University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC 84, Florida State 58
January 7, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 7, 2007
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UNC Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement:
"It was a great night for us, particularly in the second half. I think to play an up and down style, to score 48 points in the second half and only have four turnovers, you've got to be extremely pleased with that. We got that going; one time they even got a dunk and we ran it right back at them and laid it up the other end ourselves, and that's the way you want to play. They shot 29 percent in the second half. We played 12 guys pretty considerable minutes to be honest with you, and I think for us to continue doing that will help us in the long run, but I think it also helps us each and every game. In the second half we got the basketball inside to Tyler and Brandan where we should have been getting it a lot earlier and I thought in the first half we were so quick on shooting the basketball that it was something that was really hurting us. At the half, we were up 36-30 and I told them that we had a lot of things to complain about, but yet we were up and we just had to play better in the second half and not try to take the shot so quickly. We want to play at a fast tempo, but that does not mean we want to take quick shots. We want to take great shots and I think we had much better shots in the second half and we needed to do it. Isaiah Swann, Al Thornton and Jason Rich, those guys are really good players. Thornton was a load for us. It was the first time since maybe the second or third game this year that I've gone small just to try and match up everybody on the defensive end. We had Reyshawn in at the `4' for four or five possessions. It wasn't a huge factor in the game but it just shows the respect I have for Thornton and what he was able to do.
But I feel good about our guys. You know, Wayne Ellington, I've never seen the guy shoot the ball like that. One for seven from three on a guy shooting 46 percent for the year, but you look on down the line he had five assists and one turnover so he did some god things for us there. Danny, Bobby, Q, those guys that came in, Alex, Deon gave us some good play off the bench as well."
On the improved inside play in the second half:
"In the first half, we took some bad shots. We were shooting the ball so quickly. One time Reyshawn thinks he's wide open, but there's four guys in front of you and you guys have hear me say " that fifth guy is not getting popcorn, he's running up behind you," and Al Thornton was sprinting right at him and bothered the shot. So we were shooting it too quickly and that was the whole emphasis at half time of getting the ball inside and not shooting as quickly. Brandan is nine for thirteen and Tyler is eight for twelve; we get the ball to those guys and that usually means good things for us."
On the possibility of being ranked number one in the next poll:
"Frankly my dear....you know one of those. It says at this point in the year we're doing alright. I've been number one before and if you don't finish that way at the end of the year it means you had a good little stretch, but it doesn't mean what people remember.... But it's fine. You've heard me say it before, at the radio show tomorrow night Woody will show me the rankings and that's the first time. If it weren't for Woody showing them to me on Monday night I'd never look at it. I swear to goodness, I never look at it."
Florida State Coach Leonard Hamilton
Opening Statement:
"First half I thought we managed to keep the game within reach. The second half I thought North Carolina did a very good job of getting the ball to Hansbrough and Wright and we really didn't have an answer for them. Hansbrough especially was a little physical, more physical than we were tonight. That depth: two big kids came off the bench. They don't have great stats, but I thought they wore on us with their physical bodies and fatigued us more than we would probably like to admit just from their physical stature and size. We had a stretch there when they extended the lead to about 16, we had about 4 possessions where I thought we rushed the offense and took about 2 or 3 quick shots, and I think they extended the lead more and it was very difficult for us to dig out of that hole. They became more patient and tried to keep our most experienced players off the court. They did a very good job of being very patient, moving the ball, making the extra pass. They were able to extend the lead from there. Normally, you try to give some sort of rational, reasonable explanation when you lose a game. The truth of the matter is we got beat by a much better basketball team, a team that played better than us tonight, that had a couple of guys that we really didn't have an answer for on this particular evening, that being Hansbrough and Wright. They were two guys that were very difficult for us to defend this evening."
On not having an inside game:
"That's what happens when you don't have an inside attack. Unfortunately for us this year, this is the first time I think I can ever remember in coaching, in my career, we didn't have the inside game to balance out the perimeter game, and that's part of the reason we've had a difficult time and a rash of turnovers because people feel comfortable putting a lot of pressure on us far out on the floor without us being able to throw the ball inside to a post guy like Johnson was for us in the past. WE are not the kind of team that can attack consistently from the dribble from that far out on the perimeter. Defense is going to rotate and take that away from you, and that's been a problem for us, especially when you're playing against teams that have as much quality in depth as we faced this evening."
