Jan. 16, 2011
– GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Paul Hewitt
Opening statement
“Obviously Iman [Shumpert] and Glen [Rice, Jr.] were terrific offensively, but I cant remember seeing a more deceiving stat line than Daniel Miller’s. I thought he was big tonight. He played really well, set some great screens and kept them off the glass. We made a huge effort to not allow Tyler Zeller and John Henson to control the boards. In the first half I thought we were shaky with that and in the second half we were better and got a good win. The kids deserved this one.”
On Iman Shumpert when playing UNC
“He does play really well against UNC, but this year he has been on his way to two or three games like this only to be hampered by cramps in the second half and he didn’t have those today. I can think of three games off the top of my head where I thought he was going to have 30 points.”
On ball movement in the game
“Guys are getting reps, getting experience and getting timing down. That is what I am talking about with Daniel. I thought he did a good job getting those wings free early into the game. We ran some sets to take advantage of certain matchups and Daniel did a good job of getting Glen open and got us off to a good start.”
On the upcoming ACC matchups
“I hope that this game makes them all understand that, especially the bigs, that if we execute and screen and get Iman and Glen open they are going to make shots. I am still going to ride with Brian Oliver. He is a good shooter, he is going to make those shots for us. The thing is, if we get into a rut and someone is going to throw a run on us like they did at Boston College and Clemson, we are going to stick to what we are supposed to do. Keep running the offense, keep getting screens, and getting guys open and hope that they deliver.”
GEORGIA TECH GUARD Iman Shumpert
On playing UNC
“It might just be the crowd and the energy, the atmosphere. Usually the home team gets that first little spark during the game. We were planning on making a run so we just focused on hitting our shots and getting stops. We wanted to do a better job as guards helping out the big men, rebounding and talking more. Our communication was bad the last few games, with help defense, switching. Hopefully all of our fans and the students will keep coming out and supporting us because the atmosphere tonight really helped. “
On matching up with UNC
“I think that when you play UNC, everyone feels like the underdog. They have to come out and play hard every time. Same thing with Duke. The thing is you just have to play them tough.”
On why he didn’t go to UNC
“I am a city guy and I thought that Georgia Tech was a better fit for me.”
SOPHOMORE GUARD Glen Rice, Jr.
On his foul trouble
” I came out and felt good, but then the fouls happened. When I came to the bench, Shumpert took it away so it wasn’t really frustrating with him out there. I was trying to bring the energy to the game from the bench and let them know that I was still here with them even though I wasn’t on the court.”
NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH ROY WILLIAMS
Opening Statement
“There’s not a lot to say guys. That was just a butt-kicking. At the half, I was just dumbfounded. I thought we would really come out and play with intensity, and take care of the basketball. We’ve been killed down here in the past with turnovers and we had, I think, a turnover in three of the first five possessions. We then came out lifeless again in the second half. I have to do a better job of getting my kids to act like it means something to them. I just have to do a better job of coaching. We didn’t execute, we missed layups, and missed free throws. I don’t think I have ever had a game where we missed as many layups, but give Georgia Tech credit there. It’s not just our missing layups. They challenged around the goal. We had four rebounds there and then had it stripped. They were so much more aggressive than we were, and I have to get our guys to be more aggressive, to be more intense and act like it means something to them.”
On if there is anything about Georgia Tech’s style of play now that you have lost to them four straight times
“I guess if I had to sit back and think about it, we have turned the ball over a lot. They have also shot the ball really well. It seems to me like they are making a lot more shots against us than anyone else, and maybe its poor defense, that kind of thing too. But you look at our club and say we should have a better advantage in the lane, and then they go and score 38-22 in the lane. It’s not just their big guys though, it’s their whole team. Seven seconds on the shot clock and we let a guy drive to the basket and score. It’s got to mean more to us than that.”
On if there is anything he can do when someone is feeling it like Iman Shumpert was…
“Well we switched Larry [Drew II] on him early in the second half because he was doing a better job on him, but Iman is playing great. I recruited the dickens out of him. I think that is two games that he has scored 30 on us. I think he sees us and then his eyes light up. We tried to do a couple of things in the second half but we didn’t execute on those. From a coaching standpoint, yes, we wanted to double team him and the first time we try, we don’t go in a double.”
On if he thought the team came in overconfident…
“No. We just didn’t come in ready to play. We stunk. My coaching stunk and we stunk. I’m tired of saying we have to build confidence. It’s easy to build confidence. If you play better, then you will get confidence. We weren’t overconfident we just weren’t as intense as we needed to be to start the basketball game.”
