Georgia Tech head coach Damon Stoudamire answered questions from the media on Monday during the weekly ACC Coaches Call as his team is currently 8-11 overall, 2-6 in ACC Play and in the midst of a four-game losing skid.

Stoudamire addressed several things during the call, including updating his team's injury situation, their slow offensive starts in recent games, the upcoming home matchup with Virginia Tech on Wednesday night and more.

I asked the first question about any injury update on Kowacie Reeves, Luke O'Brien and/or Jaedan Mustaf, who are all now in boots as they each have some sort of foot/ankle injury. Stoudamire said there was still no update or timetable on Reeves or O'Brien but did have a bit of bad news for Tech fans as Mustaf will be out at least 2-4 more weeks before being "re-evaluated."

I then asked the next question about the team getting off to slow offensive starts in the last three games specifically against SMU, Clemson and Florida State, why that seems to be happening and what they are trying to do to hopefully change that. He said it's a little bit of a reversal of what they were dealing with when they came back from the short Christmas break when they were having slow starts to the second half, which caused them to start coming out of the locker room a little earlier to get warmed up. He said now with it being the first half that is starting slow, they are trying to figure it out.

"I personally think that our slow starts are a by-product...for me, I don't think we're taking the shots that are there at times," said Stoudamire. "I really do. I think that we play well-enough defense to be in games early, but we haven't scored the ball. I feel like we've got to take the shots. Here's the reality of it right now until things change. You know we've got three guards that when healthy we need them to be at an 'A-B' game, right? And we need those guys to be able to make shots, make plays, stay out of foul trouble and take what's given to them. So when they're not aggressive, to me we're going to struggle early, and I think it's taking them too long to find their rhythm. I don't know what that means. I think that in the first half of games, we've been doing too much dribble, dribble, dribble. In the second half we start passing. We start making extra passes, guys start doing different things. I'm trying to figure it out, but yes, we have all hands on deck with certain things."

The next question was about Stoudamire only being able to play six or seven guys the last couple games and how much of the losses is due to not having depth and a full rotation right now with the injury situation. Stoudamire said he isn't going to make excuses and "it is what it is." He said they've got to figure it out. He said despite the injuries and lack of depth, they've been in games and had chances to win, but they have to get better mentally.

"The game isn't all physical. You've got to become better mentally," said Stoudamire. "I think that we make a big deal out of certain things. Here's the reality. I don't know how old you guys are. I'm not trying to date myself, but man, you can play six or seven guys and win. You've just got to manage the game. But to manage the game, everybody has to manage the game. That means the players on the floor have to be thinking the same way. And when the game is on, we've got to quit making mistakes to put ourselves in a bad way. Whether that's a live ball turnover, whether that's shot selection at that time, whether that's missing a defensive assignment...it's a make shot/miss shot business and if you can put yourself in position, anything can happen. When we've tended to lose our last couple games, you can look back to certain sequences during the game that hurt us. If we can do a little bit better in those moments, we can win games. I believe we can win games. So the one thing you'll never hear from Damon Stoudamire is an excuse about injuries."

Stoudamire was then asked about the next matchup vs. Virginia Tech on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion and what kind of concerns they pose for him and his team. He said they are a really good team with execution and are well-coached. He said they have to really be locked in to play deep in possessions and guard multiple actions.

Stoudamire noted that Virginia Tech hasn't been as good on the road so his team has to take advantage of that, get off to a good start to gain confidence and to get the home crowd into the game. He said they were able to do that in the home games against Boston College and Notre Dame, and that kind of start would be very important against a team like Virginia Tech.

I had the next question and asked about getting the home fans in the arena and involved in the game while noting the good atmosphere the women's team had on Sunday. Stoudamire said he knows the fans haven't had a lot to cheer about recently or to "hang their hat on" but he still would appreciate the support for his players who are doing everything they can to get things going in the right direction again.

"These kids are playing hard, and I would love for them to come out and support them," said Stoudamire. "The group of guys we have is giving everything they've got, and with the fans behind us, we have an opportunity. Look forward to this game on Wednesday, but coming to support those guys that would be great. The atmosphere and giving us that extra edge is always important."

The next question was about if Stoudamire ever uses his senior season and playing 37 minutes a game as a message to his team now with guys playing a lot of minutes and having a short rotation off the bench. Stoudamire laughed and said not really. He did say he tells a lot of stories about his playing career but mostly about how "communication is key" and wanting his team to communicate more and help each other more on the floor. He said it's easy to be a connected team when you're winning but definitely harder when things aren't going your way.

Stoudamire went on to tell a story about one of his teammates and how he had to communicate and really nurture the relationship for that teammate to be able to help him and for him to be able to help his teammate. He said that's the kind of relationships he wants his players to have where they figure out what they need to do to have connectivity and help each other out which will lead to more success on the court.

The last question for Stoudamire was about looking back at those wins over Notre Dame and Boston College and what he liked about the way his team played in those games and what they need to recapture to snap the losing streak. He answered by saying the ball movement in the first half is a key ingredient and executing and moving the ball in both of those games in the first half.

He added that the turnover numbers were lower in those two games and there weren't as many live-ball turnovers as well as having good shot selection, playing together and sharing the ball.

"We didn't care who got it. We didn't care who scored. I want us to get back to that," said Stoudamire. "If we can start the game off like that then that will give us something to hang our hat on moving forward as the game moves on."

Stoudamire and the Jackets will try to snap the four-game losing streak when they host the Virginia Tech Hokies on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at McCamish Pavilion.