With Miami Up Next Gottfried, Turner Talk Strategy

Mark Gottfried

On Miami’s style of play…
“They’re zoning a lot more and it’s real effective. It’s a matchup zone and sometimes it’s tough to figure it out. I think offenseively they are very similiar. They utilize ball screens a lot, we have a to do a great job defending that, but I think he’s done a great job with this team. Regardless of their record in the league, they’re going to be a really tough team to beat. I can promise you that.”

On why Miami plays so much zone this year…
I think they lost some games early on and he looked at their team and wanted to find some things they could be really good at and I think they are really good at their matchup zone. So that’s the thing we’re going to have to tackle.

On how NC State will attack the zone…
We’re going to have to make some shots from the perimeter. I don’t know that you can beat them just making shots around the basket all night long, because they clog the lane. We hope we have some things that I think can be effective against it. We have to move the ball really well, set some screens even though it’s a zone and get inside of it. Ultimately though, you have to make some shots too. You have to make a few shots from the perimeter, it really helps you.

On Beejay Anya…
Health-wise, Beejay is getting there. He was able to practice today, so we expect him to be a lot more ready to play from a physical standpoint than he was at Carolina.

On talking about the postseason…
I think talking about (the NCAA Tournament) is a ways away for us. We’re halfway through the league and we’ve got to really turn it up. We’ve got to win some on the road, keep improving as a team, and we’ve got our 9 scholarship guys and they have to be ready to play on any night with any combination. That’s the way we’ve got to be ready to play.

On how to beat Miami…
The question is, can you speed (Miami) up. Which is hard to do. Whether you full court press them or do some different things, you’ve got to be smart about that because you don’t want quick, empty possessions yourselves.

Ralston Turner

On the difference between State and Miami…
“We like to run and score a high amount of points and (Miami) likes to play zone and they don’t push it as much as we do.”

On playing on the road…
“Anytime you’re on the road, nobody is on your side. So regardless of who’s there we have to be ready to play because we know Miami will be ready to play.”

On talking about postseason….
“Yes, we do talk about (the NCAA Tournament). Right now we still feel like it’s an obtainable goal, but it’s something we’re going to have to work for. We don’t have much more room for error so we need to capitalize on everything.”

On Gottfried being a ‘one game at a time’ type of guy…
“He has to look at it like that. You have to be like that, you have to take care of your business and you can’t play 2 or 3 teams at one time, so focus on the task at hand and then move on to what’s next.”