University of North Carolina Athletics
Player Quotes
January 18, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 18, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
On his turnovers:
I don't know, man. It was just a rough game. I was just a little rattled, but it was freshman mistakes. I think I did all right. They were running from behind, they had defenders everywhere, they were very active.
On the last few practices:
They were about the same, but we just had more emphasis on taking care of the ball and getting out and playing hard, because we didn't look like we played hard on the Virginia Tech game on the videotape.
On getting his shot back:
It felt really good. I started early with going to the basket a little bit, getting a couple of easier shots. That helped me get into the flow a little bit. I think I hadn't been getting to the bucket and getting easier shots, easier looks. So now I'm going to try to start getting easier looks and getting into the flow of the game better.
On playing in hostile environments:
I enjoy road games and going away and seeing a hostile crowd. It's part of college basketball. It is really exciting, but also it's very exciting when you get a win in there and they don't have much to say. I look at the posters and just laugh sometimes.
On the fall he took in practice:
A lot of credit goes to our trainers. Our strength coach really stretched me out and got me loose. With time, it will heal. It was sore at times and it hurt, but I'm not going to let it hold me back. I felt it at times, but the adrenaline take sit away. When you play in big games sometimes, those injuries become numb.
On his game maturing:
I've done a lot of things offensively to improve my game, and my defense has really stepped up. I think I'm playing better defensively. I think I've just matured a lot.
On rebounding from the loss:
It was a big game for us, but that doesn't take away the feeling I had on Saturday. It's just another step on the journey we're trying to get to. This game, we'll look at it, and we have a lot of things to learn. We had 22 turnovers tonight, and we'll look at some of those things. They were a tough team.
On experience helping him:
I'd like to think with my experience over the years that I've made better plays that I would have two years ago. I hoped that I would have improved in that area. When you're a senior, you've been in these kinds of situations before. You've been on the road in hostile environments, so you're not shaken by that at all. I'm not affected by it at all. In fact, I really enjoy these kinds of environments and these kinds of situations, whereas my first two years here I probably would have been a little intimidated by it. I think the experience factor has helped me a lot.
On playing the backup point guard:
It's really hard for me to say. I know we've got Tywon and Quentin both healthy, both feeling good, so I don't expect to be getting any kind of serious minutes there. But at the same time, with one more point guard out I'm always trying to be ready and be prepared in case I do get a couple of minutes here and there, and that happened tonight and I think I was ready.
On turnovers:
Maybe some of those guys made some careless plays with the ball tonight and maybe it didn't bounce their way a couple of times, but they're going to be fine. They're great players, and they've done great things all year and they haven't turned the ball over up to this point so I don't think it was anything to be worried about. You've just got to go back and look at film and see the kinds of plays they made tonight and maybe fix some of those.
