GoHeels Exclusive: Pre-Miami Press Conference Notebook

By Pat James, GoHeels.com

Midway through a perfect ACC road season 11 years ago, Danny Green first announced during a postgame interview how Roy Williams refers to beating teams on the road as taking their brownies.

The saying wasn't something Williams wanted to talk about. He didn't want his players to discuss it, either. But although it's rarely been discussed publicly since Green's departure, the metaphor's still used in the Tar Heel locker room.

"He doesn't want us to say it, but he definitely uses it," Kenny Williams told reporters on Friday. "He's said it at least three times this year. That's really his thing. … It's like second nature to me now. I look forward to hearing that because I know it comes around right when we start ACC play. Those are the road games that really mean the most."

The next comes Saturday, when North Carolina visits Miami. The Tar Heels enter the contest having won their first two ACC road games at Pittsburgh and NC State. And with a win Saturday, they'll become the fourth team during Roy Williams' tenure to win its first three ACC road games.

"I've just always believed that you can win anywhere," said Roy Williams, who currently has the second-highest winning percentage in ACC road games (.633) in conference history. "I've never believed that playing on the road was that big of a negative deal. It goes back to when I played 100 years ago and I just felt like we could win in any place. I got a big thrill out of winning in another place even more so than I did at home."

Here are three more notes from Friday's press conference, leading up to Saturday's noon game:

Robinson's work paying off
In making a career-high three 3-pointers in Tuesday's 75-69 win over Notre Dame, Brandon Robinson improved to 8-of-11 from behind the arc over his last six games. The 11 3-pointers he's made this season are already a career high and a sign of his continued growth as a player.

"He's stayed the course for two years, and he's seen his work that he's been putting in come to fruition," Kenny Williams said. "I told him the other night, 'I'm so happy for you.' I know the last two years haven't been easy on him. And to see him come out and play with the confidence he played with the other night, it was great to see. I was so happy for him. It's starting to click for him."

Manley update
Roy Williams said Sterling Manley will miss his sixth straight game Saturday because of a sore left knee. He added that Manley still hasn't returned to practice.

When asked how Manley's handled his injury, Kenny Williams said the sophomore forward "is taking it all well."

"I think his head is still with the team," Kenny Williams said. "He's not distraught or anything like that. At halftime and timeouts, you might see him talking to guys. He even talks to me sometimes, just trying to pick me up and get me to pick my play up. … He's just trying to do everything he can to get on the court."

Defending Lykes
When Miami beat UNC 91-88 in Chapel Hill last season, it did so largely behind Chris Lykes, who led the Hurricanes with 18 points in one of the best performances of his freshman season.

As a sophomore, Lykes has taken on an even bigger scoring load, raising his scoring average from 9.6 to 17.9 points per game. He's also improved his field goal percentage from 40.2 to 45.8 and his 3-point percentage from 34.5 to 36.3.

"He's a very effective basketball player, regardless of what size he is," said Roy Williams of Lykes, who is listed at 5-foot-7. "He gives you so many problems. They set a ton of ball screens, and he's involved in all of them. He rejects them, he splits them, he beats you."

When asked if he's ever coached against someone Lykes' size, Roy Williams spoke of Muggsy Bogues, the 5-foot-3 point guard who starred at Wake Forest and then played in the NBA from 1987-2001.

"I thought he was one of the greatest players I'd ever seen," Roy Williams said. "I was on the staff here when Spud Webb played (at NC State from 1983–85). We've had some little guys who were really hard to handle. But it all starts with Muggsy as far as I'm concerned. I thought he was the best player of that size that I had ever seen. And guys were afraid of him."

Players Mentioned

Sterling Manley

Brandon Robinson

Kenny Williams

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