Dec. 18, 2000
I think we needed that game. Obviously my expectation would be that Georgia Tech would win against Idaho State. We needed to get a little rust off and I think the first part of the game showed that a little bit. We hadn't played in 16 days (since Dec. 2), so we weren't really game sharp. We played a lot of players and got a lot of guys some time, which I think was gonna be important just from the standpoint of three games in four days for a couple of our kids with their little nagging injuries is kind of tough. It worked out well that way as well.
We're going to have to play a whole lot better here in the future, we know that. Defensively we were not very sharp. We really shot the ball early offensively because we were open, and we told them that was going to happen, that they would get shots and they had to bypass shots and move the ball and get a rhythm, and we had a little bit of difficulty getting that done.
It's hard to really glean anything from this game other than Justin (Davis) got a chance to get on the floor, which I think was really important for him. He was really pretty nervous about it, hadn't played for a couple of years and he'll just get better as time goes on, and that'll help us. We're looking forward to tomorrow night for sure and what that brings, and obviously Thursday (against Duke). Hopefully we'll be back in game shape and ready to play.
On Justin Davis:
He's explosive. I think he tried to do a little too much early on, but he's very explosive, as you saw, and he'll play hard. He'll go after every rebound and compete and those are the things you like about him. It's just been frustrating for him because he's been hurt and it's just been hard for him. He's starting to come around to get back to 100 percent. He's just a freshman, he's just a young kid. He wants to do well and he hasn't been in a game for a couple years. It's been over a year and a half since he's played.
I think Tony's (Giovacchini) my backup point. I really like the way Tony runs the club-- he's really smart, he's really steady. He gets us into our offense and takes advantage of other people. I still play Julius (Barnes) there some because I need him to understand and know that position, and that's a place he may end up down the road. Also, we're trying to create some opportunities for him at the off guard as far as being explosive, and he's working his way into that. Again, he gives you a little different look than somebody else might give you. He's a nice counter to that when you have him in with a point guard, he gives you another handler that can potentially push the break.
The obvious thing is you have Duke looming on the horizon and barring an upset at Portland, they'll probably come in undefeated. They're awfully good. Georgia Tech's very good. The name on the jersey is not everything. You're playing 94 x 50 against good basketball players. They're playing good, they took us to overtime last year, they're really good. Maybe they're not a Top 5 team in the country, but maybe we're not too. It's just so early to tell based on who you're playing. I know athletically they're very good, and they're playing with a lot of confidence. They've got great pressure and we need to be at our best tomorrow night. We've got two games back-to-back, very much like upper echelon conference games in LA or at the Arizonas. It'll be a really good challenge for us.