Quentin Hillsman discusses lay-offs and their pros and cons, among other talking points.
Do you feel this layoff has hurt your team or did it came at a good time?
"That's hard to say," coach Quentin Hillsman said."Obviously, we've been off for four weeks now. I mean, it's tough because you get used to the Thursday-to-Sunday schedules and it kinda got thrown out of whack. We definitely needed some rest so we could have some good days in the gym. So hopefully, it'll be advantageous to us. We were able to work on some things that we desperately needed, needed to work on in the gym, get out, get the offense moving a little bit. I feel good about it, so hopefully, we'll play that way."
Do you feel with everything going on, it was still worth it playing a season and going through everything that you guys have had to go through?
"There is no question," Hillsman said in a virtual press conference. "I love basketball. So what you love, you sacrifice for, and you fight for. So for me, this was not an issue, and to not play would have been catastrophic to me. And definitely to my team after talking to them."
Either you're playing a bunch of games in a short amount of time or you're not playing at all. How do you navigate that?
"Like I said, it is tough," Hillsman said. "You want to get into a routine and get into a flow. I think that every game that is postponed or canceled, whatever you want to call it, is definitely a letdown for our players because they want to play. So we are excited to be able to play, but it's tough trying to try to prep. The hardest part for us is we have seven newcomers and two sophomores. So we have nine underclassmen and that's the tough part. I think that veteran teams, teams that have a lot of seniors and juniors have a big advantage this year because they don't have to put it in their whole system, they don't have to teach everything. And I think that's the hardest part for us – just not having the practice time to assert things."
How do you look at these last three games of the regular season?
"Hopefully we can get back on that Sunday-Thursday-Sunday deal," Hillsman said. "And that makes it all the same. But again, the hard part about that is with our seven freshmen, they don't know what Thursday-Sunday- Thursday feels like because they haven't done it consistently."
Can you talk about what Tiana (Mangakahia) has accomplished this year and how much she has meant to the freshman?
"Well, I think the first thing is if anyone has 600 plus days off and to come back and lead the country in assists – that's an amazing feat in itself," HIllsman said. "She's just been Tiana and she's been playing hard. She's been giving it everything she has every, every minute she's on the court. I think that for anybody, the lay off and the emphasis on missing games, it probably hurts Tiana more than anybody else because she needs the games and she needs the time on the court and she needs the time to practice and we're not doing a lot of that on a consistent basis. So I think it's really affected her comeback, to be honest."
The last time you had a significant layoff, you came back and put together maybe two of the best performances of the season. What do you take from that four-week layoff earlier and how do you apply that going forward?
"First of all, I hope you're right," Hillsman said. "I hope you're accurate. I think it was different because the last day off we were kind of staggering players back in – this layoff, we had our entire team there. So we were able to get some things done. So it's not the same. At the end of the day, you gotta see how they come out and how they play. We're gonna, prep the same way. They're going to come out and, prepare the same way. And we roll from there."
Just how disappointed were the players and yourself losing that game (against Lousiville) in particular?
"Honestly, we didn't even discuss it," Hillsman said. "I'll be totally honest with you. I just told them that the game was off and we went to practice and we didn't really discuss it because we, we knew going into this year, what this year could be like and it is that. So the game got pushed and we knew that we still had some more opportunities to be able to have that big day for our community and Tiana. I told her the game was canceled and in Tiana fashion, she said, 'Bummer, who do we play next?'"
Are there any talks about adding some more games at the end of the season or within this week to make up some ground?
"Not as of yet," Hillsman said. "The ACC is really working through everyone's schedule. I mean, it's not just us as everyone has some games that they need to make up, but up until this point, we haven't. We have to settle on any dates, but as a conference and coaches, we are committed to making up as many games as we can."
What can you say about Emily Engstler's defense and her defensive positioning, especially this year?
"Well, Emily does a really good job of being instinctual and she has great instincts," Hillsman said of the junior. "She's kind of a quick Twitch athlete so when the ball is in the air, she can break on it and make up some ground. And that's a gift as well. A lot of people just can't do that. And she saved us a lot of possessions with her steals, her block shots, and rebounds. So it's been invaluable for us. She is, she is such a, such a hybrid player that bringing her off the bench is a great luxury. And honestly, when she comes off the bench, she brings an amazing punch to our lineup. And, you know, we get her in a game about two minutes into the game, every game. So she gets in early and she's playing starter minutes."
When you first saw her as a prospect to where she is now, where has Kamilla (Cardoso) made the most strides, how has she improved the most this season?
"I told her the other day, I said, 'If someone told me you will come into our team and lead us in scoring, rebound the ball the way you rebound the ball, shoot 60% from the field, I would have probably taken the under – because it's just so hard to come from high school to college and to play that pace. And our pace is fast. She plays fast, she gets from rim to rim, she is in every position. And that's what's important for us. Her development has been just that; getting into every possession, staying out of foul trouble. And, that's been the key to her success and our success when we were playing really well. So she's been amazing and her development is ... she's still developing. And I think once we get her in the gym consistently, she can learn our system totally. I think she's going to be amazing."
Where do you think Tiana's conditioning is at this point? Additionally, do you think she's mentally stronger this season compared to years in the past?
"She had to be stronger mentally just to get back on the court. So it's no, I don't think there is a scale for her toughness right now. Because what she's doing takes a lot of toughness, takes a lot of will, and also, honestly, it takes trying to be able to deal with some failure and not playing as well all the time. So that's tough in itself. I know that she's going as hard as she can go. We have to make her leave the gym after practice. She's doing everything she can to be her best and as long as she's doing that, I'm good with it. I know a couple of games ago she just couldn't get loose, and couldn't get herself warmed up really well by the start of the game. But then when she got going, she was good. Who knows what her body is going through on a daily basis ... just to be out there is a blessing."
How important has Tiana been to Cardoso's development?
"Well, she has been great at doing that. Anytime someone can put the ball right in your hands and you're 6'7", all you have to do is grab it and put the ball in the rim. She makes her life easy at times and vice versa. I think this year would have been really fun to see if we'd had a full time where those guys went together on the court and being able to really learn each other's game. But she's been amazing for her, and it's just great to have them both."
