Notes and quotes from Jay Wright's Monday press availability. As always, we'll cover Wright's St. John's specific thoughts in our game preview.
On trying to prepare for the speed of certain opponents, like St. John's...
“We try to go 6-on-5 and we try to address situations that look good in practice, but we say alright that looks good here but that’s not gonna work against St. John’s. We really try to identify those situations and it’s hard and a lot of times you gotta get in the game and just gotta get a feel for the speed and hope you can adjust quickly.”
On the challenges of wearing a mask, specifically regarding communication...
“Early in the year when we were up in the bubble I got reprimanded by our team doctor because I was in the huddle with my mask down and he said that defeats the whole purpose, you’re in a huddle. I was like you’re right. That was way back in the beginning so I’ve learned and I really try to keep it on all the time. And because I try to keep it on, there are many times where I’m yelling out calls and we run something different and I’ll say to Collin what the hell were we doing and I’ll say what the call was and he said 'oh I thought you said something else.' When I feel like they’re struggling I pull it down real quick to yell but it definitely happens where you miscommunicate calls.”
On the expectations after the recent run of success and if that change ever crosses his mind...
“It does. It’s a new challenge to deal with for coaches and the players. It’s a good problem to have, but it is a challenge. You lose one game and the players feel terrible, they feel like they’re letting everybody down, they feel like they’re letting the previous players down. The previous players are upset when you lost a game (laughs). It is a new challenge. We really do try to keep things in perspective within our team, we try.”
On trying to prepare for the speed of certain opponents, like St. John's...
“We try to go 6-on-5 and we try to address situations that look good in practice, but we say alright that looks good here but that’s not gonna work against St. John’s. We really try to identify those situations and it’s hard and a lot of times you gotta get in the game and just gotta get a feel for the speed and hope you can adjust quickly.”
On the challenges of wearing a mask, specifically regarding communication...
“Early in the year when we were up in the bubble I got reprimanded by our team doctor because I was in the huddle with my mask down and he said that defeats the whole purpose, you’re in a huddle. I was like you’re right. That was way back in the beginning so I’ve learned and I really try to keep it on all the time. And because I try to keep it on, there are many times where I’m yelling out calls and we run something different and I’ll say to Collin what the hell were we doing and I’ll say what the call was and he said 'oh I thought you said something else.' When I feel like they’re struggling I pull it down real quick to yell but it definitely happens where you miscommunicate calls.”
On the expectations after the recent run of success and if that change ever crosses his mind...
“It does. It’s a new challenge to deal with for coaches and the players. It’s a good problem to have, but it is a challenge. You lose one game and the players feel terrible, they feel like they’re letting everybody down, they feel like they’re letting the previous players down. The previous players are upset when you lost a game (laughs). It is a new challenge. We really do try to keep things in perspective within our team, we try.”