Feb. 20, 2010
– Georgia Tech head coach Paul Hewitt
Opening statement:
“We probably played our best game of the season. I told the guys, the only thing that would be disappointing out of this game is if we don’t come out and have a good practice in preparation for Boston College on Saturday. We’re playing our best basketball at the right time of the year, but we were just a little unlucky today.”
On the end of the game:
“I was hoping that the shot that Greivis [Vasquez] took was going to be our lucky break. We haven’t caught many breaks in the last couple of years, but the thing I’m proud about with our guys is that they come back and they keep battling.”
On his team’s performance:
“We did everything you’re supposed to do against a team that’s better than anybody in our league with the exception of Duke. I think we’re on the verge of something big.”
On the strategy for the last possession:
“Our number one thing was to not let Vasquez touch the ball. Number two was nothing to the rim and number three was nothing in the corner.”
On the game-winning shot:
“What are you going to say? The kid made a miraculous shot.”
On defending Greivis Vasquez at the end of the game:
“We told D’Andre [Bell], don’t let him touch the ball. I guess he was a decoy, because he ran into the backcourt, which is where we wanted him to catch it, and if they beat us on a half-court shot, fine.”
On Derrick Favors’ play:
“We started running stuff to him, and he did a great job of catching the ball around the rim and finishing. Once he gets that going, then he gets going on the offensive boards, and he was tremendous on the offensive boards.”
On Iman Shumpert breaking out of his slump:
“You could see in the walkthrough this morning that he was back to being himself. He’s really learning, and he’s talking. “
Freshman Guard Glen Rice
On defending Cliff Tucker’s game winning shot:
“He got open on the wing, I put my hands up trying to make sure he didn’t get a clean look, and he just got it off. I thought he was going to miss, I saw it rolling around the basket.”
On how this game felt after difficult stretches on the road:
“It hurts. We had the game and they ended up making a game-winning shot.”
Freshman Forward Derrick Favors
On this game’s role in relation to the rest of the season:
“Hopefully after this game we can get our confidence up for the rest of the season heading into the ACC tournament. Now we know what we have to do when we go on the road.”
On what he was thinking when Cliff Tucker’s shot went in the hoop:
“I was in shock. I couldn’t even believe it.”
Maryland Head coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
“That game was a great game. When you win a game like that and when you have been on the other side of that, which I have been, you have empathy for Paul Hewitt in this case because they did everything right to win the game and they didn’t. That’s the tough side of coaching sometimes and I don’t think they could have done anything differently than they did. Georgia Tech is probably playing as well as anyone in the league and I am sure down the stretch it is going to be interesting with what they do because of their toughness, size, guard play, all of those things that they do have. For us it was good to see a lot of these guys step up – Cliff Tucker especially with the last shot and also hitting a big three before that. Dino Gregory, Adrian Bowie coming off the bench gave us a great performance and this was on the day that Landon [Milbourne] missed some of the looks he usually makes. Greivis Vasquez was very tired and he played like a warrior out there. The effort he gave today was probably as good as any game he scores 30 points in. The legs after a while, no matter how good of shape you are in, will get tired. He wasn’t able to explode out there against very good, physical guards, so he had a little bit of a problem getting some of the looks he usually gets. Some of them weren’t there but the looks he was giving to other people with his passes were tremendous. Jordan Williams had that lose ball play he made and that is typical of his attitude. He is just one of those people that wants to get better and he is willing to do whatever it takes and he is going to be an outstanding player. It was a great team effort. That last play was based on the fact that they would double-team Greivis [Vasquez] and he and Dino [Gregory] set a good pick for Cliff [Tucker]. We had Eric [Hayes] taking the ball in from out-of-bounds because he is a very good stand-still passer and he hit Cliff perfectly and Cliff did what he had to. We said that if we catch it we have to shoot it immediately and that there is not time for anything else. It was a great shot”.
On the last shot by Cliff Tucker:
“We practice things like that every day, you don’t go in to those situations without having practiced them and for the last 15 minutes of practice it is all about situations. It might only come up one time over the whole season, but it is important for the player to remember how we are going to run a play depending on how much time is left. So at least when we had the ball in that situation we had done that before in practice and there was a positive image there, so we got lucky there at the end, but we executed that play pretty well.”
On the physical play of the game:
“There are a lot of teams in this league that are physical. Clemson; Florida State with their size; Wake Forest and Duke; so this was as physical but it wasn’t any more physical than some of the teams we have already played this year.”
On Greivis Vasquez being the first player in ACC history to have 2000 points, 700 assists, and 600 rebounds:
“I think it speaks for itself. Greivis had his critics but the numbers are there and when you look at what he has done for the team this year he has always done everything he could. Last year he led the team in points, rebounds and assists and for anybody who thinks that he doesn’t belong in the top 5 to 7 players that have ever been here they don’t know the game very well. Teams come in to games really trying to stop him just like Georgia Tech did today and if Greivis has his legs he is able to handle that. I am really proud of what he has done and a lot of times he becomes our best defensive guard. He is big enough to play Iman [Shumpert] or whoever we have to put him on in certain situations.”
Senior guard Greivis Vasquez
On winning as a team:
“This is every game, our season. Every win we got, we got it as a team. This is nothing about me, our team has done a great job, being positive. Praise Cliff. He made that big shot for us and won the game. I thought Jordan [Williams] played outstanding. I thought Dino [Gregory] played good. Sean [Mosley] and Landon [Milbourne] played great defensively. It was a team effort. Eric Hayes hit some big shots. Coach Williams is coaching the way he always has been. I’m just proud of the fact that we got it together.”
On watching Cliff Tucker take the last shot:
“I can’t even describe it. It was the best game I ever played because of the way we won it. I’m so happy for Cliff. The shot is only going to help him, to give him more confidence. He understands that he has to work even harder to continue to help us to win games.”
Junior guard Cliff Tucker
On the final huddle:
“It was real calm… [Coach Williams] calmed down and just drew up the play and then we went out and ran it.”
On running the buzzer-beater in practice:
“I’m usually on the other team against the starters. It’s usually Greivis or Sean with the ball. We worked on that play a lot. It is usually supposed to be a lob, but it was too far away, so I just went to the 3-point line.”
Junior forward Dino Gregory
On the final play:
“It was nerve-wracking. I’ve never been that nervous in my life. Georgia Tech scored and we were down by one, we just had to get a bucket. We drew the play up and executed.”
Senior guard Eric Hayes
On Maryland’s composure:
“I thought we stayed pretty composed. We were playing decent defense. It was just their second shots that were killing us. A couple guys made some big shots. One guy hit a three and another made some big plays. I think we did enough to win, but it shouldn’t have mattered.”
