Feb. 10, 2011
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– GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Paul Hewitt
Opening Statement>
“As well as they defended us and as poorly as we shot in the first half, I thought that we had a legitimate shot in the second half. Even though we were down 12, we had a chance to get back into this and get back into the game. We started off with some pretty good momentum, but we committed some fouls there when we were making our run, holding fouls, bad fouls that we talked about, that got them to the foul line, get some points and keep their margin for the second half.”
On not getting over the hump
“Not being able to get that third basket when we were trying to come back was due to their ability, but it was also due to the fouling. I think that really eliminated any chance that we had to get over that hump.”
On the team’s shooting percentage
“It could be what happens when you are a jump shooting team. We rely so heavily on [the shooters]. The effort level is there and I am pleased with it 100 percent. They are playing hard and I see them growing and maturing, especially a guy like Glen [Rice, Jr.]. We just have to get more around the bucket and finish.”
On the play of freshman Jason Morris
“I think Jason is capable of more. I know that he is a freshman, but he is a pretty good player. I guess that his mindset just has to be more aggressive and he has to see the game a bit better. He is giving us a good effort. I asked him in particular to pick up his rebounding and he had four tonight, a couple on the offensive end. You will see some development. I know he is capable of more, and that is not a criticism of him, it is just more that I think he is a good player. Once his confidence level gets to the level of confidence that I have in him you will see him put up more numbers offensively. “
On Iman Shupert hitting the career 1,000 point mark
“I know that Iman will be the first to tell you that it isn’t the most important thing to him, the most important thing is winning games. Obviously, he is having a terrific career statistically and he is giving us everything that he has. He is another guy that has grown an awful lot as a player. He has matured, understands how to run a team and I just wish that we could get him and Glen some more help.”
GEORGIA TECH SOPHOMORE Glen Rice, Jr.
On Florida State’s defense
“I don’t think they were doing anything different. I just felt like [Iman] Shumpert and them would get into the paint and kick it out and myself in particular, just weren’t making the inside out threes that we would normally make. A couple times we set up for the three instead of getting to the basket and making them foul us. Other than that, they didn’t do anything in particular.”
On foul calls
“The referees let us play sometimes and they would call us other times. I didn’t really feel like you could gauge what they were going to call or not. Several times both teams tried to take it in and they wouldn’t call it. That is just part of the game and you have to play through.”
FLORIDA STATE COACH LEONARD HAMILTON
Opening Statement
“We played a lot of guys tonight because we felt that we had to play with a lot of energy. We got a lot of guys into the game in the first half and I think that it allowed us to sustain our energy. At least in the second half I thought we came out and played with a lot more energy. We were able to extend the lead and then when we made those mistakes we were able to hold them off down the stretch.”
On drawing so many fouls in the second half
“I’m not really sure that it is anything that we were doing differently, other than attempting to move the ball a little better than we had during periods in the first half. I thought we got more ball screens; I thought we got more penetration, the ball reversals were a little better. We didn’t get the ball inside nearly as much as I had wanted to but the times that we did get the ball inside, I thought that we were effective at drawing fouls and getting to the foul line.”
On not being able to put Tech away for good
“Well obviously we had played fairly good up to a certain point, I think we had a 14-15 point lead. Then we had some turnovers that you really don’t coach against: dribbling the ball off of your foot, letting it go through your hands, throwing it out of bounds. Those things are the kind of mistakes that are mental errors and so if we make those kind of errors when we don’t have the extended lead like we did, those can be costly. Hopefully we will do a better job of it, and the guys who made the mistakes are guys who are supposed to be guys that make better decisions with the ball. In the ACC, you take a road victory anyway you can get it.”
On an inconsistent team working on its tournament resume
“We have been a team kind of in transition all year long, losing [Ian] Miller and then losing Xavier [Gibson], kind of like everybody else. And then we have four new kids that we are trying to work into the environment, into the system. We have had a learning curve. We have played excellent basketball at times and we have played like a team that is still trying to find itself. But we like this team, and we just hope that we can continue to keep winning while developing, just get through this stretch and just pull them out and hopefully a little later we will be a well-oiled machine. Right now, we are not anywhere close to being as good as I think we are capable of. If there is one positive thing that I like about this team it is that even though we are 7-3, and within striking distance of the top teams in our league, we still have room to improve.”
