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Garrison Brooks & Armando Bacot
Photo by: Jack Morton
GoHeels Exclusive: Media Day Notebook
October 3, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
A little more than a month away from its season opener against Notre Dame on Nov. 6, North Carolina held its annual media day on Wednesday at the Smith Center.
Roy Williams met with reporters for 30 minutes, then players were made available. Here are eight notes from what they had to say:
'A new tradition'
Since freshmen first became eligible in 1972, UNC freshmen haven't talked to the media until they've played their first game. Every year, the media relations staff has asked Williams if he'd be interested in making freshmen available. This year, he said yes.
"Start of a new tradition," said Cole Anthony, the No. 4 recruit in the Class of 2019 according to 247Sports, when asked about Williams' decision.
Comparing Coby, Cole
That wasn't the only Tar Heel tradition that was discussed Wednesday, as the majority of questions were about Anthony and Carolina's lineage of point guards.
Anthony said he's "very aware" of his predecessors at the position, specifically the ones from his lifetime. Williams was asked how Anthony compares to them. In regard to the point guard who he is replacing, Coby White, Williams said Anthony is different.
"Coby was more of a scoring point guard, which I am OK with," Williams said. "I like point guards who do something great, and I thought Coby did that great. Cole can score, but Cole is more of a quarterback back there who is trying to get other people the ball. Coby had a belief that he could make every shot and he made a bunch of them and I loved what he was doing. I wanted him to be so much more aggressive because with Luke (Maye), Kenny (Williams) and Cam (Johnson) we had some perimeter shooters. But I loved the way Coby always attacked. With Cole, we don't have those types of shooters with him. And I think that he's got a chance to find some guys for easier shots.Â
"I love both of them. I would have loved to have had both of them together. I would have sat over there and leaned back in my lawn chair if I had both of them together. They are different. Cole is good defensively. I've said this to him and said it publicly, I think in high school he was the best defensive rebounding guard I'd ever seen, and we are going to need him to go rebound the defensive boards for us, too."
Anthony's strong impression
Given his position, Anthony figures to assume a leadership role. In some ways, it seems like he already has; during Wednesday's open practice, no player was more vocal than the freshman, whether he was on the court or the sideline.
Williams said Anthony also showed leadership potential with his efforts in the offseason conditioning program.
"Cole won the 12-minute run and he did the best job in the 33 conditioning program," Williams said. "He did a great job another day. He's sort of gathered their respect by working, and that's been something that's pretty neat."
Anthony said his father, former NBA player Greg Anthony, played a part in his conditioning success.
"My dad told me before I came here, he said, 'You're really not going to get in shape until you get here,'" Anthony said. "I'm thinking to myself, 'I thought I was in shape, Dad.' That was me really wanting to try to prove him wrong."
By all accounts, he has.
"He's an elite runner," Christian Keeling said. "That boy can run. He does it so nonchalant, like he's not tired. He's a great athlete, great player, great person. I love him."
Emerging leaders
Although Anthony's name was also mentioned, the two players who have appeared to cement themselves as leaders are Garrison Books and Brandon Robinson.
"I think those two guys are the veterans and understand things," Williams said. "They are the ones who I'm asking the questions, like, 'OK, what do you think about this?' And everybody else understands that. I think the younger guys respect the fact that they've been here."
The lone remaining player who saw action in the 2017 national championship game, Robinson seemed destined for a leadership role entering his senior season. But Brooks, a junior, said he didn't think he'd be needed as a leader at this point in his career.
Brooks said he realized he needed to step up, though, during the optional lifts in the spring and at the beginning of the summer. For the most part, that hasn't been hard.
"I just try to lead by example and try to be a vocal leader and try to help everyone," he said. "If they're struggling with anything, just try to become a leader to get us all to mesh together."
A return to normalcy?
For much of the last two seasons, Williams has employed a smaller lineup. But with the arrival of Armando Bacot, the No. 27 recruit in the Class of 2019 according to 247Sports, Williams said he'd like to get back to the traditional two-big lineup that he's always preferred.
"The 3-point line is moved back, so my own personal opinion is that the shooting percentages will go down a little bit; I think that's pretty calm and easy to figure out," Williams said. "That doesn't bother me because I want to throw the sucker inside anyways.
"I'd like to play two big guys, and Garrison gives you the freedom of knowing that he played the 4 and the 5 last year and we've tried to get him better at shooting face-up jump shots. He has worked at it with Coach (Hubert) Davis."
Manley's status
Time will tell, but one thing that could prevent Williams from using the two-big lineup as much as he'd like, at least early in the season, is Sterling Manley's availability.
The junior forward, who missed 16 games last season due to right knee soreness, currently isn't practicing as he deals with a recurrence of the knee soreness following offseason surgery. The athletic training staff is evaluating what caused the recurrence, and will set a course of action for his rehab once a reason is determined.
