Feb. 19, 2004
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Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewitt
Opening Comment:
“It’s occurred to me over the last three of four ballgames that we have some guys that are playing personally at a very high level, probably a higher level than they’ve played at any time since coming to Georgia Tech. Our shooting percentage over the last four or five games, our assist totals, they’re up. Guys are personally playing at a high level. What I talked to the guys about at the shootaround today was the idea that with everyone playing well, if we collectively play defense the way we’ve played at points this year, and with the way our half-court offense has evolved to become something we can rely on if we need a bucket, there’s no question in my mind that we can play better basketball than we’ve played at any point this year….This team can be very good. It can be as good as any team out there if we just continue to guard and do some of the things we have to do together.”
On winning an ACC road game:
“Obviously, I’m proud of our effort tonight because I thought we beat a very good Maryland basketball team. They’re going to be very good before the end of the year. They’ve been playing good ball all year. Unfortunately, in this league, if you don’t have your top game, you’re going to run into a heck of a basketball team and get knocked off. I kind of chuckle when I read about how the teams in our league are struggling if they lost one or a couple in a row, or if they lost two out of four. Well, guess what? In this league, you lose two out of four, it’s nothing to be ashamed of.”
On center Luke Schenscher:
“We have a guy inside in Luke Schenscher who I hope people start to realize how good he is and how important he is for us. If he doesn’t get consideration for one of the all-league teams, I’m going to be surprised. He’s been very consistent the whole year. He’s got a lot of size. 7-1 is tough to shoot over. As a team, again, we got back to doing some things collectively inside.”
Georgia Tech Guard Jarrett Jack
On winning on the road:
“Especially me being from the area, it’s a big deal. You love to come home in the summer and have all the bragging rights.”
On the team’s strong bench performance:
“We go eight- or nine-deep. Everyone has confidence in everyone else. That’s one of the reasons we’ve been so successful. Anybody [can] come in and we don’t have any kind of drop-off. We just tell everyone to be aggressive, and that’s what we did tonight.”
On the important win after losing to Virginia:
“It’s extremely important after a difficult loss. We knew if we lost, it would knock us way down in the ACC. We had to come out and steal one on the road. We started out sluggish, but we kept our composure, fought on the offensive glass, and pulled one out today.”
Maryland Head Coach Gary Williams
Opening Statement:
“I came into this game fully expecting to win. We didn’t shoot the ball with any consistency during the game. You can’t shoot 32 percent against a good team and expect to win, and give up 51 percent from the field. You have to put the ball in the basket at some point. I thought we had some good looks that we didn’t make. It gets old …we have to make [shots] against good teams because a lot of times it is hard to get open looks. We have to take advantage of it.”
“The second half I liked our effort when we went with a little younger team. They did a great job and had a good run. We didn’t get a break there at the end but that’s the way it goes. Once again we put ourselves in a hold that we couldn’t get out of. The inconsistency of our play is not good. I think that Georgia Tech played well. Their bench really killed us and gave them an extra boost that made a real difference in the game.”
On Sunday’s Game versus Duke:
“We will play hard on Sunday in our next game. We will come out tomorrow and practice well…this thing is a long way from over. There are five games left and lots can happen and we will see.”
Maryland Forward Travis Garrison
On how the game got away:
“Our emotions went off a little bit. In situations like that, we need to stay up. In some parts of the game, we weren’t playing as hard as we could. We were sort of going on-and-off some times. We can’t have that happen.”
Maryland Forward Nik Caner-Medley
On the Maryland shooting tonight:
“When you’re not making open shots, you’re not going to make the tough ones. The only thing that you can do is keep shooting and continuing to work on your game.”
On the keys to the game:
“If you’re not making shots, you need to find something else to do to help your team. Whether it’s rebounding, playing good defense, getting loose balls or something else, there are obviously aspects of the game other than making shots. I think one of the main reasons we lost tonight was that we weren’t able to make open shots.”
