UNC-Virginia Tech Quotes

North Carolina 103, Virginia Tech 82 • January 21, 2019
Postgame Quotes

North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening statement
"We start out 1-for-12 and I was so mad at what we were doing. Garrison [Brooks] was 5-for-6 at halftime and everybody's getting fat and happy shooting the ball, but I've said all year I think we're good shooters. After that, we made 14 of our next 19 and it is funny that I have to say it all the time, but I really do believe that our defense got better when we started shooting the ball in the basket, too. We started forcing a few more turnovers. They turned it over in the first half and gave us a little bit of edge. We tried to turn it over in the second half way too much, but made a bunch of threes there. Garrison, again, 5-for-6 and he only shot one time in the second half, but I think his defense was big for us as well. Have to congratulate them. They only had eight guys warm up. It's hard to do that over the course of games. The fast pace that we like to play, they like to play fast without the bodies and it helped us – no question – it helped us for [Justin] Robinson and Alexander Walker to get three fouls in the first half. That was part of the big run we had at the last part of the first half. I like five guys in double figures, I like 25 assists on 36 baskets, I don't like 10 turnovers in the second half, but I really enjoyed watching the tapes of Buzz [Williams]'s club. I think he's done a fantastic job with short numbers and not enough size out there. I was worried to death about the game because I think that they're really, really good and they showed it the first few minutes. Then we went crazy for a while and that was it after that."

On whether the team's true identity is closer to games like those against Virginia Tech and Gonzaga or Louisville
"Somewhere in between. I hope it's a hell of a lot closer to games like this than Gonzaga or I'm going to have more gray hair or not as many. One of the two. I really don't know. I'd like to be sitting up here and tell you all these things, but I asked them to compete today as hard as we possibly could. I talked to them about how hard Virginia Tech was going to play – and that's a compliment to them – and told them that we better be able to match that, not expect the home crowd to do it. But I do like it when the ball goes in the basket and I liked probably all except two or three shots in the first half. But if you're a shooter and you're going to shoot threes, you know what you're supposed to do? Make some of them. You start 1-for-12, you're going to lose for everybody so I think they sped us up a little bit with their activity and we rushed some of the shots early in the first half. But other than that, Coby [White]'s 5-for-11, Luke [Maye]'s 4-for-5, Nassir [Little]'s 2-for-3, but [Little] hadn't shot it well in a long time. I really felt good for him about those two threes and he took the ball to the basket. The last three games he's started feeling a little more comfortable and his defensive grades the last two games have been the best defensive grades he's had all year so that might be giving him a little confidence too."

On whether Coby White, Nassir Little and Leaky Black are shedding the "freshman" label
"We're 15-4 so that's 19 games. That's quite a few opportunities to go and play. You shouldn't still be a freshman. I think Coby [White]'s done some really good things for us this year. Nassir [Littles]'s been amazing the last three games. Ask how many fouls he had tonight – he had zero. At Miami the other day, he had four and only played 15 or 16 minutes so it helps when he's not in foul trouble. Leaky hadn't played as well as I wanted, but how about the first play he's in, he doubles down on the post and steals the ball and we go to the other end. He's the one that found Coby for three on that stretch there so I think all three of our freshmen are going to be very good players and I think that they'll continue to get better and better."

On why Carolina was so successful with Justin Robinson on the bench
"[Justin Robinson]'s one of their better players. He's one of my favorite players. I mean, he's a load. He pushes the pace, he distributes the ball, he scores himself. 17 points, six assists, he's 3-for-4 from the three-point line. He's a really good player. You take Luke out of our lineup or somebody like that, we're not as good either, but him getting the third foul and I thought he should've gotten a fourth one on the play that they didn't call the foul, but he's competitive as all get out and tried to block Garrison's shot."

On what has been different for Nassir Little the last three games
"I think just getting more comfortable. I've been telling you guys all along that he's coming. He's coming, but it's just some guys it takes them a little while to get more comfortable than other guys. The defensive end of the floor is what I'll point to again. His best grades were the last two games and I know a couple times tonight he tagged and got back to his man so I think he'll probably have a better defensive grade, too."

On Coby White's balance between scoring and distributing the basketball
"I'd like for him to still score like he did tonight...but I'd like him to do it without three turnovers. He's in that mix. One of the turnovers, right in front of our bench, was a silly turnover. The bounce pass he tried to make to Luke [Maye] in traffic was silly. I'd like him to get rid of those turnovers, and still, he's offensive minded. I'm not against that. Kendall Marshall was one of the great point guards I have had and he was pass, first, second, third and fourth. Ty Lawson was one of the great point guards and he was shoot or pass, and that's the way I want Coby to be. He has some speed to push the ball and he still has not pushed it to the pace that I think he will eventually push it."

