University of North Carolina Athletics
Q&A With Roy Williams
October 2, 2014 | Men's Basketball
CHAPEL HILL—Naismith Hall of Famer Roy Williams is set to begin his 12th season as the University of North Carolina's basketball coach. Last year, he won his 300th game at Carolina, reaching that mark in fewer games than any coach in the history of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
The Tar Heels return three starers, including All-America guard Marcus Paige, as well as forwards J.P. Tokoto, Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson. With several ranked teams in the new ACC and another challenging schedule, it should be an exciting season in the Smith Center.
Williams touched on all of these subjects and more in an exclusive question-and-answer session with GoHeels.com earlier this week.
Q: What is one of the main factors that will determine how well UNC plays this season?
Roy Williams: The key to how successful this team is going to be is that the big guys have to step up and be able to play at a higher level. I am very confident about our play on the perimeter. I am hoping that is not false confidence. But I think Marcus (Paige) and J.P. (Tokoto) are going to continue to get better and the freshmen are going to come in and help us. Nate Britt is going to be better. Brice Johnson, Kennedy Meeks, Joel James and the other big guys have all had some really good moments. But I need them to raise their play and do it at the top level. They can't have great moments one game out of four. They have to get their play to a high level and keep it there consistently.
Q: What did your team learn from last season?
RW: The season was unusual. I hope we learned that we played really well in those games that we were prepared to play. We had some great accomplishments, especially beating Kentucky, Louisville, Michigan State at their place when they were number one, Duke. The Iowa State loss was not a bad loss. They were really good, the higher seed, they were a better team. But it was still a very emotionally draining game because the way the year had gone. We had hoped to really get a run going at the end of the year and forget about some of those disappointing early losses. I told them in the locker room in San Antonio to use what they were feeling as fuel to try and get your engine rolling even more this year.
Q: Have you seen them use that NCAA Tournament loss in their preparation for this season?
RW: I've seen a very focused group, a very driven team in the off-season conditioning, in the weight room and what they are trying to do as a basketball player. Marcus, J.P., Desmond (Hubert), those guys have been good leaders in the off-season to try and push the other guys to get done what they need to be doing to improve.
Q: Is there anything you can take from the team's two exhibition games in August in the Bahamas?
RW: I don't put a lot on what happened there but it did tell us some things. It gave the freshmen a chance to get their feet wet a little bit, and that's good. It gave Isaiah (Hicks) an opportunity to spend more time on the court, gave Stilman (White) some minutes after two years away from it. So it's not that it told us a thousand things, but it did help us.
Q: Outside the program people are questioning this team's ability to shoot the ball. Is that a valid concern?
RW: I've been worried about outside shooting every year I've been a coach (laughs). There's no question that we need to shoot the ball better than last year, and I think we will do that. At the same time, you have to be able to hide some things and play to your strengths. In 2009, we were not a really good defensive team until it counted. Then we were a great defensive team. In 2013, we weren't a very good inside scoring team, but we won a lot games because we could shoot the ball really well. Now we have to get more inside scoring and have to do a much better job of offensive rebounding and do a better job of guarding the three-point line, so we are not giving up threes and scoring twos. The game is a constant give and take. You're never going to have the perfect team that does everything. 2005, 2007 and 2009 were pretty doggone close but you don't have those kinds of team very often.
Q: Marcus Paige has been named a preseason National Player of the Year candidate. Are you concerned about those kinds of expectations putting too much pressure on him?
RW: People are expecting too much from Marcus but I do have a great deal of confidence in Marcus. No one expects more from Marcus than he does. He gives all the players a level of confidence because they have so much trust in him and that's always good. But he's human. He made a ton of big shots for us, but he missed one that he probably should not even have taken late in the Iowa State game, so he's human and he makes mistakes. But our players know that. He had as good a year as a point guard, with all its responsibilities, as anybody maybe I have ever had.
Q: What part of Marcus's game do you want him to improve in?
RW: Everything. I want him to be a basketball player and not feel like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Some of those other guys have to step up instead of waiting for Marcus to get us going. If they do that, it will make Marcus even better because I have so much confidence in him. But I don't want him to feel like he has to play great for us to win or it's his fault if we lose.
