Everything Phil Martelli said during his pre-San Diego State availability
Michigan assistant coach Phil Martelli met with the media on Friday to preview the Wolverines' upcoming clash with San Diego State.
For everything Martelli had to say, check out the full transcript below.
On the key to good offensive spacing
Making shots. Having threats on the floor. You have to be in a position to attack the scouting report. We're not the only staff in America that watches and comes out with a scouting report. That's what teams are doing, they're coming out with scouting reports. I'm not this analytic guy but the numbers are the numbers, it's always been that way. If you look at our numbers and say, 'We can space them right now because the ball is not going in the basket.' The second part of it is that they're mimicking what they're seeing other teams do. For us, to have good spacing—I will add one little caveat there. You have to have pace so that the game is a smooth game and not this—almost like a root canal without Novocain. If I'm being honest, that's the way it feels right now. There's a grind and we want to get into a flow. Spacing will come from better pace and better shot-making.
On the confidence he can get there with the current group of players
Not in enjoyable style, but I will say, any means necessary. Absolutely, completely, confident that the teaching, the drill work we're doing and the character of the players, not just the skill of the players, but the character of the players, we will get there.
On DeVante' Jones
We want him to get lane touches. We want that ball to get into the paint and not just passing through to Hunter or to Moussa. We want to make sure we get lane touches and he can then, to use the terminology, spray the ball around. Right now, we're seeing a little bit more of that each practice but that's what we're really looking for. That's the key. Not worrying about shots but making sure the ball is getting into the teeth of the defense and that we can create our offenses off penetration and pitching the ball. Again, the situations that he's in at practice, it's there, but it's practice. When the popcorn's popping and the lights are bright and everybody is watching, you want to make sure there's a carry-over from practice. He is spending an exorbitant amount of time with Howard Eisley. Film breakdown, conversations on the floor. Obviously, Juwan is a film efficienado. All hands on deck here. Again, complete confidence that DeVante' will get there sooner rather than later.
On Frankie Collins
It's not too big. He does carry himself in a way, even with the way he walks into practice, the way he goes through practice. I think the insistence with him is, last year, when people saw him play on those national settings in high school games, I think one of the things that came out was that he was relentless on defense. We need that. He has been told that. Not criticizing but let's take this up another level. Let's not be safe. Let's put pressure on their ball as much as they're putting pressure on our ball. His growth, to me, yes, he has to become a better shooter. That will be reps and a little alteration in his form. We want to make sure that he becomes an elite foul shooter and that he becomes, in affectionate terms, the pitbull on defense that we have seen. Last year, at this time, Mike Smith wasn't a pitbull. Then, Juwan Howard stayed on him in every minute, of every day of every practice of every game. It changed. That's the same we will expect from Frankie.
On San Diego State
To be honest with you, when I first looked at their numbers because it's my scout when I first looked at their numbers I was like, holy maceral, this is like a mirror, the numbers. Then, when I watched their film, the thing that jumps out is beauty in the eye of the beholder. Their defensive effort, whoever goes in the game, when the backups go in the game, their defensive effort is absolutely inspiring to me. I'm looking at the game and saying are we going to be able to score and run some offense and kind of get out of this little rut that we're in on the offensive end? This isn't the ideal opponent. At the offensive end of the floor, the, featuring Bradley, the confidence that the point guard plays with, I think that you see them trying different ways to make sure their feature players get shots. That's similar to us. Their defense, the denial, every guy, 1 through 10, is going to play and step in and take a charge. It's a greedy bunch, for sure, that we're going to play.
On Brian Dutcher
I only Brian a little bit. I don't know him a great deal. I will always be appreciative of this: Two year ago, it was our first summer out as a staff and he pulled me aside and said, 'I know what you're doing, I know the sacrifices you're making away from your family out of Philly for the first time.' He said, 'You're going to love it. Because the people are so very special.' He couldn't be any more accurate. Juwan, and Jay Smith, the last couple of days when it comes whether its a scouting report or a conversation, just even the logistics of when San Diego State is coming and when are they shooting, all that kind of thing. Those two guys, they're really excited. I'll use the term, they're almost giddy about this opportunity. Now you factor in national TV and playing a really good opponent. There's a lot of excitement. Certainly a lot of excitement for those guys, personally. Here's the deal, when the ball goes in the air all of that goes out the window. It's our five guys against their five guys and we can hug and kiss and do all that stuff after the game. Everybody out there that's ever competed against a brother or cousin, their next-door neighbor, you always wanted to win. Whether it's Wiffle ball or hide-and-seek, you always wanted to be the last one. That's the way this game feels.
