Locker Room Access posted a podcast interview with Coach today. (It showed up in my podcast feed but it's not on the website yet so I can't link to it). I didn't realize he was in the hospital for 5-6 days this time last year and has made some diet changes and plans to lose some weight in the offseason. It's an hour long but here's some key points:
- They focused on getting stops all season because they figured there would be some offensive droughts.
- Franklin's shooting troubles are some mechanics but it's also in his head. Something happens when he steps behind the 3-point line in the game. Doesn't happen in practice.
- Gardner's off-season work needs to focus on off-ball positioning and awareness.
- Free throws cost them 3-4 games. Will be a focus in the off-season.
- Felt the narrative about ACC not being strong this year did pull them down a bit in the eyes of others (probably talking about rankings and getting to the tourney)
- He added color on Tony's comment about the need of some players to work harder. He implied that it was also a lack of leadership. In the past, newcomers to the team saw how hard Malcolm, Devon, Dre, Tye, Mamadi, etc worked and it set an example. They didn't have that this year. They've talked to the returning players about that and the importance of driving that back into the culture next year.
- When asked what the coaches could have done differently he said spend more time figuring how to break a scoring drought - how do you get a quick, easy bucket; run some quick traps to force a turnover and score; etc
- The coaches really want Kihei to come back next year.
- Nixon wants to go into medicine so looking to use a fifth year somewhere else and try to turn it into a springboard.
- Poindexter has some good offers and need to decide on his plans soon.
- Igor's down to 3-4 schools including UNC-Charlotte. Coaches wanted to him to stay. Commented how he needed to work on the defensive end and just be patient to develop and get more playing time. (That led into a discussion about the portal.)
- Called Chase Coleman another member of the coaching staff because of the way he sees the play on the court and gives feedback to his teammates. He wants to be a basketball coach after UVA.
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