University of North Carolina Athletics
Quotes From Matt Doherty's Friday Press Conference
December 1, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 1, 2000
UNC head basketball coach Matt Doherty met with the media Friday afternoon to discuss Saturday's matchup with Kentucky.
I'm looking forward to hopefully a great basketball atmosphere tomorrow. When two storied programs like Carolina and Kentucky get together it sure promises to be a hard fought battle. I know Coach (Tubby) Smith's not pleased with their start and their most recent game, and we're not pleased that we lost (to Michigan State). So I think we'll have a pretty intense battle on our hands, and we'll see who comes out on top.
On Jason Parker:
He's a good kid. His parents are good people. He didn't choose Kentucky over North Carolina. In the end, it was out of his control. I sat in on those meetings with Coach Guthridge and they were probably some of the hardest things I've had to do in coaching.
We like Jason, we like his parents and he's a product of this state. I want the fans, if they are willing, to give him a warm ovation when his name is mentioned.
On matching the intensity of Kentucky:
I hate sometimes saying, "We have to match theirs (intensity)." I hope other coaches are saying they "have to match ours (intensity)." We did have to match Michigan State's intensity because they are such a tough-minded and physically tough team. I think we'll get that out of Kentucky too, especially after starting out with a 1-3 record and losing most recently to Penn State at home. I know Coach (Tubby) Smith a little bit, we've played pick-up games in the summertime when we were recruiting and he's pretty intense in pick-up games. So I'm sure practice hasn't been pleasant on his players and that they'll be ready to take it out on somebody else. But, we lost our last game and we should be pretty mad too.
On Brian Morrison:
He played 22 minutes (against Michigan State), more than Adam (Boone) and I think that was just because he was playing well. I don't want to go bouncing (starting) lineups based on the previous game. I don't think that's right to Adam, that's not right to Brian, that's not right to John Holmes or Ronald Curry or their teammates. I think you need some stability. We'll go with the same lineup, but if Brian continues to play the way that he's playing, he'll play a lot of minutes.
I think he's been doing a good job in practice (of staying under control), and I think he did a good job at Michigan State. What you get sometime is the risk with the reward. I think the rewards have been pretty good, and they're worth the risks. You like somebody who is going to make a mistake because of their aggressiveness rather than somebody who is going to make a mistake because they're tentative.
On Julius Peppers:
I need to sit down and talk with Julius. Julius and I met the day we left for Michigan State, and he decided that he needed to take care of some academic issues. If you play football you're going to get buried a little bit in the fall. So he needs to catch up on the studies before final exams hit. And I understand that. As soon as he can, it's my understanding, that he's going to join our team. And I hope that's sooner than later.
On Max Owen's Injury:
That injury has really lingered, and that's been frustrating to him and me. It's frustrating too because it happened in a drill. We haven't run that drill since.
Max is maybe the best shooter on our team. He is a very good defender, a good athlete. He's a senior. All those things we could use right now. Joe ends up playing 40 minutes. When Max is healthy, Joe ends up playing 30, 32 minutes and is fresher. We need Max to get healthy quickly.
