UNC-WSSU Postgame Quotes

Postgame Quotes
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement
"Those of you that have been here for a long time like me know that the first thing I say is it's a glorified practice. It was a little frustrating at times. There are things we've been working on that I didn't feel like we were emphasizing enough out there. But that's the reason you have exhibition games. That's the reason you have 26 practices up until today. The good news is we'll study the tape tonight. The coaches will grade the tape tonight. We'll show the players the tape tomorrow and we'll try to do some things to get better. They seemed to have more interest or better ability to drive the ball to the basket and kick than we did to stop them. We know that Notre Dame is going to shoot a ton of threes and are much more skilled. Blessed is a better way to put it, blessed athletes to what Winston Salem did but I think we gained a great deal more from it than if we were just practicing. I don't know anything about B-Rob [Brandon Robinson.] They're going to have some x-rays made tomorrow morning and we'll know more after we see that."

On what they gained from tonight's game
"They know I can get mad now. That's been in the back of their minds. They didn't know that for sure but it's removed any doubt now."

On how the defense is coming along
"We've been doing some nice things defensively and tonight, we started making mistakes and forgetting who the heck we were supposed to be guarding. After that, it sort of went downhill. You know you look at numbers and they shoot 32% but we gave them way too many open drives to the basket, particularly in the first half. In the second half, they drove and had somebody held but then they'd kick and shoot 16 threes in the second half and made four. To me it looked like they made 14 out of 14. Coach [Dean] Smith used to say you shouldn't get too mad until you look at the tapes but I'm already too mad so I'm not going to say anything else until I look at the tape."

On the respect he has for "Big House" Gaines and what it would take for players like Cole Anthony and Armando Bacot to play for a HBCU
"The second one, I have no idea. Earl the Pearl [Earl Monroe] made them look good and some of those guys. It can be done. What's that big guy who was a big-time rebounder in the NBA who played at Virginia Union? Ben Wallace. It can be done, there's no question about that. They have to have the ability first and they have to have an unbelievable desire to outwork people all the time. "Big House" Coach Gaines was great. He was great to me. He was great to me when I was a young coach and was great to me when I was an old coach. My favorite stories were in Houston, TX. I asked coach if he had anything planned to eat and he said no, not really. I said I have a great barbeque place over here. He said that sounds good, where is it? I said why don't you just follow me. I said in fact if you want to ride with me, you can. He said no. So we went there and I was his friend for the rest of his life because I showed him some of the best Texas barbeque he'd ever seen. He would remind me every time I'd see him. He'd ask if I had any place in this town. Coach stood for so many great things. He was a great basketball coach but cared about people and tried to make sure all his players got to be better players but more importantly, got to be better human beings by being with him. That's a pretty good legacy to have.

On Leaky Black's play tonight
"The first 10 practices, he barely practiced. Since then, he's been getting in more and more and we've been trying to go slow with him. He had one stretch today. I think he had three assists in a four possession stretch. That was my favorite part of the game. For us to be a really good basketball team, Leaky's got to stay healthy and play and not make the silly mistakes he made today. But he had seven assists and one turnover, two for three from the floor. I don't mind if he shoots more than that. I like him taking the ball to the basket, but seven assists and one turnover is the best part."

On what he likes about what Andrew [Platek} has done and what he can give the team
"He's a good shooter. What did Andrew shoot? One for four. He's one for four from the 3-point line. He was zero for however many he took of those stupid floaters. Justin Jackson was the only guy I've ever seen who can make floaters. He's got a few more weeks to show me he can make them or we're going to put him in the basement. He's a tough kid and tries to do the right thing. He made maybe the best pass of the game, pitching it down the court to Armando as he was running down. He had three assists, zero turnovers. Andrew's a tough kid too. He missed a good bit of pre-season practice too for his ankle as well."

On the issues for the turnovers
"Stupidity."

On if Cole Anthony was trying to force it
"I don't know. Cole's a playmaker. He makes a lot of plays. Sometimes you're going to make mistakes. I thought he made a couple of times where he penetrated and got too far in there when there were two or three guys around him. What you need to do is penetrate and then you've got to stop at a point where you can make the play for somebody else or make the play for yourself. If you get too far in there, then you can't make a play for anybody. He's been sensational for us and the good news is if I have to worry about Cole then I'm guessing we don't have any worries because we're really good."

