Everything From Damon Stoudamire After 85-73 Loss To Mississippi State

Head coach Damon Stoudamire talked to the media after the third consecutive loss and talked about how the Yellow Jackets can get back on track. Here is everything he had to say.

On shooting more three point shots….

“No, I mean, look, I think in winning games, you know, we won some games early, and you know, our defense has been pretty good, but you can't, you can only put stress on your defense for so long without scoring baskets. At some point, it becomes you trying to put a band-aid on the wound. You know, we need some stitches, you know, and we've got to make shots. You've got to put the ball in the hole to win games. And um you know, we have to be better at not only making shots, but we go to be better at just, you know, working on game shots, game speed each and every day. Um, that's important. You can make 100 shots, 200 shots a day, but if it's not game-speed shots, what difference does it make? You know, guys aren't pros. So, you've got to put yourself under stress. Practice is to put yourself under stress. So when you get uh to a game like it becomes a habit, and you know you can't waver in that commitment to whatever you are doing and to me, that's at times why you know we can't make shots because you have to understand the assignment, and I think that if you look at our stat sheet in terms of the shooting you know 8 for 30 Wacie (Kowacie Reeves) made seven threes Baye (Ndongo) made a three. It's not about the other guys making or missing shots, honestly. Um, because again, talking about putting a band-aid on the wound. You know, we've been struggling with shooting all season."

"So, you have to really critique yourself. You've got to really critique yourself. You know, I've been through shooting slugs, but you've got to critique yourself. You've got to know how people are playing you. If you're a guard and they're going under the ball screen, you've got to start telling the big to change the angle, you know, so you can get to your spot, and you can pull up and you can make that shot. It's so much deeper than just the stat sheet of it, you know, of saying that, you know, Wacie shot the ball well compared to everybody else. Everybody else has to buy into the way the scouting report and the way people are guarding you as well to get better at shooting. Then you've got to work on those shots. Game-like shots, game speed, you know? That to me is something that guys don't do enough on a consistent basis. You know what I mean? You can't just hope that the game starts, and it's going to happen. And then, you know, that has to get better in order for this to change, you know, because we have six guys under 40% from two. Like that's tough."

On going against Josh Hubbard and what worked and what didn’t….

“He needs an Academy Award because he does some great acting out there. Truth be told, as a little guard, I applaud him for that. But as he moved forward, they call technicals for that. You know what I mean? And I'll say this, I'm really not even like this, but one of the refs told me he messed up a call. Well, thank you after the fact. It was a key play in the game, you know, when you missed it. I'd rather you keep it to yourself. You don't got to apologize for it now. But, you know, Josh is Josh. This is our third time playing against the state since I've been here. So, we played him in year one, then we played him in a scrimmage last year, then we played him this year. And so, he's gotten better. Um really good at angles, compact, strong. For the most part in the first half, we did a really good job, but in the second half, you have to give him a lot of credit because he averages 23 points. He had 25. Um, but it wasn't that he had the 25. I got his average. It was the fact that he only took 14 shots to get it. You got to make him work a little harder than that. He's a great free-throw shooter. He was 77 from the line. So, we didn't do a good job there, you know, from that standpoint. And what happens is you let a guy like that get loose, and I think he had he got a wide open transition three or whatnot, and I think that kind of set him off. He's a really good player. He's the third leading scorer in the country for a reason, you know and then he got it going.”

On if the game got away from the Yellow Jackets after a foul on a three-point shot…

“It was a big play and at that moment to make that call, you know, and it is kind of deflating, but I don't, I'm not going to sit up here, and you know, act like that's why we lost the game. There are a lot of other things that I can count on, but as we're coming back in the game, we're fighting, we're fighting, we're fighting. And have a call like that happen at that time, you know, it's disappointing. You know what I mean? It's just like, you know, again, you know, I don't blame, you know, Josh for it, but you know, you as a ref, right? You've got to watch the game, you know, and so I assume you knew you were refing Josh Hubbard. You've got to know that these are the things he does. He'll throw his leg out to get like, and that's fine. But I'm just saying it's not really what I'm saying. It's not really about Josh, but it's just more so about those things that, as a ref, you have to have a feel for it, right? Like, you got to know that these are the things that he does. So you've got to take that into consideration. That for me is always the more disappointing thing than necessarily the call because I'm the human element, the human eye going to make mistakes, but it's just like you got to know who you're reffing as well. You know what I mean? And so, I just I think they missed the assignment more so in knowing whom you're reffing, you know, at that time.”

On the three game losing streak and how to get out of it…

“I need to see five guys fight. Um, probably the biggest thing for me at this moment is stability, you know, within the team. We don't have a stabilizer on the floor. Like, guys just out there hooping. Sometimes we need organization you know we need different things, and I'm fine with doing all that from the sideline, but it makes it just a little easier when you have somebody that can take command on the floor. It's a leadership thing, it's like the boat is rocky when you don't have that, you know, and I think we're trying to figure that part out. For me, that's for me that's actually bigger than the playing in this stat sheet because I think that in terms of a team, and I said this and I truly mean this, had we won today's game, I still would feel the same. I just wouldn't have said it, but I still feel like this is what we need. Like we need separation, you know, right now we have six, seven players, that's the same. You need some separation. You know what I mean? You need some guys to elevate. Sometimes you want guys to elevate, but you just can't elevate them. The game got to elevate. That's where we're at, you know? But to be honest with you, it's the hard part and the fun part all at the same time. You know, because you have to figure it out. You know, there's a lot of season to go. And the goal from the start was to make sure that we were straight going into ACC play. I think that nothing has changed, but we do need to stop the bleeding. Um, we need to put some stitches on some of them wounds. I just want to see guys fight. That's what I'm looking for. It's just as simple as that, you know. That's what I'm looking for on Saturday. We got an early game. It's a little different. So, the turnaround time is quick. So that's all I'm looking for.”

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