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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEFebruary 6, 2012Brian GregoryMIKE FINN: We're now joined by Georgia Tech head coach Brian Gregory. We'll bring on coach, ask for a brief opening statement, then go to questions. Coach. COACH GREGORY: Pleased with our win on Saturday against a team that's difficult to play. Obviously I really believe down the road they're going to be even more challenging to play. Our guys had to do a lot of good things to be successful in that game. To follow that game up, we had a pretty good effort out at Florida State. Just couldn't take care of the ball enough against their defense. Again, I feel like we're making some progress as we head into the second half of the season. That's the most important thing for us to continue to do. MIKE FINN: Questions for Coach Gregory. Q. I saw the NC State/Wake Forest game. Lorenzo Brown had a really good game. What kind of problems does it cause when he plays against the defense? COACH GREGORY: If you remember going into our game, I thought he was playing extremely well. His pace of play and his control of that pace was tremendous. There's no question about it, that he's a guy that has really stepped up his game this year as a sophomore. Ball's in his hands quite a bit. So when he plays well, they're a much different team. Anytime a guy has the ball in his hands as much as he does, there are going to be some games where maybe there's a few more turnovers, especially as he's only a sophomore. I think he had some of those games. But he does so many other things: his ability to score, his ability to create shots, his ability to push the ball, use his length on defense, is a pretty good combination at that point guard spot. As I said, I think he's right on the cusp of being an elite guard, not only in this league but I think as he continues to progress in this country. Q. Guys like Pierre that get their degree and transfer to somewhere else immediately, do you think that rule is good or something that needs some more evaluation? COACH GREGORY: Yeah, I haven't really thought about it that much. But I think it's a good rule. If our number one objective is to get players their degree, then that objective has been reached. Then to give the guys the freedom to play somewhere else if it puts them in a position to get a second degree or a masters graduate degree on something that they want, or in Pierre's case, to put him in a position where he's now back at home, maybe a greater opportunity to play, but also to get a prestigious graduate degree, I think it's good. I haven't thought about it much. I think you're going to see maybe some more of that. I think this year you've seen some more of that, as well. But at the same time I think the ultimate goal is to have those guys get their degrees, and that's been accomplished. So you put them in a position where now they have that diploma in hand, they have to make a decision. Usually they make one that's a pretty good one, either to stay and play or to go someplace else. I think we've got a couple guys in this league who have done that and I think it's worked out extremely well for them and the teams they went to. Q. Why do you think you might see more of it in years to come? COACH GREGORY: I think, one, because I think guys are just starting to figure out that they can do that, that it's an option. So the guys who redshirt and so forth now will, instead of maybe having their course work go through the five years, if they have the opportunity to finish it up in four, then they have some other options. They get their degree, they want to pursue a graduate degree, maybe the school doesn't offer that, they go to another school where they might have an opportunity in that one year to play more than they have in the three years prior to that, whatever the case might be. So you can see that not only with guys who have redshirted, or guys that have redshirted medically, and due to an injury they're not quite the player they were before, they get to drop down a level, finish out their college career with a diploma in hand, credits towards an advanced degree, enjoying the basketball aspect of it even more, as well. Q. Looking at your team from afar, it looks like one of your best performances was when you came to Raleigh and played NC State. Was it a good matchup or one of those nights where everything clicked? COACH GREGORY: I think more to say we shot the ball extremely well, took care of the ball. Whenever we do that, if we defend the way we're supposed to defend, and our guys did a great job of that on Saturday afternoon as well, we're just a different team. Whenever you're going through what we're going through in terms of trying to reestablish ourselves and so forth, as I've said time and time again, the biggest thing is to grow consistent in that. Our longest flashes have been some non‑conference games, but also the Duke game, which we lost, the NC State game, which we won. We were just more consistent through that entire 40 minutes than maybe we have been in other games. So it was more us than the matchup, per se. Q. Am I right, your win Saturday was your first win in that arena? How much of a home court edge is that playing in the city arena while you're waiting for Alexander to get remodeled? COACH GREGORY: Like I said, the people at Phillips and the people before that at Gwinnett have been tremendous. Phillips is a wonderful facility. They've done everything possible to make it a home court as you can. Just the simple fact, it's not. So it is what it is. I thought the crowd was tremendous on Saturday. I thought in some key moments of that game you could feel it. Obviously we had that in the Duke game, as well. So there was a little more electricity in the place. But it's difficult. It is difficult. Can't use that as an excuse. Now getting a win there will make it easier obviously. I think that was a monkey on our back that needed to be eliminated, and we were able to do that. Now we just got to move on. It's really how you play and how you compete and the execution of the game plan more than anything else. In its simplest form, we have to play better. If you do that, then you get a little better home‑court advantage, too, because people recognize that also. MIKE FINN: Coach, thanks for being with us. Good luck this week. We'll talk to you next week. COACH GREGORY: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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