University of North Carolina Athletics
Duke Game Guide
February 7, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 7, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 5 North Carolina (20-3, 6-2) will head to Cameron Indoor Stadium to take on its second - and biggest - rival in five days, No. 16 Duke (18-5, 5-4) Wednesday night at 9:00. Carolina is coming off of a loss at NC State, 83-79. Duke is coming off a loss to Florida State at home, 68-67. The Blue Devils also lost their second-to-last game in overtime at Virginia. This is the 138th straight game between the rivals in which at least one of the teams is ranked.
Game Time: North Carolina at Duke, 9 p.m.
Last Time: Carolina knocked off then-No. 1 Duke in Cameron Indoor Stadium on March 4, 2006, 83-76. Tyler Hansbrough led the way for the Tar Heels with 27 points on 9-of-17 shooting from the field (including his infamous three-pointer as the shot clock ran down with three minutes left that put the Tar Heels up nine points). Marcus Ginyard added 12 points, two assists, a block and a steal. Bobby Frasor was the only other Tar Heel to score in double figures, and two of his 10 points came on two game-clinching free throws.
Nine people played for the Tar Heels, and eight scored. Reyshawn Terry had nine points, eight rebounds, three blocks and a steal. David Noel had just eight points but added a team-high 12 rebounds and three assists. Quentin Thomas also played a crucial 11 minutes in the win, shooting 3-of-3 from the field on his way to six points and adding three assists and one turnover.
Shelden Williams and JJ Redick had 18 points each to lead Duke. Williams added a game-high 15 rebounds and six blocks. Redick shot 5-of-21 from the field and 2-of-10 from the three-point line. DeMarcus Nelson added 17 points on 6-of-11 shooting, four rebounds, two assists and a steal. Lee Melchionni was the only other Blue Devil to score in double figures with 13 points, including 3-of-7 from the three-point line, and added two assists and three steals.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 8 p.m.
Injury Report: Bobby Frasor is still somewhat limited with the foot injury, but should play.
Storylines
Rivalry: Marvin Williams' putback. Jeff Capel's halfcourt shot. Eight points in 17 seconds. All these moments are part of Tobacco Road lore and as the rivalry has gained steam, it has caught the watchful eye of the nation. It is said that this young team was perhaps looking past NC State and ahead to what will be the first game against Duke for many of them. That is debatable, but what is obvious is that this rivalry is part of the reason many of the players on both teams signed with the respective schools.
The Carolina freshmen have played three games in what could be described as "hostile" environments (Virginia Tech, Arizona and NC State). They were able to quiet the Tucson crowd, but did not have luck with NC State. Though they have had some experience with loud arenas, Cameron Indoor Stadium is an entirely different animal. Coach Williams and the experienced players have been doing their best to warn the freshmen of what is to come.
"Today at practice I pointed at Reyshawn and I said, `He's won at Cameron Indoor Stadium.' I pointed at Wes and I said, `He's won. Bobby, he's won. Tyler, he's won.' I said, `Wayne, you and Brandan and Tywon, you guys haven't won, so you'd better pay attention a little bit more to this week to what they're telling you. They have done it; now it's a challenge to see if you can do it.' It's a big-time challenge," Coach Williams said. "We've got to band together a little bit tighter; we've got to pull together a little bit tighter. Let's go in and try to play our best, play the best we can, concentrate the best, play the hardest and then see what happens."
"Every away game, we tell them how it's going to be, how the fans are going to be, how intense it's going to be, the atmosphere," Danny Green said. "The other team, we know that Duke's going to come after us. There's not going to be anything easy. They're going to play tough defense. They're going to get in you, and sometimes calls aren't going to go your way. We told them to be aggressive, play hard and stay focused. Don't take them lightly."
The rivalry takes on a different tinge on Wednesday, as both teams are coming off of a loss and Duke is coming off of two losses.
"We're wounded a little bit, they're wounded a little bit. I really believe that we'll see two groups of kids that will be playing their tails off. I think they'll be pulling the nails out of the floor, and that's an old expression because I think that they'll be diving on the floor so hard the nails are going to come out," Coach Williams said. "At the same time, my guess is that it won't be a very pretty game because it will be two teams trying to compete like crazy. I'm hoping that my team will be up to the task of bouncing back, going on the road at one of the truly great places in college basketball and see how well we do."
"I could see where it could become an ugly game. I don't think the Duke-Carolina rivalry game has ever been a clean game. It's always seemed like something's not going right or it's getting too physical," Marcus Ginyard said. "It's going to be a gritty game. This is definitely going to be one of the grind-it-out games, but that's a great game right there. Everybody loves that game."