On if Leaky and Justin [Pierce] playing different positions gives flexibility in the lineup
"Right now we have eight guys that I feel we've got confidence in. I'd like to get another one or two. We have eight guys, which means Leaky's going to have to play one, two and three. Justin's going to have to play three and four. It's harder to cross the line. We have a point guard position, two wing positions and two post players. If you go across the line for one of those positions, it's difficult. Leaky and Justin are the two guys that are going to have to do it the most."

North Carolina Player Quotes
Garrison Brooks, Junior, Forward
On turnovers and adjusting to a new lineup
"We gotta get used to playing with each other. It's alright, we got four new guys starting together. It's something new, but I think we will be fine."

On quick turnaround from exhibition to conference matchup to open the season
"We're confident. I mean I think we got the right coaching staff to prepare us and we're going to work really hard to prepare and we will be fine."

On his role as a leader
"I stress being a leader, but I would not call it 'my team' because I feel like I am only one person. I feel like I have a big part in it, but everyone else has their part in it. I can not call it 'my team.'"

On the exhibition what he learned for the future games
"It's really good to get out there and play against someone else. I feel like we can improve a lot though."

Cole Anthony, Freshman, Guard
On how he played
"Terrible. I came out nervous and I wasn't ready to play. There were a bunch of things that went wrong with me, but I just wasn't focusing, honestly. That was the main thing."

On turnovers and first-game nerves
"I just made some bad decisions because I wasn't all the way locked in. I'm just glad I was able to get all of this stuff out now so I can look at the tape and see what I did wrong. I'm happy we were able to just get this game out of the way. It was good that we were able to get this initial game to be able to work out all of those first-game jitters as a team. We have one returning starter -- so -- inexperienced is the word I would use right now. We can only go up from here."

On the impact of the upperclassmen and returning players
"They've been awesome. They've just been telling us to keep our heads up. You know it's a long season. I mean, everyone is going to have games like this where you're not locked in but you still have to find a way."

On how the team is feeling moving into the season
"Right now, at this moment, eh. But we have three more practices before we get to that game. The whole team is going to come in and work hard and just focus."

Armando Bacot, Freshman, Forward
On pulling during the game
"I started off pretty good and I started trying to pull some of the weight from the guys which was leaving less space for Garrison. Coach in the second half was telling me to pull slower on them. I didn't get all the way but I just know next game what I got to do in order to play better."

On veterans helping with early season nerves
"As soon as we got into the locker room obviously me and Cole didn't play as well as we usually play. The veterans tonight they were just telling us it was the first game and we can get through it. Just come prepared, we've got practice tomorrow so we are just going to keep working just to get better every day."

On biggest adjustments playing for Coach Williams
"I would say the running. He is just continuously wanting us to run. To be successful in this system you've got to run, you've got to have a good idea of what space it is. Knowing those little details, to be successful in this system."

Andrew Platek, Junior, Guard
On the "hole" in his game tonight
"I missed some shots I usually make. I've made those floaters my entire life. I left some stuff out there but with a little more time and a little more up and down I can get into the groove and play with my teammates. They trust me to make shots and hit shots, I did that tonight. I'm a good passer, a good rebounder, and all those things come out when you have a little more time on the floor."

On his confidence since being at UNC
"Yeah, absolutely. It was always there, but the trust my teammates have in me now and being out there having fun and enjoying it, it's so much easier to play basketball."

On improving his defensive game
"I learned a lot from Kenny Williams, he was the best. He guarded me every day in practice, so I learned what I don't like from him, because he's just so good at reading passing lanes, being in the right spot all the time, taking charges. It's just so easy for him, and I learned every day hours on end from him, so if you want to thank anybody, thank him. That's a huge reason why my defensive game has improved so much."

Christian Keeling, Graduate Student, Guard
On the flow of the game tonight
"I was just letting the game come to me, not trying to force things. I guess I got a little rhythm in the second half, just trying to play defense. It's a team game so I wasn't really worried about myself."

On his toughest adjustment at UNC
"Just learning the new system, the new offense, new defense and to do it in a short time, that's been the hardest problem."

On how long it takes a team to put the pieces together
"One day it just connects. This team is going to get better each and every day, every day at practice. You want to play your best basketball in March and April, if we keep getting better and reach out peak then… Coach Williams can't ask for anything better."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Armando Bacot

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

Christian Keeling

Andrew Platek

Brandon Robinson

Kenny Williams

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