Feb. 19, 2009
– Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewitt
On the comeback early in the second half…
“Obviously, we shot the ball really well. I guess we were a little more intense. I was disappointed in the start because it was something we talked about that they were going to come out with a burst of energy. I think they got a 7-0 lead before I called time out.”
On how Wake responded after Georgia Tech cut the lead to five…
“We had a couple of really bad turnovers. We had a couple of one-hand catch attempts that went out of bounds. We had one mismatch under the basket. We had Lewis (Clinch) wide open from three. When you get down the way we did, you can’t have any of those mistakes at all in a game like this. They’re a very explosive team offensively. They capitalized on those turnovers and got easy baskets.”
On what Wake Forest did to get to the foul line…
“They were attacking the glass a little harder than we did.”
On the play of Ishmael Smith…
“When he came in, I think he got them to a 20-point lead. I give him a lot of credit for igniting the break and creating some easy baskets for them. That’s one of the things you can’t do against Wake Forest. You can’t allow them to get a bunch of dunks and layups. You have to force them to beat you from outside the paint and we didn’t do that in the first half at all. In the second half, they started hitting some shots. They were 7-of-16 from three. I’m sure (Wake Forest head coach) Dino (Gaudio) was happy with that number.”
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
On the game overall…
“I think our guys came out with a lot of energy and emotion. I told them in the two years we’ve been here we haven’t beaten those guys. We were zero for Atlanta. It meant a little more for them. Driving up I-85 the guys in the back of the bus were really down. We reminded them of that and they came out and played very hard and with a lot of energy. It was a really good win for us and I am really proud of them.”
On James Johnson’s performance tonight…
“To start it off with the tip he was really energized. He did not play well in Atlanta, he missed some buckets and it bothered him. He wanted to play well against these guys, he really stepped up and got us off to a great start as he did against Florida State if you recall. He’s really grown into a leader for us and he comes out ready to play.”
On Ishmael Smith and Gary Clark tonight…
“Ish as we know has come in the last couple of games and has played really well for us. He takes us to another level on the speedometer. It’s great to see Gary come in and when his feet are set it’s probably going down. The one he shot tonight that he missed, his feet weren’t set. When his feet are set, I feel confident they are going in.”
On the Duke game coming up…
“This win gives us some confidence. We are going to have to practice really well for the three days before we go down there. Like all the games in this conference it will be a difficult game and a difficult environment and we are going to have to play very hard and very well.”
Wake Forest Players
Junior Ishmael Smith
On the game tonight…
“We knew it wasn’t going to be easy. Georgia Tech is a well coached, hard playing team. As you know we went down there and lost that game. We knew we weren’t going to just run through those guys. At first it looked like it but I knew it wasn’t going to be that easy.”
On Duke coming up…
“It’s going to be a big one at Cameron Indoor. My freshman year we went down there and I remember the specific score, we lost 62-40. I remember sitting on the bench crying and coach said to me, keep your head up, we are still in this. Those guys we know are going to come out fighting and its going to be a big fight for second.”
Sophomore James Johnson
On the start of the game…
“Every night they call somebody else, but tonight was my night. I stepped up, my team kept going and they kept passing me the ball.”
On the first half…
“I think the way we played in the first half is exactly how we can play all the time. If we keep connecting and grabbing possession we can keep moving the ball. Everything is going to click for us.”