Duke has not lost three straight games since the 1995-96 season, when it lost a stretch of four ACC games in a row to Clemson, Georgia Tech, Wake Forest and Virginia. That also marked the last time the Blue Devils have lost two home games in a row. The last time the two teams have met with Duke coming off two losses and the Tar Heels were coming off a loss was 1989 (Duke won 88-86). Duke was coming off a loss last season when the two teams met and Carolina won. Carolina has not lost two consecutive road games since February of 2004. Carolina has played Duke 13 times in the past 30 years when coming off a loss. The Tar Heels are 9-4 in such games.
Carolina imposing its will: Roy Williams will not let any of us forget that while Carolina did not play its best game, NC State played very well, shooting 76.2% in the second half. What disappointed Roy Williams was more that his team lacked intensity compared to the Wolfpack. That was never more obvious than at the end of the first half after Carolina had just tied the game with 5.7 seconds left. NC State inbounds the ball and Gavin Grant dribbles it the length of the floor and shoots an uncontested lay-up at the first-half buzzer to put State up 38-36.
"To allow a guy to beat you on a box-out, to allow a guy to beat you on a boxout, to allow a team to dribble the length of the court and lay it up with 5.7 and have two guys on the end of the court wondering why their teammates don't stop him. The intensity of our effort and the concentration of our effort is what's got to be there," Coach Williams said.
What that play also symbolized is the fact that, on both ends of the floor, Carolina was simply unable to impose its will on NC State. In fact, most of the game it was the opposite - State managed to slow down the tempo, ran its offensive sets with relative ease and did not let Carolina get many easy shots.
"We allowed them to do what they wanted to do, and if you allow North Carolina State to do what they want to do, they do some nice things," Coach Williams said. "What went wrong Saturday is we didn't defend nearly as well as we had been defending, we didn't rebound as well as we'd been rebounding and we didn't get as much movement on the offensive end and therefore get as easy shots. We didn't do anything nearly as well as we wanted to do, but at the same time let's give the other team credit. We just need to play better ourselves."
Duke is not necessarily a slow-down team, but it certainly does not run as much as this Carolina team. The Blue Devils this season have overcome a short bench and an offense that has struggled at times with solid fundamentals on both ends of the court, but most noticeably on the defensive end. Duke has the No. 8 defense in the country and is No. 1 in the league in points allowed (57.1) and No. 2 in field-goal percentage defense (39.3%). Duke is not going to just lay down and allow Carolina to run its offense the way it wants; the Tar Heels are going to have to come out and be more aggressive than they were at NC State.
"Coach wants us to play with more intensity. He wants us to be the aggressor of the opponent. He wants us to go out there and play like we have passion, not just like we have talent," Tyler Hansbrough said.
"I think that there is going to be adversity all the time, but you can't allow people to just jump up and shoot it in your face and knock it in, then you get the ball on the other end and shoot a three and don't make it. If you're going to play this game in this league at this level, there's got to be a great deal of toughness mentally," Coach Williams said. "A way of getting tough is if you do something to me, I get you on the other end. I'll show you I can do the same thing.'"
Rebounding: Carolina leads the conference in rebounds per game (42.7 a game) and defensive rebounds (28.4 a game). The Tar Heels also rank third in offensive rebounding with 14.2 a game. Duke averages 36.1 rebounds a game and ranks fifth in the conference and defensive rebounds (25 a game) and 10th in offensive rebounds (11.1 a game).
Duke is allowing its opponents to get 29.5 boards a game (1st in the ACC) while pulling down 36.1 rebounds themselves (7th in the league). That gives them a rebounding margin of +6.6, which is 2nd in the league. Carolina is allowing its opponents an average of 32.6 rebounds a game (4th in the ACC) while pulling down 42.7 (No. 1 in the league).
That +10.0 rebounding margin still ranks first in the nation, despite a poor performance on the boards at NC State. NC State outrebounded Carolina 31-25 overall, including 24-14 on the defensive boards. That figure is somewhat distorted by the fact that NC State missed just four shots in the second half and 17 on the game, while Carolina missed 32 shots.
"They were hitting the boards hard. At halftime, they had 17 rebounds and we had nine. So they were hitting the boards and just taking that. A big part of our game is getting offensive rebounds, and they took that away," Ty Lawson said.
