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UNC-NC State Postgame Quotes
January 29, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 29, 2011
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North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement:
"It's a great feeling right now. It's fun to see [UNC freshman] Harrison [Barnes] with that smile on his face and to break out and do the things that he did. In the first half, we were really good early and then had four turnovers in six possessions but we didn't lose that much of the lead because N.C. State was struggling making shots. Early in the game, I thought our defense was good and then late in the first half I thought [N.C. State] just missed some shots they would normally make. We turned it over too many times in the first half unforced. We had [UNC junior Tyler] Zeller in double figures, [UNC sophomore] John [Henson] in double figures, and Justin Knox coming off the bench in double figures. We didn't' get the production we've been getting from [UNC freshman] Reggie [Bullock] and [UNC sophomore] Leslie [McDonald], but overall we shot the ball well in the second half. We gave up too many dead layups for them but overall are as happy as we can be."
On Team Progression and Turnovers:
"I said this earlier, but I thought this team was going to get better and better as the season progressed, and I still believe that. 10 turnovers in the first half and five of them were just silly turnovers. In the second half we only had five turnovers and one of those was the Blue Steel guys in there at the end. When you only turn it over four times in the first 18 minutes of the second half and shoot 58%, you're a good offensive team. We did a really good job in the rebounding battle too, and those were really the three big keys in the game."
On Harrison Barnes:
"I see flashes in practice but not as consistent as he was today. He had 19 points in the first half one game in Puerto Rico and didn't score any in the second half. Today he was making his jump shot, got some offensive boards, and in the first half he was really good defensively. He's a gifted young man who's been wanting to break out. I really did feel this: once we got into ACC play you have to raise it a level. I had a hunch that he might play better because he's gone through all those other experiences, and he's the kind of young man who learns from those things."
On John Henson:
"John's a great threat around the basket. He's long and he can block shots. I've had better defensive players, but I don't know I've had a guy who's a better shot blocker around the basket than John Henson. John's a much stronger player right now than even he realizes. He's worked hard in the weight room and gotten stronger and bigger. He's going to be a better shooter, and ended up 4 for 8 from the foul line and has been shooting free throws well in practice. There will be a time in a big time game when I'm going to be able to leave John Henson in the game at the end and not worry about his free throws."
On Keeping the Team Focused:
"Show them the tape. You can't be colorblind; you have to know which guys are your jerseys and that's who you throw it to."
NC State Head Coach Sidney Lowe
Opening Statement:
"I think obviously we dug a hole for ourselves in the first half [by] not rebounding the basketball and giving [UNC] second-chance opportunities. And then we didn't score some easy baskets. I think four of our starters combined for five of twenty-five shooting, so that's got to make for a tough night. But I thought the first half really hurt us as far as the boards were concerned. They shot 37 percent in the first half and that was with their second opportunities. So the initial defense wasn't bad, it's just securing the ball.
And in the second half I feel like their bigs really took over the basketball game, with the exception of the time Harrison Barnes hit a couple big shots. But their bigs got us really deep down into the post and we didn't do a good job of fighting to get around them."
On anything positive to draw from the lopsided outcome:
"Lorenzo Brown. I thought he played well at that position, at the one. He did a great job for us. You know, learning again, our initial defense in the first half was actually pretty good. Now we need to secure the ball. So it wasn't bad in the first half. The second half wasn't as good, but the positive is we had a freshman who had to play more minutes at the [point guard] position and did a nice job for us."
On the team's offensive success with Brown in the game:
"You know, Lorenzo's got great size. You know, he's more a north-south player. That's what I tell our guys--all the dancing around with the ball--that's not what we want to do. We want to get [the ball] and get it to the basket. And [Brown] showed in a tough environment, against a very good team, very good players, that he could handle the situation. And we will look at situations and play him more at the one."
On UNC's John Henson and his affect on NC State's offensive success in the post:
"Well I think you have to give Henson credit. But I felt that we had some opportunities [where] he didn't affect the shot. But we weren't looking at the basket, we weren't looking at the rim. We were looking for shot blockers a couple of times. So I think the fact that he had a couple of blocks--had our guys looking around a little bit. And we missed a lot of shots in there, we missed a lot of shots [from] point-blank range."
