Talkin' to Takayo: Getting Tougher, Phillips' Return Process Begins This Week
The UNCW coach said his team took a step forward at Ole Miss.
UNCW coach Takayo Siddle three games and plenty more to discuss during his weekly radio show on Monday as he broke down the Seahawks’ previous week, plus
Here are the highlights from Siddle’s conversation with play-by-play man Mike Vaccaro along with a few questions he took from fans.
Check out the full video via Facebook Live, where the show airs every Monday at Noon.
On last week’s games…
I definitely saw some positives from each game that we played in. When you look back at East Carolina, we had a great run in the second half and we faced some adversity when they started coming back, and we didn’t handle it as well as we needed to. So, I thought we learned a lesson from that game.
Moving on to St. Andrews, we were able to get some guys some minutes that hadn’t played as much and get some of our younger guys some minutes in the game.
Then, you talk about Ole Miss where I thought for about 25 minutes, we fought really, really hard when we could have rolled over, but we didn’t. I thought our guys competed at a high level, I thought they scrapped, I thought they fought. Definitely some positives in each one of those games and some things we needed to take away from each one to learn from it.
On ECU comeback…
I thought we were sleepwalking in the first half. We didn’t have much fight, we didn’t have much toughness; our energy level wasn’t where it needed to be and we talked about that at halftime. We came out and we played our brand of basketball and we made a great run and took a 10-point lead, then had some turnovers … we didn’t handle it very well and I think it bit us. When the game got tight, we started doing uncharacteristic things and I don’t think we responded, as a team — i don’t think we responded well when they started making their run, and then we we went into overtime and we were just deflated.
On learning to win…
It’s definitely part of the process. I think when you look back at all the games we play, I think they’re all learning tools for us … I told our guys in film the next day, ‘If we can learn from this, I think this will really help us.’
And I think we have learned from it. I think our guys are bought in and they want to know what it’s like to win. I think it’s all part of the process. It sucks that we had to get a learning lesson from a loss, but I think in the long run, it’ll help us out.
On John Bowen vs. ECU…
I don’t ask my guys to do a whole lot; I demand that we play extremely hard and be tough. I thought he did that in that game. From that position, on that particular night he was giving exactly what I needed from that position.
I thought John had a tremendous game, his energy was really good. He showed me that he’s capable of doing it and I just need him and the rest of the guys at that spot to do it on a more consistent basis.
On Bowen’s performance vs. ECU showing players they can earn minutes…
And that’s for everybody on my team and I’ve been kind of handicapped a little bit with my numbers, so I can’t really enforce it as much as I want to, but that’s the standard. That’s the standard I want this program and our players to play to; that’s what we’re going to be about: ‘Do your job, do it at a high level, and if you don’t, then it’s next man up.’
On Jaylen Sims vs. ECU…
I thought he did some good things on the offensive end, but, some people will call me crazy for what I’m about to say: I don’t think he played very well, I don’t think he played very well. He might have scored the ball but that’s not his issue. I think his issue sometimes is on the defensive end and doing the right things all the time and limiting his mistakes.
I know I’m playing him limited minutes and that could factor into some of his mistakes, but a player of his caliber — he’s a special player, like I talked about before — I need him to be a two-way player; I need him to do it on both ends of the floor, so I don’t think he played very well. I thought he scored it when we needed him to, but I need him to a little bit more.
On having high expectations for Sims…
He can be special. I want him to demand more of himself and I just ask him to allow me to coach him hard and keep being coachable and keep working on his game and raise the level of his teammates. I think he really, really wants to be a good player.
Right now, we have him on a good track and we just have to clean up some mistakes. I think you guys are going to see some really good basketball from him for the next couple years.
On Joe Pridgen’s arrival…
He brings a level of toughness that we need … he’s our toughest guy. He does all the dirty work, he doesn’t mind throwing his body around. He adds another scorer to our bunch, which we need that. He can put the ball on the floor and get to the rim and get to the free throw line and he’s one of our better rebounders as well.
