Hamilton, Polite, Barnes discuss Florida State’s 74-61 win over Georgia Tech

Florida State defeated Georgia Tech at home Tuesday evening in the Civic Center 74-61. Freshman guard Scottie Barnes again led the way for FSU (4-0, 1-0 ACC) with 16 points and 6 rebounds. Five players scored in double figures and the #15-ranked Seminoles shot 52 percent from the field.

After the game, head coach Leonard Hamilton, Barnes, and guard Anthony Polite joined the media for post-game comments.

Hamilton:

“Typical ACC game where everybody is playing with a purpose. They had us well-scouted. I thought we showed a little effect of three games in seven days…But I thought we rejuvenated ourselves by other guys coming in and giving us some contributions.”

“We are still trying to learn more and more about who we are as a team. This is a very important victory for us. We are a team who is still learning and growing. We are not as smooth as where we need to be…But to be 4-0 we’ll take it, and we are happy with where we are.”

“I think we got some good defensive stops that really, really separated that period. We got our most experienced players in the game.”

On success from three-point territory: “What we are trying to do is be a well-balanced team. A team that can throw it inside and finish, and also a team that can shoot from the three-point line. Those threes were timely and we needed them. That’s why we got Jack and Wyatt in as early as we did…At some point you will see that is a strength of our team.”

On production from bench: “We needed a lift from our rotation players and we got it tonight.”

“I thought Malik came in and really gave us a big lift defensively”

On Anthony Polite: “He’s been solid. He allows himself to be coached. Played great defense, hit his free throws. You see all his hard work paying off. We need him to be on of the leaders on our team and he is stepping up and giving us great leadership.”

On Balsa Koprivica: “He is still growing and learning. I am very proud of him. He struggled a little bit in the first half and in the second half you could see that he was a different guy. That is part of the learning process.”

Polite:

“Just working on my game, little aspects of it, and watching a lot of film. That is probably the best thing for me. Knowing positioning, spacing, that really helped me.”

“Everybody on the team can shoot three’s. I believe we can be one of the best shooting teams in the country.”

On Scottie Barnes: “He is a freak. He sees the game very well and he sees openings. He is extremely long, and he makes those plays.”

Barnes:

On his dunk in the second half: “I didn’t even notice they were on a 15-0 run. I knew it was a close game. I just knew we needed every possession. That was a play that was open because of our offense.”

“I just try to let our offense flow. Through the flow of our offense, I was likely to get easy looks. With the flow of our offense it is just so good it had me in position to make the shot.”

“This team we are really deep. We got a lot of guys who can really play. We got a lot of guys who can bring instant offense. We have shooters everywhere on the floor. With this program we have a lot of trust in all of our guys to make plays.”

On his defense: “My emphasis is to always play through my defense. I feel like I am one of the best defenders in the country…With the defense that FSU plays, it helps us try to get in those passing lanes and get steals.”

On the college game: “I am adapting to it game-by-game. The physicality, how we run the floor. And I am still getting to know our guys. We didn’t get a lot of time together [before the season].”

“I feel like with this older group, they have a lot of experience and know what we need to do. They have a lot of confidence in me. They pick me up. They want me to play smart out there.”

On dancing after a dunk versus Florida: “I have fun with the game. It was just the passion coming out. I don’t know what I was really thinking, it just happened.”

“I felt like when we came back in that huddle we knew what we needed to do. They came back at us pretty hard, we got a good little lead and they closed it. Coach told us before the game that 70% of ACC games come down to four points or less. We knew we needed get stops and make shots.”