University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Duke Quotes
February 19, 2015 | Men's Basketball
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement:
“Well, it's extremely disappointing. If you didn't care who won the game, you had to enjoy a great college basketball game. It has certainly been hyped the last couple of days. If you happen to just like college basketball, then you had to enjoy that part of it, but I happen to love North Carolina. So, it's not so agreeable with me. Everybody is going to talk about the missed free throws, but we had mistakes in the first two minutes of the game that counted in the game, as well. For the most part, I really, really enjoyed the toughness and the poise of my team. Yes, we missed some free throws and some wide open shots and a corner that was a three that would have helped, but that is college basketball. It's 18, 19, 20, and 21 year-old kids. We've been through a tough stretch. We've lost three out of four coming in here and I am really proud of my team. They made some big plays. I thought Tyus [Jones] and Justise [Winslow] were really huge for them down the stretch. We had the lead and we throw the ball out of bounds down the court. Kennedy [Meeks] is the best passer I've ever had like that and he just threw it out of bounds. Then, Isaiah [Hicks] turns it over in the press. There were some weird things that happened. They missed some free throws and then we get the ball back and we miss some free throws. It was just two good basketball teams and the best team won tonight.”
Biggest positives coming out of the game:
“The first four minutes I thought we were brain-dead. We didn't get off on a rear screen and then they'd get the lob. We just didn't do what we wanted in the first four minutes and then it's an eight, nine, or ten point lead. After that, I really liked the way we settled down. Then we had another two-minute period in there where we just pushed a guy out of bounds and he ends up with a two-shot foul. Then we set an illegal screen, and we work so hard to set legal screens. Then we turned it over and it goes back to 10 or 11 or something. The biggest positive is the way we started the second half. It was a seven-point game at halftime. If they had made a quick run early in the second half then it's really difficult, but I really liked what our team did. Some guys grew up tonight and other guys have got to grow up tonight. It's a marathon and in this league it's a tough marathon.”
On the shift in defense against Okafor:
“Late in the game we stopped doubling Jahlil [Okafor] because we didn't want to give them threes because we were ahead. Threes add up quicker than twos. It hurt us. Brice [Johnson] was seven-for-ten, 18 points, 12 rebounds. Isaiah [Hicks] had 12 points, so it hurt us but it wasn't the major part of the game. I don't want anybody fouling out. I hated the fourth foul. His man was setting up a screen on the ball and he got cracked and he reached in and got the foul. We have got to stop making those silly fouls. If we would stop making those silly fouls, then perhaps we would have been in the game. Yeah it hurt us, but the guy we put in did some good things too.”
On the tribute to Dean Smith before the game:
“I think it shows the class that this rivalry has. Some people hate, hate, hate, and I want to beat their butts so bad I can taste it. But, there is a great deal of respect between the two programs.”
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski
Opening statement:
“It was a great game. One team had to win and one team had to lose and it's one possession and we won. I thought both teams played their hearts out. I don't see how both teams could have played any harder than they did. Their inside guys hurt us. We were so trying to stop (Marcus) Paige, (Brice) Johnson and (Kennedy) Meeks and they were something like 15-out-of-20. We couldn't hit a free throw the whole game. We were 16-31. At times we were young. At the start of the second half we missed three inside shots that you should hit. We started thinking about the miss and they transition so well that – boom – they score. That's what happened to us for a couple of weeks in January. Our defense wasn't good, but I thought a lot of it had to do with our reaction to misses. Then we hunkered down and in the last minute and 38 seconds to be able to tie it was great. Tyus (Jones) really made some great plays for us and we made stops. We had some great defensive exchange to end regulation. In overtime we were 3-for-9 for free throws. I thought we handled that last five seconds really well. We feel ecstatic, we feel fortunate. We certainly know that we played a heck of a team tonight. They were deserving of winning and I thought we were too and that's what made it such a great game.”
On Tyus Jones:
“He's good. You start out with that. One of the reasons we waited three years to get him is because I thought he had special qualities, not just special talents. It shows up in big games and big moments. What is interesting is that he passed up a wide open three. (Amile) Jefferson and the guys got on him. The next time he hit it. Sometimes he would rather have someone else do it, but when he took the wheel the car finished in first place. He was tremendous.”
On Dean Smith tribute:
“Dean (Smith)'s passing really affected all of us. I thought the way we did it was the best. Roy (Williams) and I are great friends. We both understand that we are the lucky guys to coach these two teams. I'd rather have both teams on a knee, intermingled. I thought that was good. Really touching. You could see (the players) were moved by it. Yesterday when we met, I talked to my team about Coach Smith, about who he was and what he did. At that moment, it wasn't just a moment of silence, it means a lot. I loved the way that went. He was looking down, he may not have liked the end result of the game, but I'm sure he liked the way both teams played.”
