Wes Miller Addresses Media Following 65-49 Win Over Merrimack
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00:00 us to try to figure it out defensively,
00:02 get more engaged and active.
00:06 You know, I thought they tried to do that tonight,
00:08 especially in the first half.
00:09 I thought John Newman looked like John Newman again.
00:11 Defensively, he got his hands on a lot.
00:14 Our deflections were better.
00:15 So, you hold somebody under 50, I'm going to be happy.
00:18 That's the truth of it.
00:20 I thought we had a chance to keep them at 45,
00:22 and they scored five on the last two possessions.
00:24 I wasn't happy about that.
00:26 I got on Odie a little bit,
00:27 because I thought he gave up the three in the corner
00:30 because he kind of froze and held.
00:32 And he gave up the split, the ball screen.
00:34 They laid in.
00:35 I told him, I said, "Shoot, I'm pissed about the last five
00:37 because I thought we had a chance to hold a team to 45."
00:40 But hold a team under 50,
00:43 our defense got more active for the first time in a long time.
00:47 That's the stuff I'm pleased with.
00:50 Breakdowns are more than there.
00:53 And there's a lot of stuff we got to improve.
00:58 I think I said this on the radio a minute ago.
01:02 Everybody should know this.
01:06 Those guys in that locker room,
01:07 we've taken some of these last couple losses really hard.
01:11 I mean, hard.
01:12 Harder than I've had teams,
01:15 and longer than I've had teams take losses.
01:18 You know, we're not okay with them.
01:20 So, we've really tried to address some things
01:21 and work on some things.
01:23 And at the same time, I've seen our guys
01:25 lose a little bit of their confidence.
01:27 You know, I think everybody can see that.
01:29 Like, they're questioning, you know, a little bit,
01:30 which is part of the growing process.
01:33 So, I don't like the 18 turnovers at all.
01:38 Joe Gallo's done a terrific job.
01:41 Even their eight years, he's built an identity.
01:44 He's built a big-time program.
01:46 They won their league a year ago.
01:48 They couldn't go to the NCAA tournament
01:50 because they hadn't had enough years in Division I.
01:53 The team that they beat goes Fairleigh Dickinson
01:55 and then beats Purdue in the NCAA tournament.
01:57 I mean, that's how good Merrimack is,
01:59 and they've been that way year after year.
02:02 So, he's done a hell of a job, and that zone is --
02:05 that's the type of zone other coaches study.
02:07 Like, sometimes coaches do things,
02:09 and everybody else wants to try to figure out how.
02:12 You know, Joe's got a zone
02:13 that we're all trying to learn watching it
02:15 because it's unique, it's effective,
02:18 and they're, like, top ten in the nation
02:19 in turnover percentage in the zone.
02:21 So, I knew we'd turn the ball over a little bit tonight.
02:24 Like, they turn everybody over.
02:26 It's what they're good at doing.
02:28 Eighteen turnovers is more than we should
02:31 turn the ball over against them.
02:33 So, I'm not pleased with that,
02:35 but we got to get our swagger back a little bit.
02:38 So, tonight, it was just about trying to play the next play,
02:41 letting our guys make some mistakes
02:42 and find their confidence.
02:44 I'm glad we finally made a couple three-point shots.
02:46 I thought we took good shots.
02:48 We made a couple, but, you know, all in all,
02:51 I'm not pleased with how we're playing.
02:52 I'm not, but I'm glad we got our defense more active.
02:57 I was pleased that we held a team under 50,
03:00 and, you know, I thought we got to kind of get
03:02 that confidence back playing, and I think we will.
03:06 Is there a way to fix the confidence situation
03:09 with this team because it was evident
03:12 that they're not carrying themselves
03:14 similar to how they did two weeks ago,
03:17 and/or is it just a matter of you got to get out there
03:20 and play better in the territory?
03:25 If I had the magic wand, I'd never have a team
03:28 that had any confidence problems.
03:30 I think over 13 years as a head coach,
03:33 I'd say that our teams have been really confident,
03:36 played free and loose.
03:37 You know, I think guys that have played force would say that,
03:39 but, again, they've taken the losses hard.
03:42 We've tried to address some necessary learning and teaching
03:46 for some of the reasons that, you know,
03:48 we're not overcoming some of these losses.
03:50 Like, there's issues out there that, you know,
03:52 we're trying to -- shot selection,
03:55 you know, all those kind of things that, you know,
03:57 anybody can watch the TV and go, "They shouldn't be doing that,"
04:00 so we're not stupid, so you address them,
04:03 but then kids are trying to figure it out.
04:05 These kids care a lot. They're trying.
04:07 They're listening, and now you can kind of see them
04:10 a little bit the last couple weeks
04:11 because they want it so bad, you can see them,
04:13 and that's just part of the process, you know,
04:16 and it's just part of the growth process.
04:18 You guys got to remember, they're still kids.
04:20 They're still young people, and they're trying to be great,
04:23 and they want -- this group wants it badly,
04:25 and so now we got to kind of work through it a little bit,
04:27 and I thought there was some good moments tonight.
