University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes
February 26, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 26, 2006
Roy Williams
North Carolina Head Coach
Opening Statement:
"We feel fantastic. You feel for [Maryland head coach] Gary Williams. I think he's one of the toughest competitors in our business and a guy I have a tremendous amount of respect for. They're going through some difficult times, but he is a guy I have a tremendous amount of respect for. If you're playing his teams, if they adopt his personality and characteristics a little more, you've got your work cut out for you.
"David Noel I thought was sensational. I think early in the game they [Maryland] got it inside to his man and scored about three times in a row and then after that I thought he was really good defensively. They cut it to 11 at one time in the second half and he came up then made a basket and made a steal and got us another basket. All of a sudden it's back up to 15 or 16.
"They make it tough on Tyler [Hansbrough], surrounding him with people inside. He needs to make some better decisions with the basketball and get it out quicker. You look down and we shoot 41 percent. It wasn't smooth and effective on the offensive end. We also had 17 turnovers so we'd also like to do better there. I loved how hard we fought defensively particularly after the first three or four minutes of the game. You guys were talking about their field goal percentage. I think our defensive had something to do with that, but they missed some easy shots. We've got to feel fortunate for that.
"One of the things I liked about the whole game is that everybody who came off our bench made a positive contribution. David played major minutes but nobody else played more than 27. I think over the course of the game and over the course of the season that has helped us out a great deal and I think it did again today, but we've got to get better. We've got some more opportunities coming up and hopefully we'll play better then."
On if he expected this year's team to be as successful as they have recently:
"No, I never try to have expectations. I always have hopes. My hopes are always high and I feel very fortunate to coach this wonderful group of kids. I know you get sick of me saying that, but it is amazing. Yesterday at the end of practice we were on the mats stretching and we're talking participating in spelling bees. It's the most unusual group and it's a group that I'm just enjoying the heck out of. They're competitive. Even Q [Quentin Thomas], I ripped him a couple times and he says `Yes. Yes,' and he tries to do better. He made two bad decisions with the ball and then all of a sudden he makes two big time plays. They accept what I'm saying and not how I'm saying or how ugly a face I'm making when I'm saying it to them. They're a fun, fun group to coach. I've said this a few times too. I like the fact that I've been very fortunate to coach a lot of kids who happen to be the sons of coaches. Marcus [Ginyard]'s older brother was one of his coaches. Tyler's dad was a major athlete himself at Missouri - the high jump champion in the Big Eight. Bobby [Frasor]'s dad was his coach. Danny [Green]'s dad has coached and I think those freshmen coming in have heard those stories around the dinner table about saying focused and playing with poise and trying to focus on the most important things and they've done that."
On the play of Mike Copeland:
"Michael's done some nice things offensively. He really has. He has trouble on the defensive end of the floor. That's what's keeping him from getting more opportunities He got an offensive rebound for us and scored inside. I don't think we lost anything in that substitution and we got Tyler a break."
On how much David Noel has meant to the team:
"He's meant everything. I think the most impressive thing is that he went through a stretch of three, four or five games were everyone was talking bad about him and saying he was going south and he was able to overcome that. A lot of guys fold when things start going south and give in. That youngster didn't do it. He fought back and refocused again and played even harder. He did an even better job of being a leader for us. That stretch there is something that I'm extremely proud of him because there are not a lot of guys who can do that sort of thing. As a senior you feel responsibility even more and he went through a stretch there three, four or five games and he bounced back to do some great things for us."
Gary Williams
Maryland Head Coach
Opening Statement:
"We've been inconsistent as a team, especially on the defensive end this year. For that you pay the price. I said this before the game, I felt Carolina was playing the best basketball right now. During the season there are different teams that get hot and for Carolina, winning eight of their last nine with the only loss coming to Duke, it looks that way. They certainly have the size and their guards do what they have to do. They work hard on defense. They really attack."
On Maryland cutting the Tar Heel lead to 11 and having David Noel key a Carolina spurt:
"As long as they you keep scoring, it is going to stay around 11. Noel can do that, but we should score. I remember one possession where we missed a lay-up and we counted seven at halftime that we missed. That's something we have to be able to do. To get it to 11 was good; we worked hard to get it there.
"When you look at Carolina this year, [Tyler] Hansbrough deserves all the attention he gets. [Reyshawn] Terry and Noel really show you something in terms of their ability to wait their turn and come in and play like they have this year. I believe those two guys have really improved a ton."
On getting enough looks against the Tar Heel defense:
"Lay-ups are decent looks. They just didn't go in. Once you get looks, that's all you can do. They get the ball to Hansbrough seven feet from the basket they feel pretty good like they are going to score. We get the ball that close and we have to score from the post."
