Post-game comments from Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner following the Yellow Jackets’ 76-61 win over Cal State Bakersfield Tuesday night in the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden
JOSH PASTNER
“That’s a good team, to only have seven turnovers against that type of hard-nosed tough defense that they play, and they are one of the best defensive teams in the country. That’s a credit to our young men, to these two men to my left (Josh Okogie and Quinton Stephens), and so it’s a great win for us, an opportunity to play for a championship on Thursday. From where we started and to where we are now, it’s been a remarkable year, and for these young men, these two, and the rest of the guys in the locker room, just deserve all the credit.”
“We always talk about, we’ve got to finish the possession, and a few ties today we didn’t finish the possession. But that’s a good team we played, and we prepared for that for the last three or four days of practice with that type of intensity, and the guys did a nice job of only having seven turnovers. In the NIT, we have 101 made field goals, 77 of them are assisted. And that’s why I was upset towards the end of the game. We had a couple of plays where we played out of sync where, because we were – I’m a big believer in the open man is the go-to man – and we played a little bit where it was my shot, not our shot, and that drives me up a wall.”
“It’s been a heck of a season, and, as I said, it’s a great lesson for me that these guys, to see it all unfold, the power of team. That gets thrown in words a lot, team and chemistry. But to really see it and how we have been able to beat teams that are more talented than we are, beause that night we were the better team, and when we’re in areas we’re playing teams that have better talent than we do, some of our wins have come because that night we were the better team.”
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