Javi Gonzalez at Operation Basketball

Oct. 21, 2010

A transcript of NC State guard Javi Gonzalez at Wednesday’s 49th-annual Operation Basketball, held at the Renaissance Suites in Charlotte.

Question: Coach Lowe has talked about you guys pushing the ball more this year. How is that going so far?
Gonzalez: I think it’ll fit better for me. That’s what we did in high school, running up and down the floor, shooting 3s. I don’t think before this year that we really had the personnel to be running up and down. But with Lorenzo Brown, Ryan Harrow and C.J. Leslie on the team that gives us a lot more speed and a lot more people who can handle the ball other than me. I think that’ll be great for us.

Question: With all the excitement of the freshmen, do you think Tracy sometimes gets lost under the radar and people forget how good he was last year?
Gonzalez: A little bit. People are excited about the freshmen, we know that. All we really want to do is play games.

Question: How big of a role does he need to have in the offense?
Gonzalez: He’s our main guy down low. He’s still going to have to score the basketball for us. It doesn’t matter if we have other guys. We have other guys who can score. He also does pretty well in practice. He is going to help us a lot.

Question: Coach doesn’t like turnovers, but he wants you to push the ball more. Do you think you have to find the right balance there?
Gonzalez: Actually, to tell you the truth, ever since we started pushing the ball like he wants us to, I’ve seen fewer turnovers than before. I think guys are playing more loose and are playing in the flow of the offense. It’s going to get sloppy at times. We just have to be able to take the ball out and take care of the ball again. That happens. We have to keep our composure and take control of the basketball team.

Question: This sounds like the most fun basketball team you have been a part of at NC State.
Gonzalez: Yes, especially the way we’re going to be running up and down the floor. There’ll be more dunks, more alley oops, more up-tempo play. I think that’s going to be more exciting.

Question: What kind of player do you think Ryan Harrow is going to be?
Gonzalez: Sometimes, you see the type of moves he uses to make that pass. I guess he’s fancy. That’ll be kind of fun to see him play when we get out there.

Question: What has impressed you about the freshmen?
Gonzalez: Ever since Day 1, they’ve been working hard. They’ve been very humble and trying to fit in the team.

Question: What about on the court?
Gonzalez: Handling the ball. I think Lorenzo and Ryan are going to be great ball handlers. I’m happy about that. I won’t be out there by myself dribbling the basketball the whole game. I think that’s going to help the team.

Question: What are the realistic expectations for you guys?
Gonzalez: We’re just trying to win games. We’re going to go out and play hard. You can’t make predictions. I’ll leave that to y’all [the media]. I can’t make them. We’re just going to win games.

Question: How long did you spend in Miami and do you still go there?
Gonzalez: I lived there for two years and yes, I still go there to visit my coach and my grandmother, who I lived with while I was in high school.

Question: Has it always been more of a football and baseball town than basketball?
Gonzalez: Yes, the majority of people are football-oriented. The media doesn’t really concentrate on basketball too much.

Question: Do you think LeBron James’ arrival down there will change that?
Gonzalez: Maybe he’ll get kids playing more. I don’t know. He might. They had Dwayne Wade there for a while and people liked him a lot. I don’t think the media concentrates on it very much.

Question: How is Tracy’s move to the No. 4 position going to change you guys?
Gonzalez: In my mind, the 4 and the 5 are the same position. That’s what I like about this team, we’re more mobile. We have guys who can play multiple positions. That’ll make our team more versatile.

Question: Can people expect for you to give Duke and Carolina a little more trouble?
Gonzalez: People are already excited. We’re excited and confident. But it’s going to be tough.

Question: When you and Ryan are on the court, will you be playing the small guard and he’ll be the point guard?
Gonzalez: Whoever gets the ball is going to push it. That’s the good thing about it. That will make our team a little bit faster.

Question: Are you guys going to play a little more up-tempo?
Gonzalez: Yes. So far, in the first week of practice, we’re doing that on every single play. The guys like it. They seem loose. I think you’re going to see fewer turnovers while we’re pushing the ball instead of trying to set up in the half court. That’s going to help us a lot.

Question: Tracy [Smith] said he has seen more smiles from Coach Lowe than he has any time since he’s been here. Is that the same for you?
Gonzalez: One of the reasons for that is that we’ve been having less turnovers.

Question: He doesn’t like tiurnovers, right?
Gonzalez: Not at all. We just have to keep our composure. He’s been trying to get us to push the ball, but we haven’t had the personnel to do it. You can’t just have one guard pushing the ball every single time. It’s not possible. Now we have me, Lorenzo, Ryan, C.J., Howell, different options. Not just one person will have the ball.

Question: Is it weird looking for Tracy 15 feet from the basket?
Gonzalez: Nah, he’s always going to be around. He’s developed a little range. I’ll keep him inside if he starts messing up.

