Feb. 6, 2013
Recap | Box Score | GT Photo Gallery
Georgia Tech Head Coach
Brian Gregory
Opening Statement…
“Give FSU credit. Bottom line is they deserved to win that game more than we did. Not with just the way the game started, but in the second half when we took a little bit of a lead. We didn’t play again with the poise and sense of urgency that you need when you play in a game like this that is tough and physical and has a big time player – he made all the plays down the stretch for them. So hats off to him and that’s what you need in those crucial situations. We lacked a little discipline on the defensive end in the last four or five minutes and gave them five easy points which is something you can’t do. We fouled them when we didn’t need to foul them and unfortunately had the wrong coverage on the screen and gave them an open look. He’s still got to make the shots, and he does so give them credit for that.”
On guarding the pick and roll…
“We had gone over that action, the problem is you have to have all five guys guard that and we had some guys just fall asleep on the backside. Our coverage on that wasn’t as tight as it needs to be. You can look at a lot of different things, but our coverage on that particular play probably cost you the game…That’s what happens sometimes when you get in crucial situations at critical times, younger players in particular have a tendency to think of only one person – and that’s themselves and who they’re guarding. That’s why I said as good as we were defensively Sunday in crucial times, we were as bad tonight. That’s some of the ebbs and flows that you go through in the process that we are. Guys will see, they’ll be even more disappointed about it and want to do something about it.”
Michael Snaer’s game-winner at the buzzer…
“Someone’s got to go guard him. Unfortunately we had two freshmen on both sides. And sometimes in that case, experience is the only teacher you have. But you can’t let the MVP of the ACC Tournament take the shot; you’ve got to let someone else take that shot. We can’t let him get that shot. But that’s probably the first time that those two guys on that side have ever been in that situation in a game like this.”
On having only short time to prepare for the pick and roll…
“That’s the thing I talked to the guys about. We have a base coverage that’s been successful. We guarded the screen and roll exceptionally well against (Matthew) Dellavedova from St. Mary’s. No offense, but we should be able to guard it against Ian Miller from Florida State. No offense to Ian Miller, but we didn’t. That might have something to do with the quick turnaround, but that’s an excuse. One thing is our players have to learn is we can’t make excuses.”
On FSU’s hot start…
“We had a couple good looks early and we missed, and we didn’t rebound the ball and they got six points on second-chance points early – two threes that they hit off offensive rebounds, and that was unfortunate. “
Florida State Head Coach
Leonard Hamilton
Opening Statement –
“Before the game started Coach Gregory came up and asked me how I like coaching a very young basketball team. My comment to him was you can probably write down all the issues you’re dealing with and I can probably write down all the issues I’m dealing with and we’ll probably be talking about each other. I thought it was two young teams scratching and clawing. I thought that probably the team who had the ball last probably was going to win the game. Fortunately for us we had the ball in our hands with the clock running down and we made a play to give us a chance to win the game.
I think Coach Gregory has done a tremendous job. In fact, I told our players coming into this game I thought they were executing a lot better than we were. I thought the fact that they had been doing such a good job motivated our guys and got our attention. I thought in the first half we did a much better job for the most part of executing, making the extra pass and creating offense. Obviously we had turnovers in the first half that gave them a chance to get back in it.
Brandon Reed came off the bench and gave them a big lift, but we had a lot of young kids step up and make plays tonight. Our teams are very similar. We’re going through that period of development. I like what I see out of his players and I think we have potential to develop as well. We have some guys step up tonight. Obviously, Okaro White was having a tough night, but he helped us on the boards. I thought we had tremendous help from our youngsters who came off the bench. I think both our teams mirror each other. Even though our record might be a little better, I think Georgia Tech is a little farther along than we are as far as execution. I think the futures are very bright for both teams.”
On how easy they got to the basket on the final shot….
“Mfon [Udofia] just slipped. There was some contact there, but there was a lot of contact all night long. That is the nature of the game. I thought he slipped and that was unfortunate for him because he was doing a great job defending. We wanted to take the shot with four seconds to go on the clock. We wanted to try and put the pressure on the defense and either get us to the free throw line or give us a path to the basket. We didn’t want to take a jump shot.”
On the middle screen and getting four-straight points off of it…
“They were doing a great job defending all our schemes. They were doing a very good job with our motion. They were putting pressure on our young inexperienced guards. We just changed and kept trying different things to give us a little more opportunity and keep the pressure off. They were very well prepared and did a good job defending us. Once we spread the floor a little bit, it gave us an opportunity to get some easier baskets.”
