Jan. 23, 2015
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Georgia Tech Head Coach Brian Gregory
Opening statement:
“I give Virginia credit. In the first half, I thought it was back and forth a bit. We had some opportunities to keep the lead to single digits and I thought their defense was very good in the first half. They did a very good job of keeping us off the offensive glass, but in the second half it was another level. They did a really good job. They make it so you have to make every open shot, and we struggled to make open shots tonight. We struggled against their overall defense. The one thing they have done all year long is that, even when they’re not scoring, they play the same defense every time. In this day and age to play that type of defense without always getting the reward on offense is credit to Tony Bennett and his staff.”
On Virginia’s defense:
“They are good on film and in person. They force tough shots, and you have to make every one. Then they wind you up on the other end so sometimes you’re a little less patient on offense. I don’t think that was the case for us today, but you have to be willing to take shots in the last ten seconds of the shot clock.”
What it takes to beat Virginia:
“Teams that have guys that can make plays 1-on-1 and make tough shots are the teams that will be able to play with them for forty minutes. And you need a couple guys to do this; one guy isn’t enough. You have to make every open shot, and that’s what Virginia did. Defensively, we were pretty good too. We own the 28 points. But, they just have guys that will make the open shots.”
Virginia Head Coach Tony Bennett Quotes
On Virginia’s defensive effort:
“I think we knew how important it was to limit Georgia Tech to one chance. I think holding them at bay with those second chance points was significant. We really worked on playing good ball screen defense and contesting their shots. That combination helped us. There are still areas to improve, but I liked how we rebounded.”
On Virginia’s offense:
“We weren’t great in the first half. The ball was sticking and we were forcing things a bit. In the second half, we started running our offense with ball movement and pace, and got good looks.”
On getting consecutive stops on the defensive end:
“If you can make them come up empty a few times in a row and you can go on the offensive side and get them chasing you, that can do a lot for you. We’ve shown the ability to embrace the possession. We are not going to give in and we are not going to give them an easy look. Everything is going to be contested. The guys embraced that throughout tonight.”
On starting Mike Tobey and Darion Atkins and having Anthony Gill come off the bench:
“I told those guys that they are three starters. It’s going to be based on matchups. I like having Darion in there to give us a defensive spark and some mobility. With the size of Georgia Tech, I started Mike. I thought it would be a way to interject some life into him, as well. They’re all going to play and give us lifts.”
