I finally sat down to watch Stoudamire's post game presser. If you haven't yet watched, do so. It is remarkable.
That was the first time I've seen him pissed and frustrated with his team. He did not praise a single GT player, or the team in any way.
He said that the team is "consistently inconsistent." He said that the players have to get tired of that.
He did not heap any respect on UVA. He said that "they run two plays" for their entire offense and that to defend them his players can't "get bored" of digging in defending their actions deep into the shot clock. he said that there wasn't a single UVA player that did anything that they don't usually do. Stoudamire was pissed that his players did not execute on defense how they were instructed to do it. And he thought that the break downs were all about toughness and competitiveness.
When asked if he could take away anything positive from the team cutting the lead to 5 points in the second half, he said something that I have never heard a coach say: he said that it is easy to play hard and come back when you have a double digit deficit. He remembered the moment when Gt got within two possession is the second half and Stoudamire said, "and them Miles left McNeely open for an uncontested 3."
With regard to his team growing a pair, Stoudamire said that "it is time."
He said that in three years time that "I won't be up here talking about this." I took that to mean that he WILL have a tough, competitive squad by then (or that he will be gone!).
Bottom line, Stoudamire boiled over post game UVA. He is frustrated by the lack of competitive consistency of his players. He does not think too much of UVA or what they do and thought that his players should have executed, especially defensively, much better than they did.
I think this is a good sign. I hope that he is able to find via recruiting the type of tough competitors that he thinks he needs to win against teams like UVA.
