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UNC-Miami Postgame Quotes
March 11, 2011 | Men's Basketball
March 11, 2011
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Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement:
"We were as lucky as we could possibly be. Those kinds of things happen at tournament time. We watched yesterday when there were two or three buckets at the buzzer. We were as bad as we could possibly be for the first 35 minutes. We had 15 (14) turnovers at half. They had 19 points, I think, first half on our turnovers. Second half we stopped turning the ball over and getting shots and needless to say that helps you a lot when you have only five (6) turnovers in the second half. It wasn't a panic situation but it was a crisis. We went to a small lineup to try to get more shooters in there and we went to more of our traps and double-teams on the defensive end. We haven't done that very often this year, but sometimes when it's a crisis it can require, I guess, drastic measures. We usually don't do it that well but we did it that well today. You feel for (Coach) Frank (Haith) of Miami, his coaches and his players. We were as lucky as you could possibly be that they missed a couple of free throws, they dropped one of the balls out of bounds, our traps got them a little more tentative than probably Frank wants them to be. But Frank does a really nice job, they're hard to play. He's a quality person, too. We went small and started making 3s. I think Leslie (McDonald) make a couple, Kendall (Marshall) made a couple. Kendall even took one that had the state map been there (the mid-court logo at the Smith Center) he would have been in Tennessee. It was outside the state map had he been in Chapel Hill. He got a little happy there at one time, but he did a nice job. He only had one turnover in the second half and had three at halftime. A lot of the game Harrison (Barnes) was our only offense. Then we went to Z (Tyler Zeller) down the stretch because we got it within one possession and we wanted to go back big. Z made our last four baskets and the last one was on a big-time play by Kendall."
Do you think it has helped you to play in close games?
"Yes, our kids have never given up. They have always tried to compete the entire time. Just this week, we talked a couple of times in practice about the score is tight and you gotta try to take something to the basket, you gotta attack. Miami did a nice job; they had fouls to waste so they made us take time. The last play I was yelling at Kendall (Marshall) either go or go to Harrison (Barnes). Players make plays, I'm just standing over there acting like I know what the crap I am doing here. That one, I think it was beneficial to talk about it and work on it this week. I gave something going to the basket when the score is tied."
On going to the three guard lineup:
"We needed something different. We were getting our tails kicked, it was 15 or 16 or whatever the dickens it was so I knew we needed to go to our traps and try to get more of a scramble going. We were going to double the screen on the ball and try to do some things there so we needed to be smaller. We got to do something. I have had my tail beat a lot of times but very seldom have I sat over there and crossed my arms and said you got our day today but it doesn't have to be that way. I was willing to try about anything but the kids stepped forward. I was just as smart in the first half when they were kicking our rear ends, too but it didn't help in the first half. It did when the kids started doing their job a lot better."
Pulled the team and put in five walk-ons and left them in after the television timeout, were you trying to send a message?
"I cannot describe what I said because I've got no idea but I did check my pulse and it was solid. It worked to the extent that it challenged our guys and told them I wasn't going to sit there. I love those guys. I think they were outscored two to nothing while they were in there. Again, you can send messages but if you send messages, people have to receive it. Our guys received it, it just took longer to settle in probably."
How did this game rank as a comeback in your career?
"This was my 800th game as a head coach so I have had a lot of times when I've gotten my tail kicked and we have had some close wins and we have had some great comebacks. This is right up there because of the status of playing in the ACC Tournament. I have loved this team. I can go back to the first conference game when we stunk it up against Virginia but then we really did the tough things down the stretch and that's the way this team has fought all year long. It was a good win for us, now we need to catch our breath, relax a little bit, and get something to eat and then focus on tonight who we will play tomorrow."
Was there concern it might take a while for them to get their feet back under them today?
"There was concern, I don't think there was expectation. I was concerned about it, we talked about it. I do think we went out with too carefree or casual, we didn't have the intensity that Miami did. We weren't doing the things we needed to do so then try to do something to change it."
Can you comment on Tyler Zeller winning the scholar athlete award?
"He does take an intelligent or cerebral approach to everything he does and as you know, he wouldn't get that if he wasn't a great student. He is a student of the game of basketball. He understands when I make some silly moves, he doesn't have to have it explained to him. It is a big day for him and for our academic support people. It boils down to youngsters have to do the work and Tyler has been doing that since he started."
Freshman Guard Kendall Marshall
Describe the winning play:
"The main thing is we just wanted to get something going to the basket, make sure we took the last shot being that it was a tie game. If we can get to the basket, hopefully get a tip-in if we missed it. But I saw the way they were playing me. I think it was (Julian) Gamble who didn't hedge out as hard as I wanted him to so I just kept going to the basket. Z's man came over and helped and I found him underneath the basket. I took a quick look over at the clock as I was going toward the basket and saw I had enough time to give it off to him. Thankfully he made the layup."
For the majority of the game, they kept you at bay when you made a push, was there a point where your mindset changed?
"Miami is a great team. I don't think their record speaks to how good they are. They have had a lot of close losses. Our will to win had to be greater than theirs. Coach always talks about that, he does a great job of instilling that into our heads. I think it was just a matter of starting to get stops and we started knocking down a couple of threes."
On challenge of getting back up after last week's run:
"This will definitely help us. We realize that we have more goals this season that we want to accomplish. The first goal was to win the ACC regular season and we accomplished that but we can't rest on our laurels."
What was your reaction as a starter when the walk-ons were on the court and you were still on the bench?
"At the time I was really ticked off because you want to get in there and help your team out. Coach told us what we were doing wrong in so many words that I can't say. We saw Blue Steel giving it their all so it inspired us. It took us awhile to get started but I think we came through in the end."
Junior center Tyler Zeller
Describe the winning play:
"It's one of those things that people always make fun of me for not dunking, but it paid off on that possession. I had to shoot it as fast as possible. I knew as soon as I let it go that I had gotten it off in time just because I knew the buzzer had gone off after it left my hand."
The emotions you felt when the shot went in at the end of the game:
"I was obviously very happy. It was one of those things that I have to give all the credit to Kendall because I didn't do anything but stand in there and shoot a layup. He's the one that made the play and drew my man over so he's the one that gets all the credit for it."
Any challenge getting back up to where you need to be after last week's run?
"A little bit, it is one of those things. We are basketball players so we are going to go through that but we also need to play a lot better in the beginning of the game and we can't wait until the last eight to 10 minutes before we start playing. It is one of those things we just need to learn from this game. I think this team has done a great job with that so far this year."
