UNC-Elon Postgame Quotes

North Carolina 75, Elon 61 • November 20, 2019
Postgame Quotes
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement
"If I had watched the first half, I would have gone home. We are taller, have more size, more gifts than they do and that is the bottom of line. I think that first half we did not play well. We played not very intelligently early in the second half and all of a sudden we're running, defending a little bit and shooting over 50 percent for maybe the first 10 minutes in the second half. Then we are brain dead again, but where we are 4-0. I told them big leagues are starting right now. We are more gifted, more blessed than Elon was. Their guys out there outplayed us, outcoached us in the first half. I gave them the best news. I asked if any of them could guess the best news. Shea Rush got it just like that. He said we don't get to see you tomorrow. I said that's right, that's the best news I can give you. We really made a bunch of mistakes. Early in the first half we were really good, and then all of a sudden we quit playing again. Armando [Bacot], 22 and 14, I told him he could have had 28 or 30. He was just soft around the basket a couple of times. What you really like is a freshman to have 22 and 14 and play about 75 percent, so that was good. Cole [Anthony] was not good tonight. Garrison [Brooks] and Armando [Bacot], they are 15-for-26 and the rest of the team was 14-for-42, so we've got to get smarter."

On calling an early timeout
"Earliest one in my history. We were stupid. The first day of practice this summer we ran regular secondary break and the guy in the corner comes up to set a rear screen. We've done that every day, and the guy forgets to do it. So then we did something else that was sort of silly and I just wanted to scream so I'd feel like I was getting something done."

On Cole Anthony's talent
"My standards are very high for Cole [Anthony] because I think Cole can be fantastic. But one time I called a set play and he tried to go on his own and split a double and guess what? It was a turnover. I've seen some really good players and he's got a chance to be one of them, best I've ever seen. But I also know when good players stink and that was about it half the game tonight. Now he competes like crazy, so he's always going to do some good things to help."

On how has Armando Bacot changed since high school
"Great change in his body. [Armando Bacot] went to IMG last year and did a great job in the weight room, worked extremely hard, body changed over dramatically. I saw him play as a sophomore, started recruiting him and thought he had a chance to be a big-time player. He is going to get better. He needs to get better. He needs to get where he makes more shots, makes more free throws and things like that. His body is much different than it was three years ago. And it's all of his credit, it's all sweat."

On how Armando Bacot played today
"[Armando Bacot] wants to shoot it. Being aggressive can be good. I think he did have a nice bounce pass. When he feels that leather he shoots it."

On being mad about tonight's game as opposed to the game against Gardner-Webb
"No, I'm more pissed tonight to be honest with you. We were not good."

Elon Head Coach Mike Schrage
Opening Statement
"It's an honor to play here at North Carolina. I've seen the other side of this rivalry [UNC/Duke] for nine years and the rivalry exists because there's such an amazing respect between the two schools and programs. It was an honor to bring a team here and compete against such a legendary coach and program. Obviously, the first 20 minutes we'll take. I thought the start of the second half they really imposed their will with their two starting bigs [Armando Bacot and Garrison Brooks]. I didn't know the rebounding numbers were that bad – some of that is our size and some of that is just our fight. I thought we got worn down trying to fight them. We have not had very good starts to the second half. I just talked to the team about that, we've got to figure that out. They obviously had a good halftime talking and they came out and imposed their will against us. This period of games, including tonight, has been great for our growth. We just got to keep living and learn from it."

On Roy Williams' early timeout
"I was more surprised, and I say this nicely, that we were hitting shots. After the last few games we've tried to keep our guys confident. We believe in our guys as shooters and scorers. We've got a young group and I was just excited for them. We've tried to stay positive on the offensive end. I hadn't even thought about the timeout, just living in the moment. We were trying to win every round, every four-minute segment out there. I do think we set the tone pretty well in the first half, and some of that was shot making which we hadn't seen a whole lot recently. I'm proud of our guys for sticking with it and staying confident, that's who they've got to be all year as we go through our growing pains."

