University of North Carolina Athletics
More From Matt Doherty's Tuesday Press Conference
January 31, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2001
Matt Doherty met with the media Tuesday afternoon at the Smith Center to discuss Thursday's Carolina-Duke game in Durham. Here's more of what Coach Doherty had to say at that press conference:
More on the rivalry with Duke and its proximity to Carolina:
"That's a measuring stick in the league right now and throughout the country since they've been so successful. It's something that when I took the job people were talking pros and cons. Duke is only eight miles down the road. Well, there's good and bad to that. At Notre Dame I really didn't have a rival in my backyard. We didn't really consider Purdue a rival, we were in the Big East. Here you have several right in your back yard, and I really think that it makes you a better coach because it makes you work harder. There's that fear of failure. I think about playing Duke a lot. I think about playing, not just this week, I think about it in the summer time. To me it makes you raise your level. You certainly hope you win. But I think that I'm a better coach today--I hope, knock on wood--that I'm a better coach today because Duke is eight miles down the road. Know what I mean? Just like you're probably a better writer because you have competition in the state, I don't know. My point--is it fair? Yes, it probably is fair. It's part of athletics."
When you played here, Coach Smith and the Tar Heels were the measuring stick in the ACC. What was that like being a part of those teams?
"It was fun. It gave us a lot of pride to walk onto the court, especially on the road, and know that people want to beat you, and if they do, they'll probably mob the court and celebrate and cut down nets and make their season. It was fun to answer that challenge."
On the most surprising thing so far this season:
Doherty: The most surprising thing? That my wife hasn't left me. I really don't know. It's been a lot of good surprises and bad surprises. I really can't answer that question.
What do you have to do defensively to not let Duke get on a roll shooting three-pointers?
"I think you have to score. You have to put the ball in the basket so they're coming up against a set defense. You have to contain the dribble and not let Jason Williams turn the corner and kick it to a guy who's open because you're helping off that player to contain Jason's drive. You have to rebound, because if you don't--the thing with long shots is that there's long rebounds. People will say we have the height advantage, but if they are shooting three-pointers, the ball is being bounced out toward the three-point line. They are very quick and they're out there, and then it becomes a quickness issue instead of a size issue. So we have to rebound the basketball so they don't get second shots because a lot of their second shots--their three-point shots--come off of offensive rebounds. I don't know if I mentioned taking care of the ball in the press--we have to, that's one thing about scoring--we have to score or at least get a good shot. Because if we turn the ball over, they'll either get a lay-up or dunk or a three-point shot.
What does Ronald Curry have to do in this game to give you a chance?
"He has to stay between Jason and the basket. Ronald is good at that, but Jason is really good at getting to the basket. He may be the best player in the country, Jason Williams. I think the point guard position is so vital, and you look at his numbers--what he can do both offensively and defensively--people say other players, maybe Shane, and I don't want to talk about my players, but you can make a strong case that Jason Williams is the best player in the country."
Will you be able to use zone defense if Carolina gets in foul trouble?
"I don't know, we were fortunate to weather some storms with foul trouble. Fortunately we have some depth and we did play some zone at those times to try to keep guys from getting worse foul trouble. I hope we're not in that situation again. They have the ability to penetrate, and we have to make sure that we don't foul when they drive. And on the other side we'd like to get some fouls on them, too. Fortunately we do have some depth and that is a strength of our team."
On the Duke and Carolina programs:
"I think of, one, good kids. I think they have good kids, I think we have good kids. I think that a lot of kids think about going to Duke or going to Carolina. I remember when I was a player, when you played against them, you hated them. I spent a summer with Mark Alarie--he was my roommate on a trip overseas--I finally realized he wasn't a bad guy. He could easily have been my teammate at Carolina. We had similar interests, he was a good person, those kinds of things. A lot of those times, at the end of the season, we'd get in the car and drive over there to play pick-up, or they'd drive over here to play pick-up. They recruit good kids, and we like to think we recruit good kids. In fact, we do recruit good kids. That's the foundation, the character, and then they're hopefully good players. We have good players, they have good players. Our styles of play in some ways are similar in terms of some freedom, some motion offense, that kind of thing, and man-to-man defense. Those have been some staples of their program and our program."
You inherited a team with two big post players in Brendan Haywood and Kris Lang. Are you looking to recruit different types of players in the future?
"I wouldn't trade Kris Lang and Brendan Haywood by any means. It's important to have size and athleticism. My ideal lineup, I joked to someone a while ago, I'd take Kenny Smith at the point, Michael (Jordan) at the two, Vince (Carter) at the three, Antawn (Jamison) at the four, and Rasheed (Wallace) at the five, coming off the bench maybe a (Sam) Perkins, (James) Worthy. I like long, athletic, versatile skilled players--guys that can pass, handle, and shoot, slide their feet, do all those things. I think Duke likes those players, UCLA likes those players, Michigan State likes those players, Indiana likes those players.... I'd like to have a team of long, quick, strong, athletic players who are interchangeable, but you can't always get that. So if you can't, otherwise you have to have players who is exceptional at something--like Brendan, he's a great shot-blocker. He doesn't go out and shoot the three, but he's a good offensive rebounder, a good defensive rebounder, a good shot-blocker. You want to make people pay so they can't cheat off you."
On his relationship with Mike Krzyzewski:
"When I was at the Jimmy V classic in September, he and his wife were very nice to me and my wife. My wife and I enjoyed talking to Mickie and Coach Krzyzewski and they even invited us to dinner after the event. I enjoyed that exchange, but besides that, I probably bumped into him on the road recruiting a couple of times."
