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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEMarch 5, 2013MaChelle JosephTHE MODERATOR: We'd like to welcome MaChelle Joseph from Georgia Tech. If you could, please talk a little bit about your team heading into the tournament. COACH JOSEPH: Well, I think we're really excited about the opportunity of the ACC tournament. We feel though the month of February we've really played some very good basketball against some good teams. This has been a year of transition for us. We turned our program around, 14 players in a year. So it's been a very interesting transition, to say the least. Starting three freshmen, playing four freshmen double minutes, it's been a challenge early on. I really feel like coming into February, we've come into our own. We've started to understand how to play Georgia Tech basketball on both ends of the floor. I really feel as though we have as good a chance as anybody in this tournament. I feel like it's a new season for us, an opportunity for us to come in. We're still in the hunt for post‑season play and I think we're very motivated. THE MODERATOR: Questions for Coach Joseph. Q. With exactly what you pointed out, a transition year, rebuilding year for you, but knowing how much you turned it up in last year's tournament, how your team seemed to focus on athleticism, really with out‑working teams, how are you bouncing back from the final game of the season and heading into this one to turn up that energy level that is pretty typical of your teams? COACH JOSEPH: Well, the Boston College game, we got down 11, came back with a minute to go and got it to two points. It was a game where it was Senior Night. Boston College played extremely well. We didn't play bad. We didn't play our best game of the year. It wasn't like we played bad. Boston College played very well. It's just one of those things. A young team on the road, sometimes that happens. They don't understand night in and night out what you're faced with, how tough a place it is to play at Boston College. We just kind of had to learn on the fly this year. I don't feel like this team has ever hung their heads over a loss. We don't get too low over a loss, too high over a win, we just come back for more. That's the luxury of having a young team, they just show up every night and expect to win. That's one of the things we left on the bus after we got back from Boston College. All season long, we looked forward to the ACC tournament. We played such a tough schedule in our non‑conference, we played all the top teams in the country, outside of Connecticut and Notre Dame. We're not going into the ACC tournament overlooking anyone. We'll take it one game at a time. We understand where we are, what we need to do to get to post‑season. Q. Last year you had a breakout player in Ty Marshall, stepping up in ACC and NCAA time. Anything you can reveal that people may see a surprise or two in the tournament as players are playing right now? COACH JOSEPH: It's been interesting for us. We've had Roddreka Rogers, a freshman, in the last five games, double figures, rebounds. Five games in a row in the ACC, pretty significant. Brittany Jackson 22 points in 15 minutes against Clemson the other night. I can go on about our freshman. Aaliyah Whiteside hit a big three at the end of the game. These freshmen, nothing they do surprises me because they're extremely talented. It's just one of those things where they're inconsistent. One of them could break out and have a huge ACC tournament. The player that I think is important to us is Sydney Wallace. Last year in the tournament time, ACC tournament, NCAA tournament, she had huge games, 30 points three games in a row. So she's capable. Ty Marshall is capable of having big games. I think when three of our players put it together on the same night, we can be a very special team. Q. To a casual observer who is maybe an outsider, the conference obviously is pretty strong top to bottom. What's more important to the conference's image, getting as many teams as possible in the NCAA tournament or one team to the Final Four? COACH JOSEPH: I don't think there's any doubt, it's about getting as many teams into the tournament as we possibly can. Obviously getting to the Final Four and winning a national championship is very important to all the teams in the conference. I think all of us as coaches would say the strength of the conference is indicated by how many teams you get into the NCAA tournament. That's one of the things as coaches we talked about in the off‑season, was putting our conference and our teams in a position to get as many into the tournament as possible. One of the things we emphasized with our non‑conference schedule, upgrading our non‑conference schedules. I think that's been a big factor. I think you're seeing a lot of parity top to bottom. I think we could have a surprise winner in the ACC tournament this year because so many teams have beaten different teams on different nights. It's going to be a matter of who shows up this weekend. It makes it exciting. I think the more teams we have that are quality teams that can make the NCAA tournament, the better, the more exciting, the stronger all our teams in the conference will become. Q. It always seems that Marshall has career games against Wake Forest. Give me your thoughts on why that might be. Is it more of a matchup thing or... COACH JOSEPH: Well, I'm not sure. She had a pretty good career night against Miami. I'm not really sure. I think it depends on the timing of the games. I think Ty understands when she has to take her game to another level. When we were on the road at Wake Forest, I think she understood what a pivotal game that was. We were fighting for post‑season. We understand we have to finish the season above .500. She felt that for the last month. I've been pleased the way she's come out and really went after people. That's not only the sign of a great player but a great leader. Ty has become that for us. The better she's gotten, the better we've gotten. I think she's led the last month for all our young players. Q. Aside from Boykin and Douglas, which member of the Deacon team is someone you have to keep an eye on? COACH JOSEPH: I definitely think Hamby is a difference maker for them. Her athleticism, the way she plays causes matchup problems. The thing about Wake is they're very experienced and balanced. They have several players that can hurt you in several different ways. Wake is a very dangerous team, no doubt about it. Wake has one of the best backcourts in the ACC, there's no doubt. At the same time they have an inside game with Garcia and Hamby that are experienced and veterans, played and started in this league for two years or more, I think they have a great offensive balance inside and out and that creates a lot of mismatches. Q. You finished the season winning four of your last five games. What was the difference maker during that stretch? COACH JOSEPH: Well, I think in the last month of February wave won seven out of ten. I think the difference has been the young players finally understanding, the freshmen. We have six freshmen. Four of them are impact players, five of them. They make a difference on our team. I think as they've grown, we've grown as a team. I think Ty Marshall has stepped up and accepted her role as a go‑to player. I think those two things are the key difference makers for our team. Q. Ty Marshall last year in the ACC tournament had 20 points in all three games. How important is she going to be in helping the team advancing in the tournament this year? COACH JOSEPH: Well, Ty has been, again, the key to all of our wins this year, there's no doubt. We go as she goes. She's our catalyst on defense and offense. As good as an offensive player she is, she's won games for us this year single‑handedly on the defensive end. I think we as a team and program, we feed off of our defense. As Ty sets the example on the defensive end, it becomes a catalyst, and the better team we become on the defensive end. I think there's no doubt that basically she's going to lead us. We're going to go as she goes. As well as she plays, we're going to play. THE MODERATOR: Coach, thank you for your time this morning. COACH JOSEPH: Thank you. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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