Feb. 14, 2015
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– GEORGIA TECH COACH Brian Gregory
Opening Statement:
“Two things to start off: First, I thought the last four minutes of the first half was a crucial part of the game for us. I thought it was the only four minutes that we did not play with the physicality, toughness, and intensity level that you need to play with when you play a Florida State team. I thought that really put us in a hole, but our guys responded well especially to start the second half. The second thing is that you have to give them [Florida State] credit. They made plays down the stretch. They made their free throws when they got fouled. Obviously we did a much better job on Mayes in the second half. And at the time he hit the last shot, he had only gotten three points in the second half. But he was still able to make the shot and that’s what great players do. You have got to give him credit. Our guys fought, that’s what we do. But we have just got to keep doing it. It’s a bitter pill to swallow there’s no doubt about it. But again, you have got to get one crucial stop there at the end and we were not able to do that.”
On Marcus Georges-Hunt and Chris Bolden getting more shots in the second half
“It started off 5-5 before the first time out. I think the next round was pretty even. Maybe they [Florida State] took a lead and then we battled back. But I think it was 23-23 at one point. Then they went on the 9-0 run in the last four minutes. Those two guys [Marcus and Chris] did not force anything and were playing within the offense. We got some breaks and some baskets out of that. But really, Marcus got it going a little more in the second half because we got defensive stops. And when we get defensive stops, we are able to play at the pace we want to play at. We are able to throw the ball ahead and attack in the open court, which is were guys like Marcus, Travis and Josh are at their best. That was the big key for us.”
On foul call against Marcus
“I didn’t see it obviously. It was on the other side of the court. It was a long rebound and the only guy out there was Chris. We got the ball. A foul was called and I thought originally the foul was on them [Florida State].”
On another close loss
“We got stops. Three out of the last four possessions they ended up shooting free throws. I’m not sure we changed anything and I’m not sure they changed anything. During the stretch we needed to get to the line and we did. And we missed the front end of a one-and-one. But, I liked the shots we got at the end. Chris [Bolden] had two really good looks. And I believe it was DeMarco [Cox] who had the shot at the rim off a really nice pass by Marcus. We didn’t turn the ball over at the end and got some really good looks. But it just wasn’t meant to be today.”
On the team’s psyche during late-game situations
“I don’t think you can go through the nine times that we went through it in the league and not have that. I think that’s human nature. I do not think there is visible evidence of that. I think we took maybe one bad shot in that stretch. Maybe one hurried shot and that was it. Our coverages were all pretty solid during that stretch. Again, even the play that Mays hit was kind of a broken play. They got Boris on mismatch on Chris, and Chris kind of knocked the ball away. And it ended up in Mayes’ hands. I do not think there’s any question that it’s weighing on the guys. But our guys have done a pretty good job of not letting that effect how hard they have played. They are still sticking together and fighting together.”
FLORIDA STATE COACH LEONARD HAMILTON
Opening Statement
“I thought that they pretty much had their way with us the first half. We had a good spurt there at the end, but we did not play particularly well, because they were doing such a good job at just taking away things that we were pressing to do. In the second half they kind of picked us apart with their transition. They scored 19 points off of turnovers. Like most ACC games you’re always scratching and clawing all game. We just fortunate there at the end. We made a couple stops and made a couple of free throws. I thought they had a couple of blocks that really made a difference in the game. I thought the game could have gone either way. We were just fortunate enough to have some guys make the free throws at the end, and the ball bounced our way a couple of times and walk away with a victory.”
Impressions of Georgia Tech
“I’ve been in situations like Brian (Gregory) his team has just played so well. I watched all those films and you lose 10 games by maybe a total of 40 points; then you lose six games by a total of 12 points it has a tendency to wear on you. I’ve been where he is. His team is playing great defense. They are out-rebounding people extremely well. Sometimes you get to the end like today and the ball just doesn’t bounce your away. We were very fortunate to get away with a victory today, in what I call an ‘ACC Blowout’.”
On Tech’s defensive play, especially on Xavier Rathan-Mayes
“Well to be honest with you they forced Xavier into a tough situation by taking away so many other things away from him. We didn’t get very many post touches. We didn’t get many other chances either. (Devon) Bookert didn’t get many touches. Montay (Brandon) they did a great job on him. They wouldn’t let us reverse the ball, we couldn’t get those ball reversals that we really wanted. It put Mayes in a situation where he had to make some plays. They had us very well scouted. We could never get into a real good flow. We were sputtering the entire game. I just kept changing schemes, and going from one system to another. We’d get a basket or two, but they did a very good job in their preparation, and we could never get in sync offensively. We were not getting back on defense, and we just kind of hung on for dear life there at the end.”
