Feb. 6, 2004
Each week Villanova director of media relations Mike Sheridan takes you inside the Villanova Men's Basketball program. This week head coach Jay Wright offers his impressions on the 2003-04 Wildcats with the season roughly two-thirds complete.
Q: As we speak, your team has played 20 regular season games (prior to Feb. 5's 75-60 victory at Georgetown). How would you assess the development of this group?
WRIGHT: I like where our team is. I like our growth. It's not happening as quickly as I would like it to, but I like the direction in which we are headed.
We've had some setbacks with Jason (Fraser's) injury and Derrick (Snowden's) injury, but I like how Jason and Snow are coming along.
I feel like we can finish strong.
Q: You mentioned the injuries to Derrick and Jason. How did those two events affect the team's growth?
WRIGHT: At the end of last season, we viewed Derrick as the leader of this team. When we lost him (to a torn ACL in his left knee that was surgically repaired on Aug. 27), it definitely affected us. Derrick set a tone for us in practice every day and we lost that for three months. He's done a great job in getting back sooner than anyone could have anticipated and is doing a great job for us now in spite of the injury.
Jason was supposed to be our go-to guy in the middle. We wanted to work with him in the pre-season developing his post game. We were never able to do that because of his injuries. We were never able to work on his offensive skills. I think Jay is doing a great job even without that work and he's really getting better.
Q: It was a rather awkward preseason with the injuries to Snowden and Fraser along with the suspension time that had to be served by several key veterans at the start of 2003-04. The record in November and December (8-2) would indicate you came through that in great shape. Have there been residual affects from that situation, though?
WRIGHT: I think we are paying a little price right now for that. A lot of our time in the pre-season was spent on finding ways we could stay in games. We were fortunate in that we were able to win a number of them. But we never were able to establish ourselves as a good defensive team or really get into a rhythm offensively because most of the guys weren't playing. We were without Snow and Jason and we were holding the ball.
I think all of those things are starting to come around now. We're probably where most teams were in the middle of December. Other teams are clicking more right now than we are.
We're going to try and make up for that in the next couple of weeks.
Q: This is the second year where you have made extensive use of a three-guard system. Are you pleased with it?
WRIGHT: I still feel very good about it. Our guys are learning to play that way and in the early part of the season they learned to play holding the ball. Now they're learning to play man-to-man at this level aggressively.
I think it's serving us well. It helps us in recruiting and I think in the long run with what we are trying to build it will become a staple of our program that our players and people will take pride in.
Q: Is there a correlation between inexperience and inconsistency?
WRIGHT: I think there is but we're trying not to use that as an excuse. We are trying to speed up the process. There is a natural process of learning from mistakes and we don't really have an upperclassman that's a go-to guy. Our young guys are getting it dropped on them all at once. They're handling it pretty well.
Q: You have been through the experience of building a program at Hofstra. Does that background help you when there are bumps in the road?
WRIGHT: It definitely does. It never works exactly the way you plan it. You have to be prepared for that. Our situation has been eerily close to the experience at Hofstra at times and that wasn't my plan. But if it ends up the same way it did there, I'll be fine. I am confident that it will.
Q: One of the newcomers who have made a significant impact in 2003-04 is freshman point guard Mike Nardi. What does it mean to the program to have a quarterback with such natural leadership ability?
WRIGHT: As good as I thought Mike would be, I didn't think it would be possible for him to surprise me. He really has. There is nothing he doesn't do and there is nothing he doesn't want to improve on.
I know that it's helpful in recruiting. Guys want to play with Mike. They know he's a winner who makes those around him better. The guys on our team like playing with him. As a coach, you are confident with him on the floor and the ball in his hands.
Q: The team has made some strides on the road this season (6-2, including the win at Georgetown). What has been the key to that?
WRIGHT: It's funny, Coach Mass (Rollie Massimino) used to say that whatever you emphasize, you would be good at. We've made such a point in the preseason and in practice of talking about being on the road. We've gotten pretty comfortable on the road. At the same time, we've lost some home games we probably didn't think we'd lose.
I think the progress on the road is a sign of what kind of team this can be, the kind of guys we have. We can be confident and gritty on the road and really take pride in sticking together in difficult situations.
Q: There is a logjam of teams in the middle of the Big East at this point in this season. Does that make it more difficult for a young club to establish an identity within the conference?
WRIGHT: I try not to really use other teams to judge us. We have our own standards and we really do use the Big East season to judge where we are as a program. We just really want to work at the things that are important to us: playing hard; playing together; playing smart; and playing with pride. At the end, we'll see how that stacks up with the Big East.
In one sense, it might be hard to establish. In another sense, you believe you have a shot every night. We've been in every Big East game and had a chance in those games. That's important.
Q: As we head into the homestretch of the season, what are the items that you will be monitoring as you assess this team?
WRIGHT: I would hope that over the last third of the season we could be where we wanted to be for the whole season in our third year. We want to play consistently every night. We want to defend every night, rebound every night, run well and with consistency each time we are out there and just execute.
These are all areas in which we have been inconsistent thus far. If we can become consistent in those areas by the end of the season, I think we can be a very good team.
In building a program there are a lot of areas to look at: recruiting; wins and losses within league play; ability to win on the road; bringing your alumni together; fundraising for a practice facility. We're close in a lot of areas. I'm very optimistic about each one of those areas.
I understand that fans might not be as patient as we need to be. As I have told a number of alumni groups I have spoken to, I don't want them to be patient. I like that Villanova people expect excellence and demand it. We're going to get there. We are the ones that have to have the vision and remain strong and determined. We all feel that way. We really do.
I want the fans to expect the best from us. We've been down this road before. We know it's not easy. But the journey is enjoyable and I believe we are going to reach the destination all Villanova fans want us to.
