We spoke to Georgia Tech basketball coach Josh Pastner on Monday about the game with NC State on Tuesday night at McCamish as the Jackets host an ailing NC State squad who occupy last place in the ACC and have lost six straight games. The game has a must-win type feel about it.
Josh Pastner quotes
On Rodney Howard coming off the bench instead of starting
I don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow night but if he feels better coming off the bench I’ll look at that.
On guard rebounding by NC State
They are a good team and not having Manny Bates hurt them and they’ve had some injury issues and they are fighting and competing every game they are playing but they got great perimeter guys, they beat UVA and VaTech and what they did against Virginia was pretty amazing given how good defensively UVA is. They have great guard play and have guys who can fill it up. I’m a big fan of coach Keatts, Manny Bates could’ve been the best big in the league defensively and maybe offensively, credit to them dealing with getting hit by injuries.
On winning games
It is Feb 14th, we aren’t going to 3-4 hours practicing, so you want to be short and to the point and competing and getting better in the areas we need to get better at and try to get some wins.
On State coming in on a 6-gm skid
We are on a two-game skid ourselves, they are better than their record and I hope we end ours and extend theirs, we need to put together a 40-minute game together.
On Saba and Tristen
Saba and Tristen had some family stuff, both positive for them, both stayed back, Saba will be back with us (tomorrow), Tristen will need a few more days.
On fouls disparity
Sometimes calls go your way and sometimes they don’t sometimes it bounces your way and sometimes it does not. We are fouling at times with our hands and we are very active with how we play, we drive the ball a lot, the rule for the ACC, B1G or even the NCAA, any two-hands is an automatic and we’ve got to do a job good of fouling and hopefully we get to the FT line more than we have.
On using a guard as a post scorer like he did with Tadric Jackson to be more effective inside the arc
It is in our arsenal with Tadric, Ben Lammers was such a great passer there, when Usher is there it is easier, one of the bigs it is not as simple, part of it is who is at the elbow.
DEIVON SMITH
On his comfort level with his teammates now
“I feel like I'm very comfortable. Earlier in the year I was trying to build some chemistry with the guys get balanced within the offense and I’ve found myself late here in the season.”
On his shooting accuracy improving particularly his ability to square himself on shots now toward the basket improving his accuracy,
Deivon said he has always been able to score from his spots on the court but he was being too much of a pass first PG early in the season and was forgetting to look for his shot when he had the room. He said his offensive game is all about him getting to his spots and being able to have the confidence to knock down his shot.
On facing NC State’s dynamic scoring guards
“Defensively, I feel like we could turn it up a notch. I feel like our defense has been improving. I feel like we need to work on finishing, closing our games. Within our defense, we had a couple laps with Virginia, where we could have ended up winning the game. So I feel like once we fix that we can guard anybody.”
Smith said he is enjoying the sixth-man role he has been in and being the spark guy off the bench and he has accepted that is his role right now.
On playing with Kyle together in the backcourt
He really enjoys that and would like to play more with the two of them and if frees them up offensively because they are two fast guards that are hard to defend.
On the foul disparity
“I feel like it could go both ways, some could say we're not getting a fair call. But we can't really leave games up to the referees. I feel like we got to do it for ourself. So I wouldn't blame it all on the referees or our defense.”
Josh Pastner quotes
On Rodney Howard coming off the bench instead of starting
I don’t know what I’ll do tomorrow night but if he feels better coming off the bench I’ll look at that.
On guard rebounding by NC State
They are a good team and not having Manny Bates hurt them and they’ve had some injury issues and they are fighting and competing every game they are playing but they got great perimeter guys, they beat UVA and VaTech and what they did against Virginia was pretty amazing given how good defensively UVA is. They have great guard play and have guys who can fill it up. I’m a big fan of coach Keatts, Manny Bates could’ve been the best big in the league defensively and maybe offensively, credit to them dealing with getting hit by injuries.
On winning games
It is Feb 14th, we aren’t going to 3-4 hours practicing, so you want to be short and to the point and competing and getting better in the areas we need to get better at and try to get some wins.
On State coming in on a 6-gm skid
We are on a two-game skid ourselves, they are better than their record and I hope we end ours and extend theirs, we need to put together a 40-minute game together.
On Saba and Tristen
Saba and Tristen had some family stuff, both positive for them, both stayed back, Saba will be back with us (tomorrow), Tristen will need a few more days.
On fouls disparity
Sometimes calls go your way and sometimes they don’t sometimes it bounces your way and sometimes it does not. We are fouling at times with our hands and we are very active with how we play, we drive the ball a lot, the rule for the ACC, B1G or even the NCAA, any two-hands is an automatic and we’ve got to do a job good of fouling and hopefully we get to the FT line more than we have.
On using a guard as a post scorer like he did with Tadric Jackson to be more effective inside the arc
It is in our arsenal with Tadric, Ben Lammers was such a great passer there, when Usher is there it is easier, one of the bigs it is not as simple, part of it is who is at the elbow.
DEIVON SMITH
On his comfort level with his teammates now
“I feel like I'm very comfortable. Earlier in the year I was trying to build some chemistry with the guys get balanced within the offense and I’ve found myself late here in the season.”
On his shooting accuracy improving particularly his ability to square himself on shots now toward the basket improving his accuracy,
Deivon said he has always been able to score from his spots on the court but he was being too much of a pass first PG early in the season and was forgetting to look for his shot when he had the room. He said his offensive game is all about him getting to his spots and being able to have the confidence to knock down his shot.
On facing NC State’s dynamic scoring guards
“Defensively, I feel like we could turn it up a notch. I feel like our defense has been improving. I feel like we need to work on finishing, closing our games. Within our defense, we had a couple laps with Virginia, where we could have ended up winning the game. So I feel like once we fix that we can guard anybody.”
Smith said he is enjoying the sixth-man role he has been in and being the spark guy off the bench and he has accepted that is his role right now.
On playing with Kyle together in the backcourt
He really enjoys that and would like to play more with the two of them and if frees them up offensively because they are two fast guards that are hard to defend.
On the foul disparity
“I feel like it could go both ways, some could say we're not getting a fair call. But we can't really leave games up to the referees. I feel like we got to do it for ourself. So I wouldn't blame it all on the referees or our defense.”
