Tech Talk Live Notes: Mike Young Recaps, Syracuse, Previews Virginia

On Thursday night, Virginia Tech basketball head coach Mike Young joined Zach Mackey and Mike Burnop on Tech Talk Live at McClain’s at First & Main. They discussed the loss at Syracuse on Wednesday night, the Hokies’ five-game losing streak and the open weekend before Virginia on Jan. 18.

Mike Young

Have you had a chance to watch film of Wednesday’s game at Syracuse yet?

I have. Sometimes it’s a bit better than you anticipated. Sometimes, even after wins, it’s not as good as we thought. In athletics, we get what we earn, and we got exactly what we earned last night. There were some spots that I was pleased with. Good to see Rodney Rice on the floor for extended minutes. I never anticipated playing him 29 minutes, but I thought he handled himself well. You’re playing against a zone so you’ve got a chance to get your feet under you a little bit on the offensive end, so his lack of conditioning wasn’t quite as glaring.

It’s impossible to, and we’ve played whatever we’ve played going into the Syracuse game, 15, 16 games, as many reps as we could get him, so as we look ahead, getting Hunter [Cattoor] back, and we hope it’ll be next week at UVa, with the addition of Hunter and Rodney Rice, we’ve got more punch on the perimeter and that’s only going to help us move along.

Cattoor’s status going into Syracuse and the decision for him not to play:

That was the thought [that he would play at Syracuse]. Now, last night was three weeks since he hurt it [at Boston College]. That was the plan, that’s what he wanted to do and that’s a big part of it. He really wants to play. As we started to rev him up on Monday, you just don’t take into consideration what he does for us. He guards the other team’s best player. Consequently, he is fighting through a number of screens. And it was very early in Monday’s practice and I could see it in his eyes.

Again, that guy is as tough as I’ve had in 37 years as a coach, and he just didn’t have it. I said, ‘This is not worth a game. This is your long-term health and you’ll be back ready to go and ready to get after the last half, last third, whatever it might be.’ We talked more at the end of practice and just thought the best course of action for Hunter Cattoor, which is the most important, and our basketball team was to not play.

He was over there [Hahn Hurst Practice Center] with David Jackson in the weight room, on the floor by himself, on the floor with an assistant coach working out, and he feels better, right now, than he’s felt. We’re not going to get him up to full speed tomorrow and full contact and that sort of thing. But we certainly need to do so, he knows we need to do so, by Sunday so we can really begin our preparations for the Cavaliers.

He’s so valuable; what do you miss the most?

All of the above. We’re not going to make any excuse – we are who we are and it’s our situation to overcome and work through and get better. But, and I’ve had a number of these in my time, in my time here, you watch film for 10 minutes and Hunter Cattoor’s going to guard him and the matchups naturally kind of fall in place. When Hunter’s gone, everyone’s got to move up a step.

Guarding [Syracuse’s Joe Girard] is tricky. I’m not sure he would’ve guarded Girard; sometimes we put him on the second- or third-best option because we can play off of that person and he covers up so many other things because he sees so much. His awareness… he sees things like a professional player does and that is quite valuable to us. But his cutting, his leadership on the floor, he’s a great receiver, he’s the best receiver we’ve got in getting open and getting an action initiated. I thought MJ Collins played better basketball last night [at Syracuse]. Again, I thought Rodney, in his first game, in the [JMA Wireless] Dome did a nice job for our team.

Cattoor’s activity in the team even though he’s not playing:

It’s his team, it’s Mutts’ team. That’s just kind of the way it always works in our program. He takes a great deal of ownership, as does Justyn. We all feel it, we’re all doing everything we can to play better basketball and win a lot of games. But he’s got a great head on his shoulders about all the right stuff, always has been, even when we came together when he was a kid as a freshman. He’s about winning, he’s about winning basketball games and representing Virginia Tech in a high fashion and he’s got a lot of leeway in our program, I can tell you that.

If I told you that you’d only have two turnovers and 11 assists but you’d be down by six, would you think I was crazy?

No, but I don’t know what would surprise me more if you told me Syracuse was going to score 40 points [in the first half]. I take nothing away from the Orange, I think the world of Coach [Jim] Boeheim and what he’s accomplished up there. They’ve got a good basketball team. Joe Girard is a very good basketball player. I think Jesse Edwards is maybe a somewhat underrated basketball player. Jesse Edwards is good, he’s long. They have good players around them, not great players around them.

