University of North Carolina Athletics
Head Coach Bill Guthridge on the Tar Heels in the NCAA Tournament
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
March 9, 1999
On Carolina's performance at the ACC Tournament and the loss to Duke in the ACC championship game:
"Losses really bother me, but it usually takes me about a day to get over them. If you look back on it, I think we probably had two of our best games in beating Georgia Tech and Maryland. I think it"s hard to judge how you play against Duke because we did a lot of good things. We had a good run there with that 12-0 run, but they're just so good that it's hard to judge how well we did. This team has really worked hard and improved a lot and I hope we can do a lot more."
On Weber State:
"I think the progress we've made all year has been good. The problem is, we're really playing a good team in Weber State. Last night I watched their game with Northern Arizona and I think they've got a couple of future NBA players in Arceneaux and Gill. They"re really athletic and good. That conference has a good history in the NCAA Tournament. That"s a tough conference, and they [Weber State] won the regular season and the tournament. I think Duke is head and shoulders above everybody else, and then you have four or five teams like Maryland, Auburn and Connecticut and then there are a whole lot of us in that next echelon. I certainly think Weber State is among that echelon."
"They certainly like to [fast] break. They average about 80 points a game and they can really run the set offense, too. They play three guards, and then if you count Arceneaux they"re four guards, so they"re going to present match-up problems with us."
On Harold Arceneaux:
"His effective height is really more than 6-6, plus he can really run and is a good shooter outside who can take it to the basket."
On Receiving a bid to the West Regional:
"Sunday night and Monday were very hectic. If school were in session this week [UNC is on Spring Break this week] then we'd probably go to class today, practice here and then fly out to Seattle tonight. But we"re flying out a little early to try to battle jet lag and get accustomed to the time change and practice out there. We'll go out this morning [Tuesday] and practice this afternoon at the University of Washington. Yesterday was hectic because we didn"t know what time we"d be playing and we were trying to get the airplane and make hotel reservations."
On Jason Capel:
"Jason did not practice yesterday [Monday]. One nice thing about a charter flight is that he'll be able to get up and stretch and walk around. He was really slowed during the Duke game and wasn"t very effective. He"s really a warrior and wants to play so badly. I think he"s been in a lot of pain [with his back] for the last four or five years but has played through it.
On Max Owens:
"I think confidence is so important in anything that any of us do. Max has gained a lot of confidence with the way he's been playing. I think he played the best he's ever played this weekend. One key is that he's really improved defensively throughout the year. And getting the opportunity to play [with Capel"s injury] certainly helps the confidence."
