No, I have um, green tea. I'm good, thank you. Yeah, yeah. Um I mean, that was sorry. Um, how was the first, uh, you know, tournament practice, preto practice and, and what you kind of like, you know what you were saying? No, we had a good practice and, uh, just preparing for both, you know, Florida State and Virginia Tech and, uh, just, you know, trying to put us in a position to play our best, uh, tomorrow. But, uh, we got here yesterday and had a good practice yesterday back at home and it's nice to be here in DC. I like, you know, AC C tournament here the last time I was here, uh, Marcus was a senior and Bryce and Joel and, uh, they were able to win the AC C tournament and, and I grew up here in Washington DC. So this is pretty cool coming back home. Where do you like conversation with Marcus? Just kind of reflect on that the last time. I was not a, not a lot, but, you know, I do remember, um, you know, that game against Virginia and just seeing, uh, the seniors, Marcus Bryce and Joel um being celebrated as seniors and being able to be AC C tournament champions in 2016. What kind of personal do you have this way? A lot? Um, again, I, I was born in Winstonsalem, but uh my dad worked 35 years for the Department of Education for the United States government. So his office is just right down the street. So I, you know, this was home to me and brings back great memories, but it also brings back sad memories because of my mom and just, you know, taking her to the hospitals and her doing radiation and chemotherapy. So there's, there's a lot of history here here for me. Where did you guys practice today at the, uh Washington Wizards practice facility? What is, is there a challenge in separating the end of the regular season and kind of getting into postseason mode or is this a group that you just continue doing what you've been doing? Because they're always about the mission that day? I do. II, I think this is a good group that can focus on what, what, you know, the mission is ahead and understanding that, you know, the regular season is gone. And now this is the AC C tournament and there's a, there's a focus and, uh, that, that has to be there in order for us to be the best that we can be. And so, uh, this group has always been able to adjust and move forward and be able to focus on what is real. And, um, I don't see any change in terms of their preparation moving forward for the remainder of the season, but in terms of that, how important is it to come away with, uh, the tournament championship after winning the regular season? How much weight do you put on something like that? You know, I don't talk about it at all. It's, you know, one game at a time, you can't win anything unless you win the first game. So our focus is on whether it's Florida State or Virginia Tech and, and our improvement and, and us becoming the best that we can be. I always talk to the team about preparation and process. That's the only thing that you have control over and at the end of the day, the results will take care of itself. So, um I don't talk to him about that kind of stuff and let's just show up and be at our best and hopefully that's good enough to win some games. What does it mean to see RJ? Get rewarded for everything? Awesome. Just unbelievable. Um You know, I want all of our players to be celebrated and supported and encouraged, noticed and um I felt like it's been, you know, RJ in, in some sense, has been overlooked and it's overdue and for him to be celebrated the way he has been all season. Yes, he's had a terrific season, but I think he's had an outstanding career. And for me, as you know, one of his coaches being able to see what RJ has brought to this team and this program and this university even off the court, um, brings tremendous joy to my heart. And for him to be named AC C player of the year, puts a huge smile on my face. How about you? For coach of the year? Coach Smith Guthridge Wood Roy, coach mcguire, you're in that group in that, uh, with Coach of the Year awards in this, in this league. Well, well, I think it's a staff of the year award. I really do. I just, you know, I, I just in anything that you get in life, it, it's not because of you, it's because of a group that has allowed you to be able to do what you can't do. And I just, you know, I, I just think about, you know, you know, Pat and Sean and, you know, Brad and Jeff and Marcus and Hoots and we just have a great staff and I, I enjoy working with them, but more importantly, they're my friends and that's pretty cool that you can come every day at work and be around people that you just enjoy being around when you had that, you had that period of in the season where you lost three out of five games. But the way you guys are playing now, I mean, do you feel like the confidence is back maybe higher than it's been. And, and, and you've sort of recaptured the mojo that, that you had there when you were. Well, II, I mean, I, I don't think we lost any confidence when we had lost, you know, three out of five or three out of six. I, I, that's just, that's the season. I mean, it, we mentioned this a number of times there, you know, they're gonna be sunny days and rainy days and there are gonna be times where, you know, the outcome is not what we wanted. And the most important thing is how are you gonna react and how are you gonna respond? So, to your point, what I'm really happy with is how we have reacted and responded throughout the entire season. And so this is a group that just continues to fight and improve and work hard and stay the course. Always tell them you got two choices, you can stay down or you can get back up and move forward. And this is a group that's always gotten back up and moved forward. But would you assess the level of the defense compared to what it was during the games