University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Robert Morris Postgame Quotes
November 17, 2014 | Men's Basketball
Postgame Press Conference
North Carolina 103, Robert Morris 59
Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement
“Well, we were, I thought, much more active defensively tonight than we were Friday night. That seems like a long time ago, but I think that we turned those turnovers and those missed shots into break better. But we also executed much better against their zone; we moved it better to night. Our big guys can pass the ball and we've done a nice job of that in practice. We didn't do that Friday night but I though that we did tonight. We are more gifted than Robert Morris, but I think that I was pleased with our effort and I thought that I should be pleased with our attempt and it think that the biggest thing is that early in the game I think we dominated the boards. If you're not a good shooting team then you better go and get your misses. We have had some great teams. We have has some teams that didn't mind playing us in zone and people who wouldn't play zone against us because we move the ball so well and did such a great job on offensive backboards. So that's what we have to do if we aren't shooting it as well as I would like for us to. It was fun to see Marcus [Paige] make a couple of them there. He missed his last couple, but I think that Bryce [Johnson] and Kennedy [Meeks] and their passing early in the game was huge for us and the work on the offensive boards. We can get better and I think that we need to do that. We get off tomorrow and then practice on Tuesday, a light practice on Wednesday, and then really get after it Thursday and Friday and try to get better.”
On Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson stepping up
“Well they did, what we have to do is see that over the course of the season. I thought last year those guys had some good games, some really good games now and then, but its got to be on a consistent basis, like Tyler Zeller, John Henson, Tyler Hansbrough [and] Sean May. Those guys give it to you every night and then its difficult for the other team to play anything.”
On comparing this team to previous Carolina teams
“We were fortunate we had really good shooting teams. Probably in 1990 we averaged 92 a game and shot over 50 percent from the floor and people couldn't guard us because we had all guys who could pass and shoot. That was a lot of fun, I kind of sat over and clapped. But this could be the best offensive rebounding team I have ever coached. Now we have to do it, we don't get any point for me just saying it but this could be the best offensive rebound team I have ever coached.”
UNC Player Quotes
J.P. Tokoto, Jr., F
On the depth of the team
“It's all about personnel. Who you're playing with and stuff makes it a lot easier. Our bigs have great hands. A lot of the passes I made tonight were easy passes for me just because I can see the defense. I can see where the defense is going and where my teammates are.”
On playing the zone defense
“The defense they were playing tonight, to me, it was spread out so it was easy for me to see who was open and where my teammates were. That's how I feel against any zone, 2-3, 3-2, 1-3-1 whatever they are playing. I'm confident in my passing game and knowing that my teammates are going to be in the right spot.”
On attacking versus passing
“The first five or six minutes of the game, I had it in my head that I don't need to be an outside shooter tonight. I don't need to be one of those guys that's attacking. I need to be, like I said, one of those facilitators where I move the ball around, get guys open shots and see the guys that are open and hit them.”
Marcus Paige, Jr., G
On the team contributing in scoring
“We've talked about that in the off-season. That's been one of our keys in the off-season, getting Kennedy [Meeks] and Brice [Johnson] to score consistently. Tonight you saw what they're capable of. I mean, it's game two, so we still have a lot to go, but they've shown that they can do it, and they're willing to do it. I mean that's big for our team, and if they can keep up, you know maybe not 20 and 12 every night, but this level of production against quality opponents, we're going to be pretty happy with that.”
On distributing assists across the team
“Yeah, you see J.P. [Tokoto] has great vision and he can really pick apart a zone defense, especially because it gives him a chance to just survey the whole court. Then Kennedy and Brice are both willing and creative passers enough, that when they work together on that high-low, it's really tough to stop. Now that they're both finishing better too, you know, last year Kennedy didn't have much lift, Brice wasn't as strong but they're finishing around the rim better and more consistently. That definitely helps when you don't have to rely on taking a lot of jump shots.”
Kennedy Meeks, So. F
On what it takes to be consistent
“Effort. Just keep playing in the game 100 percent, as hard as we can at least. Just focus… Like I said before, effort. I think we had a lot more energy tonight”
On Coach Williams' emphasis on offensive rebounding
“Absolutely. He always says the most important part of the game is rebounding because of the second opportunities like you said. It helps us get open shots on the perimeter.”
Robert Morris Head Coach Andrew Toole
On Carolina's quick start
“That's the hardest part. You come into this kind of atmosphere and playing someone of this size and difficulty that they bring to the floor, and then they jump on you 12-0 and it's like that first offensive rebound that went out of bounds that they got, it's like one of the 50-50 balls that all of a sudden, if you can get that rebound, you think to yourself 'if we can get that stop, we can settle in and at least feel good about ourselves,' and it went their ball, we had three fouls on the possession, and they get a three-point play. It's a pretty deflating situation. That obviously made it difficult and even more of an uphill battle. But I like the way we fought back, we cut it to single digits twice in the first half, and there's just trying to sustain that effort, which is something that's so difficult. We had three or four loose balls that, all of a sudden, if we come up with on those possessions after we cut it to single digits, maybe you can cut into the lead a little bit more and get some more confidence about yourself, but that didn't happen.”
On foul trouble
“It kills you. You don't have the numbers and the depth that Carolina has, and you don't have the size and the athletes to begin with. And so now, all of a sudden, when your whole front line has two fouls in the first half, maybe they can't be as aggressive or as physical because we can't afford to get them a third, but we have to keep playing them because they're kind of just wearing you down as you go, it makes it really difficult to kind of juggle lineups and keep guys out of any more foul trouble and all that stuff.”
On G Marcquise Reed
“It's great for him. A lot of our guys that are playing their second college game made strides in the right direction. Obviously, Marcquise made some great individual plays in the context of our offense, it's something that we've seen him do in practice, seen him do in workouts, so no one on our bench was surprised that he was able to do those kind of things. Like I tell him all the time, as soon as he continues to grasp the defensive side of the floor, he's going to have even more opportunity to continue to do those kind of things.”
