Nov. 24, 2013
Recap | Final Stats | GT Photo Gallery
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GEORGIA TECH HEAD COACH Brian Gregory
On overall performance:
“Give coach Alexander and his team credit. I thought they played well. They were able to take advantage and do a lot of different things. I thought (Khary) Doby is a hard matchup for us, but we did a much better job on him in the second half. There were a lot of free throws taken in the game. I think the key for us was the last 10 minutes or so, our defensive intensity was where it needs to be all the time. We were on the ball, guarding the ball, we were off the ball being active and that led to some baskets on offense. By no stretch was that a game that we played exceptionally well but we did some good things. We need to get a lot better though. I think our guys understand that. It’s always good to be able to talk about that and work on that after a win, and that’s what we’ll be able to do now.”
On Trae Golden’s play:
“I’m not a big stat guy. His stat line was good and at the same time, I think he can play a lot better, and we’re going to need him to play a lot better. I’ve coached him for five games now and he can be a really good player for us. He can really help us. It’s hard. It’s just not ingrained in him. There are some different things that we do in certain situations, but he wants to learn. My hope is that these next four or five weeks, as we continue playing these games and in practice, we’ll start to see a big jump. Not only in his play, but in his grasp of everything we’re trying to get done.”
Free throw shooting struggles and improvement in the second half:
“We struggled that first half. We got to the free throw line 18 times which is good, but we need to convert those. We’ve put a greater emphasis on getting to the free throw line, we’ve really worked on our free throw shooting and I think we were pretty solid heading into the game. Second half we went 75%, and that’s what you need to do. Hopefully we’ll continue to do that. I did think that the physicalness around the basic, particularly on drives and on post-ups was a key for us. It was spread out. We need to do that, but we need to convert those.”
Robert Carter Jr.’s rebounding, particularly in the second half:
“He’s still not in third, fourth or fifth gear offensively yet, but he’s doing a really good job on the glass. He gave a warrior’s effort on that defensive glass today. Outside of Marcus and Kam, he was the only guy defensive rebounding for us. That’s a concern for me. Two of your starters on the perimeter only get one defensive rebound, they’ve got to get more. They’re just not being active enough. They need to compete and scrap, scratch and claw on every play. That’s an area we just need to get better at.”
The bench players play, particularly Stacey Poole:
“I think the stat line doesn’t really give all that he (Stacy Poole) did. He gave us good energy, he defended well. Offensively he just kept that ball moving. I thought he gave us a big lift. I thought Solomon (Poole) in stretches also gave us a big lift. The biggest thing with your guys coming off the bench, they have to make sure that they give you positive minutes, and try to eliminate some of the negative things. I think as we progress, it will be really important that our guys understand that, because those guys can really help us.”
NORTH CAROLINA A&T COACH CY ALEXANDER
Opening remarks
“If we keep improving and learning who can do what under what circumstances, then hopefully by the MEAC schedule we’ll be able to compete with anyone in our league.”
On Georgia Tech comeback:
“We did it to ourselves. They made some shots, but we tried to force some things. They got turnovers and scored in transition. Now all of sudden, if you score twice in transition, it’s a seven point (lead). I don’t think it was anything Georgia Tech did except keep playing. We, not having been in that situation before, tried to push the envelope a little bit too quick.”
On fouls:
“I didn’t quite understand a couple calls that were made. We had to play with certain people in foul trouble like (Bruce) Beckford. We had to keep him out for about four minutes in the second half because he’s our best inside player. I was afraid if we put him back in too early he would have gotten this fifth foul. We learned a little bit about some of our freshmen. Khary Doby came off the bench and shot the ball well. That should give him some confidence. Richaud Pack is a first year player who has been very steady for us. I told our team that in the clutch, guys that we’re counting on to deliver can’t be 1-for-2, can’t miss a layup. They have to be 2-for-2, and that’s what Georgia Tech was down the stretch. They made free throws.”
On rebounding:
“The two things we emphasized — get back in transition and rebound the basketball. We studied the Dayton game heavily, and that’s what Dayton did. Tech has got great transition offense, they get a lot of points getting it up the floor, getting the ball to Golden and Georges-Hunt. We put a serious emphasis to get back in transition and allow just one shot.”
Takeaway from this game:
“These kinds of games can’t do anything but enhance our growth as a team. Last year we went to the NCAA, we beat Liberty and then we got Louisville. You play that caliber team in the NCAA Tournament, and that’s what this team is hoping — by the time January, February and March come, we’ll be one of the top 3 or 4 teams in the MEAC.”
