University of North Carolina Athletics
Georgetown 79, UNC 74
March 26, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Matt Doherty Quotes - Georgetown
"We came up short against a very good team, but I was proud of our guys for fighting back. ... A couple turnovers and missed foul shots cost us. That's a good team out there. I thought their changing defenses got us off track a little bit and my hats off to Craig (Esherick) and the Georgetown team."
On the season as a whole ...
"At the beginning of the year, when we had a full squad what we did was pretty special. I thought that was kind of a sign of what we could do. After Sean's (May) injury I felt that we've gotten better and better and played our best basketball late in the year. Wins against Duke, Maryland and the games we won here in the NIT - I thought we played very well with the exception of today. I don't think we played awful today I just didn't think we played great."
"I think one year of maturity, a healthy team with the addition of one prospect and maybe two, I think we'll be that much better and year more mature. I think maturity is a big thing - how to handle the ups and downs and the stress of a college basketball season. For the youngest basketball team in major college basketball with maybe the fourth toughest schedule and enduring an injury, I think 19 wins - I'm proud of our guys."
On the unity of the team ...
"Their play doesn't lie. It's tough to fake that. There was a play in the Wyoming game when Melvin (Scott) fouled Richardson and all five guys got together and huddled up with their arms around each other. We weren't doing that in November and December."
"This is a pretty close team and I think they've grown as a team and they've grown as individuals."
On what he told the team in the locker room following the game ...
"I'm proud of what they did this year. The youngest team in major college basketball ... and enduring an injury to Sean May - I thought we did some good things. I'm proud of them as a team and the growth I've seen in some of the individuals has been pretty special."
On his off-season plans ...
"I'll probably take a little time off and then probably meet with some of the players. Then I'll do whatever it takes recruiting wise. We don't have a lot of scholarships so we hope to close out one here and then work on some of the underclassmen."
UNC Player Quotes
On the atmosphere...
"The last few games have been really exhilarating. I'm happy to be out there."
On being a leader on the team...
"That's part of my personality - to get the people around me happy, making them smile, get them involved and have fun."
On going out on an up...
"I think I played pretty well, to the best of my ability. But we've got to move on and get better for next year."
On if he's coming back next year...
"Definitely."
On struggling against the zone defense...
"That's been our problem all year. We haven't been able to penetrate a zone and make shots, and think we've been laying back on our threes - we can't do that. We tried to penetrate, and they have some long guys so they got their hands on a lot of balls."
On the game...
"Everyone's a little unhappy, but we came out there and played great all the way down to the wire - that's all you can ask for."
On his ankle...
"My ankle's a lot better. It's feeling a little tender, a little sore. I'm going to sit out 2 weeks - no basketball, just hitting the weights and running a lot. This is going to be a big spring and summer for me. It's been tough - any time you suffer an injury it's tough. I never thought I'd get hurt. I came back, played the one game, got hurt again - that was a little tough for me to handle. I didn't come back because I didn't want to hold myself back this summer."
On coming back next year...
"Definitely. I don't like the rumors. It's good to know that people want you here. I want people to know that I'm at Carolina, I'm going to be at Carolina, and I wish the rumors would stop."
On if Head Coach Matt Doherty will be back...
"I expect him to be here as well."
Coach Craig Esherick
"I thought it was a great college basketball game and I feel fortunate that we won because we had that 10 point lead and Carolina made a great comeback and tied the game at 70-70. I was real proud of our guys making plays; Drew Hall made that big three and Drew hit two free throws, Tony Bethel made the two free throws and I thought that was the turning point in the game."
On the crowd and atmosphere...
"Early on I was worried that we were going to be blown out. The crowd was involved in the game and they hit some tough shots and so really out of desperation I decided, 'let's start trapping them and see if we can disrupt some of their shooting,' and I think we did do that. "
Keeping cool during crunch time...
"I was really proud of our guys when that score was tied 70-70. I thought our guys did a great job at keeping their composure and I'm really proud of this team. "
Quick turnaround and 3 games back to back...
"Even though our record is not going to tell you this, but I know from watching film and watching our team play, that we have a good team and we played well during the season. We didn't play well for 40 minutes during the season. There was no team that we played that I really thought we could not beat. We were at the point of the season that we did not know how to win and I think we've learned how to win now. "
Guard play during second half...
"They played very well. I was real proud of Drew; real proud of Tony. Gerald Riley only made one field goal in the first half and he came back and had 22. I got on him a little at halftime and I think that could have helped matters a little bit. I thought Gerald came out and hit a couple of big shots that really got us going. When Gerald is shooting the ball well it gives other people confidence and I think that helped too.
Hall's big shot...
"He has made some big shots over the course of his career. He has made some free throws to send games into overtime or to preserve leads. Drew is not a bad shooter and he was so wide open that he should have shot the ball."
Active defense...
"This is a continuation of how we played defense in those last two games.[Providence and Tennessee].The only reason we are sitting here right now is because we played such great defense against Providence."
