University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes
February 5, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 5, 2004
NORTH CAROLINA HEAD COACH Roy Williams
OPENING STATEMENT
That was a big-time college basketball game, but I get tired of saying that when we are on the short end. Things were just put into perspective because Coach Holladay just found out his son is not in Iraq any longer. That sort of put things perspective. We have been worried to say the least ? Sort of puts things in perspective for me and sort of shows that what we are doing is not really that important. But it is awfully important when we are out there trying. It is awfully important to a fantastic basketball crowd.
ON WHAT COULD HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE IN THE GAME I told the team that we all could point to one or two plays that you could have made that you didn't make that would have made a difference. We had a lot of opportunities early from two or three feet, and we just didn't make the baskets. This was a big-time college basketball game. I'm proud of our team. We got beat by an excellent basketball team that I have a lot of respect for.
ON THE DEFENSIVE EFFORT: I think that I have been critical of our defense. I've been critical of our work ethic. I'm extremely proud of our team tonight. Sean (May) was cramping up and I think he gave us everything he had?.I do think that we played exceptionally hard.
Talk about when the game was 69-62:
"A lot of mental mistakes, missed shots, breakdown on defense, we got slack with the ball and I made one or two turnovers in that stretch. They came down and scored once on one of those. It was just mental mistakes. When we had that lead we should of kept it going. We should have won that game, but Duke is a great team, they came back, they kept their poise and they hit big shots. They fought to the end and we fought to the end. It was a great game, but we just didn't come out on top."
What do you take from this game?
"We played a hard fought game. We didn't play our best game, but we played hard the entire time. We had our lapses at times, but overall we played hard. I guess there is some progress, but at the same time you want to win the game. It just didn't come off on our side this time."
Talk about the mental mistakes:
"Turnovers when we had the lead. We were up by five; we weren't knocking down shots, but we were giving up open shots. Just little mental lapses and stuff."
How does the team get back up for Wake Forest?
"We don't have a choice. We have one day of practice and the next day we have to play against Wake Forest. We have to try and put this game behind us and get ready for them."
How tough is it to locate Chris Duhon on a play like that, where they get the ball out so quick in transition?
'It was a situation where David and I ran into each other a little bit. David thought that I was going to get back to Duhon, but Duhon, being the smart, crafty player that he is, kept going to the basket, knowing that David and I were going to run into each other. He didn't get a wide-open lay-up, but he made a tough shot. I think somebody jumped at him and he made a reverse shot. It was a tough shot, but we still had about six seconds left on the clock. Melvin had a contested jump shot, and he missed the shot. It just didn't fall our way this time."
"Man it hurts. I've never felt this bad after a game in my life. At the end I wanted to be out there so bad, but I caught cramps all night. I just felt like this team battled, we battled the best team in the country. And they are the best team in the country. They play as a team, and they're very well coached; but tonight we played, and that's why every play is important - it comes down to that last play. I mean this stuff throughout the game, little plays here and there but that last play we've gotta play the best defense of our life and miscommunication, and you saw it at the beginning - that play where David and Ray ran right into each other, and that's when Chris got a little bit ahead of Ray. Chris made a tough play, but you hate to see it go like that after you battle for so long."
When did the cramps first hit you?
"About 10 minutes left to go in the first half, but it's been something that's been happening to me ever since I got into college. I drink a special type of Gatorade with special stuff in it to keep me from cramping up, but today it just hit me hard. That last play, I couldn't even move my leg. I went up for the dunk; I had no lift. I couldn't even get up."
Is that what's been wrong with your lift the past couple months?
"No, ever since my ankle injury I haven't had the type of lift I had earlier this year, but when you have cramps you can't push your calves."
What's going through your mind?
"We are the best team in the country, by far. The reason we're losing is because we can't figure out how to take advantage of games. We're beating ourselves. We are not taking advantage of the mistakes that we're making on the court. The mistakes seem to come and go. That's something that we need to figure out as a team-to control our mistakes and know that we can fix them. That game right there, we had more turnovers in the fist half than I think we have ever had. It's the little things; those convert to points."
What do you think cost you the game down the stretch?