On how they fought despite the competition
"I don't think we have a group that the moment is going to be too big or the place is going to be too big. They don't hear that from us. We're returning here next year and we're going to keep playing these games and moments. The young men in our program embrace that and that opportunity. I'm not surprised, it was just good to see the ball go in there early which hasn't happened in the last few games. We've got some young guys that don't even know better and we've got some older guys that played at Carolina last year, and in the past, they've played some great competition in some great venues."

On leading at half in the Smith Center
"That's who we have to be. We've had some great lessons in these first five games even our exhibitions. When we don't shoot the ball well or go through those scoring droughts, we can still win. And it's tough to win when you're playing at Carolina or Georgia Tech or Michigan, but I was proud of the team because we went through a stretch and we still just stayed with it, grinding and defending. That's who we've got to be. Defense has got to be our staple. As we go through our growing pains, it's going to be harder to score that ball at times, but scoring isn't going to be an issue as we continue to grow – not only as a team but as a staff – as we put our guys in a better position to do it."

North Carolina Player Quotes

Cole Anthony, Freshman Guard
On issues in the first half
"The ball was stagnant. They were in their zone. We weren't moving the ball very well. We weren't getting any stops, so their zone was able to stop us. In the second half we came out, we got stops, we pushed the ball and we were able to get them out of their zone."

On making his career high assists
"I just give all the credit to my teammates. I mean, they finished. I put them in, I think, semi-good opportunities, gave them the ball in their spots, and they finished. All the credit goes to them."

On what Elon did defensively to contain him
"I guarded myself that game…the shots that I take and usually make weren't going in, so I'd say I guarded myself."

On the potential of the team
"We're a Final Four team. I fully believe that. I don't see any reason why we can't be. It's a long road and we're not there yet, but it's early in the season. That's why we have these games."

Armando Bacot, Freshman Forward
On first half issues
"It's just not coming out prepared, but at halftime our leaders, [Brandon Robinson] and Garrison [Brooks], they just said they want to start changing the way we come out. I feel like they've got good advice, so it should work."

On Roy Williams' message in the first timeout of the game
"We just need to come out and play Carolina basketball. We came out flat and that's unacceptable… I feel like we need to come out with more of a sense of urgency. We just kind of come out just going slow and coming out slow and flat, so we just need to come out harder."

On being more comfortable this game
"I'm doing my go to moves I work on every day and I feel like it helped… I've just been trying to put an emphasis on everything Coach [Roy Williams] says, and it's been working."

On what he's learned from Garrison Brooks
"Garrison [Brooks] helps me a lot. He's always telling me easy ways to score and some of the things he does on the defensive end have been helping me out a lot. I feel like it's been working."

On it being time for the team to step up for the big-time games
"Definitely. I've just been trying to take a little bit of the pressure off of Cole [Anthony] because he's been having a lot of stuff on his shoulders. I just know that we've all got to step up even more so his role isn't so heavy."

Garrison Brooks, Junior Forward
On the changes at halftime
"Coach [Roy] Williams. That's the answer every time. Coach Williams always sees us playing bad and calls a timeout. It really just takes him to get us going and get us back together… We're not playing good enough. We need to play better and just do what we normally do. Do what we're taught to do every day… Play better."

On Armando Bacot's success tonight
"I can't speak to that because I was never that good as a freshman. He works really hard. He was taking care of himself this week and he's made a conscious effort to really get the ball in and score the ball… Armando has been working since day one. Especially with Jonas [Sahratian]. He's always trying to work with Coach [Roy] Williams, work with Coach [Hubert] Davis, and asking Sean [May] what he can do better. I think that's a really good thing about Armando -- he's always trying to learn and work on his game."

On the guy's finding their comfort as a group
"It's a little tough sometimes, but we're getting it done. I think it takes time. It takes a couple games and just playing together... We're starting to get it and starting to make the right plays, seeing each other where we want the ball and where we can really be effective scorers, so I think that's the biggest thing."

On preparing for the Bahamas
"We just prepare how we normally prepare. Give a lot more preparation and how we're playing at the beginning of the game. I think we have to play better at the beginning of the game or we're going to dig ourselves holes against big teams. Good teams keep people down… I think it'll be a good thing to see us go against some big teams and really see how we measure up against them."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Armando Bacot

Garrison Brooks

Brandon Robinson

Shea Rush

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