University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes
November 28, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 28, 2001
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Carolina Head Coach Matt Doherty
"Starting 0-3, you guys [in the media] may think its weird for me to say it, but I am really proud of this team's effort tonight. That's all I asked of them, to give me great effort -- and they did. I think we could have easily won this game if we made some shots. I know that has been a really big if lately."
"You got to give [Indiana] credit, they hit some really tough shots."
"I was proud of our effort, and that is what I'm building on. If we continue to give that kind of effort, we are going to be all right. I thought that some of our kids grew up tonight, I thought Kris Lang grew up tonight. He's a senior, but I thought he really took it on his shoulders and said, 'All right, I'm going to take control of this game,' and he did.
"I thought Jackie [Manuel] and Melvin [Scott] grew up. Even though they didn't shoot the ball great and had some turnovers, I thought they grew up as well."
"I think we're headed in the right direction."
"We do need to shoot the ball better, we need to take care of the basketball, but I thought I defense was very good."
"I just don't think [Capel] has as many looks as he's had in the past. When you have Joe [Forte] and Brendan [Haywood], you're going to get open looks, wide-open looks. He's not getting those because, now, he's the lead story in the scouting report -- he and Kris. I've got to do some things to get him some better looks. I've got to incorporate some plays where he can come off a screen and get an open shot."
Senior forward Jason Capel on the game...
"They made a lot of tough shots in the first half -- a lot of tough shots. But I think overall we played really well defensively, and most of all we played hard. I saw a lot of stuff our guys can build on. I thought the young guys played well, and I thought we played hard. I thought we played with a sense of urgency. The ball just didn't bounce our way sometimes. Myself, and as a team, we had too many turnovers, and we didn't shoot the ball too well from the outside. Those are things that are going to get better, but as long as we play hard like we did tonight, we're going to continue to get better."
Capel on playing Georgia Tech this coming Sunday...
"It's another opportunity for us to go out there and compete again, get better, and hopefully come out with a win. That [game] starts our ACC [play], so we can be 1-0 in some category. If we go out there and get a win, we'll be 1-0."
Capel on Carolina's 0-3 start...
"Honestly, I don't [think about our record]. It hurts and that's the reality of it, but this is a young team that has to stick together and has to build on the things we're doing well. I think we're going to do that. We're going to get better each game, each practice. As the season progresses we're going to be a pretty good team."
Junior forward Will Johnson on the game...
"There were too many turnovers. That was part of our main problem. I think the improvements were some guys took some shots, started making shots. I thought we did a good job getting the ball inside. I thought our defense was pretty good. They hit some tough shots from deep in the first half. Our zone worked pretty well, but they just hit some tough shots. I think we're coming together a little more. I think we are a little more comfortable with each other on the court."
