UNC-Yale Postgame Quotes

North Carolina 70, Yale 67. December 30, 2019
Postgame Quotes
Coach Roy Williams

Opening Statement
"The only thing I'm thinking about right now is that young man [Anthony Harris]. He's just a tough little nut he's worked his tail off to get back into this position our hopes and prayers that there is nothing seriously wrong with him. We won't know until they do all the tests and things like that so my team is hurting for him right now and we are happy that we sneaked by. We didn't make the plays we'd like to make. We shouldn't foul three point shooters we shouldn't touch somebody with almost a finger nail enough to give them another three point play. Missed a one and one in there so we did a lot of things in there but most proud I was of my team was when they came out early in the second half and made those plays and all of a sudden took a lead and then we came back and then played very well for four or five minutes and got it back. Brandon Robinson was something made some big time threes for us. Garrison [Brooks] I think had 11 and 11. We need to play better, need to shoot better, need to defend better. Need to do all those things but first part of our season is over with and now we see what it is like for the ACC and we've got to continue to improve this week."

Coming to terms with the fact that Roy Williams tied Dean Smith.
"You know, it's a number. It means I've stayed here a long time, probably longer than some people wanted me to stay but that's what it is. Scott Smith came out and said one thing I think you said Dad would be really happy for you. I think he would be. I never even knew this was even close to, was it Winston Salem this summer? Jones [Angell] said something about it at the Rams Club Meeting at Winston Salem I swear to god I'll never hit another golf ball. I thought I was seven thousand numbers away from him I had no idea it was anything like that so. I didn't even know about it until it was made at the Rams Club meeting because I don't look at those things. I've been very fortunate to have been able to stay relatively healthy, I've had really good kids who made me look good for a long time and I'm very appreciative of them. From Mark Randall and Milt Newton, Kevin Pritchard and all of those guys in the locker room right now and I'm very appreciative of the thirty two years of happy times in the locker room acting silly and doing anything that we wanted to do. This is a number. I'm very fortunate the teams that have been so good cause I didn't become a head coach until I was 38 and I would have been very satisfied to have stayed and have been Coach Smith's assistant. He left and then Coach Gunther's assistant and then he left and then Folkers something's assistant until he left and then. Said if I would have gone to the golf course he would've gone to the track. It's a number, and I'm pleased for my players and a little pleased for my families I guess but I never talked to them about it I haven't said a word to anybody in my family, didn't say anything about it to my team, didn't want to stay out there. [Steve] Kirschner sorted insisted, I could've said no if I had wanted to but I outquicked him getting to the locker room. I'm sure it means something to my friends, people who have stayed with me, my foxhole buddies, all those things. The Carolina basketball family is the strongest there has ever been, there ever will be, and anybody else can do what they want to do but I know that ours is the best and the strongest ever. Now, somebody ask another question about the game."

On Coach Williams' tie being a tribute to Coach Smith because of what Roy Williams was taught
"I think every game I've ever coached is a tribute to Coach Smith. Greatest advice he ever gave me, the night before I left to go to Kansas as a head coach and I said something to him and he said just be yourself. He said you're good enough, just be yourself, if you be yourself, you're going to be one of the great coaches. So I've trusted that. I do coach every game for the players, not for coach smith and not for me. I coach every game for the players and try to do the best I can. Now let's talk about something else."

On Jeremiah [Francis] and Anthony [Harris]
"Toughness, that's the biggest thing. I mean guys I'm dumbfounded. Dumbfounded how well they have played with such little practice they've had. You know, it's crazy the injuries that happen to people it's his other leg. The good news is they've worked on both legs trying to make both of them stronger. Jonas Sahratian and Doug Halverson our trainers. Nobody has ever worked with kids better than those two guys do, best I've ever been around and like I said earlier I work out Mondays Wednesdays Fridays I go to the weight room I know it doesn't look like it but I do I go in there at 8 o'clock and they are there at 7:30 all fall so I saw them all the time. The work ethic those kids show what they have been able to accomplish with such little practice and they are testing them. They have ways now of testing how when you dunk how much strength you're getting out of one leg compared to the other they do all that stuff. And it's just been fantastic for what they have done they being Jonas [Sahratian] and Doug [Halverson] and they being Jeremiah [Francis] and Anthony [Harris]. So I've been surprised and elated with what those two kids have been able to do for us but again say all our prayers and hopefully we come out okay."

On Jeremiah Francis' fearlessness
"The and one and then he should've shopped the forehand, I mean come on now be honest it takes at our level of play that every time you drive in there there's someone taking a charge. So you have got to be able to stop and go straight up. But I love Jeremiah for the toughness he has already shown, for the toughness on the basketball court. Nothing compared to the toughness he has already shown and how hard he has worked."

