Georgia Tech vs. Louisville Postgame Quotes

Louisville Head Coach Chris Mack

(Opening statement) "I said it before we played them. They have two of the better guards in our league that I've seen so far, and I thought they completely controlled the game in the first half, Alvarado and Devoe. We didn't face Alvarado a year ago. Those two guys completely got wherever they wanted to in the first half. And once you offer that little of resistance to start the game, why wouldn't your confidence grow, not that those guys need any more confidence for Georgia Tech, but why wouldn't your confidence grow when you're getting anywhere you want? And I thought it opened up driving lanes for other players, guys like Jordan Usher, Moses Wright, I thought those guys were really playing well off of a really, really good tandem. And our defensive energy was completely different in the second half. And you're going to ask me why, I'm going say I have no idea. Maybe it's because everybody tells us, for the last couple of days 'hey, great game great game, man, you guys are good, man that was awesome.' and all that crap. It's funny how success can change your mindset sometimes. Man, at some point, I have to get some older guys, resembling being older. I say that with all due respect. I know that Georgia Tech has lost some close ones. They've been in every game. I have a ton of respect for their talent level, the stuff they run. The way they try to keep you off balance going man to zone. I mean, they've been in every game they won three road games, out of four, three out of five now and we escaped by the skin of our teeth and, I think Georgia Tech had a lot to do with that."

(As a coach have you been in a situation when you don't know why the effort was different in the second half?) "I like to think that our kids really care about winning, and we have a lot of pride. But it shouldn't take a deficit to figure that out. It shouldn't. I told our kids before the game, I had no idea what type of fight Georgia Tech's going to bring to the table. Maybe they mail it in, maybe they come out play the best game of the year. Maybe somewhere in between. But, what's our fight going to look like? And disappointing to say the least. Now in the second half I thought we turned it around and it's 18 to 22 year old guys, sometimes it can drive you crazy. We've got to be able to figure it out."

(About it being a matter of effort and intensity, also about being up 11 and looking strong) "Couldn't score. I would tell you that, do we make a few adjustments at halftime? Yeah, absolutely. But we do that every game. Maybe a team has 15 things that they run, and then all of a sudden you see two or three of them primarily in the first half and you figure out how they're really trying to attack you, versus maybe their past opponents. So we talked about how we wanted to guard the role and replace a little bit differently, But primarily Eric, it was about can we do the job on these guards and not have them just get in the middle of the lane with the live dribble, every single possession? And I thought we did a better job of that. And they still, because they're good, they still had some times when they got down there. What happened, we get the lead, I think we couldn't score. I give Georgia Tech a lot of credit, we ran a couple things. I thought we had decent looks. And then, our defense just eroded for about two or three possessions. It's sort of a microcosm, what I'm talking about. First half, second half."

(Was it success in Durham that caused where it's kind of a listless first half and then takes you guys a little while to regroup. Is there any similarities that you see between all of those games?) "Just your adjective. And that's it. I don't know if there's a common denominator. We had different lineups. We had different styles of play. We've had different times where the funk is to start the game, or it's to end the half. But in either case, you're right. If I knew, and could just wave a magic wand, I'd do that. That's why we're going to continue to practice and we're going to figure this thing out. And again, I'm never going to be apologetic after a win. We found a way to win and make the plays down the stretch. And we just have to figure out a way to get better. We're not this juggernaut. We're trying to get there but it's not who we are."

(On the juggernaut theme, Josh's opening statement was that he would be surprised if you were not in the Final Four. How do you receive that as a coach?) "Josh is a really good dude. He gives credit to teams and coaches I've played against them before. He gives credit to other teams and coaches. When he wins, and when he loses, he's gracious. He understands that we all go through ups and downs with our team. He doesn't get up here and just talk about what his team didn't do. Both teams have scholarships and I got a lot of respect and really appreciate, whatever he said. Because I know he's a genuinely good guy."

(About Malik Williams' play in the last seven minutes) "I feel like a broken record. He's one of the best defensive players in the league. He made some big plays offensively and made some big free throws, some really big free throws. Defensively, his greatest attribute is his mind. He sees things develop. He certainly has great versatility. I could put him on a guard and switch ball screens at the end, they just didn't happen to use any so he was never on [Jose] Alvarado or [Michael] Devoe but I think he would've done the job. His versatility and his mind and his length and his toughness and desire make him a terrific defender. If we didn't have him, we wouldn't be a very good defensive team, or at least as good as we are."

(On being 14-23 from the line, but in the final minutes Malik did hit five big ones and another in the final minutes) "You want to be that team that goes 100 percent. Our team has been there now in key moments where we need to make it a two-possession game or seal a game with free throws. We're trying to go up there and concentrate, and obviously Malik made a couple big ones at Cameron and made some big ones tonight. I'm really happy for him, and a guy like that deserves it."