Carolina is 0-2 in games in which they have been outrebounded (Gonzaga and NC State). The 25-rebound performance marked the lowest rebounding total for the Tar Heels all year and the only time Carolina has failed to get at least 30 rebounds.
"State, they were making a bunch of shots. When the ball is going in the basket, there are very few rebounds," Reyshawn Terry, who failed to pull down a rebound for the first time in 55 games, said. "But when they were missing shots, they were doing a very good job of boxing out and getting the rebounds. I think we need to just dominate on the boards tomorrow and play the way that we play. Everything else will take care of itself."
A big part of the reason NC State managed to outrebound Carolina was due to hustle. Duke is a very good rebounding team for its lack of size. Duke has out-rebounded all of its ACC opponents but once (Georgia Tech) so far this season. Duke has outrebounded the No. 2, No. 5 and No. 6 rebounding teams in the conference. Duke will be, as Roy Williams said, a "wounded animal" and if the Tar Heels make a mistake boxing out or in getting rebounding position, the Blue Devils will exploit it. Carolina cannot afford to give up any second-chance points to a Duke team that has shot 47.2% from the field this season (eighth in the league).
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium frequency will likely be on or around 92.7 FM.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
Raycom-LF/ESPN coverage: The game will be available nationally on ESPN and regionally on Raycom-Lincoln Financial.
Names To Know
Ty Lawson: Lawson had a career-high 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, 2-of-4 from the three-point line and 3-of-4 from the free-throw line at NC State. He also added seven assists, one steal and just one turnover in a season-high 31 minutes. He is averaging 10.1 points per game, bringing his average back into double figures for the first time since the St. Louis game. Lawson's 54.6% field-goal shooting on the season is fourth on the team (behind Brandan Wright, Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson) and second among starters behind only Wright. His 40% from the three-point line is third on the team. He leads the team in assists and ranks fourth in the league with 5.2 a game, and he also leads the team and ranks 7th in the league in steals with 1.8 a game. His assist-turnover ratio (2.2) is third in the league. On the team, it is behind only Quentin Thomas (2.3) and Wes Miller (2.6).
In league play, Lawson is averaging 11.0 points per game (third on the team) and is shooting 55.4% from the floor (third on the team). He is 11-of-21 from the three-point line for 52.4%, which leads the team. He started off the year 9-of-29 (31%) from beyond the arc. He has 35 assists and 27 turnovers, and both figures lead the team. His assist-turnover ratio in league play is 1.3. In his last three games, however, he has 18 assists to just six turnovers (3.0). Lawson is the only Tar Heel to have 10 or more steals (16) in league play. In 7 of 8 league games, Lawson has three or more fouls and he has not had a foul-free game since Rutgers. His free-throw percentage is perhaps the only thing that needs improving, as he is only shooting 65.7%.
In losses, Lawson has shot 18-of-27 from the floor (66.7%), 5-of-9 from the three-point line (55.6%) and 7-of-9 from the foul line (77.8%). He averages 16 points a game in those losses and has an average 5.0 assists and 2.3 turnovers (2.1 ratio). He has also played 26.0 minutes a game in those losses compared to an average of 23.5 on the season. In road games this season, Lawson is shooting 54.2% from the field and 61.8% in his last three road games. He has shot 9-of-20 from the three-point line (45%) in road games and 4-of-8 in the last two ACC road games. He is averaging 14.0 points a game in road games and 18.0 points per game in the last three road games. He has 37 assists to 19 turnovers in the road games (1.9 ratio) and 20 assists to just five turnovers in the last three road games (4.0 ratio). He also has 14 steals in the six road games (2.3 a game) and eight in the last three road games (2.7). He has at least one steal in all six road games.
Lawson often comes across as a laid-back person who almost seems apathetic on the basketball court, described by Coach Williams and his teammates teasingly as at times having a "blank" look on his face. But if anything, losses like Virginia Tech and NC State and Lawson's attempt to lead both charges should show you how much heart and competitive fire he has.
"I always want to win, but sometimes if we play hard and it's a tough loss, or if I know we played hard, I don't worry too much about it. But if we just played terrible, I'll probably be mad for 30 minutes or so," Lawson said. "I'm real competitive. People look at the Virginia Tech game; I wanted to win badly so I was doing what I could to win. I am real laid back. Sometimes people tell me it looks like I don't care on the court, but that's just the way I am."
