Everything From Virginia Tech HC Mike Young After Win Over Saint Joseph's

Virginia Tech men's basketball head coach Mike Young spoke to the media after the Hokies' 94-57 victory over Saint Joseph's. Here's the entirety of what Young had to say:

Opening statement:

"St. Joe's has a pretty good outfit and saw them play as much as we possibly could leading up to it. They run together, Drexel most recently and Lafayette. So, good work by our staff and getting things in place and great job from our team and executing. We are getting better. We've got a long long way to go. Great numbers from both ends of the floor. I'd like to see our rebounding numbers, better tonight. But I've got a good rebounding team. Amani [Hansberry] and Tobi [Lawal]'s first night that they haven't been in double-figure rebounding. We shoot 52% from the field. We shoot 40% from three. 23 assists, seven turnovers. Great, great numbers. We wanted to do a better job of taking care of the arc. We'd given up 11 threes as you guys know from Charleston Southern and Providence. We did a better job with that I thought all in all and limited them to 37% from the field and just 17% overall from three. So, positive steps. Let's continue to work on that as we face the 49ers of Charlotte on Sunday."

[Editor's note: Young continued his recently implemented standard of letting student media speak first.]

On the 21-0 fast-break points margin, in favor of Virginia Tech:

"[I credit it to] getting defensive stops, contesting shots, being a little physical. They rat around with the ball in the back court. So, offensive rebound and they've got a guard that's trying to uh bat that thing down. So, now you're up there playing four-on-three or something like that. And we've got kids that are willing passers. We've got kids that can put the ball in the hole. I thought Jaden Schutt was outstanding tonight, as was Ben Hammond. Amani Hansberry was terrific. Pretty good minute distribution, too. So, there's your answer."

On six players scoring in double-figures and how Young feels about the team's scoring versatility:

"I was worried about it at a couple of points. I guess we've made double-digit threes in all three games. Have we not. Made 11 against Providence. How many we make against Charles Southern? I think it was 9. 11 tonight. We got some guys teeing it up. And that goes back to putting the ball where it needs to be. Hansberry's very unselfish, going to make the right basketball play. So, good players making good basketball plays."

On generating high-quality looks from three-point range and what Young attributes that to:

"Good spacing, good player movement, guys that know how to play and guys that are willing to make an unselfish cut. Instead of waiting on the ball, I'm going to cut that so I can fill in behind. That's what it comes down to. I've got really smart people, really smart basketball players."

On the defensive pressure (Tech forced 12 steals):

"It's great coaching. It's the only thing I can attribute to. I had the slowest hands in the history of basketball. Ben Hammond, just a really a quick and hard-nosed young man. Always has been. So, again, good players making good defensive plays."

On Tyler Johnson's performance:

"Awesome. Don't want to have him off the floor. Everybody has a glue guy. Talk about glue guys in basketball. May not be the best of this, may not be the best of that, but I'll tell you one thing: he affects winning. His hustle, his toughness, his rebounding, his athleticism at the rim in transition. He's a good one. He's a good one. I'm thrilled to coach him."

On the importance of Johnson's defensive versatility:

"Incredibly. It'll get a little more tricky now as we get down the road here in some of these games, but he's big, strong, rugged. He's a bully. So, he's quite the luxury to have in our program."

On how the Providence win propelled the team into this game:

"It can go one of two ways. Can propel you. But you can get fat and happy and think that you've done something two games into the year. It was a good win. All right. We didn't beat the Sacramento Kings. We won a game. We went 1-0 in Connecticut. Take nothing away from our team, but this thing comes at you fast. You get too high or get too low after you might kick one, that can cost you the next one. But a nice level of maturity with our team."

On how the team has meshed together over the first three games:

"We've got a nice level of spirit. We've got a team that's together. All right. Now, it's a daily grind. Okay. With social media and voices that [say] you should be doing this and which doesn't matter. But we've got good internal leadership. They are about the right stuff and that is winning the next ball game. Quite proud of that development, that part of it with them."

On Jaden Schutt and the benefit of his reliability from the perimeter:

"Very, very. Now, he's got a lot more to his game. I don't want him to be the white suburban rec league catch-and-shoot guy. He's got more to him. I mean, that guy can really play. He's got a lethal shot fake, one bounce, get to 15 feet. He's fighting harder defensively, doing a nice job for us there. He's a good basketball player, man. I love coaching him."

On if there's something about the unit that makes it seem like they're more comfortable than previous Young squads at getting out in transition:

"I've always thought it's the hardest thing in basketball to guard, a team that can really blow it at you. Transition defense is hard. Transitioning from the offensive end to the defensive end and you're trying to get matchups and here's a guy can really shoot it. Here's a guy that can put pressure on the rim. I watch others play really good teams and [it] can be a real tough spot, especially after a bad shot or a turnover. Now, those typically end in a dunk or a three-point field goal on the other end. [Neoklis Avdalas is] an exceptional passer. They're all willing. They're all confident in one another. I'm going to spray it over there to Tyler Johnson. He's going to make the right play and that's going to continue to get better as we move along."

S: To follow up on something you said earlier, you said that you weren't sure at certain points in the offseason or preseason about your scoring.

"I said it to you. [Editor's note: Young is referring to The Roanoke Times' Mark Berman.] I wasn't sure how well this team was going to shoot the ball. I was a bit nervous about it and I told you that I think there are going to be nights we make 12. I think there'll be nights we make five. That assessment is changing. We've got a number of guys that can shoot it. Jailen Bedford shooting the ball well, Avdalas has shot the ball well. Schutt, we know he can [shoot]. Hammond shot the ball well. We got one from Tobi tonight, which is typical. He'll have some games where he makes two. Hansberry made at least one tonight. So, I'm bullish on this team's ability to score. I'm bullish on this team's ability to make shots from from deep."

On what he's seeing now that he wasn't seeing in the offseason:

"The damn thing going in the basket. Go in the hole. I just didn't think we shot it very well in June and July, but to their credit, they hung in there and coming into our own a little bit here in that in that area."

Q: And then defensively, what did you think you did to make it a tough shooting night for them tonight?

"We're so cognizant of keeping the ball in front of us. In doing so, I give you another step of cushion so I can catch your first step when you drive it. Consequently, that's a jab step and I'm taking another mini step backwards. And people are shooting the ball. The Blaine kid [Brycen Blaine] came in here from Charleston Southern and lit our tail up. He had 42 points a couple nights ago against Citadel. [Jaylin] Sellers and [Jason] Edwards lit us up for multiple made threes the other night in Uncasville. That's got to be a part of our game that gets better quick and it did tonight. Let's do it again on Sunday against Charlotte."

On if he feels better than he was last year:

"I feel like a million dollars, compared to what I felt like last year.