Feb. 25, 2004
Recap?|? Final Stats
– NC STATE COACH HERB SENDEK
“Certainly we knew coming into tonight’s game that we would have to be at our absolute best and I thought our guys really played well together. We put together a solid 40 minutes against an outstanding Georgia Tech team. It’s hard to single out any individuals because it really does feel like a great team win. Everybody just pulled his share and we are very pleased with the outcome tonight, obviously, against a team that’s had a great season and at a place where it is never easy to play.”
[on Julius Hodge not starting the game] — “I just decided that I was going to go with a group who finished the game against Washington so strong. They really played well together when Julius was in foul trouble and we wanted to start the game that way. I thought Julius would give us a spark coming in and he certainly did. We’ve maintained all year that with this particular team there is not really 5 starters and we’ve changed our starting lineup as much as some people change underwear. This team just has a different personality to it and we’ve used any number of starting lineups.”
“He (Hodge) obviously played very well tonight and did some good things and really gave us some terrific leadership in addition to his play. He was focused on himself tonight and on helping us to win.”
At what point did you realize this team was going to be an ACC contender and win 10 or 11 games? — “It’s really something that’s hard to project like that because every game you go into it’s a realization that if you don’t play well, you aren’t going to win. And, if you look at gauntlet of the schedule that faces you at any one point of the season, you are going to be overwhelmed. As simplistic as it may sound, we’ve just kinda stayed the course with it and realized that we have to get better at every step because the league is so strong and so talented and we’ve not altered that.”
GEORGIA TECH COACH Paul Hewitt
“Tough day out there for our guys. I thought over effort was very good. We forced 19 turnovers, but we just didn’t’ execute some of the things that we typically do – making free throws, chippies. You have to give NC State credit. They took advantage of our lapses. Engin Atsur played an outstanding game. In my mind, he was the big difference in the game. He only had one turnover, he made some big shots down the stretch, he made free throws. He made a big contribution. He’s been a big key for them all year. For a freshman to come in this league and play the way he has says a lot about him.
“I thought we had some pretty good looks, we just didn’t knock them down. As I told the guys after the game, there’s no need re-hashing this one. I’ll watch the tape and we’ll try to correct some things, but we’ve got to move on and start preparing for Clemson.
[Second straight team to shoot 50 percent] “That’s a big concern. Defense has been our mainstay all year, and that’s what triggers our transition game. That’s probably a bigger concern than the quote-unquote execution. I thought execution-wise, we did some things that we wanted to. We got the looks we wanted to. Defense is the bigger concern. We have not been using that as a weapon like we have all year so we can get stops and get out in transition.
“We came into this game 6-6, and you look around our league, and there are a lot of teams hovering around that mark. I don’t think a 6-7 mark in this league is anything to be ashamed of. Our non-conference proves that this league is clearly the best in the country. Am I disappointed that we’re 6-7? Sure, we want to be better, but I’m not ashamed of it.
“You’ve got to credit NC State taking advantage of some of our lapses. The crucial stage of the game to me was at 55-52. We got three straight stops, we had a breakaway layup that we didn’t convert, missed two free throws, missed a layup. It felt like we were just pushing a rock uphill and couldn’t get it over. When we got it over for one possession, they came back and scored. But 55-52 was the crucial stage of the game in my mind.”
GEORGIA TECH PLAYERS
On losing the 10-point lead — “NC State fought back, regained the momentum and took the game from us. From then on we were playing catch up, and we could just never get the lead.”
On the loss — “I think it’s more frustrating than anything. It’s a little bit disappointing too, but more frustrating because we know we’re a good team and if we play up to our capabilities, we should go out there and win every game. It’s something that can happen in the ACC, you never know what’s going to happen so you have to be ready for anything.”
On forgetting this game and moving on — “It’s going to be hard, but we have a game coming up Saturday, so we have to start looking ahead and prepare.”
On the NC State offense — “They were driving and then kicking it out and they were making really tough shots.”
On NC State’s Julius Hodge — “Good players are destined to have a good game if you play against a team enough times. It was just one of those days where tonight was his night. He played really well, hit a lot of tough shots, including the one he hit on the wing when they really needed a basket and I think that was the backbreaker for us.”
We’re going to look back on this game and try and learn from it, don’t dwell on it and look towards Clemson. After the game Coach [Paul] Hewitt said focus on Clemson now and go from there.”
On not being able to execute free throws and layups — “I really don’t have an answer for that. We have to concentrate and make sure that we make those easy plays because in this league, they’re not going to give it to you. No team is going to give it to you, so you have to earn it. We pretty much have to do everything right to make sure that we get wins.”
On dropping two straight games at home — “No, I don’t think so. You can’t do that, we have to look forward to the next game. We’ve got three more games to go, still plenty of more possible wins for us. We’re just going to look to the next game and focus on Clemson.”
On allowing two straight teams to shoot better than 50 percent — “I’m not sure. I think they have been making some tough shots on us and we haven’t stepped up and taking pride in our defense, that we had all year.”