industry? Yeah, II, I think people make too much out of the 10 game win streak in terms of defensively and comparing it to, to that, it seems like that's the standard. I, I think we have been a much improved defensive team. This year, I think we've identified and I, I think anyone who has watched us understands that, you know, that is the thing that allows us to be the best that we can be if we can defend and rebound, that leads to us even being more efficient on the offensive end. And so, you know, again, moving forward for the remainder of the year, we, we got to get after it defensively, we got to rebound, the basketball, we gotta take care of the basketball limit turnovers and, and that puts us in a situation where we can compete against, you know, anybody in the country. Fire up. This is a little bit of a one I do, I do that you do on the side is that stuff like choreographed and all that or, or where, where does that, where, where do those moves come from? You know, I, I don't know, they're not choreographed and my wife makes fun of me all the time. That's why I have this aura ring on because she wants to see my heart rate during the games and stuff. And so I always tell the guys that I don't know how you play this game, absent of emotion. And I want people to play with their personality. I just, I don't know. And so for me, the, the hardest part is I'm 53 and I can't play anymore. And so I just get so excited out there. And so I will jump up, I'll stop, I'll raise my hand and that's why I stand up the whole game. I can't, I don't know how Coach Williams sat down the whole game. I just can't sit down there. I get so excited and I just wanna see the guys play really well. And so, um, it is not choreographed that you have the right of that and that because I thought it worked. And so, so I'm just telling them, let's go, let's go. I wanna play fast and, but coach Smith and coach Williams did that and I did take that from them. What did she say you were? What does, what does your wife say you're talking about like, you know, picking on you with the, the sideline animation? Like what is, what's the, what's the postgame report when she gives it to you? No, she looks at my phone and wants to see my heart rate and make sure I'm ok. I'm like, I'm fine, I'm fine. I'm fine. I'm just having fun. I'm, I'm ok. But um she does make fun of me of how animated I get on the sideline, but I don't know how else to do it. I just, you know, when I took this job, I said that I want to follow in the footsteps of Coach Smith, Coach Guthridge and coach Williams because I believe in it and I want to, but you have to walk that path in your own shoes and So that's what I'm trying to do. And I think we got a lot of Harrison and, and R and Armando and, and Elliott. And so, and I encourage that, I tell them, I, I want them to be leaders within their own personality and I want your personality to come out out there on the floor. And so, you know, I really don't know how you do anything that you love, absent of emotion. And I want them playing with that type of emotion because I feel like it makes you play at your best when you think of Armando, how he's changed and grown since he arrived. How meaningful is it to you as a coach? And personally that he was on the all defensive team last year, it was huge. He, well, this will be funny the last, since he made the all defensive team. Now he references himself as a three and D guy. And so II I, yeah, hey, slow down. So after his two threes against Georgia Tech, he's a three and D guy. But when I told him that it, he had a bigger smile on his face than any other achievement or reward that he got. And I think that meant a lot to him that people noticed that there was an area in his game that he really worked on and has improved and, you know, from a defensive standpoint, he's been a fantastic force this year. His ability to be able to guard guards out on the perimeter. Um, in large part, our defense has improved because he has improved and it's just a huge benefit. I'm, I'm so thankful he was recognized for that. And yeah, he, he's been going around saying I'm a three and D guy, so I just, I like him to be ad guy. So, is there any personal satisfaction that you get from that? Other than just, can you separate yourself from the coach just knowing him as he is? And that was an area that he had to work hard on with his body and just recognition out there, the satisfaction I get is being in a position to be able to help each one of them. I just, you know, the satisfaction I get is them being able to reach all their individual and team dreams and goals, you know, the, the benefit that I get is being able to walk alongside them every day and just be there to serve them and help them and to coach him, that brings me tremendous joy to be able to do that and to know Armando for, you know, seven years, I, I think I told you, I, I saw him when he was 15 and I thought he was in the 17 and under game and he was, I've known him for a long time. So to, to walk that journey with him, uh before he came here and alongside him in the five years that he's been here. It's been pretty cool. How different is preparation in the regular season as opposed to a tournament, especially when I know who you play tomorrow. Same preparation. I don't know how you do anything differently. I, I just, you know, there's one way to prepare and I think to be at your best, you have to have consistency. I don't see how it works to prepare differently in a different format or prepare differently for a particular team. I think consistency and, and we always talk about being disciplined and discipline doesn't mean that you're perfect. Discipline means that you're committed to doing the right things the right way consistently. And that's what we've talked about and preached all season.