University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes
January 3, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 3, 2006
Roy Williams
UNC Head Coach
Opening statement:
"Well, my opinion, I thought the game was two things. I thought defensively we've competed awfully, awfully hard. First seventeen minutes of the first half, I think we had them at like twelve points and I think it was just hard work on the defensive end, I think we were limiting them to one shot. I think games I've seen that they played against Duke and Missouri especially, they made a living on the offensive backboards and I think we did a great job of finishing the defense the first seventeen minutes of the half. We played a little dumb on the first, the last three minutes of the first half and they scored eight in a row on us. I am really, really proud of our team from the next down. I told them that we didn't make some plays and we did some things that weren't very bright. And they won the game from the next down because I've never in my entire life; I've coached eight million, I almost said eight million games it feels like; I have never had a team that scores two lay-ups and gives up two lay-ups on the other end. I was not mad at the official when I took my coat off. But again, I love the competitiveness; they're a very good basketball team, they're tough to play, they're tough kids, tough defensively. But to me the whole big thing was the work on the backboards and how we did defensively during certain spurts of the game. In the second half, I don't know that our defense was that good, they missed some open shots and I'm just being honest. But we had a little bit of a margin, we were able to survive at that point."
On the team passing the ball well:
"You know, I don't know how many turnovers we had, I think ten at half, twelve at the half and we had eight in the second half. But I like to have more assists than turnovers. How about Quentin's [Thomas] pass at the end where he passes it one hand off the dribble through the crowd? I got one guy on my team that says great pass; that was the dumbest pass in the history of basketball. It's time to score a pass off a one-hand dribble. What should be said is `that's the dumbest pass in the history of basketball Quentin, great catch Tyler [Hansbrough].' That's what should be said. But, you know, Bobby [Frasor] and Quentin at the point guard, 11-2 on assist ratio, they do a nice job of doubling people in the post. David [Noel] had four turnovers in the first half and Tyler had three and a lot of those was doubling in the post. I think we got to take better advantage of that. Second half we did take better advantage. I'm not very impressed on how intelligent we were tonight. We got to try to make better decisions."
On starting ACC play:
"I think we've had great preparation. It's a different level. The team will find out more about it on Saturday. Hopefully David [Noel] and Reyshawn [Terry] will be able to pass that information along to them. And hopefully we'll play more intelligent because I've got a smart bunch of kids, I really do."
Bob McKillop
Davidson Head Coach
Opening Statement:
"The defensive effort by North Carolina tonight was extraordinary. They made every catch, every dribble, every pass an adventure for us and put us on our heels. Typical of today's basketball world, when you get put on your heels and you miss shots it has a rippling effect on your ability to get in transition, your ability to rebound, and your ability to defend. I thought our defense in the first half was pretty darn good, in the first aspect of it. But, we didn't finish the defense on several occasions. We had situations where we had traps, and I credit Roy and his players because those traps were not sustained. I think that's the effort that their players made and the coaching that their players had. So, it was a terrific defensive effort by North Carolina. They put us on our heels and we could not respond."
On Davidson's effort defensively:
"We got deflated a lot. Turnovers that lead to run out dunks, there's no defense for that. I think we gave four or five situations tonight where they got dunks where we just allowed them in the open court. We're a pretty good team in the open court. But, we did not respond to that and continue to attack them. As a result, we allowed them to entrench themselves. We did force 20 turnovers. But, those turnovers did not result in baskets. Our turnovers went to the front rim of the basket."
On Brendan Winters and Matt McKillop:
"I thought the matchup of [Marcus] Ginyard on Brendan [Winters] and [Reyshawn] Terry on Matt [McKillop] created problems for us. Terry's length really bothered Matt. His length would bother anybody. But, I thought Ginyard's strength and his ability to sustain his defense ... he clearly came here from O'Connel High School with a great background in defense. Obviously that foundation has been well, well built upon in his short time here. So, he's going to be a very good defensive player and I think that he did a good job on Brendan."
On being disappointed:
"I'm disappointed because our players did not respond to adversity the way we had responded to adversity in previous situations. We stayed in the center ring in more adverse conditions and kept slugging, and swinging, and getting up off the mat. I think we went to the ropes a little bit early here tonight."
