Hey guys, I have completed a word-for-word transcription of EVERYTHING Cuonzo Martin said at Tuesday's press conference. Here is part 1.
Cuonzo Martin on what differences he has seen in Jordan Mathews and Jabari Bird: "Well, I think the difference in Jordan and Jabari's game, obviously a year older. Jabari, he's been healthy from start to finish, both of those guys are doing a good job of putting the ball on the floor. I guess previously a reputation of catch and shoot guys, now they're doing a really good job of putting the ball on the floor, but being sound with it, not just dribbling the ball to be dribbling, but making plays, attacking the rim, and doing good things, but also distributing the basketball as well. But I think a lot of it has to do with their growth from a physical standpoint, also. To be able to take hits, to get around the rim and make plays. So, they're doing a good job."
Cuonzo Martin on whether or not he's seen a difference in Jabari's confidence: "Yes we have. And I think the biggest key for Jabari is just playing with confidence on both ends of the floor. Understanding who he is, he's a good athlete, he's a guy that can make plays offensively and just to play with instincts as opposed to thinking and not being so methodical and robotic with his movements, just playing off instincts, reacting to both ends of the floor, reading the defense, and making plays and having fun doing that and I thought he did a good job of that in Australia."
Cuonzo Martin on Jabari Bird finding his rhythm: "Well, I think, and my two cents, and Jabari hasn't said this before, but also the expectation of being ‘Jabari Bird’ and whatever that meant. So now instead it's not 25 points, but did you play well? And my thickest gauge is playing on both ends of the floor and being a complete basketball player. Now if it was 15 points, 20 points, 5 points, how was your overall game? And that's the most important thing to be his gauge, not necessarily to be worrying about how many shots or how many points I’ve scored. That's never been the case with him, either, so but I also want him to be thinking about offense, being more aggressive offensively, to think scoring, to think attacking the rim, playing in transition, and getting to the free throw line. Because he has an ability to do a lot of things."
Cuonzo Martin on whether or not Jabari Bird feels less pressure: "I mean it's hard to tell because in his mind he's still ‘Jabari Bird’, which he should carry that reputation, and it's not a case of ok, well, I have these guys, it's a lot easier, I don't know if so called 'elite players' want it easy like that, they want the burden on their shoulders, so I think in his mind, he's just as good as anybody on the team. And it'll be interesting in late game situations, he's a guy that can make shots, he can make a play with the ball in his hand, because he is a guy that can make a big shot, he can get a big rebound, he can make free throws and I think right now he's playing that way, but I just think we got a lot of parts and guys that can score offensively. I think it helps him because now you can't defend him with how you'd like to defend him because there are other guys that can make plays."
Cuonzo Martin on Kingsley and Kameron's competition: "Well I think they're both going back and forth. When you're talking about Kingsley and Kam, they're both playing hard and they've been playing a lot better. The thing I've said to both of those guys, is they're playing now in the past week or so like they belong. It's one thing to be a Division 1 player, it's one thing to have size, but the way they play, they have a presence around the rim, and I felt you know, and a lot of times, going to Australia and maybe the early couple of practices, I thought they were playing, they were part of a team, now they have a presence as big guys and again it's not so much its how many points you score, but how do you impact the paint, how do you be aggressive, how do you be assertive with rebounding, keeping balls alive, taking care of the basketball, scoring when you have an opportunity to score when you're around the rim and I think both of those guys are doing those things and its more competitive."
Cuonzo Martin on how the offensive scheme is coming together: "Well, it's not necessarily the new guys, it's just offensively what we're doing to execute what we're trying to do and then one thing we've said about offense is there's a blue print, there's a game plan, but you also have to play with instincts. You have to read the defense and be able to make plays so they know when they're coming down the floor into our offensive actions and they read the defense, but at the end of the day, every team that we play this year, they will practice as well, they'll have a game plan when we plan, so what that means is they defend you a certain way, here's your read, you have to react and play with instincts its not a case of 'well okay, Coach we drew the play up like this, and they didn't defend it like that so what should we do?' Well that's why you go through it in practice now to be able to make plays and you read the defense and I think that's what we talk about. We talk a lot about playing with instincts and I think we have the personnel to do that, but it's also repetition in practice, going over it all the time, because it'll present itself here shortly."
Cuonzo Martin on the late-night scrimmage: "Well, we're excited about the Blue and Gold scrimmage, I think for me as a coach, I'm excited to have fans in the Haas Pavilion, which is obviously a great place and I think one of the things that it will do is give our guys a chance to play in front of our fans and give them a feel because it's different when you're practicing, you're behind the scenes, you're in Australia, and not as many fans outside of the last game, but now all of a sudden it's getting closer to the season and playing real games and I think it'll give our guys a chance to play against each other because after a while, you beat up on each other so much in practice you want to play in games and then to scrimmage against each other with fans, so it'll be fun for our staff to see it as well. I think October the 30th, we'll be here."
