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Post-Game Quotes
March 18, 2003 | Men's Basketball
March 18, 2003
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Coach Doherty Quotes
"This is a crazy time in the country, as we know. We talked about it before the game how fortunate we are to be playing basketball, while a lot of people we know are going off to war. It puts it in perspective."
"I appreciate the fans, first of all. They were awesome. I think they gave us a lot of energy and I think we fed off them. We started off great and we got in a little lull there with eight minutes to go in the first half. We could have hung our heads in the second half, but a guy named Raymond Felton came out and boy did he set the tone with his defense. ... I thought his defensive energy, his leadership and his toughness was unbelievable. "
On David Noel ... "He's so unselfish. Something we have struggled with is shot selection ... and he turned down some shots today to help the team get better shots. That's team basketball and that's Carolina basketball. ... I just thought we really played a good floor game."
On Raymond Felton's charisma ... "It's rare ... the toughness, the leadership, the charisma that other people want to follow. I wouldn't trade him for any player in the country."
On using the press in the second half ... "They average about 15 turnovers a game, so we wanted to create a little more energy. We wanted them to not get it inside. We also wanted to get it kind of like the Virginia game where they were taking quicker shots so there would be longer rebounds and we'd have a better chance at getting those longer rebounds."
On Sean May sitting out ... "I thought Sean had practiced really well up until yesterday. He twisted his ankle against Duke. He couldn't practice yesterday and we felt ... he couldn't have played."
"I want him to be healthy so this summer he can have a really productive summer."
UNC Player Quotes
On what happened during halftime to change the game...
"I think Ray set the tone, came out, played hard, and we just played off his energy. I think we took some big shots and did a great job of moving the ball around. We've got to come out with better energy next time."
On coming out with low energy...
"I think we came out feeling bad for ourselves. We realized we just needed to come out and play basketball."
On keeping up the tempo in the second half...
"Just the pressure. They were getting a lot of open looks, driving it to the basket. Our main focus was to be more aggressive on defense and keep it up the whole game. They made tough plays, but in the end we succeeded with a win."
On if the slow beginning was from feeling sorry for themselves...
"It looked like we weren't ready to play. But we came in at halftime and we said, hey guys, we don't want to get embarrassed. We have a nice crowd out there and we just wanted to do it for the fans. They've been behind us 100 percent the entire year."
On the Tar Heels defensive presence in the second half...
"We didn't know we were going to pressure them that much. It kind of surprised us. We know we can go out and pressure a lot of teams, but to do it felt really good."
On if the slowness in the beginning was from not being in the Tournament...
"Not really. It could be worse. We could be over there fighting in the war or not playing at all."
On having fun...
"It's up there. We've had a lot of good games, a lot of fun games. We just want to get out there and play our hearts out. We don't want to give up right now."
On what he said to his teammates during halftime...
"I told them to pick up their energy - to come on and let's win the game. We were upset that we didn't make the NCAA, we are a little down. But we're in the NIT, so we might as well be in it and try to win it. Just go and keep playing - a lot of teams aren't playing anymore, they're seasons are over. We're still going, so we'll make the best of it while we're in."
On the second half...
"Just pressure the ball, see what kind of ball handling they have. ...put pressure on the point guard. We just gave a lot more energy. Our energy and our defense picked it up...a lot of turnovers, we got a lot of transition buckets back to back. I think that broke their back."
On how he changed the mood...
"I just thought I had to set the tone. It's about being a leader on the court, being a point guard. I picked my energy up."
