Jan. 25, 2015
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GEORGIA TECH COACH Brian Gregory
Opening Statement
“You have to give Boston College a lot of credit. They had some really good execution down the stretch. It’s difficult in this league to be successful if you allow a team to shoot 59 percent from the field in a half. In Olivier Hanlan you have the premier guard in this conference and he made a couple big shots. That was a big three he hit and obviously the layup at the end. Over a 38 minute stretch, we did a good job on him. We made him earn everything and forced him in to six turnovers. He has the ball in his hands so much, and he made some crucial plays down the stretch. Unfortunately, our defense wasn’t up to the task that it needed to be in the second half. I thought we were much better offensively in the second half and much more aggressive in terms of getting fouled. Boston College still has to make the shots. I think that hurt with our big guys in foul trouble, we didn’t have the protection and the wall around the basket like we normally we do. We had to go very small because of the foul trouble.”
On not having the three post guys to score because of foul trouble
“They had eighteen minutes, nineteen minutes and sixteen minutes primarily due to foul trouble. I thought in the second half we got the ball to Demarco Cox a couple times. We need to at times have a little more poise at getting the ball in there. Demarco and Robert Sampson did a better job today of taking care of the basketball; only one turnover between the two of them. Their inability to get on track offensively due to the foul trouble was I thought a big key.”
With six super close losses, how do you talk to the team
“Sometimes it’s even harder to not even conceptualize but communicate the fact that the frustration is even greater because you’re right there. This game, not as much as the some of the others where I thought we played better, and when I say that I mean that with respect to Boston College. I think they forced us into some sloppiness and some lack of concentration on some key defensive coverages. I tell the guys, we got ourselves into this and we got to get ourselves out of this. We have to keep fighting. You can question sometimes the decision making. In the first half we struggled offensively, but we got every 50/50 ball that was out there. We had great effort and great energy and sometimes right now we’re just not getting a lot out of that. We have an open court basket where we miss the layup. We have three or four of those in a game, where we make a great effort, play great hustle and we just get nothing out it. I would say more so in the wins then losses. That’s the first time I’ve seen that happen in six of seven games. You can look at every game and see three or four plays were we did something really great and didn’t get anything out of it. In this league you have to do that.”
BOSTON COLLEGE COACH JIM CHRISTIAN
Opening Statement
“I’m really proud of our guys. We came in shorthanded. Dennis Clifford didn’t play today because he’s ill. I’m not sure exactly what he has; I know he had a double ear infection and their testing for some other stuff. So we had to have guys step up and make some plays and I thought they did. I thought guys played with a lot more confidence for us tonight. Olivier [Hanlan] stepped up when he needed to. He’s been so big for us and he was huge in this game to win it. We had to find a way to win a game like this and I’m proud of us.”
On first career ACC win
“I’m happy for our team and anytime you win on the road its’ a huge thing. We’ve been in this situation before and haven’t come through so the fact that our team is learning and getting, it’s rewarding.”
On finishing the game
“I thought Patrick [Heckman] went to the line and made two big free throws and Aaron [Brown] hit a huge free throw. We switched a lot of things at the end. We turned it over and that wasn’t a smart play, but we said ‘Hang on.’ Georgia Tech is going to fight and they did. They competed really hard. They’re really good defensively and made it difficult for us defensively. I thought the second half was the best offensive half we played in the ACC [in terms of] just playing smart and making smart basketball plays.”
On Georgia Tech’s offensive penetration in the first half
“No. I mean we just broke down a couple times. I thought our ball screen coverage wasn’t very good and they’re really good at that. The guys just adjusted. That was the game plan coming in; don’t let them beat us over the top.”
On Olivier Hanlan
“He’s had a lot of success against a lot of people this year. If you look at his numbers in the conference – you can’t look at the season long numbers [because] he’s learning to be the primary ball-handler of a team and running an offense by himself so they played a little differently last year. So now that he’s into conference play, he’s more comfortable. His assist-to-turnover ratio is great (today not as good as it’s been). His three-point percentage is up. He’s over 77 percent from the foul line. He’s over 40 percent from three. He’s averaging close to 20 points per game. Once we started ACC play he’s kicked it into another level.”
