Dec. 20, 2009
– GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Paul Hewitt
Opening Statement:
“We had a tough time shooting the ball in the first half, but I thought we did a better job shooting in the second half. We went into the game feeling like we had to score in transition before they could set up defensively, but we did not do that. We shot early and quick in the first half, second half we did a better job moving the ball around and getting some open shots.”
On Florida State’s defensive effort:
“In the first half, again, it was more of us shooting quickly or going into a double team. There were a few times early where we would kick the ball inside right into a double team.”
On calling timeouts with three minutes left in regulation and two minutes left in overtime:
“The first one we called was because we needed to set our pressure up and our guys were getting tired. The second one, Zach asked me to call it because he had a cramp going on.”
On if he wished to see anything different from the team down the stretch:
“Late in the game, not really. I thought we did the things we needed to do. We had finally found a rhythm, that’s why I didn’t mind calling the timeout because I wanted to get our press set up. I think we came out of it and turned the ball over. The only thing I wished we could’ve done was to look inside more. We had some chances.”
On the effect the game could have on Georgia Tech’s freshmen:
“We kept trying to tell them that you don’t understand how long these guys are. They never played against a collection of guys this long. I think it took a little while for them to realize how long those guys were.
“They were excited to play. They’re good players and they’re going to get better. I have no doubt in my mind that will happen. Brian Oliver won’t go 1-for-6 from three; I thought Glen Rice Jr. played a great game and Mfon [Udofia] will settle down.”
FLORIDA STATE HEAD COACH LEONARD HAMILTON
Opening Statement…
“I thought the kids gave a tremendous effort tonight and I thought it was a direct reflection to the amount of respect we have for Georgia Tech and the way they have been executing and have been playing. That motivates you within itself because they have done such a great job of getting the ball to the people that need to get it. They have very good shooters and we had little room for error, so I thought our players did well focusing and executing. Neither one of us shot the ball very well, but both teams are very good defensive teams and I thought the effort was tremendous as well. We just got a little spark there in overtime and pulled out the victory. Paul has done a great job with that team but we had a great opportunity to get hot there in the end and put the game away.”
What this win means being the first conference game of the season…
“It means an awful lot to us because we didn’t really play well against the other nationally-ranked teams that we faced. Playing well against a great team like Georgia Tech will really boost a young team’s confidence. Tonight I feel we executed better than we had against lesser opponents and I thought our players grew up. This level of competition will create that level of synergy to give us momentum and keep playing well hopefully through the next several games.”
On Florida State senior Ryan Reid stepping up in this game…
“[Ryan] Reid is our most experienced player. He is the only senior we have on this team. He’s been our unsung hero for two or three years. He always seems to take toughest defensive assignments, and does all the dirty work. Tonight we realized that we had to rebound well in order to be in this game, and Reid had to defend who I think is a lottery pick in [Georgia Tech’s] Gani Lawal. We did a good job of defending him. We all know Gani is an outstanding player, and a couple of shots just didn’t fall for him and we were able to get enough guys around him. At times when he got the ball we had about four or five guys around him, and that’s because we have that much respect for him.”
