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University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Valpo Quotes
November 15, 2009 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2009
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UNC v. Valpo (11/15/09) North Carolina Head Coach: Roy Williams' Quotes
Opening Statement:
"Well it's a W, it goes in the correct column. It wasn't very pretty. We didn't have the intensity that I thought we would have today. We didn't have the sharpness on the offensive end; there were some wild turnovers.
"But give Valpo credit. They made shots down the stretch. In the second half they were seven for ten from the three-point line; that will hurt anybody. They shot five for seventeen at half. I told them I didn't mind anyone shooting that. In fact, it should have been four for seventeen. I screwed up the last play. I sent Dexter [Strickland] to go double on the last play of the half and didn't realize Zeller was already up there to double, so we had a triple team and left the guy open in the corner; that should be on me. And all the ones in the second half are on me, too because we didn't play very well in the second half.
"But, like I said, it goes in the win column. I thought Deon [Thompson] responded very well to the mistake that he made. I'm not sure that Karl, who I think is a really good official, would call the same exact call if he saw the play over again. But he called it and that's what he thought it was, and you just can't make those kind of plays. It looked like they were just tangled up, and Deon was pushing to get away. I didn't think he was trying to hit the guy in the head, but that's what was called. And I thought Deon responded very well in the second half to having to sit out the last three of four minutes of the first half.
"I said before the season started that some days we're going to be pretty good and some days we're going to be pretty ugly. And today was one of those days, I thought we were pretty ugly. But again, give Valpo the credit. In one stretch in the second half, they were four out of five from the three-point line.
"We've got to go back to the bare essentials. We have a two-on-one fast break twice tonight and we don't score on either one of them. We didn't even get a shot off on one of them. We have seniors turning the ball over: Deon and Marcus [Ginyard]on three straight possessions and Larry on two straight possessions. It goes in the win column, but we have no chance in New York if we play this way."
Valparaiso Head Coach Homer Drew
Opening Statement:
"I'm really proud of our basketball team. I thought that these two guys [Brandon Wood and Brandon McPherson] really played well for us especially offensively, but I've been thrilled since I think we've had a huge growth defensively. We're very young, seven freshmen and sophomores and we're still learning each other. We're still learning how to play together. I thought tonight was a big step for our basketball team, because we shared the ball, we looked for people, and I felt our offense was very efficient. I felt our defense did well. We tried to keep it tight. But you have to compliment North Carolina. They killed us on the boards, 42-23, but our guys continued to battle, battle, battle.
"The beginning of the second half is what really hurt us. They outscored us by about sixteen points and got that twenty-something point lead. The last couple of minutes we made a run and outscored them by about thirteen. If we had done a better job and played better defense at the beginning of the second half, I think it would have been a little closer there at the end. But we made North Carolina step up and make shots, and they did. I thought [Larry] Drew's - and Drew should be playing for the Drew on the other side [the Valpo side] - really gave them the momentum. Someone else hit a three, I forget who, but those two shots really swung the momentum towards Carolina. So, the beginning of the second half and those two threes were very important for momentum."
On missing critical shots:
"We knew we had to play them an almost perfect game, coming into their arena. We played well, but to beat a team on the road you have to have all the breaks go your way and get those loose balls. You have to credit North Carolina, they have great composure for as young as they are. Ginyard is their senior leader, and he gave them toughness when they need it."
On explaining the success they did have:
"We've got two players here [Wood and McPherson] that really handle the basketball well. We've got others, like Matt Kenney who as a freshman did some really good things for us. Erik Buggs, Tommy Kurth, they just really handled the basketball well. I was very pleased for us to only have nine turnovers, it really shows the good ball handlers we have. I think they're the ones who really set that up.
The zone did a good job, but the big key is the transition points. They're just fast. If you take their transition points away, we would have won the game. The transition points really hurt us, no question."