Everything from Virginia Tech HC Mike Young After Stanford Loss

Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young spoke to the media after the Hokies' 69-68 loss to Stanford. Here's the entirety of what Young said:

Opening statement:

"Disappointed with our lack of poise, disappointed with a couple of offensive possessions that that we had. Up [12 with 2:18 to go]. You're talking about kicking one and that is my responsibility. A couple of horrendous offensive possessions. Shots are too quick. We need time off the clock. We don't need more points. We haven't played great. I thought we were very, very good defensively. Very good defensively. But [we] sputtered and sStanford has a good outfit on the defensive end of the floor, but we're in great shape. I just told Mike [Burnop] and Zach [Mackey], things you talk about from the start of practice in June when you bring everybody together. Saving a loose ball to a teammate, playing with high hands, especially against a great player, and if your hands are down, if you're not ready to play and your tips are up and a kid rises up and makes a shot. They cut hit a couple of bombs in that period that got them out of here. And as disappointing as I'll get out, obviously, we've got a lot of basketball to play. We've got a good Cal team coming to the house on Saturday and we'll play better basketball."

On Amani Hansberry, who had 11 pts, 11 rbds for Tech:

"I thought I did a pretty good job on him, but Thomas, he's just a great player and he does it every single night and physical. [Christian] Gurdak's been really good. I mean, really good. And you've seen 'em all, Thomas. [Gurdak] looked a little slow. He looked a little lethargic tonight. Tired, which is unlike him. He works his rear end off and takes impeccable care of his body. Didn't have the same pop. Great to see Toby back. Good to have him back in a Hokie uniform. He was, as expected, sluggish. He was searching a little bit but helped our team. Great to see him back in the lineup and helped our team. Certainly, did some really good things and he's going to get better and better and better as we continue to go along here."

On what made Ebuka Okorie (25 points in second half, accounted for 40 of Stanford's final 42 points) so much more difficult to deal with in the second half:

"I thought we did a really nice job of keeping him cocooned with a hedge. Kid's a really a smart player. He's going to make the right basketball play. In the second half, he started beating that hedge a little bit to his outside shoulder. Got downhill more. He's elite at getting fouled. I think he only shot five of five, foul shots. He's like 10th in the country in getting to the foul line, 10th in free throws attempted. But that's what great players do. They pick their spots and then when it turns on, it turns on and they're hard to handle. I thought Ben Hammond and Jailen Bedford, Jailen Bedford more than Ben. Ben had some foul issues. Did a terrific job, but [Okorie] took the thing over when it mattered most and helped get them out of here with a huge road win."

Q: Ben Hammond 14 points off the bench. What specifically did you see from him on the offensive end?

"Same thing I'm seeing every night. Just a tough nut. They'd cut it back, I think, to five or seven, had gone zone. Amani catches the ball in a high post and flips it right behind him to Ben who's wide open and he drains a three. Ben Hammond's a heck of a player and he's doing it night in night out. It's a pleasure to watch."

On what Young saw on the game-winning three from Okorie:

"I saw a team, Stanford, that was searching for a matchup. They were searching for the matchup, they wanted us to put on to Okorie and we had our hands by our side. The kid shot a bomb, and it went in the basket."

On what Young tells his team after a loss of this nature:

"We got 15 more. We got a really good team coming in on Saturday. Really good. At SMU, Notre Dame at home. So, don't let this cost us another one. Let's get back in the gym tomorrow and get better and be ready to play. Two losses is not going to break our back. We've got a lot more to look forward to and it'll be a lot of fun."

On if Stanford took advantage of Tech's defense in a way they hadn't done previously:

"I think we got back on our heels a little bit, but I thought, through the first 37 minutes, it was really, really good. They were con constantly at 35, 37, 36, 38% field goal offensively. We were guarding the arc. We're doing a great job. We were guarding ones specifically and they put a kid in the game that hadn't played a whole lot, made a couple of threes. That was on me. But again, great players making great great plays. That kid's a great player."

On Okorie logging 11 of Stanford's final 14 points in 2:18:

"Just more aggressive trying to ram his head down and get fouled. Ram his head down and create something for their team. And I've seen him do it before. I saw him play a lot. But just more aggressive."

On if the team seemed to relax up 12 with 2:18 to play:

"I didn't think so. I didn't think so. Our decision-making's got to get much better. What are we looking for? We're looking for time off that clock. We're looking for a great shot. There's a great shot to be had. We're not looking for anything in that middle section of the clock. We'll take a layup anytime. Hands being at the top of the floor when we get into some actions has been great for us for most of the year. Just poorly, poorly executed on our part and that certainly comes back on me."

On if Young expects Gurdak (nine rebounds, 23 minutes) to have a larger role even with Tobi Lawal's return

"I do, because moving Hansberry to the four is helpful. That's a better matchup on him and a better matchup for us. Christian saved our tail when Tobi went down. He's been superb. Heaven knows where we would be without his emergence and without him growing up as a young person and helping our team. Just gives us more flexibility. That gives me the opportunity to get Hansberry off the floor more. Gives me a chance to get Tobi off the floor more. So, his role is not going to change with Tobi coming back. [Lawal] was on a minute restriction tonight. I think that'll be a little bit more on Saturday. Time will tell when we talked to his surgeon, who was at the game tonight. So, I think that that's good news for us."