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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENTMarch 12, 2014Steve DonahueOlivier HanlanPatrick HeckmannGREENSBORO, NORTH CAROLINA Georgia Tech – 73 Q. For either of the players, when you got to overtime and you went ahead, did you feel like the momentum was on your side and things were going pretty well? OLIVIER HANLAN: Yeah, I feel like the last two, three minutes of the second half when we went on a little run and we kind of tied the game at the end to push it into overtime, yeah, we obviously had a little momentum. But the whole game I felt like we were missing some shots that we usually make and we didn't get lucky in overtime. PATRICK HECKMANN: Yeah, I think we were playing pretty well in the second half, and then going into overtime we got some stops, we got some scores, we got some free throws, and then we missed some shots, like O just said, and things didn't go our way the last one and a half minutes I would say. Q. Olivier, can you speak to the lift you got from Patrick, especially in that 12‑0 run. He scored seven and it seemed at one point he had six in a row and nobody could stop him going to the basket? OLIVIER HANLAN: Yeah, obviously Patrick started that momentum he had late in the second half, and he was making pretty good shots and being aggressive on offense, getting to the line, so he helped us a lot bringing us back into the game. Q. After battling back as hard as you did and from as far behind as you did, how frustrating is it to lose a game like that in overtime that you kind of had in your hand? PATRICK HECKMANN: I think it's always frustrating to lose a game in overtime. I mean, we were close a lot of times this season. We played a lot of close games and lost them, unfortunately. I think that just‑‑ that's just something that we've got to learn, even though we're all juniors and sophomores and we'll be seniors. But that's just mental, and we've just got to stay focused to win these games. OLIVIER HANLAN: Just like Patrick said, down the stretch we actually started getting the momentum and we thought we were going to make a run in overtime, and we got our chances to make shots and everything, but it wasn't going down. Q. It seems like Olivier may have a decision to make this year about his future. Are you guys on the team trying to lobby him to find out what he wants to do and if he can come back? PATRICK HECKMANN: Well, that wasn't‑‑ that topic hasn't come up the entire season for us. We were focused on playing and winning games and trying to get better, so that's up O. We're not going to‑‑ we obviously want him here. He's a great player. He can help us next year, of course. It's up to him, and I think that he'll make the right decision. Q. Coach Donahue, does it seem kind of like a broken record, getting close, playing well, having something bad go wrong at the end for you? COACH DONAHUE: In some ways, sure. We talked about it a lot as a team. We've done it in practice, simulating games and referring to the last three minutes of the games of winning time. The issue, and the hard part with that is, when we go back over our games, there's a lot of good that we do late in the games, as well, and I did it last night. I was going to show our clips, so even a game like tonight, we did an incredible job executing down the stretch, and for whatever reason, Georgia Tech had the answer at the end. But it's not like, wow, you guys just totally fold at the end. It's not that. It's a combination of a lot of things, and I don't think you can just put one swipe of the brush and say that's why. Q. Coach, what did they do defensively that made things so difficult for him tonight? COACH DONAHUE: Well, first, they've gotten to be a pretty solid defensive team over the last month: Bigger bodies, they do a good job on the ball screen in particular, kind of sag off it, and then you have two fifth‑year guys back there that can block shots, so they kind of pull you into that trap a little bit in the sense that you try to get to the rim. And they don't really give you the big dive‑in or the fill guy or you're thinking you've got the rim, but their size is an issue. I thought we adjusted and really got the ball moving away from doing just that, and I thought it really messed them up. They ended up switching a lot, too. OLIVIER HANLAN: Yeah, I thought they did a pretty good job as a team defending me, and whenever I was coming off a screen or attacking my men, they were right there. Every attack I had, they had me. Not necessarily double or triple‑teamed, but running gaps and forcing me to pass it, forcing me to second‑guess myself every single time, so I did a pretty good job. Q. This is 30 days where you beat the No.1 team in the nation. You won at Wake and virtually every other game is single digits. Is there anything on a team loaded with sophomores and juniors where there's a lesson to be learned just how to win? You're close. There's just one more step. How has that worked in your experience? COACH DONAHUE: This has been the craziest year in my 30 years of coaching in the sense that ‑‑ I said this all along. I thought we played really good basketball for the 19 games in the ACC, and I counted five bad halves. I've done that before with teams and we have 13 or 14 bad halves and still have a good record. The other way I look at things is this was another month of great growth in our program. And I know it's hard for fans and alumni sometimes to understand, but these guys have come so far over the last month, incredible growth, that unfortunately the last place that shows is the scoreboard. But, essentially, four out of the top seven are freshmen and sophomores. We haven't coached a senior here yet. I can't wait to get back on the court and get better and get ready for next year. I just think we are so darned close with all the things we discussed. Q. Steve, in looking at the sum total of the season for the way your team played and as you said, league play, they battled, but what is your takeaway at this point, season complete? COACH DONAHUE: Yeah, I think how I answered that last one. I told these guys, incredible growth in our program. We played an incredible schedule, No.2 according to Ken Pom. No one played more away from home. I was just looking at it, we played 18, this was our 19th playing away from home, before looking at NC State game, they had played 12. I think it's going to make these guys better, stronger basketball players, tighter unit. No one wants to go through this kind of season, but we all know that if we fight through and stay the course like these guys have, that you'll see great results at the end of it. That's kind of where our focus is, and I've been very proud of this group. There wasn't a day that I go into that gym that I didn't think they were ready to go. And I'm sure from some people they would have a hard time understanding how excited they were to play and get better, but they did, and it speaks volumes to the character of the kid, and not only as basketball players but people. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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