University of North Carolina Athletics
Doherty Comments on Blue-White Scrimmage
October 21, 2000 | Men's Basketball
The UNC men's basketball team held its annual Blue-White intrasquad scrimmage Saturday afternoon before 10,225 fans at the Smith Center. Brandan Haywood scored 22 points and added seven rebounds and six assists to lead the White team to a 77-66 victory. Jason Capel added 14 and Adam Boone 12 for the White.
Joseph Forte scored a game-high 28 points and had eight assists to pace the Blue team. Forte hit four three pointers. Kris Lang added 19 points and six boards for the Blue.
The following were some of head coach Matt Doherty's comments after the game:
"For an inter-squad scrimmage, it's pretty nice to have 10,000 fans show up. That's what makes Carolina basketball so special.
"I liked how we got the ball inside Brendan, because it opens up the perimeter which makes a big difference.
"It was fun. The guys played hard, they tried to execute things, they played unselfishly, and you saw some exciting plays. Joseph made some great plays. Holmes diving on the ball and calling timeout when the game was basically over was impressive. It was just fun to witness a Carolina basketball game again."
On the point guard situation:
"Joe is certainly pretty darn good when he has the ball in his hands. I thought that Jon Holmes did very well, especially in the first half. Adam was steady, and he shot well. Brian is probably one of the best athletes on the team. He got a little erratic at times and turned it over, but he's just has to settle down. The key is going to be experience. The only way they're going to get that is through being on the court during games. It's one thing to do it in practice, but it's another to actually execute in front of a crowd and against another team."
"It's very important for me, especially when you have a player of Brendan's caliber, to make sure we get the ball inside. I'm big on spacing, it's important for the flow of our offense. I thought that Brendan was very unselfish and made good decisions."
"Joe is very talented. The thing about him, above all, is that he is a basketball player. He comes off a pick, hesitates, reads the defense and then makes his decision. He really knows how to play. He would be a fun guy to play with. If I were back in college, I would enjoy playing with Joe because he knows how to play. He knows how to create situations, give the ball up, and he's a scorer."
"I'm very excited about this team. As a coach, you ask for two things from your players. For them to listen and play hard. This group listens, and they play hard. The first two practices were two of the best practices I've ever been involved with as a coach. I've been excited about practice. They've worked hard and they've listened."
