Johnson, Green preview NC State game
James Johnson and Erick Green discussed the state of the Hokies and Saturday’s N.C. State game
Johnson on whether the Hokies look fresh in practice: “Looking fresh and then getting up and down out on the floor and running up and down against ACC level competition is a little different. … There’s still a lot of wear and tear on those guys’ legs.”
Johnson on whether Will Johnston or Jarell Eddie will start Saturday: “Right now Will will be in the starting lineup, but Eddie will have a chance to be evaluated on that today.”
Johnson what type of pace he wants from the Hokies offense these days: “I’d like to try to pick our spots and still run in spots. … Offensively challenged right now, everyone except Green. I’d like to try to get out in transition and maybe get an easy basket… But if we don’t have that, be patient and run our sets and get the ball in the right place.”
Johnson on how many shots he wants Green to take: “I don’t have a shot number on him, I’d just like for him to be aggressive — attacking, aggressive. If that means you draw 3 people and make the pass, which leaves Marshall Wood open for a 3, that’s good. Aggressive, attacking may not necessarily mean the shot every time, but it does mean being aggressive, attacking and maybe it’ll open it up for some of these other guys right now like a Will Johnston who I think can knock down a 3, I feel confident with him now, Marshall Wood, whose starting to get his legs back under him, maybe can make a basket right now, maybe dump it down to a Raines, who I feel comfortable with him right now. .. Be in attack mode.”
Johnson on Green’s supporting cast lacking ACC impact players: “They’ve shown they can do it at a high level. Early on in the season, Oklahoma State and Iowa, which are BCS teams, high level programs, these guys have done it in those games. Robert Brown has shown it consistently over his career. Last year down at Duke, in the ACC … tournament he scored 16 points there. These guys have shown they can do it. They’ve just got to come out and do it now. It’s just baffling that they haven’t been able to be consistent and do it all year long.”
Johnson on Eddie: “Jarell is not the ball handler, he doesn’t have the ball skills that Robert has … but what he can do is get down and post up some, he can get to the offensive glass, he can dribble to a spot and maybe shot fake and get to the free throw line. … But he’s not the ball handler that Robert is as far as creating his own shot.”
Johnson on the offense: “We haven’t had guys make plays. Shooting is one thing, but if the shot is not going down, there’s other things, like getting to the basket, post up, get to the free throw line, get to the offensive glass. We just haven’t had enough guys making plays consistently.”
Johnson on State: “They’re long, they’re athletic. We’re going to have trouble scoring over their guys. They’ve got good size at every position, even Brown at the point guard position matched up with Green — he’s big, he’s tall, he’s physical. … They’re bigger and more athletic probably at every position. With Howell and Raines down low, that’s a good matchup. But … they’re bigger and longer and athletic at every position. …. We’ve got to try to take them out of their transition baskets. We’ve got to make them play against our halfcourt set defense. We’ve got to .. have physical blockouts and and rebound the basketball. And then we’ve got to execute on the offensive end … and try to … get some other guys involved in scoring, which I thought we did in the first half (Tuesday). … Unfortunately it wasn’t Robert or Eddie but we did have other guys — Marshall Wood, I was impressed with him … Will Johnston, …. Marquis Rankin … We’ve got to have some other guys helping Green out consistently.”
Johnson on the halfcourt offense: “The execution is going pretty good. But I think at the end of the day everyone knows that it’s probably going to be a set for Green or some type of action for Green. But we are executing that, and we’re getting the ball in his hand and he’s making smart plays off of it. He’s finishing his part but [other] guys got to finish. I’m pleased with the execution part of it, it’s just at the end of the execution, what we’re doing.”
Green on not being mentioned for national player of the year: “I would love to be in that conversation …. I feel like I should be up there in that conversation. I understand my team’s not winning games, I know a lot matters about how your team’s doing. All I can do is keep playing my game and hopefully people will give me credit and hopefully I can get some national attention.”
Green on why he was exhausted and dehydrated vs. GT: “We had a game (two days) before and I just honestly think the way I didn’t take care of my body, I didn’t hydrate enough … and playing as much minutes as hard as I play and as hard as I go …. I didn’t have enough fluids and I was kind of wore out and drained out at the end of the Georgia Tech game.”