On Maryland's defense tonight:
"Defense is a long term thing. It's a matter of dedication. That is a lot of defense and rebounding, also. There's not a whole lot of technique, it's a matter of wanting to. Every good defensive player I've coached has really wanted to play defense and work really hard. I think everybody wants to play games. Once the game starts everybody wants to play really hard defense but you have to it on the days you don't have games in practice."
On difference between leading Carolina at half in their last meeting and tonight:
"We have to win the games. It is not just a one-half game. Carolina is playing better now than they were up in Maryland. We're playing about the same. With that combination there is the reason for the outcome today."
On Roy [Williams] coaching job this season:
"Roy is a very a good coach obviously. Even before he came to Carolina. He didn't have to come here to cement that fact. The two older players, Terry and Noel, whatever Roy did with them is tremendous in terms of how solid they have been all year for them. Sometimes it is hard when a freshman comes in, like Hansbrough, that gets so much attention. It's hard for the veteran players to accept that, but it looks like the Carolina players have done a great job of including him. He gets a lot of looks early in their offense which is always a good sign of a team that really believes in what they are trying to do. From the outside, that is the best thing that I see."
On rating Hansbrough's season:
Right there with Joe Smith's. Joe was freshman of the year and then Naismith Player of the Year his sophomore season and then he left. I think Hansbrough has that same work ethic. They walk on the court and they play hard, then they walk off the court. It is just a tremendous thing."
UNC PLAYER QUOTES
vs. Maryland
On Carolina's defensive effort:
"We definitely were scouting out Maryland's flex offense. I think we did a great job on the defensive end, just giving that extra effort and not letting them get easy baskets off the flex. We beat them by, I think, 18 rebounds last game. So, we knew we could beat them on the boards and everybody had to be real aggressive on the boards. We just had great defense on the shots and making them miss more shots than normal, then just getting the rebounds."
On David Noel's three shots in a row to end a Maryland run in the second half:
"That's what David Noel has been doing all year - just making those shots when we need them. He did the same thing in the NC State game. He just blew up and had 25 points. But, tonight he really kept us in it. I think they brought it down to 11 and he was there to make the big shots and keep us ahead."
On whether or not he's surprised in Carolina's success in the past month:
"We set high goals at the beginning of the season and we still have high goals that we're trying to reach. So, we're not surprised. But, I can understand why other people are."
On one key factor that has led to the team's success:
"I just think we're trying to improve constantly, trying to improve throughout the year. When you start in October for practice, you want to improve every day and you want to be a better team in February than you are in January. You want to be a better team in January than you were in December and so on. I think we've done that and I think we need to continue to do that."
On the seven double-digit wins in the ACC:
"I think it's probably surprising for some people and that's understandable. You know, this team, that's what we want to do. That's what we work on in practice, is putting it on people, trying to get leads and extend that. That's our goal and we're reaching our goals game by game and we've got to continue to do that."
On whether the recent hype has made things easier or harder:
"Neither. From my perspective, I try to listen to what's going on with my teammates and my coaches. Then you don't hear the negative stuff and you don't hear the positive stuff, so there's no up and down. So, we just concentrate on what the guys in this locker room are saying and what we find here and I think we'll continue to do that."
On the substitutions and rotations in the lineup:
"Getting guys in and out, keeping guys fresh, that really helps us out tremendously, especially in the fast break games. The way that we play makes you tired real fast. So, guys definitely take themselves out most the time. For the most part, the rotations have been good for us and I hope we continue to work it like that."
On Tyler Hansbrough's play:
"He's definitely been our inside force the entire time. I can't say that I'm surprised because I saw it all this summer - what he's capable of doing. He's definitely proven that he's the ACC Rookie of the Year and anything else you want to put on him."
On whether he's surprised in the seven double-digit wins in the ACC with such a young team:
"Yeah, I would say for as young of a team as we have I am. But, at the same time, in this last little stretch of games our freshmen have grown into sophomores very quickly. Matter of fact, I think they came in as sophomores. That's how good they've been playing. That's something that speaks volumes for them and our coaching staff. They've done a great job with them in preparing them for the fire that we were going to have to throw them in."
On stopping the flex offense:
"Early in the game, I think their big guys got some easy points down low. Then, we really tried to take that away from them and get them out of their stuff and I think we did a good job."
On the rotation:
"It was nice having `Q' [Quentin Thomas], Danny [Green], Byron [Sanders], and Marcus [Ginyard], even Mike [Copeland] and those guys coming off the bench. That was a huge jump today. Having that kind of rotation and being able to go that deep lets us come in and not lose our step."
On securing a top-four seed in the ACC Tournament:
"That's big. It's nice that we don't have to play that first day. We can get in there and relax, not worrying about having to play back to back early on like that. So, I didn't know that, but that's great for us."