"In the beginning and in the end we didn't show enough poise ad patience, we weren't confident about our offense. We had a bunch of turnovers in the overtime and the second half-little travels, little deflections and things like that, but we can control them if we are patient."
"This was a tough way to lose. The played a good game tonight. There's so much emotion invested into it. I think we're gonna bounce back." What gave you enough confidence to end up taking that 3 pointer to tie it up? "Never quit. The team kept telling me never to quit. I knew not to quit. I just felt comfortable shooting that shot."
On troubles toward the end of the game:
"We weren't having any troubles doing anything, we just needed to do it. Everybody gets caught up in the overtime, and thinking we need to score, but its all about patience and making them play as long as they don't want to play; I don't think we did that this time."
Mike Krzyzewski
Opening Statement
"Oh what a great game. Man, I'm glad I was a part of it. Win or lose, you got to feel lucky to be a part of that game. What big-time performances by those kids. It is a shame one team had to lose. I mean I am really happy we won, don't get me wrong, I am ecstatic. Being in the game as long as I have been in, when a team plays that well against you, you have immense respect and empathy. I mean McCants, he is a great player. We tried everything to stop him. And how about those two shots by McCants and Williams. Kids don't make those shots, men do. Men were making shots for both teams towards the end of the game, especially in overtime. Felton is about as quick and as good a guard as you can play against. They are the best team we have played against. We had to play really well, of course, to win. Our kids showed great heart. Duhon's play right there at the end will go down as one of the great plays ever. In those situations, we try not to call timeout. I thought Daniel got a good shot....I wish he would have driven instead of taking the jumper, but he still got a good look.....Our big guys did a really good job in the second part of the second half. They just out-rebounded us unbelievably at the start of the second half. I mean, May, how many times do you get 21 rebounds. There were just a lot of great performances tonight. Both teams played at a energy level, I'm not sure there has been a game this year anywhere that matched that level. There are just too many great things going on out there. You are playing defense, and they are playing defense. Then you can't stop them, they can't stop us....With the heart that they have shown, I am sure that they will come back really strong. Both schools and both sets of fans should be extremely proud of their men tonight."
Was that different from a typical Carolina-Duke game?
"I don't know if there is a typical Carolina-Duke game, you know what I mean. I think you do it an injustice to just say it was a great Duke-North Carolina game. It was just a great game. Although a lot of the Duke-Carolina games have been some of the greatest ever. The intensity level of this, you can't match it.
Talk about Chris Duhon's play
"It is something that he has shown all year. You don't always see it on the play that he does, but it is something he says to somebody or whatever. That is the kind of leadership he has shown all year. We were rewarded because of the mental toughness that Duhon had, he was able to do that. He was down at halftime because he made a bad play to end the half....Not so much that he gave up two free throws, but it was his second foul. Then, he was the guy I wanted to be on McCants, but then all of a sudden he got his third. Maybe last year, I am not sure he would have gotten completely over it. This year he has gotten over everything right away."
Daniel Ewing on his play late in the game.
"I was just trying to win the game, trying to make the big plays for our team. At the time we were kind of struggling. Fortunately I was able to come off and make some big threes and take shots that the coaches like me to take and I was able to hit them"
Daniel Ewing on playing at the Smith Center.
"I think the previous games whe've had on the road, Michigan State, prepared us for this type of atmosphere. When we got down we didn't get worried, we just came together more, forgot about the crowd, and that really helped us.
Daniel Ewing on being undefeated in the conference.
"Yeah, we're 8-0 right now, half way through ACC play. But, we just want to take it as it comes. The second half isn't going to be easy. This wasn't an easy game for us. Everybody is going to come after us now, especially because the first half of the ACC season is over."
J. J. Redick on the win against the Tar Heels
"It's something to celebrate for a day and we're half way through the conference. But, we have Clemson Sunday and there is no time to rest."
J. J. Redick on the Tar Heels play.
"We knew they were going to be unified tonight. We knew that they are very talented and that they were going to play their best against us. It just happens in every Duke-UNC game. You can throw out the records and who's been on a winning streak or a losing streak. Both teams always show up to play."
J. J. Redick on Duke's balance
"We have great balance. We have six guys scoring between eight and sixteen points a game. We've had different leading scorers just about every night and it seems like everyone is willing to step up and play a leading role."
