Dec. 28, 2006
– Georgia Tech Coach Paul Hewitt
“It’s good to see us move the basketball. We shot 31 percent and that doesn’t look very impressive on paper, but I thought we did a nice job taking shots and moving the ball. We see Mouhammad Faye start to round into shape. His wrist I think is getting healthier and he’s able to hold onto the ball a little stronger. I still want to see his turnover numbers come down, obviously. He only had one [turnover] today, at the end of the second half.
“I was pleased with the effort. Our size advantage helped us get a 25-rebound advantage. Overall I was pleased with the effort.”
On coming off a nine-day break — “I thought there were just too stretches in the game, one in the first half where they made that run and cut the lead to three, then there was that stretch in the second half when they made a run. Give them credit, they played well, but overall we were very sound today. There was one time when we got beat on the back door. In that stretch where [Troy] made that stretch in the first half, I just thought there was a couple times when we played with total lack of regard for the scouting report. We felt like we had to force baskets as much as we could.”
On Holiday Break — “This break is an important time for all college teams across the country because we don’t have classes to worry about and we can get in the gym and really concentrate on some things. This is the time and the last chance to mold your team into a consistent basketball team because once you get past the holiday break, it’s game after game after game and you have classes starting back up. I’m very happy with how these guys have responded to the break. They’ve really picked up the things that we’ve put in and they have executed them well.”
Do non-conference games give you an opportunity to work on things you can’t work on during conference play? “Yes, yes, especially now when we don’t have classes to worry about. We can play with some lineups. We can try to get Mouhammad Faye, who is so versatile, getting him playing inside and outside, so there are some things we can work on there.”
On Javaris Crittenton — “I think he’s started to trust his guys a little bit more with some of those pitch ahead passes and alley oops, which I don’t have a problem with him throwing, he tends to try to throw the perfect pass. The problem with throwing that perfect pass is that you put it in line with the defense. I always tell him to throw the ball only where your teammate can get it. Even if it goes out of bounds, at least its not a live ball turnover. His turnover numbers have come down.”
Troy Head Coach Don Maestri
