Feb. 6, 2005
– GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Paul Hewitt
Opening Statement — “I thought they beat us to a lot of loose balls that made a big difference in the game. The margin of 17 looks pretty wide, but from my vantage point, I thought it was just a lot of those loose balls that turned into second shots or hussle plays that they made that enabled them to win the game today.”
On playing without Jarrett Jack in the first half — “Obviously if Jarrett is on the floor, we’re a lot better at handling the basketball, but I don’t think one guy in that sequence would have made that much of a difference. He wouldn’t have been around a lot of those loose balls that (Duke) got and we didn’t.”
On Duke’s defensive pressure — “I thought a lot of us didn’t handle the ball well in, not necessarily in pressure, but in traffic. When there are a lot of hands vying for the ball, you’ve got to get in triple-threat … instead of allowing yourself to get pushed around.”
On J.J. Redick — “He’s good, he’s good. His mentality is that he’s not going to be stopped, that you’re not going to discourage him from coming after you. I’m sure their coaching staff could tell you how much he’s improved, but he looks like he’s improved a whole lot to me.” On Georgia Tech’s failure to win a conference road game.”
On Tech — “Right now, we’re not tough enough to do it. Point blank, no need in sugar coating it. We’re just not tough enough right now to do it. I know we have it in us. I’m to blame as much as anybody, but to win on the road, you’ve got to show some toughness and I don’t think we’ve done that. We haven’t deserved to win a game yet.”
On the lack of toughness from his self-described veteran team — “I’m a little surprised, but I’m not going to get down on these guys. It’s just the reality. I’m still a big believer in the fact that this team can accomplish everything that it set out to do at the start of the season. Unfortunately, we’ve taken some tough blows along the way.”
DUKE HEAD COACH MIKE KRZYZEWSKI
Opening Statement — “I really am proud of my players. They did a hell of a job today. They played so hard. When I talk about my players, the students too. They were a great sixth man this afternoon. They really focused on us and it was a great atmosphere in there and we needed it to beat Georgia Tech. I thought Daniel [Ewing] led us very well today and Shelden [Williams] was so strong in the second half. J.J. [Redick] got us started with a good verve. That was Shav’s [Randolph] best game this year, not just since he’s had mono, but this year. For him to get nine rebounds, eight offensive boards, five blocks, a steal, seven points in 19 minutes, is really good, really to see that. I thought that was Sean’s [Dockery] best game. He’s matched up against one of the great guards in the country in Jarett Jack. You’re not going to outplay that kid, you just hold him down. Jarett’s so good. I thought Sean’s three in the second half was maybe the biggest bucket of the game … it was huge. He called for the ball. He asked and then he just shot it and knocked it down. I’m really pleased. Obviously when they get [B.J.] Elder back, they’re going to be even better, but they’re a good team They play hard. It was a really big win for our team.”
On incident in the first half — “I don’t know if it’s ever happened to you, but when you get up real quick, sometimes you get light-headed. Over my 30 years of coaching, it’s happened a number of times. It hasn’t happened this year at all because I haven’t been getting up. I think it’s the gym shoes. I was more frisky or whatever. Usually when you get up, your feet are under you and when I got up this time, I was ahead … I felt like a chump. Like someone hit me with an air punch and I’m out. I’m thinking `What an idiot,’ and I know I’m going to get it from my daughters and my wife … I’ve got to deal with that forever now. They have so much ammunition on me.”
On the team’s emotional level in the game — “I thought it was a continuation of how we finished the Wake Forest game. Instead of doing it in the second half and coming on strong, I thought we were that way the whole game and we needed to be.”
On defensive effort — “Our defense has been pretty good … The three teams that push it up the best in our league are Carolina, Wake and Georgia Tech, and if you don’t play against that, you can’t practice it. We adjusted late against Wake, we did better in the second half, and we keep working on it in practice. They may have gotten one or two, but they didn’t get many in the fast break today, so that was a key. Our perimeter defense, not giving up many open looks on threes.”
On the team’s rebounding — “The offensive rebounds were a key factor in the ballgame. We thought that we could get some today. Shav’s numbers for 19 minutes are kind of remarkable. He had five blocks too, and he was very active and I thought he looked strong. It wasn’t just mucking through it, he looked strong today. He had a good base, good look, so maybe that’s a sign that he’s coming on. That would really help us a lot, if he could have that endurance and maybe strestch it out to 25 minutes and hopefully a little bit more by the end of the year.”
