What Josh Pastner Said After Georgia Tech's 68-59 Win Over Clemson
Opening statement:
“I think that first off, you have to give a lot of credit to Clemson. They are really well-coached; Coach [Brad] Brownell is one of the best coaches in the entire country. Their team just runs great actions. They are very disciplined. [Aamir] Simms is a hard matchup. They came in shooting just over 50 percent in the last three games from the three-point line. We did a great job guarding them from three. Both teams were just physical, and we just found a way to win in the end. Michael Devoe was good defensively. Jordan Usher really set the tone in shootaround with his energy. Jose Alvarado was tough. Bubba Parham was also tough. Khalid Moore came in and gave us great minutes off the bench. James Banks was great all-around. Moses Wright may not have been as well as he has been, but he was able to make some good shots and be effective defensively. It was a good basketball game; both teams are good, and we were just fortunate to be able to pull out a win.”
On playing so much man-to-man defense in the second half:
“They run good stuff against zone and a lot of things against man. With the flow of the game, man was working for us. We were stretched out a bit in zone when trying to guard the three. We were very conscientious about having to stop them from the three. Clemson came in leading the ACC in three-point offense. They have blitzed teams with their shooting, and they make it really tough with their actions.”
On Georgia Tech’s three-point defense:
“I thought there were a couple shots where we contested them and made it hard for them. They run a lot of good stuff that makes it hard to guard. We had great toughness there, and they are a very hard team to play against in that respect. Clemson has multiple guys that can shoot it. [Aamir] Simms is the hardest matchup in all of the ACC. I think he is a hard matchup because he is not a traditional five, and he is not a traditional four. He leads them in three-point percentage, scoring and assists. He does not just sit by the basket. He is all over the floor and it makes him tough. He is a really good basketball player.”
On making sure Clemson did not have a second-half comeback:
“We guarded much better in the second half. We got multiple three stops in a row. There was a point where we got four of them in a row in the second half. That got us the win. At Wake Forest and Syracuse, we did not get any three stops. I thought James Banks really played well for us. Moses [Wright] made some big plays for us down the stretch [but] he has to be better about not turning the ball over.”
On closing the regular season strong before the ACC Tournament:
“We have eight ACC wins. I told our guys that it has not been done a lot here at Georgia Tech. The last time we got to nine wins in conference was 2004. We are trying to do some things that have not been done here often. It is not just about our seeding in the ACC Tournament. The program has yet to get to nine wins in an 18-game [ACC] schedule. The last time that happened, the conference only played 16 games. To get to nine would be a great stepping stone for our program. We have the opportunity to try to keep winning and even get to 10 wins in the ACC. It has only been done a limited number of times here. These are the next steps of what we are trying to do. The goal is to not have to play on Tuesday at the ACC Tournament.”
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