I was mortified, I felt really poorly about our defensive effort, our defensive play in the first half. Consequently, we’re down 43-37. I thought we were getting the ball in great spots and Mutts is such a great trigger man at the foul line area against that zone and you’ve got to be able to put that thing in that spot if you’re going to succeed against it. It’s very set in what it’s going to do once it goes in there and you’ve got a chance to get some action where it’s important to you. But didn’t play as well defensively as we’ve got to play.

Rodney Rice made his debut. But it’s hard for even a veteran to come in during the middle of the season, isn’t it?

Yes, it is. It’s really hard. It is really hard. When you consider the preseason practices in September leading up to those two scrimmages, and those two scrimmages are gold for a young person, just to get their feet on the ground and see some plays and have an opportunity to toughen up a little bit. Now I thrust him in and we’re right here in ACC play, I guess UVa will be number seven. It’s difficult. He is a good player. I want him to be relaxed, I want him to have a good time playing.

He’s going to make some mistakes, he’s supposed to, that’s a part of it. But he’s going to grow with every opportunity, every snap, every rep he has, and he’s going to become more and more comfortable. I thought he acquitted himself quite well last night. Again, he had that short corner jumpshot, took care of the ball, he’s a very good passer. He’s a very good basketball player, just needs a little time to get everything revved up and he’s going to help our team win.

Justyn Mutts helped you crack the zone on offense:

I’m not a big analytics guy. I looked at the numbers today and watched a lot of film. So many of these games, we are carving people up in the post. Last night’s different because of the zone, because of how that thing is structured and how they play it. We want to manipulate it and attack it. We’re going to have some opportunities. If you’ll recall last year against Syracuse at home, we only played them once in the regular season. [Keve] Aluma and Justyn were magical.

Their passing, Aluma had a couple of catches and finishes at the rim that were remarkable. My point is I go back, North Carolina, Dayton, some of these other games, we are getting 40, 42, 44 points from our front line and I think consequently our shot selection, our efficiency on the perimeter was much better during that time. So continue to pour over it and looking forward to getting back and getting after it tomorrow.

How’d you think your guys handled the 2-3 zone?

I thought not bad at all, to be honest. Again, not nearly the connectedness we needed defensively. We’ve got to shoot the ball better – three made threes, one of which was at the buzzer – that’s a throwaway. [Sean] Pedulla had two in the first half. I don’t care if you’re playing against the zone or what you’re playing against, you’ve got to get it under the basket, you’ve got to get better production out of your backcourt. I have great faith in those kids, they’ve been very good for us throughout and they’ll get us back on track, just need to play better basketball.

Every team goes through ups and downs. Is it just a matter of confidence?

I don’t think there are a lot of parallels we can make to last year, I just don’t. I forget the circumstance; you may recall better than I do. I can remember Miami in here and Charlie [Miller], little point guard hits a mid-court shot to get us and we’ve got to go to Florida State. The Hokies haven’t had a lot of success down there in the last 40 years if I recall correctly, if memory serves, and Cattoor was special, Darius Maddox was very good down there, Sean Pedulla was terrific – I think he made five in the first half. Stay the course, stay in the gym and they do that. They were all in there today or the majority of them were in there today, but time’s a wasting, we’ve got to get on the stick, we’ve got to play better.

Lynn Kidd is playing with confidence right now:

Those numbers, what more do you need to say? I think he’s 11-for-13 in his last what games. He’s doing it, he’s going it night-in and night-out. He’s going to start seeing some different defenses. He is just playing that well, they’re going to have to send someone down to get him and a real bright spot. As good as Mylyjael Poteat has been, he wasn’t great last night, picked up two quick fouls. But that kid has given us great play throughout the season so we talk about those two young men and their contributions to this team, they’ve been invaluable and will continue to be as we move along.

What’s the next step for a guy like Lynn Kidd? Better defensively? More physical?

Where he’s come in his time with us, he’s come lightyears, defensively that is. He’s come lightyears across the board with the team. He’s become an unbelievable worker, he was in there this morning working at it. His feet have to improve, he’s a big, strong young man who can really move, can really run and can move laterally, can guard some different things. But ball screen coverage has got to come on; however, he’s made great strides.

The next real step ahead for Lynn will be on the defensive side of the board. He’s not a great shot blocker, I’m not sure if he’ll ever be a great shot blocker. I was really discouraged by his rebounding in the early going, early portion of the year. Haven’t thought about it in the last several weeks, he’s just rebounded the ball that consistently and that well night-in and night-out. He’s putting together a very, very good year for our team.

