Feb. 8, 2014
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GEORGIA TECH COACH Brian Gregory
Opening statement:
“We played a really good team today that down the stretch made every play. I give them credit. I thought for 34 minutes we executed well both offensively and defensively. Unfortunately just down the stretch, we weren’t able to take care of the basketball. I think those three or four possessions in a row that were turnovers were back-breakers, especially in the last two rounds of the game, the last eight minutes. They led to easy baskets on the other end, transitions baskets, and then we got down and stretched a little bit and they took advantage of that with their execution on offense. I’m disappointed in how that thing ended in those last seven minutes. In the first 33 minutes we did some good things. You have to play extremely well for 40 minutes with a lot of grit and toughness against that team. We just weren’t able to finish it. I was disappointed, now we just have to regroup and get ready for Wednesday.”
On what led to the breakdown that led to the Virginia run at the end of the game:
“We were 3-13 from the free throw line, so we didn’t make any free throws the whole game. We didn’t take care of the basketball. There were two or three turnovers that we didn’t get shots up. We just weren’t strong enough and tough enough on the offensive end in those last eight minutes. We did a great job against their trap, which created a lot of good offensive stuff for us. I thought Daniel played well, I thought Kam did a lot of good things for us as well. You can’t give up 13 offensive rebounds to Virginia, they’re just too efficient on offense. If you give them those second opportunities, you’re giving yourself a big problem. One-third of their points came from our turnovers and us not getting the defensive rebounds.”
On the rebounding difficulties and final disparity:
“You’d be hard pressed to watch us play and not say we’re playing hard. It’s little bit of toughness both in mindset and physicality. Mindset not in terms of effort, but in terms of going back and scrapping and getting in there. There are times where you look at our perimeter players – they didn’t rebound well enough for us today. That’s just a fact. We need those guys rebounding. Daniel got seven defensive rebounds, Kam got three. Trae played eight minutes, he’s healthy but not at full speed, he got two. We’ve got other guys who played a lot of minutes and didn’t get any. We need those guys on the glass. Especially until Robert gets back into shape and can really play effectively, we have to team rebound. That means our ones, our twos and our threes have to do a great job on the glass. Our guards have to be engaged.”
On Trae Golden’s limited capabilities:
“What we have to do with him is get back to the rehab for the next couple of days. It was good that he was able to get out there and he felt fine, but he’s obviously not at the explosiveness that he had before. It’s back to the rest and the rehab and we’ll see if he takes a step in the next couple of days. He’s got a little bit more on Wednesday and then it’s a week off until we play again.”
On the return of Robert Carter Jr.:
“I thought he was a little bit rusty. He played 16 minutes, we thought somewhere between 14-17 minutes would be good. Out of rhythm at times on offense, held the ball a little too long. You can’t hold the ball for too long against Virginia because of how their defense shifts and loads that ball side. You’ve got to keep that ball moving and then attack them. Overall I thought we needed to get him back out there, but it will be a couple weeks before he’s playing at the level that he can play at.”
VIRGINIA COACH TONY BENNETT
On late run:
“It was really was something to see that happen. Brian (Gregory) does a great job with his team, because they are out of sync with their injuries that they’ve faced. He had them so ready. It was so hard for us to get good looks early, perhaps we were impatient. When we did get to the lane, (Daniel) Miller cleaned up everything. He’s so mobile and big. They’re so physical.”
On Georgia Tech:
“They’re a very talented team, but they’ve just been hit by the injury bug. They haven’t been able to get it going.”
On rebounding:
“That concerned us. We talked about ‘hitting and holding’ on the blockouts. Couple of times we didn’t, and that’s when they got it. If you weren’t airtight on your blockouts and getting after it, you’re in trouble.”
On winning on the road in ACC:
“You go on the road, like here, and it’s a war. We were in a fight. We weren’t particularly playing well. Georgia Tech did a heck of a job. You just keep hanging in there, and then you have a run like that. Things happen, and we capitalized on it. We’re fortunate.”