Cuonzo Martin on what differences he has seen in Jordan Mathews and Jabari Bird: "Well, I think the difference in Jordan and Jabari's game, obviously a year older. Jabari, he's been healthy from start to finish, both of those guys are doing a good job of putting the ball on the floor. I guess previously a reputation of catch and shoot guys, now they're doing a really good job of putting the ball on the floor, but being sound with it, not just dribbling the ball to be dribbling, but making plays, attacking the rim, and doing good things, but also distributing the basketball as well. But I think a lot of it has to do with their growth from a physical standpoint, also. To be able to take hits, to get around the rim and make plays. So, they're doing a good job."
Cuonzo Martin on whether or not he's seen a difference in Jabari's confidence: "Yes we have. And I think the biggest key for Jabari is just playing with confidence on both ends of the floor. Understanding who he is, he's a good athlete, he's a guy that can make plays offensively and just to play with instincts as opposed to thinking and not being so methodical and robotic with his movements, just playing off instincts, reacting to both ends of the floor, reading the defense, and making plays and having fun doing that and I thought he did a good job of that in Australia."
Cuonzo Martin on Jabari Bird finding his rhythm: "Well, I think, and my two cents, and Jabari hasn't said this before, but also the expectation of being ‘Jabari Bird’ and whatever that meant. So now instead it's not 25 points, but did you play well? And my thickest gauge is playing on both ends of the floor and being a complete basketball player. Now if it was 15 points, 20 points, 5 points, how was your overall game? And that's the most important thing to be his gauge, not necessarily to be worrying about how many shots or how many points I’ve scored. That's never been the case with him, either, so but I also want him to be thinking about offense, being more aggressive offensively, to think scoring, to think attacking the rim, playing in transition, and getting to the free throw line. Because he has an ability to do a lot of things."
Cuonzo Martin on whether or not Jabari Bird feels less pressure: "I mean it's hard to tell because in his mind he's still ‘Jabari Bird’, which he should carry that reputation, and it's not a case of ok, well, I have these guys, it's a lot easier, I don't know if so called 'elite players' want it easy like that, they want the burden on their shoulders, so I think in his mind, he's just as good as anybody on the team. And it'll be interesting in late game situations, he's a guy that can make shots, he can make a play with the ball in his hand, because he is a guy that can make a big shot, he can get a big rebound, he can make free throws and I think right now he's playing that way, but I just think we got a lot of parts and guys that can score offensively. I think it helps him because now you can't defend him with how you'd like to defend him because there are other guys that can make plays."
Cuonzo Martin on Kingsley and Kameron's competition: "Well I think they're both going back and forth. When you're talking about Kingsley and Kam, they're both playing hard and they've been playing a lot better. The thing I've said to both of those guys, is they're playing now in the past week or so like they belong. It's one thing to be a Division 1 player, it's one thing to have size, but the way they play, they have a presence around the rim, and I felt you know, and a lot of times, going to Australia and maybe the early couple of practices, I thought they were playing, they were part of a team, now they have a presence as big guys and again it's not so much its how many points you score, but how do you impact the paint, how do you be aggressive, how do you be assertive with rebounding, keeping balls alive, taking care of the basketball, scoring when you have an opportunity to score when you're around the rim and I think both of those guys are doing those things and its more competitive."
Cuonzo Martin on how the offensive scheme is coming together: "Well, it's not necessarily the new guys, it's just offensively what we're doing to execute what we're trying to do and then one thing we've said about offense is there's a blue print, there's a game plan, but you also have to play with instincts. You have to read the defense and be able to make plays so they know when they're coming down the floor into our offensive actions and they read the defense, but at the end of the day, every team that we play this year, they will practice as well, they'll have a game plan when we plan, so what that means is they defend you a certain way, here's your read, you have to react and play with instincts its not a case of 'well okay, Coach we drew the play up like this, and they didn't defend it like that so what should we do?' Well that's why you go through it in practice now to be able to make plays and you read the defense and I think that's what we talk about. We talk a lot about playing with instincts and I think we have the personnel to do that, but it's also repetition in practice, going over it all the time, because it'll present itself here shortly."
Cuonzo Martin on the late-night scrimmage: "Well, we're excited about the Blue and Gold scrimmage, I think for me as a coach, I'm excited to have fans in the Haas Pavilion, which is obviously a great place and I think one of the things that it will do is give our guys a chance to play in front of our fans and give them a feel because it's different when you're practicing, you're behind the scenes, you're in Australia, and not as many fans outside of the last game, but now all of a sudden it's getting closer to the season and playing real games and I think it'll give our guys a chance to play against each other because after a while, you beat up on each other so much in practice you want to play in games and then to scrimmage against each other with fans, so it'll be fun for our staff to see it as well. I think October the 30th, we'll be here."
