UNC-Mount Olive Quotes

North Carolina 107, Mount Olive 64
Postgame Quotes
Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement
"Seems like I just left you guys yesterday. Y'all feel the same way? I've always said it's a glorified practice – exhibition games, that's about the way it was. I think we played 12 guys in the first 12 minutes of the game, or something like that. We were trying to get a lot of guys out there, and that in itself makes it a little more difficult to get a good flow into the game. Guys have been working hard in practice so we feel like we want to, need to and want to give them some opportunities, and we did that.

"I was extremely disappointed with 26 assists and 22 turnovers. That's one of the three things we've been emphasizing more than anything else this preseason, is not turning the ball over so we've got to do a better job there.

"Rebounding – everybody said, "God you really killed them on the boards – 69-36," and we did not kill them on the boards because they got 25 points on offensive rebounds and we got 25 points on offensive rebounds. You've got to be more productive when you do get the rebounds. Our shot selection wasn't bad, we didn't shoot it very well but the shot selection wasn't nearly as bad as the turnovers and doing a poor job on rebounding.

"It really did help us because we haven't had any live work in our press offense all year long because we don't do it very often ourselves and we haven't had any opportunities so that really helped us and hopefully we'll be a lot better. If I'm Wofford and get that tape, I would definitely press us because we looked so ragged about what we were trying to do. You think you're going to shoot better than you did tonight and I think we're going to rebound better and hopefully not turn it over as much. Again, 22 minutes is the most anybody has, 11 guys got double figures minutes if I counted right. So, glorified practice, hopefully it helped Mount Olive, I think it did help us, particularly the work against the press."

On what he liked the most tonight
"The video boards. They really looked good. … Yeah, that's about it. We got out on the court, got in front of people, got some experience playing with some different lineups in the game. I always fight because I like to have an exhibition game to get in front of people, but at the same time, I love what you can accomplish in a closed scrimmage. We scrimmaged for 65 minutes of game time [versus Villanova two weeks ago], so I think you get a lot accomplished there.

"I'd say that we didn't take many bad shots was probably the best [thing we accomplished]. We didn't move very well but still 41-80 (from the floor), 3-13 (from three), I really believe we are going to be a really good shooting team. We just didn't show it tonight."

On lineups
"I knew that I was going to start one lineup in the first half and one lineup in the second half. For the first half and then the first part of the second half I knew what I wanted to do, but I got so frustrated with that five that we started the second half with. We turned the sucker over four times in 3:25, so after that my temper got in the way of reason."

On starting Coby White
"I thought he was OK. I thought he played much better in practice than he did tonight. I think he is gonna be a heck of a player for us. He and Seventh [Woods] both had four turnovers, Coby in 22 minutes and Seventh in 16, so I don't like point guards that have those kind of turnover totals. But it was a high possession game, and our press offense, we haven't had an opportunity to play against that very much. Coby has really had a good preseason for us. There is a possibility [he could start against Wofford.] He has had a great preseason."

On Leaky Black
"He has really played well too. He is probably a better basketball player instinctively than we have had in quite a while. He made a silly turnover jumping up in the air which we talked about so much, and Seventh Woods charged a guy jumping in the air, which we talked about so much. So that is the frustrating thing. But, Leaky's shot will get better and better. He is going to be a big-time basketball player. I really believe that."

On comparing Leaky Black to Theo Pinson
"It is probably too early to do those kinds of things. But I can tell you he is probably going to be a really good defensive player. And I love Theo, nobody loves Theo more than me. But his reputation as a defensive player far exceeded actually who he was. I think Leaky is going to be a really good defensive player."

On Garrison Brooks
"Of all the big guys, he has had a better preseason than the other guys. If you think about it, the 6 for 9 were and three misses were from eight inches away so it would be helpful if he makes those … but he has had a better preseason than the other big guys."

Mount Olive Coach Joey Higginbotham

On thoughts from the game
"You don't go into a game like this looking to beat the North Carolina Tar Heels, but I thought our guys competed hard. I thought we had some good looking shots, we just didn't make some shots. They're a phenomenal team, Coach Williams is a phenomenal coach. It's an honor to be on the court with those guys and play in the first game on Roy Williams Court. It was an honor. I was proud of our guys. It was a plus that we turned them over 22 times, but we didn't turn a lot of those turnovers into points. I was proud, it was a lot of fun. Our guys enjoyed it. We are very appreciative of the opportunity."

On what the team learned from this game
"The way Carolina runs is the way we want to run. When you play a good team and you make little mistakes, they make you pay, and they did that. We've got to clean up the little things. It's early in the year, both of us have a lot to work on and get better at. We're going to find a lot of loopholes when you play a good team like that. Hopefully we helped them a little bit, but they helped us a ton."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

Theo Pinson

Coby White

Seventh Woods

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