I think for him, he’s just got to get back in a rhythm and get used to playing in games and I think we’re going to see some good basketball for him.
On Jamahri Harvey taking steps forward…
He is, and I think coming in the door, his defense was a little ahead of his offense. He’s going to be a really good defender for us; I think he had to get used to the speed of the game.
That was his breakout game offensively against East Carolina. It was good to see him have some success on the offensive end, but he’s going to be a big-time scorer throughout his career here at UNCW.
Why is Harvey locked-in on defense as a freshman?
Because I think he knows that’s the way to get on the court for me and if you learn anything about Jamahri, whatever it takes to win, whatever he can do to help the team win, he’s going to do it … whatever he can do to get on the court and stay on the court — and it happens to be defense right now — he’s going to do it.
What he took from the St. Andrews game…
Those games are tough … I thought we were able to work on some things we needed to work on.
I thought we were able to get out and run and I thought we shared the ball really well, I thought we rebounded really well, I thought our press was really effective. I thought we were able to kind of tighten up on a few things in those areas, so I was pleased with our effort.
On progress with traps and pressing…
I’m starting to get more comfortable with it. Our traps are getting a little tighter, our rotations on the back line are getting better. We have to continue to work on that because that’s going to be our calling-card.
We’re adding some new presses in and guys are starting to get more comfortable in the press. As we get our numbers back and I can sub guys in and out and have guys fresh coming in the game, I think you guys will see the press a little bit more.
It has to be our calling-card and we have to continue to get better in that area.
On the Ole Miss game…
I think we were a little anxious in the first half. I think we knew what to expect but to actually get out there and be in the action, their physicality and their length, their size really bothered us.
Second half, I think we settled in and we made some shots, we fought a little bit harder, which was message at halftime … I thought we fought a little bit harder, settled in and got some confidence, the press was effective and I thought we played until that final buzzer.
On lessons from Ole Miss…
Going into the game I wanted to see how hard we were going to fight, how we were going to compete. That was my main message to the guys: ‘Don’t worry about anything else but going out there and competing at a high level, and whatever happens, happens.’
I felt really good about how hard we fought and how we competed, after the game. I was very, very happy with my guys.
We don’t do moral victories, so yes, I’m upset. No, we did not celebrate and we were all upset about it. Taking away from that game, I thought we came back and we took a step forward with our program because we fought really, really hard.
On Sims being targeted by defenses now…
I think he’s starting to realize it. We talk to him about it all the time, ‘Hey, you’re a marked man now. Everything that you do, you have to do it a little bit quicker, you have to do it a little bit more physical. Guys are going to be all up on you trying to pressure you and trying to get you rattled, get you out of your game, so you have to make quicker moves.’
I think he’s starting to realize it now. We were talking about it yesterday on the way back and he was just asking questions, how he could be more effective as the marked man and I think he’s starting to realize it, and we’ve got to do a good job of showing him what it looks like and helping him get through this transition.
On Okauru and Sims vs. Ole Miss…
I thought they brought great energy and toughness the entire game, I thought they fought and scrapped. Those two guys being older guys and they did exactly what I needed them to do… I’m very happy with what they were able to do.
On his team’s bond…
I give all the credit to my team, because as much as they experienced last year, the amount of adversity, I think it brought them together. I have a pretty close group. Those guys hang out together when they can, we’re not cliqued up in certain different cliques. they all hang out together and spend time together and I think they communicate well with each other, so I give all the credit to them.
Going through these tough time, the only way we can get through it is if we get through it together and they realize it. They’ve done a really good job with that.
On Ty Gadsden…
He’s a huge part of our team in his ability to stretch the defense. I don’t think he gets enough credit, he can put it on the floor and make plays in the paint, getting to the backboard or getting to the free throw line. He does so many things for us.
