UNC-Wofford Quotes

Wofford 68, North Carolina 64 • December 15, 2019
Postgame Quotes
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement
"Congratulations, Jay [McAuley] and his team. Got a big stretch where they stretched it out and we had a chance to come back; got it closer and they made a couple of big three's again. Fourteen three's, that hurts us. But 14-for-40, you can sometimes live with that, but not if you shoot 32 percent yourself in the second half. We got it to six [points] and take a shot way across from our bench that wasn't a very good shot as the clock wound down. Then [Brandon Robinson] turned it over driving in the middle; Armando [Bacot] turned it over trying to throw it to Garrison [Brooks]; and then Garrison fouled the guy on a three-point shot and all of a sudden it's back to nine [points]."

On what went wrong during Wofford's 16-0 run in the second half
"As I said, we got three turnovers in a row and fouled a guy shooting a three-point shot. That was the biggest part of it. It was [Brandon Robinson] who took the shot over on the other side and then he turned it over driving in the middle; then Armando [Bacot] turned it over and then Garrison [Brooks] fouled the guy because we were coming back some during that stretch and [had] gotten it to six… I wanted to call a timeout and didn't do it, and we got five damn shots from three feet from the basket and missed every one of them. I can't draw up a tricky play and get five shots from three feet, so don't get me pissed off about a timeout."

On when he learned about Cole Anthony and Leaky Black
"Yesterday morning, about 10:30 a.m., and at that time I wasn't sure that Leaky [Black] was going to be out. He was probably going to be out, but that's when I found out that Cole [Anthony] was definitely going to be out."

On what he hoped to see from the players filling the roles of Anthony and Black
"I think I got decent response. I wanted them to play exceptionally hard and try to do the right things. Guys were out there trying to play. I'm so proud of Jeremiah Francis for trying. He hadn't played in three years... K.J. [Smith] hadn't played, did some things that helped us. We're going to benefit in the long run from it. That doesn't make it any more pleasant to go through right now, for sure. Armando [Bacot] has been sensational at times but just couldn't get the ball to go in the basket — 2-for-14. Then we had some chances even during that stretch where we cut it to six. We had some other opportunities at the free throw line but didn't make [those] either. For the physical part of it, I was pretty well pleased with what I got. I wasn't very pleased with the mental part of it – just some of the mistakes we made there. They're a hard team to cover and we got 24 shots inside. Just between those first two guys, Armando and Garrison [Brooks], I think we could have gotten even more, but 24 shots – those shots that I like them to shoot – a lot of times we'd make 18. Today we made 10, but that's part of the game too."

On crowd energy helping the team fight back
"I'm sure they were great, but I really don't know. Somebody asked me if I was excited about playing here. I'm excited about playing better. I'll take even a red barn and go play if we can play better than we have been playing… But I love this place. I've said all the things that I can say and I'm sure there was one timeout when I did realize that they were into it… I love the opportunity to play here, but I'll play in a damn red forest if we play better and be a lot happier."

On preparing for an offense that had 40 three-pointers in a game
"It's even harder because you don't know who the lineup's going to be and we have one practice yesterday, basically, after we found out everything – I apologize, that's an excuse. We didn't practice Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday; we tried to practice Friday and all of a sudden I hear some things Saturday, but that's an excuse. It still said North Carolina on our shirt and I didn't do a good enough job to get us through."

On message to less-experienced players coming into today's game
"Play as hard as you can, and I think they did that. I don't think we played as intelligently as we can play, those guys included. I tell one of them one thing about a defense and he says, 'Okay.' Point guard is supposed to turn around and tell everybody else, and he didn't turn around and tell everybody else. Then we failed an assignment and they take it to the basket, so mentally it was more difficult for them than it was physically."

On coaching player confidence in shooting
"I'm challenging them. What was Joel Berry's famous statement on Jay Bilas' ['94 Feet']? 'If you're going to shoot, be tough enough to make it.' We're shooting a lot of shots, and… basically you've got to be tough enough to make shots. If you make them in practice, you've got to be able to make them in games. So, that's the mental side of the game. I like guys shooting the ball when they're open, but the quality of our shots has to be better than the quality of the other team's shots. It's probably the lowest-percentage team, by far, that I've ever had in 32 years and five years in high school and eight years as a [junior varsity] coach and all that stuff. But the bottom line is you've got to make shots. You can try to get them confidence, but you know how you get them confidence? Make a daggum shot. It's pretty simple. Make a daggum shot and the other one gets a little easier. Make a put, the next one gets easier, too. We're not ranting and raving and screaming around. We're doing shooting drills and we're saying, 'Come on, we expect you to make a shot,' that kind of thing. But if I had to go to college again, I wouldn't major in health and physical education. I'd major in psychology. See if I could be any better than I am right now."

Wofford Head Coach Jay McAuley
Opening Statement
"Well, that was fun. Obviously, an unbelievable effort by our team, one that my coaching staff and I are really proud of. A lot of times we handled some punches that North Carolina threw at us with some good tough counterpunches. I was really proud, especially of Storm Murphy and Trevor Stumpe in some patches. We fought our tails off. We were not the biggest or the strongest, but we were really physical and I thought our team really connected well tonight and made enough plays to win. We have a lot of respect for North Carolina and Coach [Roy Williams]. They are going to have a heck of a team moving forward and we are thankful for the opportunity to come up here and get on the stage again. Boy, did we play well again. I was really proud of those guys."

On playing in Carmichael
"There is so much tradition in general here. This facility, with all the history and all the good players and coaches that have been here. We knew that there was a lot that was going into this game as far as one of two games in the last 30 plus years. Obviously, the fans were great. The hospitality here is always great and they were awesome. It was electric in there and we could not hear anybody on the bench for long stretches. We just wanted to come in here and compete really well. I think we had about five or six guys from two years ago and last year that competed in this series, so they knew what it was going to take possession by possession. They certainly led the charge with our younger guys and it was a total team effort like I said."

