UNC-Western Carolina Quotes

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement
"We were bigger, stronger, quicker. We were more gifted and made a bunch of shots. I'd like to have saved a bunch of those because 16 of 22 from the three-point line. 31 assists on 37 baskets. There are a lot of things to like. I really liked our focus. Exams are getting ready to get started. I thought we did some good things. We were more gifted. Larry Hunter knows what he's doing. He's a big-time coach that I've known for a long time. They caught us on a bad night for them, but a great night for us."

On what he gets out of a game like tonight's
"It's a chance to play against somebody else who doesn't know what you're doing. You get a chance to improve. I told them I was not worried about the score. I told them that before the game. I was concerned with how we were going to play. We were more gifted than them. I said that before the game, but I wanted to see how we played."

On what he wants to get accomplished during the gap in between games
"You'll hear me – I'll probably say it the day before I die – that we have to get better defensively, particularly defending big guys around the rim. We have to be more solid with our defense so people don't get direct drives to the basket. We have to rebound the ball even better. I don't like 17 turnovers even in a high possession game. 10 or 12 of the turnovers were by our substitutes, so they have to take better care of the ball too."

Western Carolina Coach Larry Hunter
On playing power five teams
"They are all very good teams. Certainly I think Carolina played us the best of any of the three of them."

On Carolina's play tonight
"Their transition, their rebounding was exceptional, and then you shoot like that and that makes you a different team. I saw them do that to Michigan who is a pretty good team. I watched that game on TV and that was pretty much a blowout too, and they pulled off the horses at the end. Very impressive basketball team. Coach Williams does a great job. Good kids – they're going to get better. If they keep peaking, they are going to be a really good basketball team. I think they've really gotten better from the start of the year to now. I saw the Michigan State game and it is light years from that."

On assistant and former UNC player Jackson Simmons
"Jackson [Simmons] is from a great family locally; both [parents] are Western graduates. Jackson is a great individual and a really great young coach. He is just working his butt off learning, carrying out his directive operations duties and just doing a great job for us."

On Carolina's hot shooting
"One of our keys was we got to score consistently. I told the guys at half we had some open looks, but we just couldn't make a shot. They were draining just about everything they shot both halves. If they shoot like that, I told Coach [Williams] after the game, they are going to be a tough out for a lot of people. I was really impressed with that."

On struggle to score
"They are a more talented team. Let's be honest about it. I thought my guys played hard and we didn't execute well enough to score consistently. Their length, it really hurt us getting Mike Amius in foul trouble early. That was our inside threat. We became one dimensional and just went downhill from there."

North Carolina Players
Joel Berry II, Senior Guard
On what went well tonight
"I just think the ball went in. We had some great shots and whenever it's falling like that, you know that's always good for us. We would rather take a three than a two, but we could have gotten the ball inside and taken advantage of our height and them being so small. But when you're shooting the ball like that, just gotta keep shooting and that's what we did tonight. It was pretty good to see those threes go in."

On whether he knew North Carolina would shoot well after the first three-point shot
"Yeah, I think so. It's just funny how Kenny [Williams] comes out, first ten minutes, he's the hottest dude in America and then all of a sudden – I don't know what happened – he just disappears, but whenever Kenny's shooting like that from the jump, I know that'll just trickle down to everybody. When he hit his first three I was like 'Yeah, it's going to be a pretty good night from the three-point line.'"

On Jalek Felton's development
"He's doing pretty good. Like everyone says and like we say all the time, the point guard is the hardest position on the court. You've just got to know everything that everybody else is doing, so he's doing a pretty good job of getting adjusted to that, being more vocal and just being a leader out there on the court. So, I think his development is going pretty good and we're going to need it when it comes January when we get into ACC play."

On Jalek Felton's adjustments in games without Seventh Woods
"I think the coaches do a great job of just reminding the younger guys whenever you take the court, that's your audition for Coach [Williams]. No matter what the score is and what's going on, every time you step out there you want to try to play your hardest because you know we're getting at the time now where Coach is going to start cutting the line-up because in ACC play, you can't play everybody. It's going to be some tough games. With Jalek [Felton], this is his chance to take advantage of it and to be that back-up point guard and give us some good minutes off the bench, so I think he's doing a pretty good job and he'll just get better and better each and every day."

Jalek Felton, Freshman Guard
On improved play in back-to-back games
"I think I am starting to pick up on things a little bit faster now. Just taking it one practice, one game at a time. Starting to see a little progression and getting my confidence back to where I like it, and stuff is starting to roll and fall in the right place."

On making the simple plays
"You just have to worry about what is the after affect. You just have to lock in and just make the easy one and just keep rolling."

On audition for more minutes
"Most of the guys that were out there are underclassmen so we all did. We were just trying to take it one play at a time and just do every little thing he tells us at practice and just compete."

On Coach Williams being hard on him
"Sometimes it's frustrating and makes me almost want to cry, but you kinda just look at it like he's trying to coach you and make you better and that is what he is doing."

On consulting his uncle [Raymond Felton] about Coach Williams' toughness
"He just told me even before I got here that he [Coach Williams] is going to be hard on you no matter what. You cannot get down to where it affects your play. You have to stay focused and just talk to yourself mentally and get over it and play basketball."

Kenny Williams III, Junior Guard
On shooting 16-22 threes
"We know we can shoot the ball. You can see it after practice. You see so many guys staying after practice putting up extra shots. That's really no surprise to see the ball go in the rim tonight."

On shooting being contagious
"Yeah, I think so. Once guys see a couple of them go in, the rim looks bigger for everybody and everybody's confidence goes up and I think that is what happened tonight."

On Jalek Felton's play
"Just doing what Coach [Williams] wants him to. Pushing the ball, defense, running the team and being a point guard is what he has improved on the most."

Players Mentioned

Joel Berry II

Jalek Felton

Kenny Williams

Seventh Woods

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