Everything From Virginia Tech HC Mike Young After Wake Forest Win

Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young spoke to the media after the Hokies' 82-63 victory over Wake Forest on Feb. 21; here's the entirety of what he had to say:

Opening statement

"They were playing really good basketball coming in. Won three straight, at Georgia Tech, Clemson most recently. Playing well. We all know how good Clemson is, and [Wake Forest] went up 17 in the first half. We had a great couple of days of practice playing on Tuesday, losing that heartbreaker down there, dadgummit. Gave us a chance to decompress. Wednesday, we didn't do a lot with them and then really prepare. To their credit, our team, that is, they did a masterful job in diving into the scouting report; JD [Byers] and Austin Howard were responsible for that. Did a great job of getting it to them, and I thought they executed quite well. All day, really. Proud of them."

Q: Coach, what did you see from Neo [Avdalas] today? He looked reinvigorated in the offense.

"Yeah, he did. Just better. He looked like Neo. He was getting downhill. He had seven assists and zero turnovers. He attacked the rim early in the first half. I think he had another one in the second half. His shot selection was very good. He was a big league player today, and it's good to see. Hope that that is a sign of things to come as we move along down the stretch."

On Tobi Lawal's performance and him being honored for Senior Day:

"Well, he had a lot of family here. His mom is a delightful lady, his brother. They're great people. Fruit doesn't fall far from the tree. the old saying, they're wonderful people. And Tobi in turn, I've said several times, he's been a great representative of our program. He's been a great representative of Virginia Tech. He's been a model citizen in our college community. He's been a heck of a basketball player, and I have thoroughly enjoyed coaching him. Again, I feel blessed to have the opportunity to work with him [for] what I hope is another month or however long this thing goes. Proud of Tobi."

On six Hokies scoring in double figures:

"The game is meant to be, the ball is meant to be shared. And when people are turning down good shots and giving it to a teammate who has a great shot. He's more in rhythm than I am, that's a good shot. That's in rhythm and a great shot down here. And we had a number of those. 19 assists and five turnovers. That says it all in how our team played today. We've got to do a better job of rebounding. We did outrebound Wake Forest by five, but such an important part of it next Saturday when we travel to Chapel Hill. We've got to rebound better. We got touched up a little bit in the first half, but they're aware. Our guards have got to do a better job, but [Christian] Gurdak had zero points at the half. He comes back with 10 in the second half. Had a number of them play well. Proud of them."

On if there was an emphasis for Avdalas to play with less hesitation:

"I don't know that I want to get Neo 10 shots. I want to get whoever is open. Let it ride. He was in better spots. Again. He had a better pop about his game off of ball screens. He just creates so many advantages for your team offensively. So, he's going to survey, and he's going to see the two-on-one back there, and he's going to stick it over there. He does a great job in that area. Bottom line, he played a great ball game."

On what Young liked about how the team limited turnovers:

"We kicked it 19 times down there, and five in here today. They have altered their ball-screen coverage a little bit. And they do a great job. Coach [Steve] Forbes does a great job with this team. When you come off that ball screen, they really play with high hands, and they had a number of deflections in Winston-Salem. But much better job from our team today."

On the team's difference without Nate Calmese:

"I watched the North Carolina game. He had [25] against us and hit the game winner. He had a big game against North Carolina, and they did everything but win that game. They're not as good, and I take nothing away from [Isaac] Carr and [Sebastian] Akins; they figured it out without Calmese. But Calmese is good, and that is disruptive. I talked to him in... the handshake line at the end of the game. I asked him, he said, 'I think I'll be back the next game.' And I hope that's true. I can't stand seeing any young person go down with an injury. Tyler Johnson, we're all geared up. Sat him intentionally in Miami on Tuesday, thinking that today's the day we'll get him back. And he practiced on Thursday and was good. Rusty but good. He didn't reinjure anything. There was a play; he didn't go down. He went back to the locker room in yesterday's practice and talked to Hisham [Ziyout]. He came back, just wasn't ready. Now, we've got a week off. I'm not going to speculate. I hope like heck we can get him geared up and ready to go against the Tar Hills. Time will tell. I'm not misleading anyone. That's as honest as I can be."

On what enabled the team to bounce back from back-to-back losses:

"Well, we're coming down the stretch. We got a lot on the line, Mark. Next game, next game. What's next? Proud of them. Now, three left. We got our bye week. We go to Chapel Hill, we're going to play really hard and find a way to compete, hang in there and hopefully win. And then, they keep clicking by. We're coming up on the ACC tournament, which is really hard to believe. This team has a lot more to look forward to, and I'm happy to be a part of it as their coach."

On what Young liked about the team's offensive execution (11 threes, 50%+ from field):

"Our shooting numbers over the last bit here have been very, very good. I just like how the ball moved. I liked how we shared and we took care of it. Such a big deal to not turn it over. You can't give them more opportunities, and consequently, that's kind of surprising. They didn't have many turnovers either. They had eight more shots than we had at Winston-Salem. And that's a kind of an overlooked statistic. Anytime you've got eight more shots than the other team, that's a big deal. That's scary. We both had 61. They didn't turn it over either, with only seven. But great win for the Hokes. Look forward to what lies ahead."