Nov. 19, 2010
– GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Paul Hewitt
On what part of tonight’s game caught his eye the most, and what the team did better than they did Wednesday
“I thought we moved the ball when in the first half. I thought in the second half, we became a little indecisive, but we had that stretch of 12 possessions where we didn’t have a turnover or a missed a shot, and that’s the thing where we have to stick to business and finish the task.”
On needing more rebounds from the interior guys
“That’s what has to happen. [Glen] Rice and Iman [Shumpert] are going to get to be guys that get rebounds for us. Kammeon [Holsey], Daniel [Miller] and Nate [Hicks] have to do their part. One of the things I see in Nate Hicks is that he isn’t afraid to stick his nose in there. He is going to go in traffic and he won’t flinch when elbows start flying, he is going to get the ball. He is a few pounds away and a little bit of strength away from being a really good basketball player for this program.”
On whether there something there between Mfon [Udofia] and Moe Miller playing together
“I think there is something there. I love the floor game that Mfon played. People look at the stat sheet and see that he has no assists, but he had a lot of what we call `hockey assists’. He made the pass that led to the pass that scored the basket. You know in hockey they count the last two passes. I told him tonight that he played very well defensively; he ran the floor very well, ran the offense very well and didn’t try to make the home run pass, but made the passes that led to easy buckets for us.”
On how important the next seven days are in terms of getting ready for Texas-El Paso after playing four games in the last eight days
“First of all we have to get some rest. The guy’s knees are a little sore right now. They are going to take a couple of days to get their bodies rested and we are going to have three difficult days of practice; Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, before we have a light one and get ready for El Paso on Friday night.”
On if there are several teachable moments out of the tape from these four games
“No question. As I mentioned the other night, we aren’t going to forget about Monday. Monday has to be on our minds and we have to understand that our margin for error is not going to be as big as some of the team’s we are going to play, but when we move the basketball, we don’t have to worry about a margin of error.”
NIAGARA HEAD COACH JOE MIHALICH
“We came into tonight knowing we had a real good opportunity and at the same time had a great respect for this team. I like that team, I think that they are going to create a lot of matchup problems for whoever they play. Our game plan coming in, we told our team that their best offense is when you have the ball. They create turnovers. They get steals. They get you to take bad shots, and then they score off of your offense. We did not do a very good job with that, we allowed them to do just that, but they do that kind of stuff. When they get that going, and the way they shoot the ball, I think it is going to be a good team for them. Big guy has to get better, I think he’s kind of learning on the job, but he’s got a bright future.”
“But with us, right now we are in a sword fight with a butter knife. We’ve got three freshmen starting, and four playing a lot. Our best player didn’t play tonight, and that is certainly not an excuse. We just finished telling the kids not to make excuses. You talk about learning the hard way and learning on the job, that is what our guys are doing. We hope that we can get better all the time and by the end of the year be a decent team”.
On Anthony Nelson’s injury
“He’s kind of day-to-day, but as somebody once said, “Aren’t we all?” It happened in practice last Friday, something like that. It was one of those roller coaster things where he got hit, we got all nervous because it didn’t look good at first, and then he goes and gets the x-rays and it’s negative so we breathe a sigh of relief. Then it didn’t seem to get better so they took some more x-rays and they found some more problems. We need him, he is our best player, but he is also our only senior, he is our point guard, and he is our leader. He is the classic example of somebody that makes everybody else better and keeps everybody together. I think, I hope that he is going to make a big difference when he gets back. I know he will, he is a good player.”
On Antoine Mason
“He is a gamer. When the lights go on, he doesn’t care where he is or who he is playing against. He plays hard, and he produces. Sometimes he looks a little funky out there taking that shot or when he drives but at the end of the day, when you look at that box score, he put some points on the board, he got some rebounds, and he has a presence out there. We are excited about our freshmen, but like I said they are learning on the job and learning the hard way.”
