully nobody wants it to end and we stay around Atlanta for a few days.