Reyshawn Terry: Terry struggled at NC State last week, still suffering from the lingering effects of an illness, as he played just 15 minutes and fouled out late in the game. It was Terry's first game without a rebound since the national championship game against Illinois in 2005. The fewest rebounds he had this season before NC State was two boards against Rutgers. He added two points on 1-of-3 shooting and one assist.
"Well, he didn't get in a groove. He wasn't feeling very good before the game. He didn't feel very well yesterday," Coach Williams said. "He didn't play - 15 minutes, five fouls, same rebounds as you got. Fifteen minutes, same number of rebounds you got (zero)."
In Carolina's three losses this season, Terry has averaged 3.7 points and 1.7 rebounds a game and has attempted only one free throw. On the season, Terry is averaging 5.6 rebounds a game and nine points a game. In losses, he has shot 5-of-14 from the field (35.7%) compared to 47.7% on the season and 1-of-5 from the three-point line (20%) compared to 41.7% on the season. He is also averaging 2.3 assists per game and 1.3 turnovers per game for a 1.8 assist/turnover ratio. On the season, he is averaging 2.0 assists and 1.9 turnovers for a 1.0 assist/turnover ratio. He is averaging 15.7 minutes a game in losses (compared to a 20.9 season average). In Carolina wins, Terry is shooting 48.9% from the floor and 43.6% from the three-point line and is averaging 9.8 points a game. He is also averaging 6.2 rebounds a game, 2.0 assists and 2.0 turnovers (1.0 ratio) in 21.7 minutes a game.
Last year at Duke, Terry had nine points, eight rebounds and three blocks in the win at Duke. Duke is a solid rebounding team, and Terry can crash the boards with the best of them in the ACC. Despite not being able to grab a rebound against NC State, Terry still ranks third on the team in rebounding and 17th in the league with 5.6 a game. He has been a solid defender all year and will need to turn in a very good performance against Duke's DeMarcus Nelson, who is also a very good rebounder. He is one of the only Tar Heels who has been inside Cameron on multiple occasions, and his leadership and steady play will help set the tone for the game.
Wes Miller: Miller played nine minutes against NC State but pulled down two rebounds and had two steals. Miller is shooting 16-of-57 from the three-point line this season for 28.1%, but his ACC percentage has slightly improved at 7-of-22 for 31.8%. Miller still holds the title of the highest assist-turnover ratio for any Tar Heel over a career that has 100 assists or more with 106 assists to just 41 turnovers (2.6). This season, his 34 assists to just 13 turnovers amount to a 2.6 assist/turnover ratio, which leads the team. Despite limited playing time this season (13.9 minutes a game overall, 9.3 in ACC play), whenever Miller gets out on the court he gives 100% and plays very good defense.
"Teams are much more aware of him than they were last year. They're flying at him so he doesn't get as many open looks so they always think he might make a three. Defensively, on the ball he's pretty good," Coach Williams said. "It's a little bit of leadership, a little of bit of the thought that he might get open and make a three, and then he is good defensively on the ball."
Coach Williams was referring to a stretch during the game on Saturday towards the end of the game in which Carolina began to gain some ground on NC State. Miller, Bobby Frasor and Marcus Ginyard were in the game in part for their defense, and forced three NC State turnovers on four late-game possessions.
"Part of it was we came off the bench and we were a little fresh. We just tried to pick up the intensity a little bit, put a little more pressure on them, try to speed them up because they really wanted to slow us down," Miller said. "We tried to counter that by slowing them up and we were trapping a little bit, trying to create some turnovers. Fortunately, we got our hands on some balls and we were able to do that."
Though Miller's minutes are down and he may not be the three-point threat that he was last season, he still is able to open things up when he's on the floor on offense because teams respect his jumpshot, even though it's not going in. Defensively, he has won two defensive player of the game awards this year: one in the loss at Virginia Tech in which he was the only player to qualify, the second at Arizona when he took a key charge late in the game. Miller is a senior leader and his steady play may make a difference in a hostile environment on Wednesday night.
Marcus Ginyard: Ginyard did his best to keep the Tar Heels in it against NC State, playing 20 minutes, shooting 2-of-3 from the field on his way to four points and adding two rebounds, two assists, two steals and no turnovers. Marcus Ginyard won his sixth defensive player of the game award this season against NC State on Saturday. It was his first time winning the award since the Virginia game. Four came in the Tar Heels' first 10 games. Ginyard was in during a key defensive stretch in the NC State game and it should not be a rare sighting to see Ginyard on the floor during big moments for Carolina.