(On Georgia Tech's 2-3 zone) "We have some guys who can really shoot, so it stretches the zone in ways that zones don't get stretched. Often enough we try and put Ryan out there. They went to him to start the game. I thought our guys recognized what we talked about leading up for a couple days. The soft spots in Georgia Tech's zone are a lot different than the soft spots in other standard two-three zones. Our guys found those spots and we did a really good job at converting at a few of the open looks that we got, so that probably gave him an eerie feeling to probably stay in it."

(On Darius Perry getting more minutes) "I thought he was the only guy with great energy and talk and effectiveness in the first half. Coaches really enjoy winning. If you're going to see a guy put that type of effort out there… it's never personal, if a guy plays 10-12 minutes it's because he wasn't as good as the other guys that played the 28 minutes. Tonight, Darius was our best defender and he was doing a terrific job on either Alvarado or Devoe or whoever he was assigned to. Offensively he was making the right decisions so he's going to play then."

(On David Johnson coming back with two fouls) "I just don't think one-size-fits all. I look at like, 'Ok David has two fouls with five minutes to go. Are we going to sit him the whole half? He hasn't picked up his third, obviously, if he does, let's say worst case scenario, I'm going to take him out. He's not starting the second half. Now we're 15 or 14 minutes left in the game and he's got three fouls. A lot of guys play with that.' I didn't have any concern, a couple of my assistants did, but that's why I get a different pay grade than those guys. I make those final decisions."

(On David's response after the Duke game) "He made some plays that I think that you guys are starting to see what we've talked about, as a coaching staff. I don't know if you saw on the defensive end, he was a seive, like a few of the other guys where guys went right around him. David's a freshman, he's going up against sophomores, juniors, guys that can really handle the ball and get to spots and have had ACC defenders on them. Those are those moments that David has to learn from and gain experience in. I thought that Darius (Perry) and Fresh (Kimble), in the second half, were better on ball defenders than David was. David's going to come a long way and be a really good on the ball defender, but he's going to have moments where he can't keep a guy in front of him. I can't afford to keep anybody on the floor if they continue to get blown by. So, take the good with the bad because there's a lot of good and we've talked about that. It's just part of him maturing, getting better, and getting more experience."

(On The older guys taking the next step) "They've been on really good teams. Some of them were obviously coached by one of the best, if not the best. It's time and it's been time that they've been around us long enough where they can't just be on good teams. They got to be the leaders, they have to be the tone-setters for those good teams and not just be in the locker room. That's a learning process. I have a few guys that want to do it by example. A few guys that are starting to grow horns a little bit and keep a teammate accountable, but we're not there yet. You can see moments like tonight better get us closer to there.

Georgia Tech Head Coach Josh Pastner

(Opening statement) "First off, we want to give a lot of credit to Louisville, Coach Mack and their staff. Their team is a great basketball team. They're very well coached. I said back in the preseason before ACC Media Day that I think they have a great chance, I would actually be surprised, if they don't get to Atlanta. I think they're a really good basketball team and they're very, very well coached. I think Coach Mack is one of the best coaches in the country, both offensively and defensively. He's been extremely successful for a very, very long time. They're a great basketball team. Our guys fought, kicked, clawed, battled as hard as we could. All you can ask for is a shot to tie or win the game late and we had two opportunities and neither fell. I wanted Michael (Devoe) to go for the win at the end there. He had a good look and he's shot that 50,000 times in practice and it looked good when he released his hands and it just rimmed out. Obviously we've had an issue with turnovers. Today, that and the offensive rebounds, hurt us. We had 17 turnovers and we gave up 14 offensive rebounds. That's 31 extra possessions. They had 28 points off those two and that's the difference in the game there. As I told the postgame radio, we have gotten a lot better. We are a way better team than where we started at the beginning of the year. We've continued to get better. Unfortunately, in sports it's a scoreboard game and it's a win/loss game. Unfortunately we have not had the results go our way to show that we have gotten better based on wins and losses. From my chair, I know our guys have gotten better they've improved. They give me everything they have and that's all I can ask for. We've just got to keep competing, fighting and getting better. Life in the ACC, as I have said many times, you can play really well and still lose. That happened tonight. A big play in the second half we were ready to maybe even stretch to lead and Jose Alvarado had a three right in front of our bench that literally went into the hoop and popped out, that could have been such a sweet play there. That's the way the ball bounces sometimes and the ball hasn't bounced our way."