"I don't know," said Williams when asked about Manley's status. "I really don't. Sterling's not doing anything. Nothing. The easiest way to figure that out is that when he gets to the point that he can start practicing, we'll tell you. But he's doing nothing."
Grad transfers acclimating
When asked how he determined that Keeling and Justin Pierce, graduate transfers from Charleston Southern and William & Mary, respectively, would fit at UNC, Williams said it boiled down to one thing: "need."
"We needed some more guys," he said. "I think that we needed people on the perimeter. We didn't have as big of a need up front. Christian gives you a little bit of scoring. He's got a tremendous flare and he's got a very gregarious personality. He's Theo Pinson Jr. But I think the job that they did with him at Charleston Southern, he's been coached very well. He understands how to play. He hasn't ever met a shot he didn't like so far, but we'll see how that goes as we go down.Â
"Justin played for Tony Shaver at William & Mary. They were making a coaching change and he was looking for some other place. I think the quality that he has that will be more beneficial to us than anything right now is his rebounding. I think he averaged over 8 rebounds per game for them last year. He's a sneaky kind of rebounder that goes in and gets his hands on a lot of balls. But it was a tremendous need for a couple more players playing on the perimeter."
Keeling said he thinks he was brought in to play defense, score, rebound and provide experience. Although Williams explained what he thought his role would be before he joined the Tar Heels, Keeling said he's willing to do whatever is asked of him once the season begins. He just hopes to make the most of his opportunity to play here.
"It's a dream for a lot of people," Keeling said. "I'm blessed in a lot of ways to put on this jersey and play in this arena. It's a great honor."
Potential on defense
Williams said he won't truly get an idea of what the identity of this team will be until it starts playing games and faces adversity. But he believes that it could be a running team and a good defensive team.
"Kenny was fantastic defensively," Williams said, "but I think some of the other guys will pick it up a little bit and be pretty good defensively, too."
Andrew Platek also expressed optimism about what the Tar Heels might be able to do defensively.
"Cole is incredible on the ball; he's just so quick and fast and he understands the game so well," Platek said. "(Robinson) has been a great defender for us in his career. He's very underrated. He's skinny and slight, but he moves really fast and he's really long. Justin has that same length. And then Garrison is just a monster in there. He's great guarding the ball screens, which is so important because we sucked at that our freshman year and he just got so much better. And then (Armando) is just so long and lanky. He blocks shots and he gets into passing lanes.
"We have the potential, because I think we're going to be so deep, that we can just get out and go and bother a lot of teams."
Â
A little more than a month away from its season opener against Notre Dame on Nov. 6, North Carolina held its annual media day on Wednesday at the Smith Center.
Roy Williams met with reporters for 30 minutes, then players were made available. Here are eight notes from what they had to say:
'A new tradition'
Since freshmen first became eligible in 1972, UNC freshmen haven't talked to the media until they've played their first game. Every year, the media relations staff has asked Williams if he'd be interested in making freshmen available. This year, he said yes.
"Start of a new tradition," said Cole Anthony, the No. 4 recruit in the Class of 2019 according to 247Sports, when asked about Williams' decision.
Comparing Coby, Cole
That wasn't the only Tar Heel tradition that was discussed Wednesday, as the majority of questions were about Anthony and Carolina's lineage of point guards.
Anthony said he's "very aware" of his predecessors at the position, specifically the ones from his lifetime. Williams was asked how Anthony compares to them. In regard to the point guard who he is replacing, Coby White, Williams said Anthony is different.
"Coby was more of a scoring point guard, which I am OK with," Williams said. "I like point guards who do something great, and I thought Coby did that great. Cole can score, but Cole is more of a quarterback back there who is trying to get other people the ball. Coby had a belief that he could make every shot and he made a bunch of them and I loved what he was doing. I wanted him to be so much more aggressive because with Luke (Maye), Kenny (Williams) and Cam (Johnson) we had some perimeter shooters. But I loved the way Coby always attacked. With Cole, we don't have those types of shooters with him. And I think that he's got a chance to find some guys for easier shots.Â
"I love both of them. I would have loved to have had both of them together. I would have sat over there and leaned back in my lawn chair if I had both of them together. They are different. Cole is good defensively. I've said this to him and said it publicly, I think in high school he was the best defensive rebounding guard I'd ever seen, and we are going to need him to go rebound the defensive boards for us, too."
Anthony's strong impression
Given his position, Anthony figures to assume a leadership role. In some ways, it seems like he already has; during Wednesday's open practice, no player was more vocal than the freshman, whether he was on the court or the sideline.
Williams said Anthony also showed leadership potential with his efforts in the offseason conditioning program.
"Cole won the 12-minute run and he did the best job in the 33 conditioning program," Williams said. "He did a great job another day. He's sort of gathered their respect by working, and that's been something that's pretty neat."
Anthony said his father, former NBA player Greg Anthony, played a part in his conditioning success.
