Warming Up for Tomorrow’s Chat
With our on-line chat looming for 11 tomorrow morning, I took the opportunity to ask Coach Dino Gaudio some questions I thought might come up. What follows are some of Gaudio’s answers. Just call them layups taken to get ready for the big game.
On a possible lineup change with Ari Stewart moving in and L.D. Williams moving out:
“I like the lineup,’’ Gaudio said. “We’re playing hard and we’re playing well. Now I’m not a guy who’s bull-headed and won’t change. For me it’s all what happens in practice. If guys are working hard, then they have a chance to move in or out of the lineup. Right now those five starters are all working hard and haven’t done anything to be, if you will, demoted.’‘
Ari Stewart’s development:
“I just talked to him,’’ Gaudio said. “His defense is improving. It’s getting better. He has to do a better job – we talked about it – on the backboard, offensively and boxing out. And what I shared with him was, some coaches teach `Just go to the glass and just try to get the ball.’ We are a box-out basketball team. We say `Go make contact with your man, seal him off, and then go get the rebound.’ And he’s still learning that.’‘
Ish Smith’s audition for the NBA before announcers Jeff Van Gundy, Mark Jackson and Mike Breen.
“I talked to Jeff Van Gundy before the game last night,’’ Gaudio said. “Jeff and Mark and Mike Breen, we had a pregame thing. And I said to them `I’m not comparing this young man to Chris Paul, but I’m telling you, I coached Chris and I coached Jeff (Teague) and there’s nobody faster from this end line to that end line with the basketball than this kid.’ And I said `I believe he can be an NBA player. I really believe that.’
“And I can’t remember which one said – and you’ve heard me say this numerous times—`He’s not a great shooter.’ And I go `But I’m telling you he’s a big-shot maker.’ And I talk to Jeff after the game and he says `Boy I like that kid.’ And I said `You know what. He’s a really good player. He’s a better kid.’ ‘’
A special weight-lifting program that has been implemented for Ty Walker and transfer Nikita Merscheriakov:
“He and Nikita are also on a completely different weight-lifting program than the other guys,’’ Gaudio said. “Those two kids are lifting four times a week. Now these guys, we’re going to play three games this week and we won’t get a lift in until Monday. Because we played Sunday, they’ll only get one lift in maybe this week. Those two kids are going to get four lifts in – every week.
“I think he’s getting stronger. You see it with his weight going up. You see it with his numbers, if you will – what he’s benching, what he’s cleaning, all that stuff.
“The biggest thing for Ty Walker is God blessed him with size and skill. His challenge is from the neck up.’‘
On Walker spending time on the Scout team preparing the Deacons for the upcoming team:
“What I told Ty was, I think it’s much better for his development if he’s going against Chas (McFarland) and Tony (Woods) and David (Weaver) every day, instead of in a 10-minute clip in practice, getting three minutes. He agrees. He has accepted that.’‘
On the recent improvement of Tony Woods:
“I had a personal meeting with Tony after Christmas and just sat down with him and said `What do you want out of basketball?’ Gaudio said. “(He said) `I want to have a great career and I want to play professionally.’ I said `You know what? Terrific. Great goals. But do you understand how you have to get there?’ And I quoted Skip, you see that (quote) in the back when you go up to the gym where it says `Are you a 3 to 6 guy, or are you a 6 to 3 guy?’ (I said) `Tony right now you’re 3 to 6 guy. You never come to practice early. As soon as practice is over, you leave. You have to increase your skill set. You have to get better at shooting the ball, handling it, passing it. And the only way you’re going to get better at that is if you come into the gym and you work.’
“A great sign is he’s coming early. A great sign was, we had a voluntary shoot at Carolina (Wednesday). We had an 11 o’clock shooting time. After the game Sunday we’re pretty beat up, so we said it was strictly voluntary. I let the assistants tell the kids, because sometimes when I’m standing there they’re like `He wants us to go.’
“He was one of four kids on the bus. He shot 43 of 50 from the free-throw line that morning and he made two for two in the game. I’m telling you, he wouldn’t have done that before. And hopefully he sees that that hard work will pay off a little bit.’‘