Georgia Tech came to Raleigh and upset N.C. State. Now it’s the Wolfpack’s time to go to Atlanta, and State coach Mark Gottfried still thinks the Pack has their hands full.

“I’ve got a lot of respect for how they have played,” Gottfried said. “Even though their record may not be great, I think that they have done an excellent job. So we’ve got
our hands full.”

Question: Coach, the first time you played Georgia Tech, what are the things that stand out that perhaps you’d like to change for the coming game? Was there anything they did in particular that you’ll be more concentrated on this time?

Coach Gottfried: I think there were
two things. I think one they made a lot of shots.
We did not defend them well. They made some
open shots and they also made a lot of tough
shots.
Then on our end of the floor, I thought we
executed as poorly as we have in a long time. We
mishandled the ball. Dribbled it out of bounds, we
bobbled passes so the combination of those two
things spelled for a bad day for us.

Question: How do you think they progressed
since then and your team may be different from
the first time you played?

Coach Gottfried: I think we’re better
than we were then. But I think they are too. I’ve
watched them on tape. But I do think that we have
improved in a lot of areas, so hopefully we’ll play
better.

Question: How encouraging was it to play
Lorenzo Brown the other day going into this
game?

Coach Gottfried: Very encouraging.
He had a bounce in his step, which is what our
team needs. His energy was higher, and he
played much better. We’re like any team. When
your better players play well, you’re a much better
team, and he did that against Wake.

Question: You’re here, it’s the first week of
February and N.C. State is pretty much
regarded as a bubble team. Do you think about
that or look at anything in terms of what you
need to do to get in that NCAA field?

Coach Gottfried: Well, you always
do. Anybody that tells you they don’t, they’re lying.
You always do. But that cannot be our emphasis
every day. Our emphasis has to be on the next
opponent and how are we going to play well in this
one game.
But as a big picture, I think it’s natural, and
hopefully we can do well down the stretch.

Question: As a guy that was a commentator
last year, if you were standing on the outside
looking at N.C. State right now, what would you
say is their strongest thing and what would you
say you have to do to make the image better?

Coach Gottfried: Well, we played a
great schedule in the non-league, which was good.
Obviously you have to keep winning games. It’s
fun for the commentators to talk about who is going
to get in the tournament in the second week of
February. But the way to get in the tournament is
to win games. Everybody that’s in the tournament
every year, they’ve played their way in. They’ve
earned the right. So that’s what we have to do.