Wake Forest Athletics
Post Game Quotes
2/6/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 6, 2008
Recap | Final Stats | Notes
Wake Forest Head Coach Dino Gaudio
Opening statement...
"I think the game was a little more physical than we're used to. The physicality of it affected us. We shoot 50 percent but I really think that's a misleading stat when you see we had 20 turnovers. On the other side of the coin, I thought our defense was poor this evening. When we needed stops, we didn't get them. I'm disappointed that for the second game in a row we're up at half, I think it was seven at NC State and eight here this evening, and we weren't able to close out. We backed ourselves into a little corner now, we have to try and make sure we bounce back on Saturday against UVA."
On if L.D. Williams would have guarded Anthony Morrow if he wasn't hurt...
"There are no excuses. We could've used his defense but that's why we've got 10 guys on scholarship. Other guys have a chance to step-up. They're ACC players and they're supposed to play like it."
On if Wake Forest was "out-toughed" in the second half...
"I don't know if it was out-toughed. It's a difference if guys aren't playing hard. I just think we got bumped off of rebounds. On the offensive end, we're driving in there and they're slapping at us. We just have to be stronger with the ball. I think their guards, in that sense, were a little bit bigger and stronger than our guards. For Ish to have six turnovers and Jeff, five, that's 11 out of our 20 from our guards. That's too many. It's the ACC. We've got to be stronger with the basketball than we were."
On James Johnson's limited minutes in the second half...
"To start the half, he [Johnson] didn't box (out) for us. The next possession, he didn't front the post. We're just trying to put a premium on defense. That was the impetus behind him sitting. David Weaver is a very good defender and that's what we weren't doing tonight. So, we had him [Weaver] on the floor to guard."
Wake Players
On first loss at the Joel...
"It's always disappointing to lose. We just need to keep working hard, we'll be alright. It (not fun) losing at the Joel, I've never had that feeling before. It's the first time this season. But we have to keep working hard."
On losing several close games recently...
"If we work hard, practice hard, and play hard, maybe that will make the difference. I don't know if maybe we get too comfortable when we have large leads like that. We need to push the ball and play as hard on defense in the second half as we did in the first half."
On playing Georgia Tech...
"Georgia Tech is a great team, they were very physical and played as hard as they could and we need to match that."
On defense...
"They had an inside-outside game going. And everything they put up was going in. Everything was just going for them."
Georgia Tech Head Coach Paul Hewitt
On the final outcome...
"I couldn't be happier for our guys to come in here and after getting really pushed around in the first half and knocked back on our heels; they just stepped up and kept battling. It's not like our defense improved that much. Two errors that we really talked about a lot at halftime were turnovers and offensive rebounds for Wake; and we had 12 turnovers at the end of the first half and ended with 16 in the game, and they had eight offensive rebounds in the first half and ended with only 13. We just made some plays, as I told them they deserve the credit it was not strategy or anything like that. Anthony Morrow stepped up and made plays, and Alade Aminu stepped up and made plays. Zack Peacock made a tough play at 79-77, that drive along the baseline with 5 seconds left; they deserve a lot of credit for their effort tonight."
On their out-of-bounds plays...
"We've been doing a better job, early in the year we really struggled and we just put a lot of time into it and it's been paying dividends. I've had that question three or four times in our last three or four games and we're just doing a better job of executing."
On containing Ishmael Smith...
"I think the foul trouble hurt him in the first half, the fouls tend to take you out of your rhythm. The first half he kept coming in and out of the game so I'm sure that had something to do with it."
On shooting sixty percent in the second half...
"We were just getting the ball inside, we got to the foul line 16 times in the first half on the strength of driving, attacking and throwing it inside and we just made a point to try to keep doing that. Gani [Lawal] got some looks, again Alade [Aminu] stepped up and made some good plays around the rim then got to the foul line and made his free throws. Those were some of the things that we just tried to focus on."
