Leonard Hamilton
Leonard Hamilton
Leonard Hamiltonis an American basketball coach and the current men's basketball head coach at Florida State University. He is a former head coach at Oklahoma State University, the University of Miami, and for the National Basketball Association's Washington Wizards. In his 23 years as a collegiate head coach, his teams have qualified for seven NCAA tournaments and eight NITs, highlighted by appearances in the NCAA Tournament's "Sweet Sixteen" in 2000and 2011. While with the NBA's Wizards his team posted a...
defended defense difficult duke game good great played players shots time tough toward
We had a very difficult time there toward the end of the game getting the right stops. I thought we played good enough defense for the most part, but you have to give Duke a lot of credit. When the game's on the line, they made some real tough shots that were very well defended and that's what great players will do.
caliber coming good mode playing teams
We have to get out of the mode of playing good caliber teams good, but coming out a little short.
future games larger sure uncharted waters win
This is uncharted waters for us. I'm sure that in the future we'll try to win games by a little larger margin.
carolina couple either fighting fights-and-fighting games gone maybe north possibly season sure throw wide year
Possibly -- possibly -- Duke, and maybe North Carolina State. I'm not sure that we all aren't fighting for positioning now. I said before the season started that this would be a year where you could throw predictions out the window. I'm not sure you could make calls. You've had a couple of wide margins, but most games could have gone either way. That's the way it is in the ACC.
defended few game plays
Diaz and Hite were too much for us. When the game was on the line, I think they made a few more plays than we did. You have to give Diaz and Hite credit. They were defended about as well as you could defend them.
adjusting al anyone burning desire feeling good gym himself matter reacting spends style time
Al has always had a burning desire to be a good player. He spends more time in the gym by himself than anyone we've had. For him, it was just a matter of adjusting to our style and feeling comfortable. He's now reacting and not thinking.
containing floor hoped job players saying smaller switched switching
That was what the players were saying - 'We have to get stops,' because they were kind of having their way with us there for a little while. So, they just buckled down, and we started switching everything. ... We just put a smaller lineup out there on the floor and switched everything and hoped that we could do a better job containing them.
criteria determined hope maintain ncaa past season
I don't have any say in the criteria that's already been determined and me making speculations right now would be just that, speculations. What we have to do is maintain hope, and hope that we've done enough during the season to go the NCAA tournament. Past that, there's not a whole lot more we can say.
understanding
He's getting a better understanding of his strengths.
contests free great grown hit rebounds team throws
Our team has grown up a little bit. We had some great contests when they had some looks, we got some big rebounds and we hit some very important free throws down the stretch. That's a team that's maturing.
clicking defense defensive finding guys last less looks open people seen system understanding
In the last two games, you've seen our defense kind of clicking where guys are rotating. We're getting more deflections. You're finding less people getting good, open looks because now we have a better understanding of how the defensive system works.
determination special
He has that drive, determination and focus. You see it in his eyes. He has that special something about him that you like to see in athletes.
appears conference emphasis happened include process strength sure teams trying understand
It appears to me that what has happened is there is a big emphasis on trying to include more mid-major (conference) teams (in tournament). And I understand that. But if we want to include other people, I'm not sure the right thing to do is come up with a process that devalues the strength of a team's conference schedule.
energy gave team utilize
I thought that really, really gave us a big boost. And we need that kind of energy from our team if we're going to utilize our depth.