Q: Is Marcus a point guard, a shooting guard or a basketball player who can play either position?
RW: First of all, he's a basketball player and, second, he's a point guard. And we may play two point guards at the same time even more than we did last year. We will go two point guards more often, but we played like that for about 15-20 minutes a game that way last year. Joel (Berry II), Stilman and Nate all realize that Marcus can do some big-time things off the ball, but I want the ball in his hands. He's going to be our point guard when it comes to crunch time and decisions have to be made; Marcus is the one who has to make them.
Q: J.P. Tokoto improved a great deal from his freshman to sophomore seasons. What does he need to do to take that next step as a player and a leader?
RW: J.P. improved dramatically last year and I want him to improve even more dramatically this year. There are two things he has to emphasize and if he does them, then he gets to be an elite level player. First is his defensive play and, second, his offensive rebounding. He got a lot of credit last year for his defense because he made the outrageous plays. It wasn't because he was a solid defensive player on every possession, but he could make some of the most outrageous plays that anybody saw. He has to be more fundamentally sound defensively and he has to be a better offensive rebounder. He also has a chance to be an outstanding leader and we need him to become that.
Q: You touched on earlier that you need to be better guarding the three-point line. Can this become a great defensive team?
RW: I think we can be much better defensively than we were last year. All the big guys are going to be better and that helps. Each year we try to build good habits, which make each of them better defensive players.
Q: How will you know if you are getting the kind of low-post play that you will need to have a great season?
RW: When it's crunch time and we need a basket, do we have a guy that we can throw the ball to and he will score for us? We have been very fortunate here, whether it's been Sean May, Tyler Hansbrough, Tyler Zeller, all the way down the line, we've had some guys who could score and get fouled. We have to find that guy who can do it against the top level of competition, against the elite teams.
Q: What does Brice Johnson have to do to become that inside scoring presence?
RW: Number one, Brice has to stay healthy. He turned his ankle in the Iowa State game and then twisted it again when we were in the Bahamas so we were without him for most of those two games. He's added some muscle. Now he has to learn how to handle that muscle and be able to jump as high, run as fast and do those kinds of things. We need Brice to score and rebound and we need him to do it on a consistent basis.
Q: Kennedy Meeks did some terrific things at times as a freshman and has worked hard in the off-season. Is he at the point where he can play extended minutes to take more advantage of his skills?
RW: Kennedy has done such a nice job with his body, now he's got to get his mind in believing that he can do some things and he has to push himself harder. He and Brice have to push themselves, because they both have moments where they can do it, but, I sound like a stuck record, they have to do it on a consistent basis. They both have had moments. Kennedy was really good against Michigan State and Louisville and he had a double-double in the NCAA Tournament against Iowa State. Now he has to do it where he makes us feel like we can count on that every night. And part of that is the toughness issue of pushing yourself harder and being tougher on game night. Kennedy, Brice and Joel James all have to do that and all are capable of doing that.
Q: How would you describe the three freshmen (Joel Berry II, Justin Jackson and Theo Pinson)?
RW: All three of the freshmen are basketball players and I say that meaning they know how to play the game. When the pass is there, they make the pass. They don't try to force it. All three have played a lot of basketball in their lives and they instinctively make the right play. All three can score and pass. Justin and Joel both can shoot the ball really well. Theo is an aggressive playmaker. I have a great deal of confidence that they will be able to play from the first day.
Q: When people see or hear "Carolina Basketball," what do you want them to think?
RW: I want them to think of a great basketball program that does every aspect of being a great program at a high level. You've got to be able to win, with kids who want to get their degree, who are serious about their education, who compete at the highest level, show tremendous character, care about each other and their school and can be a model program for others.
Williams is 306-89 (.775) in 11 seasons at Carolina, making him the second-winningest coach in school history.
A member of the Naismith Basketball and College Basketball Halls of Fame, Williams has led Carolina to national championships in 2005 and 2009, another Final Four in 2008, Elite Eights in 2007, 2011 and 2012, five NCAA Tournament No. 1 seeds in 10 appearances, seven Associated Press Top 10 final rankings, six ACC regular-season titles, two ACC Tournament crowns and five 30-win seasons and has developed 15 first-round NBA Draft picks.