"Marcus has been doing a good job continually on the defensive end of the floor. During certain points of the game I look over there and I say, `I don't care what else is happening, I've got to have Marcus in the game.' I think he'll be very important to us on Wednesday night as well," Coach Williams said. "He's just a wonderful, wonderful young man that I think really brings it every night. That's the kind of thing you like to have."
In ACC play, Ginyard is the No. 1 non-starter in terms of minutes played (16.6). He has also shot 14-of-26 (53.8%) from the field and is averaging 4.1 points per game in league play. He also ranks fifth on the team in rebounding (3.0 a game) and third in offensive rebounding (1.6 a game). He is tied for second in steals with nine and has also added nine assists and six turnovers. He missed the Arizona game due to illness, but in his last three conference games he has 13 points (5-of-7 shooting), nine rebounds (three offensive), six assists, one turnover and two steals in 17 minutes a game. On the season, Ginyard is shooting 51.4% and averaging 3.9 points per game, 3.0 rebounds (1.4 offensive rebounds), 1.4 assists and 1.2 steals. His assist-turnover ratio on the year is 33 assists to 25 turnovers (1.3), while his ACC assist-turnover ratio is 1.5.
Last year at Duke, Ginyard won the defensive player of the game award as he limited JJ Redick to 5-of-21 shooting from the floor. Ginyard also added 12 points, four rebounds, two assists, a block and a steal in the win at Cameron. Ginyard's contributions to this team in both tangible ways (like statistics) and intangible ways (like his on-court defensive leadership) will be necessary as Carolina heads into one of the most hostile environments in college basketball.
Josh McRoberts: Against Florida State, McRoberts had 12 points on 5-of-11 shooting and added five rebounds, an assist and four blocks in 34 minutes.
The sophomore big man ranks 2nd on the team and 22nd in the league in scoring with 13.2 points per game. He leads his team in rebounding and ranks 7th in the conference, pulling down 7.2 a game. He leads his team in minutes played (34.9) and ranks fourth in the league in that category. He leads his team and is second in the league in defensive rebounding with 5.7 a game, and he also leads his team in offensive rebounding with 2.0 a game. He is tied for second place on the team in steals with 1.1 a game, and leads the team in blocks with 2.6 a game.
His field-goal percentage has gone down from last season from 60.5% to 48.7%, but with the absence of guys like JJ Redick and Shelden Williams, McRoberts has been forced to become much more of an offensive presence.
In ACC play, McRoberts not only leads the team in blocks but is also the only Duke player to have more than three with 15 (2.1 a game). In the first seven games of ACC play, he had 60 rebounds (8.6 a game). In the last two games, he has just seven (3.5), including a season-low two at Virginia. In Duke's first 14 games, he had 59 assists (4.2 a game). In Duke's nine conference games, he has 27 assists (3.0 a game). He is tied for the lead in assists on the team with point guard Greg Paulus, both dishing out 86 assists or 3.7 a game. He also ranks 10th in the league in assist-turnover ratio (1.62). The fact that McRoberts is a 6-10 big man who can rebound, block shots, score, run the floor and is among the best passing big man in the nation makes him a post player with a special skill set.
"It's very unique. I can't remember any big man in the ACC leading his team in assists and being one of the top guys in the league in assists. So first of all you've got the statistical thing to back it up," Coach Williams said. "What you see on the court, he can take it from one end to the other. He can bring it up against pressure. He can allow an offense to be run through him because he sees the court so well in a half-court situation. Those other guys can keep moving, knowing that if they do get a screen or if they get a guy to turn their head, that they can get a lay-up. To me, it's highly unusual to do it to the level of excellence that he does it."
DeMarcus Nelson: In the Florida State game, Nelson had 14 points but attempted 19 shots and made just six. He shot 1-of-5 from the three-point line and 1-of-3 from the free-throw line. Nelson leads the team in scoring and ranks 16th in the league with 14.4 points a game. He is second on the team and 20th in the league in rebounding with 5.5 boards a game. He ranks second on the team in offensive rebounds with 1.5 a game. He is shooting 49.4% from the field, third on the team, and 37.9% from beyond the arc, second on the team. He is tied for first on the team in steals with 1.4 a game and ranks fourth in assists with 2.0 a game.
He only played in 24 games last season, but he has already improved his field-goal percentage from 45.2% to 49.4%. Nelson is experiencing a bit of a shooting slump from the three-point line, as he shot 27-of-61 (44.3%) from beyond the arc in Duke's first 15 games and has shot 6-of-26 (23.1%) in its last eight games. Prior to ACC play, Nelson was getting to the free-throw line an average of 4.7 times a game and hitting 63.6% of his attempts. In league play, he is 6-of-17 from the line (35.3%) and average just 1.9 attempts. In three of Duke's five losses, Nelson has failed to get to the free-throw line.