Green on how he can keep up his high level of play in this long season, given recent shooting woes: “The main thing is staying healthy, taking care of my body, but also just staying on top of my game. I make sure I’m in the gym every day consistently, putitng up jumpers, working on my moves … so I can stay consistent, playing at a high level.”
Green on the offense: “We’ve got to get more guys to score. … Scoring in the 50s, it’s going to be hard to win. … We’ve got to get guys scoring in double figures more consistently. … We’ve got to get guys to step up and play, we’ve got to get guys to be consistent every night. … I do make plays; the ball’s not going in for some of my teammates.”
Green on staying out of foul trouble: “I really want to take on the challenge of guarding the best (player) .. but I know Coach wants to rest me. Defensive wise, I just try to take pride and not foul and just stay on the court.”
Green on upcoming games with State’s Lorenzo Brown, Duke’s Mason Plumlee and Miami’s Shane Larkin: “This is what I’ve been waiting for. Honestly I love a challenge. I love to play against the best guards or the best players, they claim, in the ACC. This is what it’s all about. So I’m really looking forward to it. I’m looking forward to Saturday. I’m excited. I get myself pumped up. This is just the best part of the game. I love playing against the best because it’s going to make me better, it’s going to bring the best out of me.”
Green on the mood of the team: “It’s still not the mood that I would want. I understand we’re losing and it does suck, it’s one of the worst feelings, because I’m a winner and I’ve always been a winner. We’re just in a little slump …. We’ve just got to stay positive. We’re kind of a little down because we haven’t won.”
February 15, 2013 - 3:06 PM
If the one man offensive shows up the chokies can be in it for about the first half and then tired down the stretch again and lose like normal. If the chokies one man offensive doens’t show up they will be crushed and look for more excuses from the chokie faithful!! Just maybe Johnston can be given more opportunites to shoot instead of brown who shoots up bricks!! Go Chokies!!!
At this point, I’m beginning to wonder if Green might be left off the All ACC 1st team, because of the overall team record. He’s really got no shot at ACC POY because of that. My question is just how far down it pushes him. I saw Jay Bilas do a ‘Top Six Surprises Of The Year’ and include a VCU player who was scoring 16 ppg, and a bunch of other guys who scored in the low-mid teens. The difference was all of their teams were well above .500. I even saw one national POY candidate be discounted because his team was barely above .500 on the season. That comment alone cemented for me that Erick Green will get zero consideration in that category. You’ve got to lead your team to wins, not losses, to be considered valuable.
Sarcasm from Mr Potato Head does not score any points on or off the court. True Hokie Nation residents see that it is not the players fault that we are not doing well. It is the coaching that for several years have had 7 or 8 scholarship caliber players and zero bench strength. I agree that Green won’t be seriously considered for POY, since so many others are out there leading their teams to victory. The best on a team with some balance is going to be considered ahead of Green, who does his job, draws attention, dishes it off, only to have somebody else miss the easy shot. Green does all that in the first half, and then goes after his points in the second half, after the team is well out of the game. Eric is selfless until forced to take the whole game on his shoulders to avoid an embarassing blowout. He is still MVP for the Hokie Nation.
Isnt there wear and tear on every team’s players? Quit using that as an excuse, other teams have as few players as you and they arent whining about itm they just get it done, like UVa last year we had basically 6 healthy scholarship players by the end of the year due to injuries but we just got it done and went to the tourney. So thats not an excuse
Do not respond to potato head as he is an attention seeking troll. Green will be missed but Adam Smith will take up some of the slack. There should be at least marginal improvement from the holdovers. If not they will at least have competition for playing time.
Once again I see the loyal chokie fans think that they can make excuses for the sorry team they have out there. After all the loyal chokie fans think they are still the best and yet your team can’t beat anybobdy!! Its great that the hokies have loyal fans like Rodant and ZMan and others, but for you to disregard the truth that your team the beloved chokies are not good and down right bad well Dude’s wake up!! Your beloved chokies might not win a game again this year and yet you sorry fans still make excuses for them?? Well god bless you because you and the beloved chokies need help and its more than just a new AD!! Go Chokies!!!