University of North Carolina Athletics
Bill Guthridge Conference Call Quotes
June 21, 1999 | Men's Basketball
February 19, 1999
On Max Owens: "He's doubtful for the game at Virginia. Max had never had a groin injury before and he thought he would be back earlier but it is still bothering him."
On having the whole team together: "Yeah, we had about 30 minutes in practice on Monday where we had everybody back."
On chemistry: "When you have somebody back (from injury) it seems to mess up the chemistry for that game to get everybody back in the rotation. But it goes with the territory. Every team has to deal with it. You expect it to happen and you deal with it."
On Jason Capel: "He's at full speed. I thought he played well against NC State. His conditioning (after being ill) is not a problem."
On Ronald Curry: "I think he's done very well. He's not shooting real well but a lot of other aspects of his game have improved. I expect him to start shooting well because he's done well in practice. He won our defensive award for the NC State, the first time he's won that award. He adds a lot to our team. Shooting takes a longer time than just his defense because of the athlete he is. Football bulk up his muscles, while basketball is a longer muscle-type thing."
On Ademola Okulaja: "He's a real warrior. Dependability. Workhorse. Has never missed a game in four years and I don't remember him missing even a practice. He played well his first game (as a freshman) in Maui and has played well since. He's received more notoriety this year and that's nice, but I think he didn't get enough notoriety last year. He's shooting much better this year, but that's a confidence thing, because he has always been a good shooter. He's always coming up with big plays. I think he'll be thought of as one of the real solid Carolina basketball players."
More on Okulaja: "I think he's scoring more this year. It's hard for me to think of him more as a star this year, because I always thought of him as a star. He does so many things. I think he's a great candidate for All-ACC honors. He would be very deserving of that."
On Virginia: "Pete Gillen has done a great job. They're having fun. Donald Hand is one of the best players in our league and Chris Williams will probably be the Freshman of the Year. They play very enthusiastically. They don't have a lot of scholarship players, but now that Hare is back they have a seven man rotation and really feel comfortable with that."