Sean Pedulla played all 40 minutes at Syracuse. What’s different about his game this year?

He’s a good basketball player. He’s fearless, he’s tough. He is not as efficient right now as he needs to be and we’re working through that. There’s more to his game – giving it up and getting it back – and that’s going to happen. I’ve got to do a better job with Sean. Love coaching him, he’s one of mine, he’s a tough nut and doing very, very well. But improvements have to be made in that regard and getting some other people involved and he’ll do that. He’s about the right things.

In an ideal world, how many minutes would you like to see Pedulla play per game?

That’s a good question. It’s a headscratcher and I have to figure it out. I will figure it out, that’s part of it. It’s easier with Cattoor, Rodney Rice is back and rounding into shape. Pedulla’s probably always going to play 33, 34 minutes a game, but with Rodney and Hunter, Darius and MJ [Collins], I’ve got some things that I can get to. I think Sean Pedulla’s going to be a better player with 33 minutes than maybe he is with 40 minutes and I’m aware of that. I’m just a bit hamstrung, for lack of a better expression.

The women’s team is playing very well right now:

They’ve got a good team. Elizabeth [Kitley] is healthy and playing good basketball for them, they’ll get Ashley [Owusu] back, she’s a delightful young lady. She seems to be getting healthy here as we move along. Getting all of those pieces together, man, they’ve got a good team. I’m awfully proud of them, they’re really nice, really nice young people.

You had some good success with the press last night. Might you use it more?

No, I don’t think so. We’ve never played that way. Not supposed to be in that situation. I was pleased with Grant Basile, we had a conversation earlier today. He played with a level of energy and athleticism, and he had a couple of really, really impressive rebounds above the rim. He is a very good player. I said to him, “Hey, listen, your best players have to be your best players and you’re one of our better players.” He has had a very good year for us.

There’s another level to him. He’s got the want-to, he is a wonderful fella, but we need the best we can get from Grant Basile night-in and night-out. Not as aggressive, not moving as well as we need him to move and I’ve got something to do with that. I’ve got to help him offensively. His outside shooting is a difference-maker and his ability to stretch the floor, which pulls people to him, and now Mutts is down there one-on-one. Just a lot of things that we’ve got to shore up here and we’ve got to get it shored up immediately.

Syracuse had that 20-4 run to start the second half. You called a timeout to stop the bleeding. How do you make that decision as to whether or not you call the timeout?

It’s rather frustrating when you come out of halftime down six and those first four minutes are of critical importance and we’ve always started well, but we did not start well after the half against Wake Forest and there was somebody else here recently. Attention to detail and preparedness for how critical and pivotal that first four minutes until that first media timeout [are]. Kind of sets the stage for what’s to come. You’re not in the stretch yet, but that is a precursor for how that second half is going to line up and we didn’t have that part of it very well.

Coach [Frank] Beamer always said the first few minutes in the third quarter were the most important. It’s very similar in basketball.

It’s no different. The similarities of football and basketball are staggering. I could not agree with Coach more. For our team, down two, down six, up six, down 10, that first four minutes… Oklahoma State, we were up 10 and they cut it to two right away to start that second half. We went on to win that game, but I don’t think it’s anything glaring. Better offensive possessions and sitting down in a defensive stance and playing as a unit defensively and moving on the flight of the ball and boxing out and chasing rebounds. There are no great secrets. It’s an easy game when you make it easy. We’re making it a little bit harder for ourselves than we need to right now.

The guys really enjoy being around each other:

We’ve got the right stuff. Those kids want to play the right way, expect to win, we prepare very, very well, our practices continue to be quite good. I reflect back to last year’s team who got in a bit of a hole but continued to practice well. They enjoy each other’s company, they pull for one another. We’ve got the right stuff in that locker room. But you make your living between those lines and we’ve got to play better basketball.

Syracuse hit some big shots late in the shot clock, and the rim was friendly:

Athletics, isn’t it? It’s athletics. You find yourself not playing your best and victory favors the team that is the most connected, that plays the hardest. Syracuse outplayed us last night. As I said earlier, you get what you deserve, and we got what we deserved last night.

What’s this next week look like without a game on Saturday?