He opens up, spaces the floor out for us because we have so many guys that can put it down and get to the rim and with him on the floor, they really can’t help off as much because he’s a really, really good 3-point shooter.
He’s playing really hard on the defensive end; he’s one of our better perimeter defenders. He’s playing really hard in our presses — he’s doing what he’s supposed to do.
He’s more than just a shooter; he can do a lot of different things.
On Shykeim Phillips’ return from injury…
Shykeim Phillips is transitioning back. He gets off his PICC Line today and he’ll be coming back to campus and he’ll start exercising and stuff this week. We hope to have him back for our conference game, which is Jan. 2 against Drexel.
It’s going to take him some time to get back, get back in shape. He’s lost about 12, 13 pounds but he’s in really good spirits and he’s coming back on campus this week and he’ll start transitioning to getting back and we’re excited to have him back.
We need him; he’s one of our most talented players and we’re going to need him back in action for us to be successful.
Do you bring him back slowly?
The way we want to play, it would be hard to throw him out there and expect him to be able to play 20-25 minutes. We’ll just have to transition him back slowly and the one thing about him, is he does get in shape really quick. We’ll just have to monitor it as we move forward.
On what’s surprised him as a head coach…
For me, I’m always trying to prepare and be ready for every situation. Coming over to this seat, I think I’m a little more calm than I thought I would be. I feel really comfortable.
I think the main thing is, however you’re acting and what you’re doing, you always have to think about the team. I think my calm demeanor — now I am fiery — but my calm demeanor, I think, helps those guys and that’s something that I tried to work on even as an assistant.
Just the day-to-day, dealing with things that come across your desk on a day-to-day is something I have to continue to get used to, but I feel comfortable with every aspect of the job and being on the sidelines, it’s just one seat over, making all the decisions. I feel really, really comfortable with it.
On Norfolk State…
Their coach does a really good job. I went back and looked as his resume and he’s been there for eight years, and for all eight years, he’s had 11 or more conference wins … they’ve done a really, really good job; he runs a really good program.
I think it’s going to be a tough challenge for us. It’s one of those games, I like to call it a ‘50-50 game;/ it could go either way. We’re going to have to play some really good basketball to beat them. They have some experience, they have some guys that can fill it up. They’ve got a couple preseason All-MEAC guys on their roster and they really score it at a high level and they defend, they play a 3-2 zone, which we haven’t seen much of that … it’s going to be a tough challenge for us.
On the importance of defense vs. Norfolk State…
Our defense has to create a lot of our offense because I don’t want to have to walk it up and play against a 3-2 zone, so yes, we have to impose our will from start to finish and I want to increase the pace. I want to play extremely fast, and in order for us to do that, we have to be able to get stops and run and then we have to score on the other end so we can set our press up.
On having a ‘set’ starting five…
Guys earn their starting positions in practice; I don’t operate that way. Even a guy like Jaylen, if he’s not doing what he’s supposed to do in practice and the guy behind him is beating him out during the week, then he’s going to get the nod to start the next game.
I think it makes them lock in more and play a little bit harder and do the things we’re asking them to do, so the starting lineup could change at any point.
On a potential X-factor vs. Norfolk State…
When I look at a guy like Imajae Dodd, who’s been up and down so far throughout these six games, he’s starting to do the things I want him to do. He’s buying into what we’re doing, he’s practicing harder, he’s starting to limit his mistakes.
I’m really focused in on him this week. I need him to have a good week because I think he could be a difference-maker in this game.
On if it would be nice to have more inside presence…
It would, but I don’t think that fits our skillset at that position. I think Jake can do some things off the block a little bit, but for John and Imajae, I don’t think that fits their skillset right now — not to say that it won’t later on in the season.
I need those guys to be energy guys, I need them to be tough, I need them to do the dirty work, need them to rebound, I need them to play pick-and-roll defense; that’s where they bring value to this roster.
It would be nice to have more of an inside presence, but right now, them scoring with their back to the basket isn’t something that we’re looking to do.