Feb. 7, 2015
Recap | Final Stats | Notes | Photo Gallery | GT Photo Gallery | Lettermen’s Game
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Opening Statement
“I’m pleased with the way our guys played. I thought over our last four games our guys played very well. In this league you can play very well and be 2-2 in this stretch and that’s exactly where we’re at. Our guys defensively were tremendous. We rebounded a lot better and got our fast break going. We shot the ball better, we moved the ball well. You’ve got to look at the job Demarco (Cox) first then Charles (Mitchell) did on a tremendous player in Devin Thomas a guy who’s difficult to guard one-on-one. Those guys did a great job. Chris Bolden did a phenomenal job on Codi Miller-McIntyre who I think is one of the best guards in the conference. When you play against guys like that, they’re going to score some baskets and make some plays. I thought in those two areas our guys were really dialed in.”
On defensive performance
“It all goes back to our defense. We got stops, we got rebounds and now you’re able to run the ball. Now you’re able to set a pace. Even if you’re not able to score of the transition, the pace of how we’re playing is a little faster, a little crisper and a little sharper. That helps us. Sometimes our offensive woes are due to not playing good defense. I thought our guys responded extremely well in the second half. Usually that because of the focus of the guys and our guys came out very focused. We did a little bit of everything today. Those post guys get a lot of credit, but to be honest with you, when you defend the post and ball screens, it’s a total team effort, and I thought we did a great job with that today.”
Post player offensive Improvement in the second half
“I thought we got the ball in the post in the first half but I feel like our post men rushed their shots. I thought in the second half we were a little more determined and patient in creating the shot and not rushing anything. They just finished the ball much better in the second half. I think Chuck (Charles Mitchell) over the last three games has been the Chuck Mitchell we need.”
Point guard performance and improvement
“They’ve played well. Travis (Jorgenson) has played well. We are able to push the ball. He’s playing more confident and explosive. Josh (Heath) had that explosive drive down the lane. We need that from that position. That position cannot always be a facilitator. You need to be able to make some plays, knock down some shots, things like that. They were also very good defensively today as well.”
WAKE FOREST HEAD COACH DANNY MANNING
Opening Statement
“Georgia Tech came out tonight and threw the first blow – the first several blows – and we weren’t able to recover. The first half they were very efficient. They made a lot of good basketball plays both on the offensive end and the defensive end. As far as we go we have to be able to withstand runs like that on the road and continue to battle and fight and tonight we didn’t answer the bell.”
Defending Marcus Georges-Hunt
“He’s a really good player. He scored his 1,000th point. He’s a talented player. We knew that going into it. He came out and it wasn’t a great game for him, but you certainly felt his presence out there on the court. Even when he was not scoring the basketball, he did a good job of getting into the paint and facilitating for his teammates.”
Georgia Tech containing Codi Miller-McIntyre
“He just needs to stay aggressive. He was not as aggressive as we would like for him to be in transition and coming off ball screens. We need him to be a guy who attacks and gets into the paint. Tonight as a team we weren’t doing a good job of getting paint touches. We didn’t do a good job of fast break points because we only scored nine for the game. That’s a category that we want to win – that we need to win – to give us the best chance of being successful game in and game out. And then points in the paint – they outscored us with points in the paint 30 to 24. We have to do a better job of getting paint touches with the basketball and playing from there.”
Thoughts on slow offensive start
“I don’t know, but it doesn’t matter. We just didn’t answer the bell. It doesn’t matter what we say, the bottom line is we didn’t come out and answer the bell. And when you don’t answer the bell, this is what you get.”
After back-to-back wins, did you think this result was possible?
“No, I couldn’t tell that was coming. But [that’s] the nature of athletics, it doesn’t matter what you did yesterday. You’ve got to come out and play today. Like I said, we didn’t answer the bell.”