04:30 I did. I thought Seamos the last couple games,
04:32 finding his rhythm back on offense a little bit.
04:36 It's good to get Jameel just knocking the rust off.
04:38 Like, he's rusty, and you can see it.
04:40 Like, I don't know what he said before I walked in here,
04:42 but I doubt he doesn't think he played well,
04:45 but everybody can see the talent.
04:46 I mean, you know, Day-Day's kind of getting back to himself.
04:48 I thought Day-Day guarded again tonight for the first time.
04:51 Like, he was better on the ball defensively.
04:52 He had that one late.
04:54 He lets a guy get by him and fouls,
04:56 but outside of that, I thought he was pretty good.
04:58 You know, Vic, 8-14.
05:00 I thought he made some nice decisions tonight.
05:03 You saw some things starting to come back.
05:04 Gissel's finding his way.
05:07 So, yeah, it's going to be a process,
05:09 but college basketball,
05:11 it's going to do this a little bit.
05:12 The good teams do this,
05:14 but they go like this as they're going up and down.
05:17 The normal teams do this,
05:18 but they kind of just keep doing it all year,
05:20 and the bad teams do this, and they go the other way.
05:22 So, it's going to be up and down a little bit.
05:24 You just want to keep that line on that bar graph, right,
05:27 going that way while it goes up and down,
05:29 and if this team keeps doing that, it's going to be okay.
05:32 Jordan, update on the D.J.
05:40 The way it was, I mean, you don't want it to be perfect,
05:43 but you did well.
05:44 Yeah, I mean, you guys looked down 11 rebounds.
05:52 I don't think he played well, and he didn't play well.
05:55 And I don't think anybody that watched
05:58 doesn't see the talent, right, the explosiveness,
06:00 the hands, the feet, and so he's going to be just fine.
06:04 That was cool, but, no, we want Aziz and C.J. back out there.
06:08 I think we're a better team with those guys.
06:09 I think everybody knows that.
06:11 I mean, the analytics say that.
06:13 My eyes say that.
06:14 The players think that.
06:16 And Aziz, you know, in the first two minutes
06:19 of the Dayton game, he was free under the basket.
06:22 We threw him a lob, and somebody cracked down
06:25 and hit him really hard.
06:26 Now, they did not call a foul,
06:28 so I don't think everybody understands it was a foul,
06:32 but, you know, he jacked his back up bad.
06:34 And any of you guys that ever had a back issue,
06:36 I've had a couple.
06:38 He's in pain, you know, it hurts to stand up,
06:40 sit down, all that.
06:41 We did x-rays.
06:43 There's no structural issues or anything like that.
06:45 It's just muscular, but he's in pain.
06:48 He'll be back.
06:49 I just don't know if it'll be tomorrow, the next day,
06:51 after, I don't know.
06:53 So it's kind of a day-by-day thing.
06:54 C.J. pulled his hamstring in the first half against Dayton
06:58 and then gutted it out in the second half.
07:01 It definitely wasn't 100%, and I think with his history,
07:05 he tore a hamstring, or I don't know.
07:08 Yeah, I think he completely tore his hamstring in Kentucky
07:11 his first year and missed the entire season.
07:13 So with the history of that, our trainer, Bob Mangin,
07:17 feels really strongly that we got to be cautious.
07:20 C.J. would tell you he could have played tonight.
07:22 Bob felt like it was the right thing to do.
07:24 And if there's anything that I'll tell you
07:27 is that I listen to Bob Mangin and I trust Bob Mangin.
07:30 So he's got all of our best interests
07:32 and certainly the players' best interests.
07:34 So that's why those two didn't play.
07:36 It's a day-by-day thing.
07:38 They'll be back. I hope they'll be back by Friday.
07:40 Steve Blitz, Florida at the half,
07:42 and at Ohio State, so kind of saw this coming.
07:49 Yeah, and I think anybody should go look at it.
07:52 There's a pretty controversial play
07:53 at the end of the Georgetown game.
07:56 You know, they had a legit -
07:58 they're in a one-possession game at Georgetown.
08:01 They had a legit chance to win,
08:02 and there's a controversial play.
08:04 Joe's press conference, he went crazy about it,
08:07 if you guys want to go research that.
08:08 So, yeah, they played three high-major games.
08:12 Ohio State, I mean, it's a game.
08:14 And I thought Ohio State played well
08:16 and had a good plan against their zone.
08:18 They're beating Florida at the half,
08:20 and then Florida kind of broke away from them
08:22 in the second half.
08:23 And then, you know, Ohio State, Florida.
08:27 And then they had a one-possession game
08:29 at Georgetown with a chance to win.
08:32 And a controversial play at the end.
08:33 So, again, I got a lot of respect for Joe Gallo
08:37 and what he's built.
08:38 And he's picked to win his league,
08:40 and he's got a really good chance to do that.
08:42 There's a good chance you guys will watch this team
08:43 play in the NCAA tournament.
08:45 So, do I think we did everything like I want to do?
08:48 No.