"My dad told me before I came here, he said, 'You're really not going to get in shape until you get here,'" Anthony said. "I'm thinking to myself, 'I thought I was in shape, Dad.' That was me really wanting to try to prove him wrong."
By all accounts, he has.
"He's an elite runner," Christian Keeling said. "That boy can run. He does it so nonchalant, like he's not tired. He's a great athlete, great player, great person. I love him."
Emerging leaders
Although Anthony's name was also mentioned, the two players who have appeared to cement themselves as leaders are Garrison Books and Brandon Robinson.
"I think those two guys are the veterans and understand things," Williams said. "They are the ones who I'm asking the questions, like, 'OK, what do you think about this?' And everybody else understands that. I think the younger guys respect the fact that they've been here."
The lone remaining player who saw action in the 2017 national championship game, Robinson seemed destined for a leadership role entering his senior season. But Brooks, a junior, said he didn't think he'd be needed as a leader at this point in his career.
Brooks said he realized he needed to step up, though, during the optional lifts in the spring and at the beginning of the summer. For the most part, that hasn't been hard.
"I just try to lead by example and try to be a vocal leader and try to help everyone," he said. "If they're struggling with anything, just try to become a leader to get us all to mesh together."
A return to normalcy?
For much of the last two seasons, Williams has employed a smaller lineup. But with the arrival of Armando Bacot, the No. 27 recruit in the Class of 2019 according to 247Sports, Williams said he'd like to get back to the traditional two-big lineup that he's always preferred.
"The 3-point line is moved back, so my own personal opinion is that the shooting percentages will go down a little bit; I think that's pretty calm and easy to figure out," Williams said. "That doesn't bother me because I want to throw the sucker inside anyways.
"I'd like to play two big guys, and Garrison gives you the freedom of knowing that he played the 4 and the 5 last year and we've tried to get him better at shooting face-up jump shots. He has worked at it with Coach (Hubert) Davis."
Manley's status
Time will tell, but one thing that could prevent Williams from using the two-big lineup as much as he'd like, at least early in the season, is Sterling Manley's availability.
The junior forward, who missed 16 games last season due to right knee soreness, currently isn't practicing as he deals with a recurrence of the knee soreness following offseason surgery. The athletic training staff is evaluating what caused the recurrence, and will set a course of action for his rehab once a reason is determined.
"I don't know," said Williams when asked about Manley's status. "I really don't. Sterling's not doing anything. Nothing. The easiest way to figure that out is that when he gets to the point that he can start practicing, we'll tell you. But he's doing nothing."
Grad transfers acclimating
When asked how he determined that Keeling and Justin Pierce, graduate transfers from Charleston Southern and William & Mary, respectively, would fit at UNC, Williams said it boiled down to one thing: "need."
"We needed some more guys," he said. "I think that we needed people on the perimeter. We didn't have as big of a need up front. Christian gives you a little bit of scoring. He's got a tremendous flare and he's got a very gregarious personality. He's Theo Pinson Jr. But I think the job that they did with him at Charleston Southern, he's been coached very well. He understands how to play. He hasn't ever met a shot he didn't like so far, but we'll see how that goes as we go down.Â
"Justin played for Tony Shaver at William & Mary. They were making a coaching change and he was looking for some other place. I think the quality that he has that will be more beneficial to us than anything right now is his rebounding. I think he averaged over 8 rebounds per game for them last year. He's a sneaky kind of rebounder that goes in and gets his hands on a lot of balls. But it was a tremendous need for a couple more players playing on the perimeter."
Keeling said he thinks he was brought in to play defense, score, rebound and provide experience. Although Williams explained what he thought his role would be before he joined the Tar Heels, Keeling said he's willing to do whatever is asked of him once the season begins. He just hopes to make the most of his opportunity to play here.
"It's a dream for a lot of people," Keeling said. "I'm blessed in a lot of ways to put on this jersey and play in this arena. It's a great honor."
Potential on defense
Williams said he won't truly get an idea of what the identity of this team will be until it starts playing games and faces adversity. But he believes that it could be a running team and a good defensive team.
"Kenny was fantastic defensively," Williams said, "but I think some of the other guys will pick it up a little bit and be pretty good defensively, too."
Andrew Platek also expressed optimism about what the Tar Heels might be able to do defensively.
"Cole is incredible on the ball; he's just so quick and fast and he understands the game so well," Platek said. "(Robinson) has been a great defender for us in his career. He's very underrated. He's skinny and slight, but he moves really fast and he's really long. Justin has that same length. And then Garrison is just a monster in there. He's great guarding the ball screens, which is so important because we sucked at that our freshman year and he just got so much better. And then (Armando) is just so long and lanky. He blocks shots and he gets into passing lanes.
"We have the potential, because I think we're going to be so deep, that we can just get out and go and bother a lot of teams."
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