Dec. 5, 2009
– GEORGIA TECH COACH Paul Hewitt
Opening Statement:
“This is a good way for us to go into final exam break. The kids now have three days off and we’ll start getting back after it next Saturday. We’re pleased. We’re 6-1 at exam break and hopefully we’ll come out of exam break in good shape to get ready for the bulk of our season.”
On having only seven turnovers on the night:
“I’ve been saying since Puerto Rico that once our passing improves, especially our big guys kicking it out, that things will improve. I was pleased to see Derrick [Favors] and Gani [Lawal] with four assists between them and no turnovers. Once the passing improves, then the shooting will improve. We made eight three’s today and I think we’re capable of making eight to ten a game”
On Iman Shumpert’s injury:
“He had some discomfort coming out of Puerto Rico. They did an MRI that was inconclusive. Then after Wednesday’s game [against Siena] I called him on my way home and he said that he couldn’t move and wouldn’t be the same player. At that point we decided that he should have exploratory surgery and we did that on Thursday. They looked in, saw something, cleaned it up and they’re thinking three-to-six weeks. He should be back for the bulk of the season.”
On Georgia Tech’s 19-0 run to start the game and USC’s comeback:
“Rarely have I seen a basketball game that starts like that and the other team doesn’t make a run at them. When it was 19-0 I knew it would tighten up and then from there the game would start. It didn’t even faze me that it happened.”
On the performance of the bench:
“Our bench has to step it up. Forget about how much depth we have, bodies don’t equal depth. Production equals depth and right now we’re not getting much production off the bench. We have a tremendous opportunity to develop quality depth now with Iman out. It’s one thing to get minutes, but it’s another to do something with them. I think we had four points off our bench and they played 31 minutes. These guys have to step up and make plays, or else we’re going to cut the rotation back and press less and play eight guys if we have to.”
On what to take from win over USC
“The big thing to take out of it was our improved shooting percentages and only having seven turnovers. We’ve played some teams that may have been equally overmatched and we’ve made it a sloppy, ugly game. I thought today we were much crisper and obviously USC was tired making the trip they made. USC is not as healthy as they want to be and they will be at some point. What you saw out of us today was we weren’t turning the ball over and we were taking good shots.”
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA COACH KEVIN O’NEILL
Opening Statement
“This game was obviously over early. We got down 19-0 and brought it back to 23-20. Whenever we have any foul trouble, because of our little numbers it really puts us in a bind. For the first time this season, we really did not compete today. We get tired, we get gassed. We just do not have enough right now. That was a very disappointing performance on our part. If you do not play better than that you will not have a chance to beat anybody.”
On lack of rhythm tonight
“We struggle with guard play to run anything. We have guys playing that have never played before. Donte Smith was supposed to travel to Pomona but decided to stay. He is our point guard and doing the best that he can. Dwight Lewis is the only guy that has played major minutes. I do not like how hard he has been playing so I did not play him today. We need to be a program that plays hard and does the right thing all the time and we certainly did not do that tonight. We played very well the other night at Texas for 35-36 minutes but caved in. We caved in early her tonight. We got to a point where we kind of gave up in the second half and you can not do that.”
On expectations of this season
“My expectations for this season were we were going to struggle early on. We lost six of our top seven players and our entire recruiting class. We are basically playing guys that have not played. We have guys ineligible. The thing that comes with an NCAA investigation is what we have. We have some players ineligible, we have lost a bunch of players and lost a recruiting class. None of those are reasons for not playing hard today. It is totally unacceptable. I knew the challenges coming in. I knew there would be a few nights like this and they are not fun but that is part of the process.”
On comparing Texas to Georgia Tech
“I could not really tell from the way we played tonight. Both teams are athletic. Texas might be a little deeper with the guys they have but I know [Iman] Shumpert was out today. Our team is not a really gauge right now to compare the two teams.”