On his thoughts during the team's scoring run in the first-half
"Run clock run. That's just about all I can say. I've seen us play like that, but not enough in spurts in games. We were really good at practice yesterday for a while. It was a very short practice...and the same thing before the Miami game, the day before practice. Whereas the two days before the Louisville game we stunk it up. I think they got to learn that what you do at practice does make a difference later on."

On what he told the team about defense prior to the game
"I don't know, you always think you are getting better. Against Miami we gave up five straight layups. The good thing for us in that time period they missed one or maybe two of them, and we were making three's on the other end. So, when they were scoring two, Cam [Johnson] and Kenny [Williams] were hitting three's. I think Coby [White] was the defensive player of the game. Nassir [Little] qualified and could've been, and I forget who the other guy was, but in the Louisville game we didn't have anybody close to qualifying (for defensive player of the game). That's been a while ago, but that sticks in my craw because we didn't really play and they kicked our tails."

On sustaining on-court success
"If I knew that you'd be calling me Bill Belichick, except I got a better sense of humor."

Virginia Tech Head Coach Buzz Williams
On Coby White and Nassir Little
"Two [Coby White] is really fast. I think five [Nassir Little] made his first three in ACC-play. He may have made two. Yeah, both of them are ultra-talented guys just like the rest of their roster. I think those two young guys for sure have made an impact in a positive way."

On Carolina's 20-0 run during the first half
"I thought we tried to manage it the right way. Obviously, we didn't get any stops. It was kind of a mix-match group that we were trying to survive with. Offensively, we were for sure out of sorts. It kind of compounded on us very quick over the last four minutes."

On what defending adjustments need to be made
"A portion of it is live-ball turnovers. That is uncharacteristic but that's a credit to Carolina. Twenty percent of their points were off live-ball turnovers. You cannot have live-ball turnovers against any team, for sure not against a team that is the third fastest team in the country. It almost turns into football time of possession. It is a broken floor when you turn it over. It is one pass and a dunk or zero passes and a layup. Some of that stressed us out because we never had a chance to get our defense set."

North Carolina Player Quotes
Nassir Little, Freshman, Forward
On providing a spark off the bench
"I don't think we had the intensity and focus we needed. My mindset coming in was, 'I'm going to lift us up.' I think I kinda brought us that extra fire that we needed and then we converted them on the other side."

On finding his rhythm on offense
"Offensively my shot wasn't falling and I was just like, 'get in the paint.' I think getting in the paint was a big confidence booster for me and each game I was getting better and better at that. Getting in the paint allows you to get free throws and get that rhythm. As that goes on you just get a little more comfortable in the game."

On the feeling of having a big game
"It's not a relief. It's just fun. This is the basketball I am used to playing. This is me. I am just glad to be playing how I know I can."

Kenny Williams, Senior, Guard
On defensive aggression after Virginia Tech's hot start
"Yeah, that's all we wanted to do was to respond. They came out and they hit us first but I think we did a great job of responding tonight… that's something that we didn't want to let happen again; we had talked about Louisville and how they came and hit us and we didn't respond, and tonight I think we used that and learned from that and responded well from them starting out hot."

On the Coby White, Nassir Little, and Leaky Black during the run at the end of the first half
"Man how big were they? For them to step in and basically lead that run tells you how good they will be and how good they can be. For three young guys on the team to step up in such a big game, that's exactly what we needed from them tonight."

On Nassir Little's improvement in the last three games
"Being more aggressive and attacking the basket; and that opened up his jump shot tonight, he hit a couple jump shots – hit a couple threes… That's all it's been. He's been more aggressive getting to the rim and once he gets into the paint there's not many people who can stop him because he's so explosive, he's so strong, he's so athletic – he just finishes on top of people."

Leaky Black, Freshman, Guard
On freshmen being closer to where they need to be
"I still don't think we're where we want to be because our team is not as consistent as we want to be right now. Step by step we're getting there. It's a process."

On Kenny Williams' comments to him and Coby White when they came off the court
"He was telling us that we stepped up big when the team needed us…It meant a lot, especially coming from him. He's always on you, so it was good to hear something positive come out of his mouth."

On personal goals for consistency
"I need to play my game. The last two games before this one, I was forcing some stuff and I was not playing my game. This game I looked at it as if I play defense, hopefully everything will come to me."

Coby White, Freshman, Guard
On starting the 20-0 run
"I took what the defense gave me, whatever they gave me. It just so happened that in the arc I found my shot, and I put a lot of points up."

On shift in three-point shooting
"I think it was our defense. We picked it up defensively and got a lot of steals and shot clock violations. I think our energy on the defensive end made our offense."

On Nassir Little's success
"It's really cool. He always had it in him, and now he's starting to put everything together. He's going to become the monster everybody has been waiting for."

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Leaky Black

Nassir Little

Coby White

Kenny Williams

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