Everything From Virginia Tech HC Mike Young After Monday's Practice

Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young spoke to the media after Monday's practice ahead of the Hokies' first-round matchup in the ACC Tournament with 13th-seeded Wake Forest; here's the entirety of what he had to say:

On how practice went:

"Great, great. I hope you were overwhelmed, not underwhelmed. You're not going to do anything in this setting. Get them on the floor, get them comfortable, and then we'll go to the practice practice facility and rev them up. Not long. We'll be over there for 30 minutes, but the part of your practice will take place in the practice facility."

Q: Your friend Steve Forbes expects you to play with desperation tomorrow. Is that a fair assessment?

"We need to play well. We need to play well."

Q: In the regular season against Wake Forest, both Tyler [Johnson] and Tobi [Lawal] weren't present. How do you expect them to make an impact?

"Significantly. I've got an NCAA tournament team, fellas. I haven't been on that soapbox, but I am now, and you consider what we lived through, the two losses in the Bahamas. And take nothing away from St Mary's and VCU, [but] to do that without Tobi much of the January schedule. Correct me if I'm wrong, without Tyler, Tobi and [Antonio] Dorn, this team has has done some really cool things, and I'm proud of them. But Tyler Johnson played much better on Saturday. He got caught between steps on a dunk. They missed the darn thing. That would have cut it to two with about five to play. I think it was. I watched it a couple of times, but just our athleticism and tenacity just brings so much to our roster."

On if the ACC bracket sets up well for Tech to prove that they're an NCAA Tournament team:

"Yes."

[Editor's note: Young was standing past the baseline of the Spectrum Center main court. Tech Sideline's David Cunningham remarked to him to watch his step. Young responded with: "Do you really think I'm gonna step off that thing?" Cunningham responded that he almost did when he was talking to Forbes, Wake Forest's head coach. Young then said, "Forbes' a lot bigger than I am."]

On Tyler Johnson:

"He played about what I thought he'd play against [UVA]. Game before UVA, played about what I thought he played, BC. I just thought he he looked a lot more like himself on Saturday. I liked his matchup with [Malik Thomas and Sam Lewis]. He looked like he was coming into his own again. Got a three down. I thought played well. So yes, to answer your question, could he be out there tomorrow? 20, 22 [minutes]. Could be."

On the status of Amani Hansberry:

"Took a spill. He's getting better and better. He feels a lot better today than he did after the game. I may have been able to go back with him. I just thought, for his well-being, that that would not be wise. Looking ahead a little bit, it's a leg injury, and he's day-to-day. We'll see what tomorrow brings. But he's doing a lot better."

Q: Schutt has been kind of quiet. How do you get him going?

"Make a goddamn shot."

Q: You like the looks he's got?

"Oh, God, David. He's a hell of a player. He's a heck of a player, but has had a couple of struggles. But I know him, he's really serious about it, and to see him come in here tomorrow and go 4-for-6 wouldn't surprise any of us."

On what Young likes aobut how the team played in the second matchup that he wants to replicate:

"20 assists, five turnovers, compared to [19] turnovers down there. They played with really big hands in Winston-Salem. That seems like an eternity ago, but to move the ball and pass and made 11 threes, and I thought guarded them very well. They missed some open shots, but we limited that. We kept them under 37% I think from the field. They made four [three-pointers]. I think their first four makes were made threes, and then they only made two from from that point forward. So, pretty good recipe of ingredients to winning games."

On if Young has had any conversations with Neoklis Avdalas about how he's feeling about the ACC Tournament:

18 games into it, he knows what's at stake. You'll be fine. He's a hell of a player."

On keeping Wake Forest off the free-throw line and initiating contact without fouling:

"Good observation. Juke Harris, in our second game, at our place, only shot two, and he is typically up there six to nine times a game. So, keeping him off, keeping them all [off]. They shoot their fouls well, so that's a good point."

On if Young liked his team's defense of Harris:

"Yeah, very much. So he scored [16]... but not an efficient [16]. He's an efficient player. He took 17 shots to get there, so Bedford and shoot did a really good job on him. Tyler Johnson could certainly play Juke tomorrow at times. So, that remains to be seen, but some of the things, we're throwing around in our staff meetings."

On Nate Calmese's potential availability adding an element to Wake Forest:

"An element. Had [25] and I think hit the game winner down there, Nate's a good basketball player. Terribly unfortunate, what happened to him in the Pitt game. And then first game back at Boston College, roll the other one. Not fair, but good to see him getting healthy and I assume, on the floor."