On Brandon Robinson
"Brandon Robinson missed some time from practice and hadn't shot it super easy himself. We had more guys shooting under 30 than I've ever even known, much less all on one team. He stepped up tonight and made some big baskets before us and one he missed I was really screaming at garrison because [Anthony] Harrison didn't go to the board there was nobody in front of him, the ball came off the front of the rim Harrison could've gone straight in there to Brandon Robinson."

North Carolina Player Quotes

Justin Pierce, Graduate Forward
On the importance of the win tonight
"I think at this point in the season we haven't been playing as well as we need to, and I haven't been playing as well as I need to. I just kind of went out there with a do or die mentality today. Every game for us is really important. Yale is a really good team. That's a quality win. We're resume building right now and for me, I came to this program to win. That's the sole focus for me. It's not about the name on the back of the jersey, it's all about the name on the front of the jersey. I just try to go out there and do everything I can for my team."

On what was working at the start of the second half
"Just playing hard. Running our offense. We got a couple easy baskets inside. That's what we haven't been doing yet this year. Playing hard, running, getting to our spots, trusting the offense that coach has for us and executing."

On the record Roy Williams tied tonight
"You know Coach Williams, it's been an absolute pleasure to play for him. Like he said, this was just another win. Win number eight for our program this year. He doesn't keep track. Coach Smith was obviously his mentor, so I'm sure this was a really cool night for him."

Brandon Robinson, Senior Guard
On how he feels about scoring when the team is struggling to do so
"I don't think I look at it as a responsibility. I just try to play the game and do whatever it takes to help my team win. Again, credit to my teammates because they stayed in my area the whole night and just told me to keep shooting, so if it weren't for them I wouldn't have 20 points tonight."

On Roy Williams' accomplishment
"I mean it's kind of crazy. The first thing he said, I knew what he was going to say. After the game, when they announced it, he said 'This isn't about me. It's about guys like you that helped me get here.' Coach never says, 'I won.' He says, 'My players helped me to do this.' I think a lot of times he defers the credit to us, but I want him to just take the credit tonight and soak in it. Just be happy for himself and be proud. It's amazing."

Garrison Brooks, Junior Forward
On Brandon Robinson's performance tonight
"I'm gonna be honest, his game hasn't progressed that much. Nah, I'm just playing. B-Rob [Brandon Robinson] works extremely hard. It's just the opportunity. I've been with B-Rob since I was 15 or 16 years old -- he can play. It's nothing out of the ordinary. B-Rob could play from Day One. It's just hard work and opportunities. It's a beautiful thing to see."

On Roy Williams' impact on his life outside of the game
"Coach Williams doesn't know it, but some day when I'm done playing and I'm back in Lafayette, Alabama he'll always be invited. He's always going to be a part of my family. Honestly, he's impacted my life as a father figure. He's helped me become a better young man and just helping me become a better person. I think that's one of the biggest things he's taught me from day one. Being a good person, working really hard, and just teaching me a lot of life lessons every day."

Yale Head Coach James Jones
Opening Statement
"I thought that was a great college basketball game. I think that the North Carolina fans got what they wanted: a good, close, hard fought game that they ended up with a victory. Our biggest problem tonight was rebounding the ball, that was obvious. They had fifteen offensive rebounds and fourteen second chance points. That was a big difference in the game and it hurt us. We didn't do a good job putting bodies on guys and that was the difference in the game I thought. Really proud of my guys though. They played really hard. No moral victories but they played hard. Azar Swain sprained his ankle in practice yesterday but fought through it and played great for us. The shots he missed were the ones at the end that we needed desperately but I'm sure he was tired and had a bum ankle. So I am proud of him and his effort as well as Jordan Bruner for having a great game for us tonight."

On Paul Atkinson's Performance
"They were physical with him to start the game. We didn't give him the ball enough in the first half. I think he got four shots in the first half and he was in foul trouble. He is a tremendous player and shot 65 percent from the floor. We had to give him the ball. He was going up against guys as big and strong as he is. He got the ball in the second half in great spots and was able to finish. Like I said, he was in foul trouble in the second half which hurt us."

On Brandon Robinson's Performance
"My assistant Matt Kingsley, whose job it was to scout Carolina, he made the point that if and when Brandon Robinson scores three or more threes, they win. He had five tonight. So we certainly know he is capable of it. He got it going a little bit. He hit a step back three which was a big shot late in the second half. There was nothing on tape that told you he was going to have his career high."

On Team's Effort in the Final Five Minutes
"The kids battled. I mean that is what we have been doing all year. The scoreboard doesn't change. We have five minute games in practice all the time where you throw a number on the board with Blue down by five with five minutes to go and White is on the free throw line. So they have been in those situations in practice all the time. They fought through it and made all the right plays. We had a couple threes that Azar Swain was wide open and didn't knock down, those things are going to happen. Our guys fought and that is what you can expect out of your guys. It is not too often where Carolina is going to lose a nonconference game in this building. It just doesn't happen very often. We were as close as you could possibly be."

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Jeremiah Francis

Anthony Harris

Justin Pierce

Brandon Robinson

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