Dec. 2, 2009
– Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewitt
Opening Statement:
“Assuming Siena played without one of their top scorers in Edwin Ubiles, they played a very impressive game. Coming into the game, we thought he was a key to them staying in the game. I thought in the second half we played with a lot more energy, which we didn’t do a very good job of in the first half. We didn’t compete the way you should compete; we didn’t play hard like Siena. That’s why they’ve accomplished many of the things they have the last two years.”
On adjustments at the half:
“The things that were bothering us at the half was just a matter of competing. Like going for loose balls, stopping your guy from driving to the paint, being outrun down the floor. It’s about stepping up to the competition; it’s a battle for a fumble or a loose ball. That’s what we talked about at halftime, not X’s and O’s. I thought in the second half we did a better job of that.”
On if we will see more of Mfon Udofia on the wing after his performance tonight:
“I don’t know what position he’s playing right now, he’s just out there. At the beginning of the year I had no intention of starting him, but he’s kind of just forced is way into the starting lineup with how hard he plays. He’s taken advantage of our big guys. I said a few games away once our passing improves inside the paint our shooting will get better. Well, today we made seven [three-pointers]. Mfon, I couldn’t even tell you what position he was playing. He’s just out there.”
On if the team came in with the mindset to stop Siena from shooting from three-point range:
“No, we came into the game knowing that we had to take care of the basketball and stop them in transition. We felt that if we didn’t allow them to score off turnovers or allow transition buckets, we could hold them to a pretty low number. I think we weren’t successful at that in the first half.”
On Udofia’s three at the buzzer before halftime:
“It was big. To go from a one to a four point lead and knowing you would have the ball to start the second half, that’s huge. But, it shouldn’t be about that. If you’re playing harder and a team is beating you, that’s one thing, But when a team is outplayed, that’s just not good. Either I’m overvaluing our talent or I’m not trying hard enough. It can’t be anything else.”
On playing Siena for the first time since coming to Georgia Tech:
“It was interesting. Obviously when we go back up there next year it will be a little bit more emotional for me because I still have a lot of good friends up there. I root for them all the time. I’m very familiar with their team and I watch them on TV when their on. They have a nice team. Losing Ubiles was a big loss for them, just a bad break. It was a big break for us that he didn’t play. But, it was definitely strange.”
Siena Coach Fran McCaffery
Opening Statement
“It was a frustrating game for us because I thought we really competed. I don’t think we played particularly well, we missed a lot of layups, and we missed our share of free throws. Coming into the game, you obviously worry about rebounding, as this was one of the few teams I have ever scouted that is 10 over on rebound margin. We stayed within six, turning them over 20 times, and we didn’t turn it over a lot. We had real good looks at it. It’s just difficult when you get in there and they have the two guys swatting at everything, it changes things. Maybe we got a little three happy, but we were open, and we shoot open threes. All in all, we fought hard. When you look at the numbers and watch the game, we didn’t play well enough to win, not against this caliber of a team on the road.”
On Shooting 28 Three-Pointers
“The game plan is always the same. We are going to run our offense, and take open shots. We had good three point shooters shooting them, and they didn’t make them, and it’s unfortunate.”
On The Last Few Minutes Of The First Half
“That’s when we lost the game. We should have taken the lead, and should been up six, seven at halftime. Not only did we miss shots, and turn it over, we missed foul shots. We had a couple of chances to take the lead, tie the game, and then we had a defensive breakdown on the last play of the half. You can’t do that stuff on the road against a team like this.”
On Georgia Tech Guard Mfon Udofia
“I hadn’t seen him shoot the ball like that. I know Paul [Hewitt] was expecting him to have these kind of offensive nights. He was very impressive to me. What a great looking player, and seemingly could be a real key to this team as they move forward contending for an ACC Championship. The other pieces are there, and if he plays like that, then they are clearly not only one of the premiere teams in the AC, but in the country. We were more concerned with post feeds than we were with his jump shot. When you play like that sometimes, guys make you pay.”
