Dec. 20, 2016
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– GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Josh Pastner Opening Statement
“First of all I want to give credit to Georgia, it was a good win for them obviously. Secondly, I’ve got no issue with our effort from our guys. They did what they have done pretty much all season besides one game where they just played. They’ve given me every ounce of energy and effort that they can give you but we just struggled scoring. When you struggle scoring like that it makes it really, really tough. Obviously you’ve got to give Georgia credit for that but for us that has been one of our things for this season. We’ve got to continue to find solutions to help us on that and we’ll keep attacking that and finding a way to help us try to get some points on the board.
“Obviously they did a great job on the offensive glass, that was a big thing. I thought defensively we did a good job other than the offensive glass. I told our staff if we can hold them in the 50s defensively we’ll win the game. And we did hold them in the 50s, at the end there obviously we were fouling and they got the and-one but in the main part of the game they were probably in the 50s. I thought for sure we would at least try to get to 60 and that was the difference and just not being able to score really hurts us and puts us in a tough spot.
“Credit to Georgia, our young men gave every ounce of energy they have and this is all going to be part of a learning process as we rebuild, as we move forward in the rebuild. There can be others as we move forward, there could be games where we have other struggles like that, but as I told our team, and I truly believe this, that we will continue to grow and get better. But this is part of us finding ways to try to do what we need to do, to come up with ways to score as we continue to move forward in these games.”
On Georgia’s interior defense
“Georgia is a good team, they’re well-coached by Coach [Mark] Fox. It wasn’t as much as their interior defense as we missed a lot of shots, we missed a lot of layups. Their bigs are good and they’re well-coached, it’s just when you can’t score like that or you miss those layups it just sucks the life out of you. You’re trying in the huddles and you’re trying to tell the team and get them picked up. We’ve just got to find other ways to score and the best way is in transition in offense before the defense sets, that’s some easy opportunities. I didn’t feel we did a good enough job on the offensive glass as we have been because that gives us another way to score. With the amount of shots we missed, we should have been getting more offensive rebounds. We’re not capitalizing enough to find other ways to score based on our limitations offensively.”
On the atmosphere in McCamish with a sold out crowd
“I thought the crowd was outstanding. I really feel awful. I know how important this game is to Georgia Tech. I wanted to win so badly for Jacket Nation. As I said in the radio, we’re going to get it back. As this rebuild happens, here in a short amount of time as we continue to put recruiting classes together, I want that building to be filled up like that all the time. That is the vision, minus the Georgia fans, but that vision is having the Georgia Tech fans in there filled up to see their team play night in and night out every time we step on the floor. I really believe in our vision and how we are going to get there as we continue to move forward and especially through recruiting and everything else.”
GEORGIA HEAD COACH MARK FOX
Opening Statement
“[It was] a hard-fought, emotional game. I thought both teams showed the emotion of the rivalry early and played a little sloppy. I was pleased with our team. It’s a good win, beating an ACC team on the road and winning a rivalry game. It was certainly a battle and we’re pleased with the win.”
On Derek Ogbeide’s first half performance
“We’ve been talking all year within our team that eventually Yante [Maten] is going to have an off night. Now you have to give [Georgia] Tech credit for Yante not having a great first half. We knew that we have more guys on our team and Derek seized the opportunity in the first half. He was a key part of us having a lead at halftime.”
How did Derek Ogbeide contribute to Georgia’s 19 second chance points?
“[Derek Ogbeide}’s a great rebounder. That’s the advantage of having him next to Yante [Maten]. He probably doesn’t get as many shot opportunities because he plays with such a great player. He continues to develop, much like Yante did, and tonight he was very effective.”
On leading at halftime despite a slow start
“We were pleased to be ahead. We didn’t think we played very well. I thought we were very emotional. I did a poor job keeping us calm and getting us to relax the last two days. I didn’t do a very good job of that. We were wound up and for us to have a lead we felt fortunate.”
How did Georgia Tech slow down Yante Maten?
“They mixed it up. They played some 1-3-1 and a little Triangle-and-Two. And I wasn’t pleased with our guard play early. I thought we missed some great opportunities against those defenses. We didn’t play as poised on the perimeter as I had hoped.”
How encouraging is this win?
“When you can win and your best players aren’t great that’s a positive step. For us, we’re just happy to have the win.”
