University of North Carolina Athletics
Carolina-Georgia Tech Postgame Quotes
February 15, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2006
Roy Williams
UNC Head Coach
Opening Statement:
It was the most frustrating half I've ever coached, the first half, and about the exact opposite the second half. I told the kids after the game that five years from now I'd be in that locker room when we'd be down and I'd be talking about tonight's comeback for them. I'd told them that I'd been down that far before. The year after UCLA won the national championship we were down 19 in the first half and we won the game by 15. It was a 34-point swing. In '91 to go to the Final Four we were down 12 at halftime to Arkansas and we won by 12 so it was a 24-point swing. Last week we were down 17 in the second half and came back to take a five point lead. I told them just because I said it, it didn't make any difference. They had to play every possession, and I think we did a much better job playing every possession in the second half.
Now let's be honest, they missed some shots in the second half, but also let's be honest, they're not going to shoot 90 percent from the three-point line like they did in the first half. They hit their first nine threes. It was frustrating because I felt like we were playing a little bit of defense, but when somebody shoots 61 percent against you and 90 percent from the three point line you've got to look at something. We weren't doing it the way we wanted to do it. We weren't being very intelligent. It was a very heated discussion at halftime, but I couldn't be prouder of our kids for bouncing back and showing the toughness being able to come back after somebody hits you right between the eyes about 13 times like we got hit tonight.
The big fella [Tyler Hansbrough] was unbelievable. I jumped on everybody at the half because we were 0-for-9 from the three-point line and we've got one guy who has 13 free throws so why ... are we shooting nine three-point shots until they stop that. He was sensational. I thought David [Noel] set the tone with his offensive rebound for a basket in our second possession [in the second half]. Again, we're extremely lucky and feel extremely fortunate.
On if he is surprised at the way that Hansbrough can dominate games:
He works as hard as any youngster I've ever coached. He comes every day trying to do the best he can do. I've said that since day one. He has an ability. He's as stiff as you can be, but yet he's extremely flexible, and around inside there he can wiggle around a little bit. There was a walk called on him tonight and I didn't think he even walked that time because he works extremely hard to keep his pivot foot down. He's a big time player, and Poplar Bluff is one of my favorite locations in the world.
On if he feels that the team has momentum going into Sunday's game against Wake Forest:
I don't know. I feel lucky. I feel like I've stolen every cookie out of the cookie shop and that's the way I'm going to look at it. I'm going to enjoy ... this one until midnight then I'll think about Wake Forest.
On if he could think of any freshman performance's better than Hansbrough's:
No, not right off the top of my head. J.R. Reid had a great game. He scored 30-something as a freshman when I was an assistant here. No, it [Hansbrough's performance] was pretty darn good.
UNC Player Quotes:
Tyler Hansbrough:
Assessing his performance:
I think I played well offensively - and defensively. My game was just
in a flow, and I felt like some of my shots went in....Definitely it was
fun in the second half when we started coming back and making a run
and started stopping them defensively. That was a big key in the win.
On what it means to set the records he did tonight:
It is very important. You look at all the great players that have
played here, and it's something that down the line I'll talk about
when I'm done playing basketball.
On the comeback:
We really got after it defensively in the second half. That's what
Coach was really stressing in the locker room at halftime. We came
out there, and we had to stop some of their open shots, and I think
that's what we did. We came back and that flowed into our offense for
us and gave us the run.
Bobby Frasor:
On Hansbrough's performance:
When you're on the bench and you see guys - Tyler's off balance,
holding the guy off with one arm, throwing the ball up with his right
hand and getting fouled and making it? That's pretty impressive. And
he's a freshman also? On top of that, it's incredible.
On whether he's sometimes in awe of what Hansbrough can do on the court:
I'd say so. That's the most points anybody's scored in Dean Dome
history. That's incredible.
On the comeback:
This is incredible. We were down 20 in the first half. Coach
Williams after the game said five, 10 years - however long he's still
coaching - he'll be talking about this comeback.
Wes Miller
On Coach Williams' halftime speech:
It's probably not a secret to anybody - he wasn't happy with us at
halftime. He got into us pretty good in the locker room. There's no
question we needed it. We deserved it. We didn't put forth the
effort, the intensity. We didn't play smart in the first half. He
wasn't pleased at halftime and got into us. He finished it up at
halftime letting us know that we have a chance. If we come out and
play hard and don't worry about the score and worry about every single
possession at a time and do everything we need on every possession, we
have a chance to win the game.
On the difference defensively in the second half:
We turned it up. I just think we turned it up. We focused.
Everybody was in a stance, five guys in a stance at the same time. We
got in the passing lanes.
David Noel:
On Hansbrough's night:
"Psycho T" had a great night tonight. It seemed like every time we
fed him the ball he was making it, getting fouled. If he continues to
play like that - it's definitely in games like this where he's not
getting too much help from everyone else. He definitely carried us
tonight.
Paul Hewitt
Georgia Tech Head Coach
Opening statement:
I obviously wish we could have followed up the first half effort with a good second half effort. Give North Carolina credit, they really got out in transition and got on the offensive boards and I thought that their offensive rebounding and their transition really hurt us. Of course Tyler Hansbrough--coming into this game he wasn't a first-team all-league player--I would say he made a pretty good statement hear tonight.
On the effect North Carolina's defensive changes affected the team:
At the start of the second half we got two really good looks on those inside-out threes, something we had been talking about. I think Ra'Sean [Dickey] got the ball inside and pitched it out to [Anthony] Morrow right out at the top of the key, wide open. We're going to take that shot every time. There was also a drive, draw and kick out to Morrow in the corner right in front of our bench. Again another shot we are going to take, he's clean so he's got to take those.
I thought we got in trouble a little bit when they started pressuring us and the five-count was on. Instead of taking them off the dribble we got a little tentative. We regained control of the game a little bit by doing that very thing--taking them off the bounce, getting into the paint, establishing a low-post presence. They had spread out a little bit, had pushed out on the three point line. I think we got the lead with high-seven minutes to go and we stopped being aggressive and going off the dribble again.
On what led to the second half offensive woes:
I just think we stopped attacking. I thought their pressure on the ball was very strong, very good. Similarly to the play at the end of the first half when they pressured us, we drove it and we felt like we had the ability to create some things if they pressured us. I thought we responded very well in the first half but again when you make shots, everything offensively looks great. Even though we were making shots, it was because we were doing the right thing. It wasn't like we were being lucky in the first half. In the second half, we just started abandoning it a little bit. We started getting tentative, getting on our heels and used up all our timeouts.
You look at Hansbrough with 40 points and you start thinking about his points a lot of them came on second shot opportunities and just outrunning us in transition. It's tough to defend him when he does that.
On the team's effort level in the second half:
"I thought some of our aggression just went away. It's tough to explain. I know our guys are trying hard. It wasn't like they were thinking the game was over at the half. We knew they were going to make a run. Our thought process as a staff was with seven minutes to go let's be right there with a chance to win and we were. In the last eight minutes, they made more plays than we did.
On the defense on Tyler Hansbrough:
We weren't trying to pick up fouls. We wanted to put Ra'Sean on him but Ra'Sean got in early foul trouble. He only played 17 minutes. He still had 13 points. We thought it was a good matchup for us one-on-one down there. I thought [Theodis] Tarver did a decent job when he was on him. [Hansbrough] hurt us really, when you look back at it, on second shot opportunities and transition. The kid can really run the floor and you have to give him credit. He works very hard. We told our guys coming in that he probably runs the floor harder than any freshman I've seen. I can't remember the last time I saw a freshman run the floor that hard.
