Jan. 11, 2009
– GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Paul Hewitt
On the hustling plays Georgia Tech made early:
“I do feel like what we did hustling-wise and playing early in the first half, especially forcing it and getting some loose balls is the only reason that we were up given the 18 [first-half] turnovers and the 28 turnovers for the game. We didn’t really give ourselves a chance to win. I was disappointed that we weren’t a little more physical. I don’t think we got the ball inside enough and I thought there were too many loose balls that we didn’t get. “
On Maryland:
Give Maryland credit. They were coming off a tough loss and coming down the stretch when the game was right there to be had by both teams, they were a little bit stronger than us.”
On the difference in a tightly-contested game:
“It was the turnovers. Both teams had five three-pointers. Turnovers and going to the basket strong [were the difference]. They had 23 free throws. We had 14 simply because when we were up eight, we stopped going to the basket strong. We started going to the basket thinking `If we make this, it’s over,’ instead of going in strong. We had a couple shots blocked. There’s really no excuse for that.”
On losing a second consecutive close ACC game:
“That’s who we are. Right now we’re not good enough to win those types of games.”
GEORGIA TECH FORWARD Gani Lawal
On losing after leading by double figures:
“We just got outworked in the last few minutes. They just wanted it more. There’s really nothing more to say.”
On the Yellow Jackets’ 28 turnovers:
“It was a situation where we were trying to rush. We were looking to get something good even if it wasn’t there, as opposed to just making the good pass. I think at times we were trying to force stuff that really wasn’t there. That’s too many turnovers.”
On starting the ACC schedule with two close losses:
“We’ve got to find a way to pull out the victories. We’re 0-2 now, and it just goes to show the little things in conference play really play into winning ball games.”
MARYLAND HEAD COACH GARY WILLIAMS
On today’s game:
“So here we go in the ACC, I mean, it’s going to be like that. That’s the greatest. If you don’t like that as a player or as a coach, there’s something wrong with you. It’s not always going to be pretty or anything like that. I was really proud of our team because, in the first half, I thought we had really good looks, but we couldn’t make a shot. We couldn’t make a jump shot. To shoot 25 percent and hang in there where you’re close enough to come back in the second half, but then get down 10 in the second half or whatever, but still have the toughness to come back, I think, is really a good sign for the next 15 (games). You’ve got to go through a game like that to know you can do it and hopefully we really get a lot out of this game.”
“I thought Sean Mosley really helped us with our intensity level in the second half, along with Jin Soo Kim. Braxton Dupree probably played as tough defense as he’s played since he’s been here. There are big people out there on Georgia Tech, and Braxton gave us really good minutes when he was in there, defensively. That can really help us this year if he can do that. If he does that one thing for us, that makes us a little different team on the inside, in terms of our interior defense. A lot of good things happened out there and we’re going to build on this game.”
On the team’s confidence after a loss earlier in the week:
“We can shoot the ball, obviously, much better than that. We’ve got to work on that. It’s one of those things; I think that might have been a little bit of a hangover from the Morgan State game. These are kids and confidence comes and goes. We had to play through getting back our confidence today, I felt, and once some good things happened to us, I thought we played really well down the stretch, when we had to to win the game.”
On forcing Georgia Tech into 28 turnovers:
“I thought we had more energy today. We were the team with the turnovers Wednesday night – we had 21. Our press is really good in the second half. Pressure defense, you know you try to steal the ball, but I felt that during the half that it got them out of their half-court offense a little bit, in terms of their timing wasn’t as good as it was in the first half. I thought they did a really good job with their offense in the first half and we were able to disturb that a little bit.”
MARYLAND GUARD ERIC HAYES
On his strong shooting performance in the second half:
“We were missing open shots that we should have been making in the first half. Everyone kept telling me to keep shooting. I wanted to step up, since I didn’t really do anything in the first half, scoring-wise. The team needs me to make shots, and I was just happy I could come out with confidence and make those shots in the second half.”
MARYLAND CENTER DAVE NEAL
On winning a game despite not shooting the ball particularly well:
“We have to be more patient. I think we rushed a couple shots, but what we need to do is hit the open shots. We have to take it personally and hit those open shots when we can. Some shots didn’t fall, but at the end of the game we got the `W’, and that’s all that matters.”
MARYLAND GUARD GREIVIS VASQUEZ
On receiving encouragement from the coaching staff:
“Our assistant coaches are doing an extremely great job. When I was going through tough times in the first half, [Joe] Harrington pulled me over and talked to me. It’s hard when you miss so many shots and your team needs you to make some. I feel like I’m a good player, and one of the things about my game is that I can make people around me better. “
