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UNC-N.C. State Quotes
February 25, 2016 | Men's Basketball
ROY WILLIAMS QUOTES
Opening Statement:
“I don't very often look at the clock so I can't tell you exactly what it was but I knew they were kicking our tails. The crowd was going wild and they were making shots. I was pleased with the way we kept playing. We played like a veteran club. We didn't do anything crazy. I did take Brice and Kennedy out quickly because we talked about boxing out before the game then they had three bad box outs between the two of them. Hopefully it worked a little bit. They did a better job rebounding. The second half we did a better job of and boxing out and not letting them get two shots each time. Justin Jackson kept us in the game. I always say you can't lose the game in the first half but it looked like they were running us out of the building. Justin made some big shots for us in that stretch. Brice made one and Theo got to the basket for a good one. For me, the whole game was that stretch right there. They scored their last field goal with nine minutes left but then we kept fouling them and gave them eight points. We got off to a good start the second half then weathered the storm. We didn't execute end-of-game situations the best with some turnovers and missed shots. We got very fortunate. We outrebounded them 43-36. First half they had us 11-2 on points off offensive rebounds. In the second half, we got them 7-4. In the second half, we did a better job of boxing out and staying in front of Cat. His first two shots our big guys didn't get back to build a wall to slow him down. When he's coming at you full speed, there's almost no one who can stay in front of him by themselves. We got help. Joel Berry and Marcus had trouble with his speed.”
On Switching Theo Pinson To Guard Cat Barber:
“Both Joel and Nate got two fouls. I put Joel back in then got he and Nate both out. Neither one of them played the last few minutes of the half. That's the reason we went with Theo. With him being taller, he can give Cat more space. We hoped his size and length would bother his shot a little bit. I don't know how much we bothered a guy that got 32.”
On Playing in the ACC:
“Again guys, this is the ACC. Jim Larranaga said it best Saturday night: In this league you're gonna lose some. Everybody you play is good. It looks like down the stretch that everyone we play will be good. State had won three in a row at home and the rest of our conference games won't be any easier. The big key is we didn't have a 'woe is me' feel after not executing in the Duke game. We gave the kids a day off, had a big-time practice Friday and played well on Saturday.”
MARK GOTTFRIED QUOTES
Opening Statement:
“I loved our start. We had a great start and didn't sustain it. But I thought our guys competed really hard. At about the 10-minute mark in the second half, it was about a four-point game and they had a run there that separated them. That was really the difference. In the second half Brice Johnson was terrific. They had too much offensive firepower for our guys. We had some good looks and missed some shots in that stretch. In my opinion, that was the name of the game in the second half. That is when they seemed to pull away a little bit. They are a good team and I thought their offense in the second half was pretty good.”
On struggles against UNC's smaller lineup:
“We had some match-up problems. I stuck with our two big guys in there, thinking we could take advantage of that offensively, but we didn't get the ball inside enough during that stretch. So that gave us a disadvantage on offense. We came out in the second half and we were right there in a four-point game. Then we just had a really bad stretch after that point.”
On Cat's hot start:
“Its hard to maintain that level of play. Early in the game he was spectacular, he just played at a high level. I think he started to get a little tired, so I gave him a blow there. I thought he came back and played good. He was really good early and he was good later. He struggled somewhat in the middle. But those first 10 minutes of the game he was spectacular.”
On limiting transition points:
“They had a few, they got out and ran a little bit. But that wasn't the difference in the game. And their offensive rebounding wasn't the difference; it was their ability to score in the paint. We had way too many defensive breakdowns. We didn't defend the ball-screen action well at all. I think that was our biggest defensive flaw throughout the game. They got inside on us and got in the paint. That was probably the difference more than anything. They're a team that runs a lot and they're going to get a few. They're a good offensive team, and you look at their last couple games and they are playing extremely well right now.”