Question: What’s the best thing about this team?
Gonzalez: I think our team chemistry. We seem to play well with each other. It doesn’t matter who is out there together. Coach is playing different lineups all the time. We can play anybody out there and get a rhythm.

Question: How different a dynamic is it this year, being picked as one of the top three or four teams.
Gonzalez: That doesn’t matter to me. From my perspective, I just try to play hard. It doesn’t matter what teams expect from you. You just have to play. The ACC is so tough from top to bottom. The expectations and predictions, we can’t let that get into our heads. We still have to go out, play hard and stay humble.

Question: Can you talk about the competition between you and Ryan for the starting point guard position.
Gonzalez: We just go out and play. When I grew up in Puerto Rico, when someone new came on the team, we never thought that ‘Oh, he is coming in for my spot.’ I don’t see it like that. I don’t see it as a competition. To me, he’s just another teammate out there trying to help us win. That’s the bottom line. We’re going to be playing together on the same team when the games start. We won’t be fighting against each other.

Question: Do you expect to play together? If you do, the lineup will be kind of small.
Gonzalez: We’ll be fine. I’ll be able to push the ball, he’ll be able to push the ball. It makes the whole team more versatile.

Question: Coach says you can flourish at the shooting guard position.
Gonzalez: Yeah, I’ve played that before. When I came in here as a freshman, I was more of a shooting guard than a point guard. I sort of became a point guard over the years, just practicing everyday and having Coach Towe and Coach Lowe in my ear. When I came in, I was more of a scoring guard than a passing guard. It’s so much easier to play with more people who can handle the ball on the court.

Question: What’s it like to have Lowe and Towe in your ear, telling what to do?
Gonzalez: It’s kind of tough, but I like it at the same time. They really care. They’re trying to help me out.

Question: Sometimes guys who are great players have trouble translating that when they become coaches. Do you think Coach Lowe is good at that?
Gonzalez: I think he’s real good. I’ve come a long way since I first got here. All the advice he’s given me and the film I’ve watched has helped me a lot.

Question: What’s Ryan’s game like?
Gonzalez: He’s a playmaker. He is going to make plays for other people. If you let him he will score. He is quick enough to get around guys. He’ll be good in this league.

Question: You are physically bigger than Ryan. Do you ever try to back him down?
Gonzalez: I could, but that’s not really part of our offense. His game is really strong.

Question: How tough was it for you to play the point as a freshman?
Gonzalez: I was always used to playing the 2. I was trying to make a play every single time, either score or make a shot. The main thing about the point guard position is scoring in spots during the game instead of making plays on every single possession. I think that’s an advantage that Ryan has, because he has been playing point guard his whole life. It’s definitely going to be tough, because this is the ACC, but it’s going to come quicker for him than it was for me because I was more of a scorer than a point guard.

Question: Your first two years were kind of a struggle. But the team didn’t have a lot of options. Now, here you are, is it a little frustrating knowing you might have to fight to keep the job, or is it a good thing to roll off every now and then and play the 2?
Gonzalez: I’ve never seen Ryan coming in as vying for my position. We’re just happy to have him. He makes our team better. It doesn’t matter who gets the most minutes as long as we are winning. It helps the team. It will help our team a lot. It’ll give our team more options. I can play the 2, or the point. We could play the three of us together. I’m just happy they’re here.

Question: There were a couple of games last year where you sort of took over at the end of the game, like at Arizona and Wake Forest. Will that kind of thing be easier for you if you are playing the 2 instead of the point?
Gonzalez: Definitely. As a point guard, you can’t really do what I was doing throughout the whole game, because you have to keep the other guys involved. I can probably do a lot more scoring throughout the beginning of the game and throughout the game.

Question: Give a quick description about what stands out about each of the three freshmen.
Gonzalez: For Ryan, it’s his playmaking ability. He can find open guys. For Lorenzo, it’s his scoring ability and ball-handling. He goes hard every single play. He grabs a lot of offensive rebounds. C.J. is going to create a lot of mismatches. If he has a smaller guard on him, he can post him up. If he has a bigger guy, he’ll take him off the dribble. He’s going to be hard to defend. You can move him around. He doesn’t really have a natural position yet. He’s just a player who gets out there and get things done.

Question: Where is your favorite place to play on the road in the ACC?
Gonzalez: I’d say Duke, North Carolina and Virginia Tech. I think the louder the better. I like to play in hostile environments.

Question: What’s the goal for this team?
Gonzalez: We’re just trying to win games and play hard. I’m not a guy who makes predictions. We might go out tomorrow in practice and everybody gets hurt and we won’t have a team. We aren’t going to make predictions, we’re going to go out and win games.

North Carolina State University Athletics

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