Nov. 22, 2015
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GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH BRIAN GREGORY
Opening statement
“First, you have to give Steve [Forbes] and his team a lot of credit. They played well today and were able to control the tempo of the game, the pace of the game. And we didn’t respond very well to that. When there are less possessions, like there were today, you’ve got to do a much better job on the defensive end. And we didn’t do that. They shot 58 percent in the second half, 55 [percent] from the three, 87 [percent] from the free-throw line and we just didn’t get enough stops. When you let the game get into the last minute, anything can happen. And that’s exactly what you saw today. The kid hit a tough shot, but you have to do a better job prior to that. The game wasn’t lost on that shot by any stretch. It was lost with them making 15 field goals in the second half on 26 shots. So they came in and they did a good job in terms of controlling the tempo. It’s all fun and good when you’re up and down, running and all that stuff, but you’ve still got to get defensive stops. And you’ve got to control the glass. We didn’t do a very good job of that at all for the entire 40 minutes and that’s what you get. You see it all around college basketball’ there are good players everywhere. They have three kids that transferred: a transfer from Cincinnati, a transfer from Missouri and transfer from Indiana. And they’re going to have a very successful year. So, we’ve got to bounce back and tighten up what we’re all about heading into New York.”
On East Tennessee State’s ability to get second chance points and score in the paint
“Yeah, their points in the paint were drives. We really struggled in the second half guarding the basketball. We can make excuses about the new rules and all that stuff, well then we better start taking advantage of it too and we better start driving. I thought Marcus [Georges-Hunt] did a little better job of that in the second half. But, their points in the paint were on more drives than on post ups, but we didn’t do a good job on the offensive glass. We got 12 [offensive rebounds] and we had six [second-chance] points. One of the things is that they’re big and long around the basket. So, we were hurried a little bit. When you get an offensive rebound, you’ve got to sometimes kick it out and we took some bad second and third shots trying to force some action in there. Again, one of the reasons is because there were less possessions, so guys are getting less touches and less shots. So now all of a sudden they get an offensive rebound and they want to score. But, as you saw, we had 12 offensive rebounds and only six second-chance points. That’s a recipe for not a successful afternoon.
On Tech’s defense against Ge’Lawn Guyn on the game-winning shot
“Give the kid credit, he hit the shot. He was 3-for-4 from the three on the day. He’s a good player; he started at Cincinnati. He’s going to have a great year there. He’s already had some big games and he made the big play for them. He made the big play. So, we were there. Our defense was good and the offense was better.”
GREEN BAY HEAD COACH STEVE FORBES
Opening Statement
“I challenged our team after the Villanova game. We got beat pretty bad at Villanova. Obviously they’re really good, but I thought we would compete better than what we did. I really only wrote one word on the board today and that was ‘compete.’ That was really important to me. That we just compete. And I thought we competed the entire 40 minutes. We didn’t let them get away from us and we stayed in it. We kept fighting and then we had a chance to win it. That’s all you can ask for on the road. You’ve just got to get a chance and then have somebody make a big play. Ge’Lawn [Guyn] made a big shot obviously. We hadn’t run that play all year long. We hadn’t even practiced it. Coach [Jason] Shay drew it up in the timeout. It’s a play that we ran together when we were at Tennessee to get a good shot against Arkansas one time late in the game. He called ‘Arkansas’ and I looked at him like ‘what are you talking about?’ Then he drew it. They did a great job executing something that they really hadn’t practiced. You like to see that with your kids. They’ll pay attention and do something that they haven’t done before. For the most part we won the hustle stats. We outscored them in the paint. We scored off the turnovers. We had 14 second chance points. I thought we did a good job taking care of the ball. We turned the ball over seven times and three of those happened in a span when we were up eight [points]. I think in the first half we had three empty possessions where we turned it over three times and they got back in the game. For the most part we took really good care of the ball.”
What were your thoughts on Ge’Lawn Guyn’s game-winning shot?
“He’s been at the high level before [because] he played at Cincinnati. He’s been in big games. He’s been in tough situations. You always want a guy on your team that’s willing to do that. That’s the way you’re going to win a big game on the road. Somebody’s going to have to make a big shot and he did. He wanted to take it. Some guys don’t want to take that shot and he did. Give him credit for stepping up and making a big shot.”
Did you expect an intentional foul in the final 10 seconds?
“I could see that happening. That lengthened the game a little bit, but I’ve done that before. When [Assistant Coach] Jason [Shay] and I were at Tennessee together we’d done that and won a game or two. But it did lengthen the game. It gave us the chance to score and come back and get another shot. You can play hindsight with that, but I wanted us to attack. To be honest with you I thought we were holding the ball too long and then they fouled. I guess at that point I wasn’t probably expecting that, but then they did and it worked out in our favor.”
Does the officiating rules make driving to the basket a smarter strategy?
“It really is. The play that we ran when we were down and [Deuce] Bello drove it baseline and didn’t get fouled, that’s the only reason why I called that play. I called ‘three clear’ to try and get him to get fouled while driving to the basket. That’s the bottom line. You’re much better off the way the game’s being called to drive the ball and throw it in the post. I’ve watched [Georgia Tech] play. They have a good team. We did a good job on them, but they have the type of team that the way the game’s being called that it’s tough to play them. They went 19-for-22 from the line. I think it’s a game that the way it’s being called you should be aggressive with the ball.”
