University of North Carolina Athletics
North Carolina 93, NC State 62
January 12, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 12, 2008
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North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement:
"Needless to say, it was a great first half for us. They had a lot of shots that they normally make that didn't go in for them today. I think our defense had something to do with it, but it wasn't the only reason. A couple of things that were really pleasing to me were that Ty [Lawson] did sprain his ankle early, and he got re-taped. I told him that he wasn't any better looking than he was last year, but that I think he was tougher. He really showed that in the second half because he got refocused again and came out and did a nice job for us.
Quentin Thomas had a good game, did some good things for us. So hopefully, this will give him some more confidence. One of the other things I said at halftime was that the guys that came off the bench really gave us something. Will Graves is just sick. He missed practice I think on both Thursday and Friday. Q didn't practice Thursday, came back on Friday and said he felt better. Again, I think it was really good for us in the first half. It was one of those days where things broke well for us, and it didn't do it for them. I am a little disappointed in the way we played in the second half. They shot 58%, and we can't have that. But it's hard to maintain the kind of play we had in the first half. Sidney's guys kept battling and really did some good stuff for them in the second half."
On the play of Danny Green:
"Danny has done some good things. I still get frustrated when he doesn't close out and lets a guy drive right past him, and then the guy scores on Marcus [Ginyard]. Then everyone says that the guy scored over Marcus, but the reason he did was because Marcus had to help out Danny. But Danny has really played pretty doggone well for us all year and has given us really good things. He couldn't make an outside shot today, but just his activity on the outside boards was great. I said the other day that I feel like I have six starters, and I feel like Danny is playing really good basketball for us. I had a session with Danny and Deon yesterday, and we talked more about defense than anything else really."
On how good he thinks his team is this season:
"I still don't know. If we play defense like we did in the first half---and again, our defense didn't cause all that 18% shooting [for NC State]. They just missed some shots that they usually make--but I was real pleased how we swarmed the ball. We had eight blocks at the half, and one in the second half. I don't know how many steals we had, but most of those were in the first half. When we play defense, are really swarming, doing what we are suppose to do, and listening to the scouting report then I think we are pretty doggone good. It's two games into the conference season so we will find out [how good we are] in the next couple of weeks."
NC State Head Coach Sidney Lowe
Opening Statement:
"It was a tough one, tough game. We played against a very good ball club. We didn't play particularly well in that first half. We missed a lot of shots inside and we were probably about 3-23 in the paint, and only one free throw. So twenty-three shots we missed and didn't have an opportunity to go to the free throw line. They came down and executed their stuff, which they do well and got some breaks. I thought the second half we came out and played a lot better. A little more patient in the second half and as a result we shot a higher percentage. They already had a big lead and executed their stuff. We tried to make a run and they jumped right back on us. They played a great game and it's a good ball game for them."
On the absence of a leader at the guard position:
"Huge factor, playing against this team in this arena with the pressure on is tough. If
you've never done it before it is an eye opener and it was an experience for our young
guys. Last year we had a veteran to keep us under control. Our guards are going to
continue to get better and this was a good experience for them."
On a disappointing performance in today's loss:
"We played against a very good ball club, the number one team in the country and they
play well. I did not expect us to shoot 3-23 in the paint and one free throw. If we make
a couple of those or we get a couple fouls and get to the line who knows it is maybe a
different game, a little closer anyway. I did not see this coming or going 3-23 in the
paint. Taking a bad shot against this team is like a turnover because it is going to lead
to a fast break or they are going to execute their stuff."
On what positives you can take from this loss:
"The fact that this is what it is going to be like. This is how the conference is going
to be played. I don't know about building on it, but understand that this is the type of
the environment we are going to be in and we are going to have to execute. We have to
play good basketball to win on the road or at home. These type of environments exist in
our conference an we have to be ready to play. We have to do the right things at the
start and be patient not break away or be so excited that we try to do it ourselves."
On the 34-4 run:
"We just focused in on defensive principles and picked up the intensity. We got us going with good defense and easy baskets on offense. They were missing some shots, but I guess it was due to our good defense, so we just kept that going and, we went up big at halftime.
On his statline and double-double:
"I feel pretty good about it; more happy about the win. We just continue to keep winning, keep playing good, we just want to get better every game."
On responding to Roy's comments on raising level of play:
"The whole team pretty much picked it up in practice, just talking and communicating. We know what we got to do to get better, and that's getting better on the defensive end. That's little things: boxing out and just playing our principles the right way coach asks us to. So, we did that tonight and it worked out for us. We had some spurts where we didn't do it as well as we wanted to, but, for the most part, we did a pretty good job of it.
On chemistry with Quentin Thomas:
"Yeah he was finding me in the second half really good. That's one Q does really good, he can pass the ball really good."
On State's struggles in the 1st half:
"I think our defense had a big thing to do with it, but I mean, they were missing shots, so that also helps. Our defense was up to where it should be in the first half...We're the number one team in the nation, and I guess for a reason. If we just play how we're supposed to play, then that's the way it should be...They didn't seem frustrated. They weren't arguing at each other or anything like that. They just seemed like their shots weren't falling."
On #13 (Marques Johnson):
"He looked like once he came across half-court, he was ready to give it up to whoever came to the ball first, so we just started pressuring him, he started making a couple mistakes, and that's what helped our defense. Everybody got up and we played hard."
On the first half run:
"I just felt like we need to keep going, because they're a good team, they're just going to come back. I thought they were going to come back eventually or make a run at it at least, so I just wanted to keep going, keep scoring points, make it as high as we can before the second half."
