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VIRGINIA BASKETBALL
Postgame Quotes
Georgia Tech 92, Virginia 82
Virginia Head Coach Dave Leitao
Opening comments:
I posed a challenge at halftime to the guys. We slipped up just before halftime where we went for the steal and it cost us a three. We ran a set after timeout and Sean [Singletary] passed on a three and we ended up not getting anything. That was a three we gave away, that we didn’t get. If you’re up 16, not that they can’t come back, but emotionally, it puts you in a better place. My challenge was that lately we’ve been coming out in the second half of games and have not played with the same level of intensity defensively. Both teams were shooting 45%, and I told them that somebody was going to clean that up, and that it should be us, defensively. We weren’t going to make nine more three-pointers in the second half like we did in the first; if we did, the game would be easy. We were going to have to dig down and continue to keep them off balance while they were on offense, then rebound through to possession. I wanted our guys to execute this, but they [Georgia Tech] did what I thought that we needed to do in the second half. We came out with dead bodies and dead minds. It caused me to have to call timeout very early, when we had two major slipups in our rotations. We really never caught stride on either end of the floor after that.
On the team’s second half struggles:
Teams that end up being good manage themselves well throughout the entire game, which means that they play defense without fouling, and mentally as well as physically can execute, and get shots that they want. In each of those three occasions, we’ve been lacking. They just challenged us more and got into the passing lanes more in the second half, and we didn’t counter that. There’s a number of things that we could have done offensively to get the ball eighteen feet down. There are things that we work on everyday that we didn’t do. We allowed them to create passing lanes, and instead of continuing to attack, we kind of backed up.
On Sean Singletary’s play:
Right now Sean is not Sean. But he played a lot of minutes and there’s a lot of pressure on him to do a lot of things for us. The times that he paused and took a deep breath are the times that [Matt] Causey made him pay for it. When he plays like this, we need to be able to play through it.
Virginia Guard Calvin Baker
On the disappointing second half:
“I really think we started to think too much we were not playing freely like we were in the first half. When your mind is clouded it is hard to concentrate on anything other than what you are supposed to concentrate on. Everybody’s mind was clouded, and that’s when we started to break down. We got to the point where we did not want to make any mistakes, and once you start playing like that it is not good.”
On the tough upcoming games after some heartbreaking losses:
“Definitely they are going to be tough games our character will definitely be tested but I think we are going to be alright.”
Virginia Forward Jamil Tucker
On the difference between first and second half Cavalier Basketball:
“Coach keeps telling us that it is nothing physical… we start off great but once people go into the locker room at halftime and we get relaxed because we have a 10 point lead we just don’t do well and keep our mentality and we get soft. One half doesn’t win a game, you’ve got to play 40 minutes. Coach has a motto that says Every man, every minute.’ You can’t stop after the first half and get lax in the second.”
Is there a sense of urgency now that you have lost four games in the ACC?
“We’ve got to take it every day. The game is over but coach told us 1-4 in the ACC, our backs are against the wall. If we’re not going to come out swinging, we might as well not come out at all. We have to come back and get ready for Maryland.”
Virginia Guard Sean Singletary
On the difference down the stretch in close games last season versus this season:
“We are not being resistant, we are not playing hard enough down the stretch and that has been hurting us. You cannot have excuses. It is a man’s game and you have to come out there, mind your P’s and Q’s obsessively down the stretch and we have not been doing that.”
On whether it is more frustrating to lose after having a second half lead:
“Losing is frustrating period. No matter how you lose by a little or by a lot. We just have to get over the hump. We have been in it, we have been up against just about everybody we have played. We cannot panic, we just have to go into practice and keep working hard.”
On his shot recently:
“I just missed a shot. Everybody misses shots, I’m in a slump right now but a little more practice and I’ll get out of it.”
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewitt
On Georgia Tech’s play…
“Our guys should get a lot of credit for battling the way they did in the second half. [Virginia] made a lot of threes in the first half; they were 9 for 18. My staff was worried about the threes; I told them Fellas, if they shoot the ball like that we’re not going to win anyways, so let’s just keep doing the things we’re doing.’ I was very pleased with how we played. I was disappointed that we were giving so many offensive rebounds and giving so many loose balls, but other than that I thought we played really good basketball. I just told the guys in the locker room, We’re playing some great ball; it’d be a shame to squander it because we’re not rebounding the ball the way we normally do or not getting loose balls. As far as threes are concerned, if they keep making them, we’re not going to beat them so just keep playing and keep playing.’ That’s what we did and fortunately for us, they started missing some of the threes, and we did a better job on the boards. We got a positive result for a group of guys that are really coming together.”
On what the victory means to Georgia Tech…
“I think it’s so early to talk about that, honestly. We’re not even at the halfway point yet so there’s a lot of time left; there’s a lot of basketball left to play. We’re just going to keep playing, and I’m sure Dave [Leitao]’s going to have them keep playing. There’s a long way to go.”
On passing the ball inside…
“We try to go inside. Some of the improvement in our play and not turning the ball over as much is just better play execution, instead of breaking off the play and putting up the threes.”
On Matt Causey’s overtime play…
“I thought it was obviously great play execution by those players. Our guys executed; we got open looks. I thought the execution was good. We were throwing inside enough that we drew attention to the ball in the low post and our big guys did a nice job of kicking it out. He made the play; he made the shot.”
On his thoughts after Sean Singletary’s end of regulation shot to take the game into overtime…
“We’re playing some good, solid, sound basketball, and that’s all we kept focusing on. When people have you written off, you have nothing left to play for; you just try to get better. They’re making an effort to do that; our guys deserve a lot of credit.”
On the atmosphere at John Paul Jones Arena…
“Every road game in the ACC is tough, and I’ve said that every day. In my opinion, that’s the biggest difference from other leagues I’ve been in. The home crowds in this league are second to none. It’s a great atmosphere; their students are into it and they do a good job with game operations.”
Georgia Tech Guard Matt Causey
On the long three pointer in overtime:
“In overtime I wanted to take every shot, but I knew I couldn’t. When the shot clock went down I knew I was definitely feeling it in overtime. I just wanted to take it. The other two felt good. I hit one, and then I missed the second one, and then I hit one again. ”
On the drive against Virginia’s Sean Singletary:
“Jeremis Smith has always been a good pressure release. He comes up and screens whenever I’m in trouble, and we definitely knew that Singletary had four fouls so we were going to go at him in the overtime.”
On his leadership in the second half:
“Down the stretch I always want the ball. If you’re not a competitor, then you don’t want the ball, but, of course, if you are then you want it. I would like to take every shot but I know that is not the best choice for our team, so when I had the opportunity I took it.”