08:50 Excited about how we played tonight?
08:51 No, but I am pleased that we held them under 50.
08:55 And any time you beat a team
08:57 that's going to play in the tournament,
08:58 most likely, you know, by double figures,
09:00 that's a good thing.
09:01 Two more?
09:02 [Indistinct]
09:04 Yeah, you know, like I said,
09:18 that the kids want it as bad as you can want it.
09:22 And the kids that have been here want it as bad as you can want it.
09:25 And there's kids crying in the locker room
09:26 after the day you win.
09:30 They've been here.
09:31 And so, like, this isn't a want-to type of thing.
09:38 They can't want it more.
09:39 Some of them might want it, too, but we all want it, too.
09:44 We're trying to learn what it takes as a team,
09:48 you know, to win on the road
09:50 or outside of this building against the best teams.
09:53 And we're trying to build the habits
09:55 and what we do every day to do that.
09:57 Like, we got to learn how to defend with the right mentality
10:01 as a unit for 40 minutes, every single possession.
10:05 You cannot win on the road in college basketball
10:07 if you don't have that approach.
10:09 You cannot win, all right?
10:11 And so, now we're back at home.
10:15 We're a little more comfortable,
10:17 but we got to try to build that now.
10:18 We got to try to build that in practice
10:21 so if we get back on the road
10:22 as the competition gets better and better,
10:25 we can't miss an opportunity to work on that.
10:26 I think our guys are trying to learn what it takes.
10:31 They can't want it more,
10:33 but they got to learn what it takes to win.
10:35 We're learning as a group what it's going to take to win.
10:38 I hate that we're learning that through losses.
10:41 I think we're good enough to learn through wins.
10:44 I'm not making an excuse.
10:45 But you're going to have to learn.
10:46 Every group's going to have to learn.
10:48 And it's not like we got ten guys in that locker room
10:50 that played in the Final Four,
10:52 that served one conference championships, right?
10:55 Like, we got a group that wants to,
10:56 that has the right mentality.
10:58 We have talent. We have great kids.
11:00 They want it. They work at it.
11:02 But we got to learn as a group what this is going to take.
11:04 And our returning players
11:05 are really trying to figure it out
11:07 because they want to win against the local opponents.
11:10 They want to win every night.
11:11 They want to win against the best teams.
11:13 And we got a lot of big-time games ahead on our schedule.
11:15 What --
11:17 While you're figuring it out and when you're getting it out,
11:20 how hard is it to establish an offensive line?
11:23 That's important.
11:25 And I get it.
11:26 It's part of the defense, but it's something else.
11:30 Establishing identity is everything.
11:32 I mean, and I don't make excuses.
11:37 I don't sit up here and make excuses.
11:38 You guys have been around me for three years.
11:40 I'll face the fire, admit when we have wrong,
11:43 when we have false.
11:44 We're not in the excuse business.
11:46 Nobody wants to hear that crap.
11:48 Okay? I certainly don't live like that.
11:51 It's been part of the challenge to creating a real identity
11:55 is, like, there's been a lot of changes.
11:57 I'm not complaining about it.
11:58 But, you know, adding Aziz changes the makeup of the team.
12:03 That's a good problem.
12:05 I'm not complaining about it,
12:06 but it changes the makeup of the team.
12:07 He's a unique player.
12:09 There's nobody else on our team
12:11 that plays defensively and offensively like Aziz.
12:14 So we got to figure out -- and he's a major impact player.
12:18 So we got to figure out --
12:19 we didn't have him for however many competitions.
12:22 I don't know, six or something like that.
12:24 Now we got to adjust, get him involved,
12:26 because we're going to be better with him,
12:28 and then that affects other guys.
12:30 And so you're adjusting that identity or that plan.
12:34 And then you add Jamil Reynolds.
12:36 Again, he's a major impact player, and he's unique.
12:41 So it's not like, you know,
12:42 you've been doing all this stuff that worked for Vic,
12:44 and they're different players.
12:47 So trying to kind of find this team's identity,
12:50 whether it's strategically,
12:52 whether it's, like, in competition,
12:54 the chips are down, like, it's a process.
12:57 And it's very important to me.
12:58 But you don't snap your fingers, and it happens overnight.
13:02 And we've been working at that for two years and change,
13:04 some of the mentality things.
13:07 And so, yeah, guys like John.
13:10 And I was upset with John's play defensively in the last game
13:13 because he understands our defensive identity,
13:16 and he sets the tone for that for this team.
13:18 And the minute he gets away from being John Newman,
13:20 that's going to make us take a step back.
13:23 Tonight I thought John Newman was John Newman.
13:25 I don't care about his line.
13:27 I mean, John Newman was John Newman on D.
13:30 So there are some things that have been established,
13:32 work ethic, approach every day, you know, a defensive mentality.
13:37 But this team's still learning how to do that,
13:38 and we've had a lot of changes, and I'm not making an excuse,
13:41 but that does create some different challenges
13:45 than a normal year.
13:46 Thank you.
13:47 >> Thank you.