March 7, 2006

Head Coach Gary Williams

On Maryland's defense:
"We've gotten more aggressive and I think it came from practice, like most things do. We just started playing a little harder and it's really helped us in terms of how we approach games. You need confidence on the defensive end of the court that you can stop somebody. I think we've gradually developed that to where, if we do what we feel we're supposed to defensively, we're a pretty good team."

On Georgia Tech:
"They're a very good rebounding team. They've proven that they can score against some pretty good teams. They're young so you never know when they're going to hit their stride. We haven't done a very good job on Ra'Sean Dickey yet this year, so we'd like to play better defense against him. They're going in there loose. They want to see how far they can go in the ACC Tournament."

Recalling the run to the 2004 ACC Tournament title:
"I remember we were the sixth seed and had to play at 9:30 at night the first day. Those three days were a blur because we had to play the next two afternoons after the night game. That team did a great job. There's not a whole lot you can change in terms of preparation when you have that short of a turnaround in between games. Hopefully we'll get the chance to do the same thing this year."

On the history and prestige of the ACC Tournament:
"I know for a lot of our alumni and alumni throughout the conference, the ACC Tournament is really a big thing. The ACC is the originator of the conference tournaments and there is a tradition you feel playing in this thing. Hopefully the players from all the teams respect that."

Senior Nik Caner-Medley

On the team's focus heading into the first round:
"What it comes down to is execution. You know their and plays and they know ours. We're familiar with their guys and what their strengths and weaknesses are. It's going to come down to who can execute their plays well and do the little things."

On the Terps' run to the 2004 ACC Tournament title:
"I remember it being a type of situation where we got hot and took it one game. It was a great experience as a team. A lot of these guys were there for that so hopefully we can remember what it felt like to win the championship. It was a great experience and we had a lot of fun."

Junior D.J. Strawberry

On the prospect of beating Georgia Tech for a third time this season:
"It's definitely tough to beat a team three times in one year. We just need to come up with a great game plan and go out and play tough."

On the team's intensity during practice:
"I think we've been playing pretty well lately. Our defense has stepped up the past few games. We need to keep working in practice like we've been doing."

Junior Mike Jones

"Our focus, intensity and level of play have picked up in the last week. Everybody's working a lot harder. We know as a team what we can do and now we have to go from here. Right now I think we're where we want to be."

On playing in the ACC Tournament:
"There's definitely a chance for anything to happen. With the way the ACC works nowadays you never know what to expect. You just have to go in there ready to be physical."

Senior Travis Garrison

On Maryland's defense
"Our defense has improved over the last couple of games and we need to keep improving heading into the ACC Tournament. We're playing well right now but we still need to work on maintaining leads and putting teams away."