What's up, folks?!?
It's been a while.
We're due to get Leonard Hamilton in a few minutes. For the first time in a long time.
So follow along right here! FSU plays at NC State on Jan. 1. It will be the Seminoles' first game in over two weeks.
----------------------------
He says they're trying to go with the flow, stay safe and stay with the protocol. "You kind of don't know what to expect."
Says last year they had so many issues that they had to tough through it, but in other years he's had more veterans who could rise to the occasion.
But says he didn't realize the toll the isolation took on the players, not being able to go home, go out, "and I found they were able to get through it last year because it was maybe a one-time occurrence ...but when it came back around this year I saw some different kinds of eyes, different kinds of facial expressions, wow, here we go again ... I probably should have been a little more sensitive to the eyes of the young people."
"It's been challenging in how we keep our young people safe. With a variant that doesn't always have symptoms. ... I would say 85 percent of our players who were affected didn't have symptoms. I had the virus and I didn't have any symptoms at all, whatsoever. ... My main concern was not wanting my players to go home and affect their parents initially. ... Came out of south carolina, had a kid with a sniffle, thought it was a cold. It was the virus."
Said they kept testing and got negatives and then they started popping into positives. ... Says they were aggressively testing. "I'm concerned about not having a uniform testing philosophy that all of college basketball goes by."
"It concerns me. Because I don't know where we're going."
"I think it's going to be a while before any of us our back at full strength. ... I feel comfortable that our kids are healthy and hteyve been treated right. We've been on top of it."
"We needed those practice days. ... I'm not making any excuses. The whole country is dealing with the same thing."
Says he thinks they practiced yesterday for the first time, five kids one day, six kids another day, today we had quite a few.
Says he's been to about three practices during this break. Says players have been isolating, so it's hard to even get drill work.
"Can you imagine a shutdown? Isolation? Lonliness. Boredom. ... Young people ... my guys are real guys, they like to have a little fun every once in a while, they like to date Tamika, Emily ... they like to have a little fun every once in a while. That didn't happen last year. We were locked in and restricted, gloves and masks, ... it was tough, and going to the NCAA Tournament without fans in the stands, it was a challenge for these guys but they go through it. And then all of the sudden we're getting ready to start the season and bam, here it comes again."
"I just saw it being a little more challenging the second time around ... i thought we addressed it the best we could. ... They look back now and we were probably fortunate we caught things when we did. ... I think they feel good about the decisions that were made to protect them and protect their families ... I just hope we don't have a second round of it, but it was rough. For a team of young people for two years in a row, it's very very challenging. That's why I'm so proud of them."
On Ngom's rehab: Says he hasn't been able to get into the weight room because it's been shut down. So that has slowed his progress. "I don't think he's going on the trip. ... he's not anywhere close. He has the boot off, the cast off, and he hasn't even started riding the bicycle. We're trying to rehab him at the right pace. .... Says he doesn't know when he'll be back. "We don't rush injuries." Says that the hand that's been dealt. "We'll figure it out."
It's been a while.
We're due to get Leonard Hamilton in a few minutes. For the first time in a long time.
So follow along right here! FSU plays at NC State on Jan. 1. It will be the Seminoles' first game in over two weeks.
----------------------------
He says they're trying to go with the flow, stay safe and stay with the protocol. "You kind of don't know what to expect."
Says last year they had so many issues that they had to tough through it, but in other years he's had more veterans who could rise to the occasion.
But says he didn't realize the toll the isolation took on the players, not being able to go home, go out, "and I found they were able to get through it last year because it was maybe a one-time occurrence ...but when it came back around this year I saw some different kinds of eyes, different kinds of facial expressions, wow, here we go again ... I probably should have been a little more sensitive to the eyes of the young people."
"It's been challenging in how we keep our young people safe. With a variant that doesn't always have symptoms. ... I would say 85 percent of our players who were affected didn't have symptoms. I had the virus and I didn't have any symptoms at all, whatsoever. ... My main concern was not wanting my players to go home and affect their parents initially. ... Came out of south carolina, had a kid with a sniffle, thought it was a cold. It was the virus."
Said they kept testing and got negatives and then they started popping into positives. ... Says they were aggressively testing. "I'm concerned about not having a uniform testing philosophy that all of college basketball goes by."
"It concerns me. Because I don't know where we're going."
"I think it's going to be a while before any of us our back at full strength. ... I feel comfortable that our kids are healthy and hteyve been treated right. We've been on top of it."
"We needed those practice days. ... I'm not making any excuses. The whole country is dealing with the same thing."
Says he thinks they practiced yesterday for the first time, five kids one day, six kids another day, today we had quite a few.
Says he's been to about three practices during this break. Says players have been isolating, so it's hard to even get drill work.
"Can you imagine a shutdown? Isolation? Lonliness. Boredom. ... Young people ... my guys are real guys, they like to have a little fun every once in a while, they like to date Tamika, Emily ... they like to have a little fun every once in a while. That didn't happen last year. We were locked in and restricted, gloves and masks, ... it was tough, and going to the NCAA Tournament without fans in the stands, it was a challenge for these guys but they go through it. And then all of the sudden we're getting ready to start the season and bam, here it comes again."
"I just saw it being a little more challenging the second time around ... i thought we addressed it the best we could. ... They look back now and we were probably fortunate we caught things when we did. ... I think they feel good about the decisions that were made to protect them and protect their families ... I just hope we don't have a second round of it, but it was rough. For a team of young people for two years in a row, it's very very challenging. That's why I'm so proud of them."
On Ngom's rehab: Says he hasn't been able to get into the weight room because it's been shut down. So that has slowed his progress. "I don't think he's going on the trip. ... he's not anywhere close. He has the boot off, the cast off, and he hasn't even started riding the bicycle. We're trying to rehab him at the right pace. .... Says he doesn't know when he'll be back. "We don't rush injuries." Says that the hand that's been dealt. "We'll figure it out."