(On what Georgia Tech did well early in the game to control Louisville on the boards?) "We rebounded well, but the issue was they had 14 offensive rebounds and we've got to do a better job in our post defense. Both (Steven) Enoch and (Malik) Williams, got deeper than James Banks. James and Moses have got to do a better job of three-quartering. But they got some key offensive rebounds and some of those in late situations. And they had 15 points off of their second chances on that and then 13 points off of our turnovers. But more than that, take the offensive rebounding out of it, it's our turnovers. It's just been an Achilles heel with us and we are doing everything humanly possible that you can think of to try to correct and solve that problem. And we've improved offensively, we are way better offensive team but our turnovers have just kicked us in the rear. It's just been an Achilles heel of ours and we just want to keep trying to get better at that. Besides that, our team has gotten a lot better. Unfortunately, it just hasn't showed up in the win-loss column.

(You're up by ten early in the second half, get no points off the bench, you lose by four on the road. What tells you that this is a team that's going to be in Atlanta?) "I would like to give ourselves credit. I think we play hard, we compete. I think the way we do things offensively and defensively can be a hard matchup for different teams. But, I just think Louisville is really good, and I think they're really talented. I think coach Mack's an excellent coach. I think he's one of the best coaches in the country. I think he's been to what, the Sweet 16 or the tournament 9 of 11 years? You know I don't know what it is, but I think he's one of the best coaches in the game, and his teams always defend well, they always rebound well, and they have a lot of talent. So I just think they're a really good basketball team and they're very, very well coached."

(On Jose (Alvarado) guarding Jordan (Nwora) that was kind of unusual given the height difference.) "I thought Jose did a good job."

(What did you see on film that kind of made you go to that?) "Jose is just… his fight and toughness He is one of our best defenders and he doesn't worry about giving up some size. He had 10 rebounds, 10 defensive rebounds. But he played great defense and I mean we held them to 41 percent from the field and 30 from three. Besides early in the game our zone didn't work. Got to give Coach Mack and his staff credit on that. Our man defense was solid. Again the turnovers, they bit us in the rear and just… goodness gracious you know it just makes me pull my hair out and I've got gray hair…"

(On Louisville's Malik Williams) "Malik made a lot of big plays for them. He hurt us. As did Steven Enoch. The two five-men, they did hurt us in the paint, in the red zone."

(On Louisville's David Johnson) "I thought David Johnson versus Duke was the best player on the floor regardless of either team. Both Duke and Louisville, David Johnson was the best player in that game. And he's a really good player. I don't know how much he was playing prior to the Duke game, and maybe really wasn't getting on and here he comes in, he's the best player in the floor but that goes to Louisville's depth. They've got great depth, they can bring guys in off the bench and, and there's no drop-off."

(On being up 11 the second half and the team getting sped up and flustered to transition baskets?) "Well we had that three-pointer; the big play was Jose's three that went in and out and they came down and scored. Look, Louisville is a really good team and they are going to make some runs, but we had some chances right there and again, I've got to watch the film, but in my memory I think James missed one or two right there by the rim. Jose had a look or two and that miss from three and of course we had a couple turnovers in those in that span."

(What was Louisville doing inside? It seemed like James (Banks III) and Moses (Wright) had trouble getting comfortable and there were some bad passes that created some of those turnovers.)
"We had some passes there where, that one where Moses (Wright) didn't meet the ball, he's got to give up the position for the possession of the ball and the James (Banks III) one where he just kind of caught it and threw his left hand over his right shoulder there. We're best when we're able to drive and get to the paint. We need Moses and James to be able to handle the physicality a little bit better than they've handled it the last two games."

(On Louisville's offensive rebounding. You're playing man most of the time we've seen, what was the challenge that you guys weren't able to do what you wanted?) "Of course I've got to watch the tape, but I thought (Steven) Enoch and (Malik) Williams hurt us. Those two had six offensive rebounds between them. Of course (Jordan) Nwora had three but he's going against Jose (Alvarado) who's giving up some size, but James (Banks III) and Moses (Wright) have got to be better on the glass for us. Moses (Wright) had three rebounds, James (Banks III) seven, those two only had five defensive. They have got to be way better for us. Moses (Wright) has to produce better for us. In back-to-back games Moses (Wright) hasn't produced at the level that he we need him to produce, based on the minutes that he's getting. We're counting and depending on him and he's got to get back to being Moses Wright and being a really good basketball player and we needed better on the glass for us."

(Towards the end of the game Louisville went on that 11-0 run but instead of the lead for Louisville continuing to balloon, you guys fired off a 10-0 run of your own. What was something that you told your team in order to stay focused and stay calm?) "I called that last time out, and I just told the guys we need to regroup. No time for the 'woe is me syndrome' or play the victim game or the blame game. This is basketball, so suck it up, toughen up and let's just get a stop and play one possession at a time and we did that. We had some chances, Mike (Devoe) threw that pass to Jose (Alvarado) over his head for no reason, and that should have been an easy two. Moses (Wright) missed one of two free throws, and James missed one short, and then Moses (Wright) had the layup and Mike (Devoe) had an open three."

University of Louisville Athletics

Players Mentioned

Steven Enoch

David Johnson

Darius Perry

Malik Williams

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