GoHeels Exclusive: Press Conference Notebook

By Pat James, GoHeels.com

Toward the end of Roy Williams' Senior Night speech on Tuesday, a fan inside the Smith Center yelled "Let's beat Duke," prompting Williams to stop his speech and turn in the direction that the chant came from.

"I don't care about that," Williams said. "I'm honoring these guys right here. We want to beat every frickin' body."

With the 247th all-time meeting between North Carolina and Duke, arguably the greatest rivals in sports, slated for Saturday night at Cameron Indoor Stadium, Williams was asked about that fan interaction during Thursday's press conference. And he didn't waver in his belief.

"It's more a little irritating when somebody just thinks that's our measure of success," Williams said. "I mean, really, I want to beat everybody. Some guy who I walk with had a great statement: If we go 29-2 or 33-2 and win a national championship and lose to Duke both times, I'm going to be the happiest sucker on the planet.

"I have people say all the time, 'Just beat Duke.' If we go 2-16 in the league, you think they're going to keep my rear end around here if both wins are against Duke? That's silly."

Here are four other notes from Thursday's press conference, leading up to Saturday's 8:15 p.m. game at Duke:

Defensive emphasis
In overcoming a 12-point deficit to defeat Duke 82-78 on Feb. 8, the Tar Heels limited the Blue Devils, then the nation's highest scoring team, to 29 second-half points. Duke held a 30-14 edge in points in the paint at halftime, but UNC outscored them 16-8 in the second half.

"We didn't let them have any easy shots in the paint, like we did in the first half of that game," Theo Pinson said. "We tried to make everything challenging for them. I think if we do that we'll be all right."

The Tar Heels are, however, coming off one of their worst defensive performances of the season. Although UNC shot 54.4 percent from the field on Tuesday, Miami shot 54.8 percent and 50 percent on 3-pointers, handing the Tar Heels their second loss this season and seventh under Williams in which they shot 50 percent or better from the floor.

UNC ranked 55th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency (99.1) through Wednesday's games, according to kenpom.com. That's currently the Tar Heels' worst efficiency rating since the 2001-02 season.

When asked Thursday, Williams said some of the team's defensive struggles have resulted from the lack of a rim protecter.

"There's no question that's a big problem," he said. "In the past, we could mess it up and John Henson might block a shot or Tyler Zeller might block a shot or James Michael McAdoo may take a charge inside. We haven't had that.

"That's a problem, but also, we're allowing them to get in there more than we ever have in the past."

Facing the zone
Since UNC last played Duke, the Blue Devils have switched to a zone defense. That's helped them limit their opponents to a 54.6 scoring average and a combined 37.4 shooting percentage over their last five games.

But box-out assignments aren't as defined in a zone defense as they are in a man-to-man, which could play in the Tar Heels' favor.

"That's why we need to make sure we're going to the boards," Joel Berry II said, "because I know they're athletic and they're long down there on the bottom three, but when you have somebody who is running in without a body on them, it's easier to get an offensive rebound. We need to make sure that with them playing a zone, we need to get to the boards."

UNC boasts a 14.1 rebound margin in wins and 3.3 in losses.

Guarding Bagley
In the Tar Heels' previous meeting with Duke, Marvin Bagley III tallied 15 points and 16 rebounds, the most UNC has allowed to any player this season.

But although Bagley registered a double-double, Pinson and Garrison Brooks excelled at preventing him from getting the ball late in the game. Bagley's only two points in the final 13:20 came on a dunk with 35 seconds left.

"He's so gifted," Pinson said. "He can take it out on the wing, he can drive it, he can get in the post. He's so explosive off the ground that you have to make contact first or he's just going to dunk on your head. I think that's the biggest thing you have to focus on."

Davis' development
Williams spoke Thursday about the growth of assistant coach Hubert Davis, who he helped recruit to UNC before leaving for Kansas after the 1987-88 season.

Williams said he closely followed Davis throughout his basketball career and when he served as a college basketball analyst for ESPN. And when Jerod Haase accepted the head-coaching job at UAB in 2012, Williams immediately thought of Davis as Haase's replacement.

"On the court, I think he's more definitive when he says something, he's more demanding when he says something," Williams said. "He understands that it's OK to get disgusted and tell them he's disgusted with their effort or with their play and you can tell a kid that and still love him. I think he's grown in every area.

"I am not a good guy all the time," Williams added. "Hubert Davis is the nicest man I've ever known in my life and he's competitive, too. I thought he'd be a great role model for our kids."

Players Mentioned

Joel Berry II

Garrison Brooks

Theo Pinson

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