On learning when Cole Anthony and Leaky Black were not playing
"Right before the game, probably when we got here. I would say about 50 minutes. You know I feel bad for those guys. I hope they get back to health soon. We obviously had Storm [Murphy] sit out last game. We know how that goes not having your best player. I do not want to take any credit away from our guys. They competed and we just had a message of whoever we are playing, regardless of the opponent, we are going to play a certain way. Tonight I thought we put a really good 40 minutes together and I was really proud of some things that we did not do in the first half – keeping them out of transition. I think they only scored two points in transition in the second half. That is because of these guys responding and thankfully they did."

On changing game prep due to Cole Anthony not playing
"[Cole Anthony] does a lot for them, obviously, just like any great player would. We had some things that we wanted to do to dedicate two guys to him at times. North Carolina moves the ball really well. It is hard to do that because they share it and play really good motion. It did not change a whole lot schematically other than we were going to dedicate some off ball screens to him. We certainly would have had to because he is a tremendous talent. Like I said, I hope both of those guys get back to health soon and they got a good ball club."

North Carolina Player Quotes
Garrison Brooks, Junior Forward
On game overall today
"We had a couple turnovers and I had the worst play of it all – fouled the three-point shooter – he makes all three… And as a leader, I have to get guys back for that stretch… I didn't do that."

On K.J. Smith and Jeremiah Francis stepping in for Cole Anthony
"They had really good moments. I'm really proud of them. That's a tough role to step into. I think we put a lot on them, and I think they did a good job."

On if having Leaky Black and Cole Anthony out is an excuse or actuality
"We don't make excuses. It's something that happens… It's not an excuse. It's nothing to be like, 'We lost this game without Cole [Anthony].' There's no asterisks beside that."

Brandon Robinson, Senior Guard
On why shots aren't going in and confidence issues related to shooting
"We've just got to believe in ourselves, believe in each other, and our shots. I'm still optimistic that it's going to fall, the shot's going to be there."

On Cole Anthony and Leaky Black being out this game
"There were a couple times I felt like I forced a couple shots, and didn't play smart, so a lot of this loss is on me I feel like I've got to play better."

On the lack of preparation and not knowing the lineup
"I thought we had a good week of practice. I thought the workouts that we had were great. I was really looking forward to this game. I thought we were going to win. I told our guys we had the best practice before the game yesterday. We've just got to keep building. I'm proud of the effort we showed - just didn't come out like we wanted it to."

On how K.J. Smith and Jeremiah Francis played
"For being in limited minutes, playing like that before and then Jeremiah only his second game, they stepped up well, and I feel like we've just got to keep building. It just feels like every game we have a different blow, and we just can't get our whole team together. Once we get our whole team back together, I feel like we can do something special."

On frustrating losses and this game being so tough this time
"It's tough for a lot of reasons, I can't really explain them. I feel like we tried. This is the hardest we've tried to play this year, and when we got down we didn't hang our head. We still believed that we could win, and it just hurts that we didn't come out on top. I know how much this game meant to the coaches, especially Coach [Roy] Williams and Coach [Hubert] Davis, and it hurt that we let them down."

KJ Smith, Junior Guard
On when K.J. Smith found out he'd be a starter
"I assumed it yesterday or the day before with Cole's situation and Leaky being out. But probably this morning Coach told us. I'm going to quote my uncle on this: If you stay ready, you never have to get ready. All summer I've been in the gym everyday with my dad [and] my cousin. We were shooting two times a day, lifting in the morning.

On playing in his dad's footsteps—
"I mean, to me it's a lot, just to put on this jersey, just for coach to give me the opportunity, just to believe in me. I wish we could have gotten the job done, obviously, but it's been a blessing to be here."

On Coach Williams' message to him coming into the game—
"He didn't say anything. He expects anyone that plays, from the last guy on the bench to the first guy, just to stay ready. I think he said one thing right before the game started, he said, 'You got this, big boy.' That's all I needed.

Andrew Platek, Junior Guard
On takeaways from the game—
"There's a lot we could take from this game. We're missing probably our best player, but that's not an excuse.

On why the team's practice isn't translating to games—
"Well, it's a different environment, right? You can take a million shots, like I shoot a ton every day, and it doesn't really match the feeling of you coming into an arena, sold out, and the emotions of the crowd around you… I was like, 'Well, you can't really shoot it any worse. You know you're a good shooter, keep shooting the ball. Do what you do. Do what I've done my whole life.' And that's how I approached today. It was successful for me, and hopefully this will continue, but I'm going to keep working."

On the team's lack of success—
"…we need more leadership and a vocal leader who will relay what Coach wants us to do on the floor… I've been lucky the past couple years because we've had unbelievable scorers like Coby [White] and Luke [Maye], and we've never had trouble scoring the ball. This is a very unique situation that we don't have guys who were established in the ACC and could put the ball in the basket night in and night out."

On his advice to younger players during a tough time in the season—
"We really wanted to win going into this road trip because we knew we were going to play a really tough team, but we're going to take our lessons where we can get them… tomorrow we have to come in and have a good practice before we leave and focus on the next one… We don't have time to dwell on our woes, like our shooting woes, or the ball's not going in, or 'oh I can't make a free throw,' we have to work on it. We have to get better, we have to talk more, we have to communicate. Pretty much anything you can name that is a statistic in basketball or has something to do with basketball, we need to get better at it."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cole Anthony

Leaky Black

Garrison Brooks

Jeremiah Francis

Andrew Platek

Brandon Robinson

K.J. Smith

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