UNC-Wake Forest Quotes

North Carolina 73, Wake Forest 69 • December 30, 2017
Postgame Quotes

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement
"Happy to win. Not pleased at all. Not satisfied at all. Wake Forest, I thought, was much more aggressive than we were. At one point in the second half, they're shooting like 60 percent, they miss their last few to get it down to 50 [percent]. Fifteen to five on fast-break points. We're supposed to be a fast-break team. It was not a great-positive message to them in the locker room because, by golly, we've got to play smarter, and we've got to play harder. Came back from Christmas, Santa Claus came to see everybody and I was happy for that, but three practices we really tried to work on our execution. I should have worked on my execution. You know that old joke about, 'Coach, what do you think about the execution of your team?' I said, 'I'm in favor of it.' That's about the way I feel right now because we did not have the intensity level that Wake [Forest] did, didn't use our brain. Some of our best players, Joel [Berry II] and Luke [Maye], turned the ball over crazy down there. Joel drives it in, turns around and throws it back to the center line to the Wake Forest player, goes up to lay it up and throws it out of bounds. Luke throws it over Andrew [Platek]'s head. So I jumped on Luke. I said, 'That's great, you got 17 [points] and 15 [rebounds] and I didn't think you played worth a darn. That means I've got high standards set for you.' Joel Berry, 16 [points], I've got high standards for, and I didn't think he played worth a darn. I told Danny [Manning], and I really believe it, we were the lucky team, we weren't necessarily the best team and we darn sure weren't the best-coached team out there today."

On what he liked about the lineup he used to close out both halves
"I didn't see one I liked. I'm still looking. So, I don't know which one you're talking about, but we went with experience more at the end. Cam [Johnson] was the only non-returning player that we had out there at the end just for more experience, and we tried to do a better job defensively, and we started switching one through five to see if that would help us the last four possessions. I mean, just think about this, it's 1:59 [on the clock]. Talk about a must stop. We've got to get a stop if we want to win the game. So, they shoot the ball and miss it, and we have Joel Berry and Kenny Williams, two veterans, standing there and looking, and their guy comes running right behind them, goes and ties up, jump ball and it's their ball. I wish I had a lineup that I liked today because I did not see one out there."

On the difference between Wake Forest's shooting percentage in the first half vs. the second
"Well you know things tend to sort of level out whether it's golf or basketball or whatever it is, but I didn't expect them to shoot 30 percent again in the second half, but I darn sure didn't expect them to shoot 60 [percent]. We talked about all of their guys can shoot threes, and I asked Kenny, 'Did they stand there at six to eight feet off of you and let you shoot a three?' 'No, sir.' I said, 'Joel, did anybody stand six feet, eight feet off of you and let you shoot a three?' No. We let [number] 30 shoot one from the right corner and [number] 20 shoot one from the left corner six or eight feet off of them. So, to me, they made successful plays, and then unfortunately for them they didn't make the free throw there at the end when they needed the free throw. We switched everybody and ended up with Joel or Kenny on Doral [Moore], and I said, 'If they throw the ball into him, foul him.' So we got lucky. It's one of the things I guess we did that I said. That's about the only thing I can think of."

Wake Forest Head Coach Danny Manning
Opening Statement
"Well obviously we didn't do enough to come away with the desired outcome that we wanted. I thought we got off to a not-so-great start. I think you have to give Carolina a lot of credit for making us play that way. I thought once we settled in in the first half we did some okay things. The second half I thought we played fairly well. There are some categories on the stat sheet we have to get better at. Rebounding is one of them. They really hurt us on the offensive glass, where they were able to get 16 second-chance points to our zero. I thought we did a decent job in transition and getting out and pushing the basketball and points in the paint. We have to do a better job when we are on the perimeter of staying in front of the ball and not allowing a lot of drives that they were able to get. We have to have more presence on our side. But they are a very talented basketball team. Coach Williams has been doing this for an awful long time and their non-conference schedule was pretty tough and they faired very well."

On the final shot
"I wanted him – I wanted anybody – to be aggressive and put the man on their heels. And that is kind of a decision you have to make at certain points. If I can get all the way to the basket, get there. But then you also run the risk of knowing that there is some contact late in games where you don't get a whistle, and so he's made shots like that before. I thought it was on line from where I was at and then it kind of drifted to the left."

On if it was planned to shoot a three on the final shot
"Take what was given and go from there."

On having trouble closing games
"Make shots. Efficiency with our offense. We are a top-40 team in offensive efficiency. We just got to continue to make shots. We're not making shots. We're executing, we're getting some good looks we just have to knock them down. And then when you step to the free throw line and you miss the front end of a couple of one-and-ones that doesn't help."

On improved shooting in the second half
"I thought the ball moved. We took care of the basketball, only had seven turnovers. We had 16 assists. The last game out we turned it over a lot more than that and the pressure was nowhere near what Carolina puts on you. So being able to take care of the basketball in that situation. Sixteen assists on 25 field goals is pretty good as well. But we didn't do enough things well to get the outcome that we wanted. But if we play like this, a second half like we played today, we will put ourselves in situations to be successful."

Players Mentioned

Kenny Williams

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