A lot of recruiting. We’ll practice tomorrow [Friday], looking forward to that. Then I’m going to get out to see a young man that’s already signed with us down in Atlanta. Back tomorrow night, practice again on Saturday, get out and about some more. You’ve got to take advantage of those opportunities when you have them. We’ve got plenty on our plate with our team and getting better there, making improvements there, but we’ve got work to do on the road too.

Every team gets that weekend off because of the odd number of teams in the league (15). Is this kind of when you recalibrate?

Certainly tomorrow, Saturday, Sunday. I won’t say anything about UVa until Monday. We’ve got those two practices on Monday, Tuesday and that shootaround on Tuesday leading up to game time. And I say this with great admiration, it’s not like the gentleman from Charlottesville [Tony Bennett] is going to change a lot with how he’s playing. You know what you’re going to see, it’s great basketball and you guys know how much I admire him.

Basketball’s different because it seems like you guys are constantly out on the road recruiting:

Yeah, I haven’t had it any other way. I kind of like the football model, but they’ve got so many windows and this and that I can’t keep up with everything. Ours is not easy, it’s not ideal, there is movement afoot to alter that a little bit more. There’s a lot of things in the works. Improvements need to be made. It’s a bit much and has been a bit much in terms of the time, and it makes it very difficult. My number one priority is obviously our current team.

Those kids are here, that’s our team right now and I will never miss practice to go on the road, I never have in 21 years as a head coach, I’m never going to start. But again, when the opportunity arises, you’ve got to get out there, you’ve got people to see and some of the kids I’ll see Saturday are [class of] 24s, there’s one that’s 23, there’s a number of really good tournaments. Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, there’s always a lot of really good tournaments over the MLK holiday.

It’s kind of crazy when you think about that because football has 85 scholarships and yet the windows are smaller. You guys are on the road constantly. What does the month of July look like?

That one’s been all over the place. I can remember when I was younger, fellas, I remember that great big bag – I’m looking at Margaret – that I had that was full with clothes. We would leave on July 5 and for some of us, we wouldn’t come back until the last day of July, we were out the entire time. We didn’t have the money at Wofford to go like that but we were gone a lot. That part is better. We have two four-day periods in July now. That’s more manageable, that’s more reasonable.

But it’s the year that I have a problem with. We’re out quite a bit in September. Again, there is movement afoot and we as coaches talk about it all the time and how we’ve got to make it better for not only us, but more importantly our assistant coaches with families and those guys are out a lot more than we are as head coaches. We’ve got to make some improvements there.

Do you enjoy recruiting?

There are parts of it that I really enjoy, there are parts of it that I don’t enjoy very much at all. I enjoy the relationships and getting to know the high school coaches, AAU coaches. I’ve had some great, great recruiting experiences with some kids that we didn’t get. But the chase and everything that goes into it and the official visit weekend, it’s heartbreaking when you lose one that you put a lot into and you feel really good about what that person would bring to your program. But that’s part of it and it’s hard. There’s nothing easy about it, but it’s also quite rewarding at times.

What goes through your mind when you think back to your time at Wofford? How many managers did you have?

Well, when I was at Wofford, the tuition was about $70,000, $75,000. And for me to encourage a young person – I had four or five females that were terrific – to come over and work with us and be there two hours before the team got there to have everything squared away, stay after practice, that was a big ask. We always had one or two great ones. We have 38 of them now and the young ones, I don’t even know their names. But the ones that have been around, and those kids are terrific, they’re awesome. They do a great job for our program, and that part of it is a lot easier at Virginia Tech than it is at Wofford, I can tell you that.

Buzz Williams even had one guy at Virginia Tech that just carried his clothes around:

I don’t need anyone to carry my clothes around, I can assure you that. The extra hands on deck are certainly helpful. I do get a kick out of seeing still pictures from our games and our huddle and I’m like, “What roles do all of these people have?” I’m not real sure. But I care for all of them and they all bring something very simple to the organization and I’m happy with them.

How do you feel like Virginia Tech is situated in the NIL space?

I feel like we’re in a good position and it needs to improve, and I know the people that matter are aware of that and doing everything they can. I’m thrilled for our players that they can take advantage of those opportunities, I think our players have done a remarkable job at capitalizing on that part of it. They’re not afraid of it, they present themselves quite well. Obviously, they represent Virginia Tech very, very well. It’s a new frontier, man. Embrace it or get killed. And we better embrace it because it’s not going anywhere. It’s coming on faster and faster and faster every day. It’s what we’re living with.