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...
al andrew bit close four freshmen giving good growing guys juniors last leadership lost maturing playing pressure program reason taking three todd year
We're still in a growing up stage. Last year we relied on a lot of freshmen and sophomores and we lost a lot of close games. One reason the sophomores from last year who are now juniors are playing better is because they're more experienced. A.J. (Johnson) and Al Thornton are giving us good leadership, and we're getting leadership from our three seniors. Todd Galloway has been in the program for four years, so has Andrew Wilson. We have some guys who are maturing a little bit and it's taking some pressure off of our new players.
faith grow situation test type
We have to grow up. This is the type of situation that's going to test our courage, our faith and our maturity.
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.
building consistent continue finally hopefully opportunity playing regardless sustain
We're finally grasping the big picture. That's why this opportunity is so important for us now. If we can continue to keep playing with that focus, then we'll become more consistent and we'll be building on something that can sustain us regardless of who we're playing and hopefully into the future.
afford ball best enthusiasm front game maybe meet mentally needed reality step style team time type
We did not meet their style of ball with the type of enthusiasm that we should have. Maybe this is the type of game we needed to keep reality in front of us. We are not a team that can afford not to be at our very best mentally every time we step out.
adjust chance grow limelight
What we're going to do is give him a chance to grow and adjust out of the limelight as much as possible.
absolutely available room three
There are some opportunities out there available for us. There are three more opportunities and absolutely no room for error.
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.
earn establish rather
There are opportunities for youngsters to come in and contribute. Rather than us try to establish a role, we like for them to come in and earn the right to play.
against issue maybe might played videos zones
There are times when we have played so well against zones you would think that maybe we might need to issue some videos or something.
feeling goals higher start taking
We have higher goals. We're not feeling like we need to start taking any bows.
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.
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.