On how the team acquires the desired pace they want to play
That keeps us up at night, getting this pace. I think that, one, is first there has to be an insistence, which there, and there has to be a commitment from the five players on the floor. The coaching staff has to insist on it every single time. The players on the floor have to commit to it. They have to commit to acknowledging when they can't make that pace and take themselves out the game. Then we get a fresher body in there. We have to become a better defensive rebounding team, which means that, overall, we have to become a better defensive team. Our numbers are pretty good but they're a little inflated. I think it's, straight up, it's a commitment to insist upon a sprint every single time down the floor for all five guys. They then have the responsibility, as long as their held accountable, they can't look sideways if we say, "You didn't sprint that time. We want to get somebody in there that's fresh."
On how to combat teams trying to shut down Hunter Dickinson when outside shots aren't falling
I'd love any and all suggestions on that. On a crowded floor, it's challenging. One of the things that we are working is maybe a little bit different entry point. If you added a ball from the wing and everybody is loaded up to that side of the ball, that's going to be a tough pass. Maybe if the ball was entered from the top of the key going down the floor, maybe you have less congestion. We're looking at it, we're working on it and we're putting in wrinkles to address that. We want to make sure that Hunter is part of that sprint the floor. Get out, get down the floor. Maybe we beat the other big guy down the floor and get a position we want. Right now, it's just a crowded floor. We're not walking away from it. We know who our horse is, we know where our bread is buttered and that is one of the things that makes us different from a lot of the college teams. A lot of teams go to five out, we're not going to five out. We're going to stick with this. We're going to have a low-post presence and we're going to jump on Hunter's back and make sure he takes us where we want to go as a group.
On what he looks for in the freshmen to make sure they're making progress
Exactly that, we're looking for steady progress. It only has to be one thing. It's not, well, Caleb would be in great shape, he's going to make all of his shots and everything is going to be great Saturday night. No, it's what's the progress? Kobe is a quiet guy. Today in practice, can we get him to be vocal? It's just one little area. We have a thing around the program, 1%. Everybody, from Juwan all the way down, to our walk-ons and to our managers, we are asked to get 1% better in one area today. That's exactly what we're looking for from those young guys. Frankie Collins, go back, his foul shooting. He and I had a chance to speak yesterday, he went 2-for-2 in Carolina. OK, that was his 1%. It didn't go real well for us across the board with our team. He was 2-for-2. Now, can we go 4-for-4 in your next opportunity? It's always—they're not going to become overnight fabulous. I always have gone back to this idea. Five games into his freshmen year and ended up as a second-team All-American, Hunter Dickinson, did not start and he did not start by merit. Austin Davis won that job. It wasn't like Hunter came in and, oh, that's it. He was the be-all-end-all. He worked to get there. Being 1% better each and every day.
On balancing not panicking with a tough start
Again, sometimes it seems like I'm gushing over Juwan, I go back to our first year and we couldn't get a sniff of a win on the road in the Big Ten. I just know myself, I'm ripping and agonizing over it. He just had this ability to say, OK, everybody breathe. Let's get on to this day and this challenge. That's exactly the message that he has delivered to these players. That's why there's not a lot of hammering. There's a lot of introspective study going on. It's not just numeric study. It's, alright, let's look at film. Let's see where we can improve. I just had this notion of—you can get so despondent and then you look at the calendar and see its December. You cannot be cavalier about it and say, you know, it was the setting or it was this or it was that. We clearly have identified more from the three losses than the four wins. Even those were sketchy at times. These are the areas. If we can get to those areas and be better today, then we'll play better tomorrow. That's the whole thing, play better. Play better individually and collectively tomorrow against a quality opponent.