He has significantly upped his rebounding output in league play, averaging 5.6 boards a game prior to the ACC season and 9.6 in league play. Nelson has at least one offensive rebound in all but three of Duke's nine ACC games. In the last four games, he has 11 offensive rebounds. In games in which Nelson has attempted 10 or more shots, Duke is 10-5. Nelson has attempted ten or more shots in each of the last five games, and Duke is 3-2 in those games.
The 6-4 junior can really crash the boards. He is one of the quicker Blue Devils and if the Tar Heels do not contain Duke's leading scorer defensively, he could go off against Carolina. In Carolina and Duke's last meeting, Nelson had a season-high 17 points in just 29 minutes on 6-of-11 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
Greg Paulus: Paulus had a career-high 23 points including a 4-of-6 performance from the three-point line and added four rebounds, three assists and two turnovers in 38 minutes of action in the loss to Florida State. The sophomore point guard is tied for the lead in assists on the team with 3.7 a game and ranks first in three-point percentage (43.2%). He is second in free-throw percentage at 81.2% and fourth in scoring with 9.3 points a game. He ranks first on the team in turnovers with 2.3 a game and second in fouls with 61.
Paulus struggled at the beginning of the season, finishing out Duke's non-conference schedule with 51 assists and 42 turnovers. In his first three league games, the struggles continued as he dished out seven assists to 11 turnovers. Since then, Paulus has 27 assists to just 12 turnovers. In his last three games, he has 14 assists to just five turnovers. His assist-turnover ratio in league play is 34 assists to 23 turnovers, or 1.5.
"He's deceptive. People are like, `Oh, he's so slow,' but I really think he can beat you off the dribble if you're sleeping on him or if you're lagging. He can shoot it. He's proved that this year, shooting much better and making 4-5 three's in some games. Having a leader like that where he knows where guys are supposed to be and he's a great passer, too, so he causes a lot of problems," Bobby Frasor said.
David McClure: In the loss to Florida State, McClure did not score but had five rebounds, two steals and a block. McClure is "Mr. Intangibles" on this Duke squad. He doesn't rank in the conference or lead his team in any major statistical category, but he is tied for first on the team in steals with 1.4 a game. He is also tied for first in the fewest turnovers per game with 1.2. He ranks second in blocks (0.8 a game), third in rebounding (5.3 a game), and third in offensive rebounds (1.4 a game). He could fit the somewhat-recent trend of lesser-regarded stars like Nelson last year exploding to have a huge game against Carolina.
Quotables
"I've had a guy put a Duke bumper sticker on my truck before. It really made me mad. I peeled it off, immediately. I was at the movies and when I came out there was a Duke sticker on my truck. I didn't notice it until I got back. It wasn't even that big. It was a white sticker and it had the Duke symbol on it. I couldn't believe it. I was so upset." -Tyler Hansbrough
"There are a lot of people that have suggestions. It's funny; I talked to somebody the other day who said, `If you're a doctor, if you're a pharmacist, if you're a real estate guy or an insurance man, people don't believe that they can do their job just as well as you do. But if you're a coach, everybody thinks they can do your job just as well as you do so you've got to understand that.'" A lot of people, especially after you lose, they're going to say, `Oh, Coach should have done this.' That's all fine and good, and I have zero problems with that. I just know one thing: I've never called an insurance agent and tried to tell him his rate on the flood insurance coverage is bad or anything like that, and I've known some really bad insurance men too, but I would never do that. " -Roy Williams
"They (NC State) shot 76% in the second half. I talked to our staff and I said, `I don't think anybody's ever done that against us.' Joe (Holladay) said, `That's got to be a record.' I said, `Well, don't look it up, because if it's not, I sure as the dickens don't want to remember that other game.'" -Roy Williams
"To do something as silly as we did at the end of the half - to let a team catch the basketball and dribble it down the court and lay the dadgum thing up - I'd rather somebody just slice my wrists, because that made me so dadgum sick. If I'd had a gun I would have shot somebody. There's an old saying that there's a reason they don't give coaches guns, and there's the reason right there. ... My momma told me she was going to shoot me about 500 times, and I never thought she was going to shoot me. But my players have a little doubt, and I think that's good." - Roy Williams
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
