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University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Virginia Tech Postgame Quotes
February 16, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 16, 2008
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North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening statement:
"Well it was really a great day for us. You have to feel for [Virginia Tech Coach] Seth [Greenberg]. I tell you, you go through some struggles with some freshmen, but when you play three freshmen or start three freshmen like they do and some other guys coming in, they're going to be a load down the line. I remember last year with their senior guards they beat the dickens out of us both times. Today was one of those days that so many things did go well for us. I think it was our best defensive game of the year, but let's be honest; they missed some shots that they normally would make. You look at their field goal percentage for both halves, right at 26 percent. If we had been playing defense like that the whole season it would really have been a fun time. They did miss some shots that they would normally make. They had some foul trouble early with their big guys getting two fouls pretty quickly and having to protect them.
We played well. I'm not going to act like it was just their poor play. They didn't play as well as Seth wanted them to play and shots didn't go in the basket. We had some really good things happen for us. We were more aggressive defensively. I didn't like this number of times we fouled them and put them on the free throw line, but we got some turnovers and got our break going. It was probably our best game of the year in our half court defense, and it was probably our best game of the year in our half court offense with some of the things that we ran. Quentin [Thomas] did some good things for us. Tyler [Hansbrough] was big. Wayne [Ellington]'s foul trouble bothered him, but he made some shots.
I was really pleased, and this might surprise some of you, with Deon [Thompson] and Danny [Green]. Deon was hurting, but he gave us nine minutes in the first half, and that was good. Danny was under the weather to say the least, but yet he was able to give us 21 minutes. We were already pretty doggone thin, and I think just giving us that time period. I challenged a few guys in the press conference the other day. Will [Graves] and Michael [Copeland] both, I challenged them about doing some positive things for us when they got in. I think they did that. Michael got off to a rough start the first time he came in, but Will did much much better. Everybody will think of the three point shot, but he got a defensive rebound, that was a big time rebound, and he also sprinted back on defense one time and got in the lane. Those kinds of plays were more important than the shots going in. I think those two guys did give something. When you look at the production with Danny, Will and Alex [Stepheson] coming off the bench, I think that was big for us as well. It was a good day for the Tar Heels."
On Deon's limited minutes:
"There was one loose ball in the first half, not the one that Q should have gotten, but there was one that Deon could have gotten, and he just couldn't get his motor started. I asked him at half, I said do you want to try to give us six or seven more minutes, or what do you think? He said I almost feel like I'm hurting the team. I said well then let's don't go. I do think he'll be better tomorrow. He was better today than he was yesterday. I think he'll be better tomorrow. Tomorrow's an off day so he'll get some treatment. Our medical people don't think this is the kind of thing that will linger, so I'm hopeful he'll be close to being full speed Wednesday."
On if he expected to clear the bench with four minutes left:
"Not in the ACC, you don't think in those terms. Again, with Seth's team, you've got all those freshmen in there. Sometimes they don't react the way you know they will later on. Again, we have had some adversity, but it was a good day for us. Things went smoothly for us today."
Virginia Tech Head Coach Seth Greenberg
Opening Statement:
"It is very simple, they were very good and we weren't. We didn't play very well. Its kind of embarrassing in terms of some of the decisions we made and how hard we competed. They are a very good team and we did not obviously raise our level of play to be competitive at this level tonight. It's very rare for our team to play that way, but I guess everyone has one of those in their system and this time it was ours."
On the team's effort:
"I thought it was there to start with, but we got discouraged. It's human nature probably; it's disappointing and unfortunate. I think JT battled, he battled against bigger people, but he battled and Jeff getting into foul trouble. I can't single out one person and say their effort was unacceptable. I think at times we didn't have a sense of urgency in terms of transition or communication. We didn't to a very good job of talking, it is something we really need to emphasize and it's disappointing. They are a team when things get going they are hard. The reason they were getting so many backdoors was because our effort was there and guys were trying to deny the ball. Our weak side defense did not do a very good job, but at least they were trying. Again I think this is just one of those games your going to have to mark up and just try to get better."
On UNC's defense:
"We missed a lot of shots early and we weren't poised enough to make the extra pass. They were forcing us on those ball screens and instead of really fighting to get over the top of their ball screen and get it to the other side, we kept on letting them push us to the baseline and take a bad shot. We had one of those games where we didn't play well. We haven't had a night like tonight very often. I don't think we have had a night like tonight all season. You are going to have some of those nights with this young team. I think the thing that does hurt is some of our guys are not used to understanding the intensity every night. It's one game."
UNC Player Quotes
On the team's feeling of needing to band together:
"Yea we knew we had to pick each other up. We have some guys that aren't feeling too well, some guys that are injured. So we knew we had to come together collectively as a team and play Carolina basketball."
Breaking familiarity bounds with players having to sit out:
"I think you could say that, also. We're getting used to it. Guys are going down and like I said earlier we had to pick each other up. We got guys that came in that we aren't used to playing with and now we're all just trying to play together."
All the things you tried to do out there today:
"I think I was just trying to be aggressive and get in the lane and create plays for my teammates and myself."
On the times Tyler felt Virginia Tech gave up during the game:
"Yeah, I think it was our first half of defense. I think we played good defense. We played nice the whole game..."
On whether or not he has ever had a team with this many players unable to play:
"No, I think hopefully guys will get better. Some luck will happen and when the times comes back pretty much everybody will be ready within the next couple of weeks or something. It is kind of amazing how many injuries we have but I think some guys are stepping up."
On how effectively the team played despite the injuries:
"I think guys toughed up. I think Will Graves came in and played good. [Copeland] came in there are times and Deon came in and did what he could. So I think we played good.
On getting more comfortable with Quentin playing point guard:
I think Q is getting more confidence each game. I think he's playing really well. He's really going into that spot of being that guy of going in there and take charge."
On feeling more comfortable on the court:
"I'm feeling a lot more comfortable out there, trying to get into the flow of the game and trying to be the floor leader out there."
On beating an ACC team by 39 points:
"Every ACC is very capable of winning any game. We've been dealing with a lot of injuries and adversities, but we've been fighting through it."
On smoothing over the rough spots from the last couple of games:
"I know they have a lot of good shooters, but today they missed a lot of shots. But also, I think our defense was a lot better than it has been in the past couple games and we're just continuing to try to work on it."
