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University of North Carolina Athletics
Kenny Williams
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
GoHeels Exclusive: Pre-Clemson Press Conference Notes
March 1, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers
By Pat James, GoHeels.com
With February turning into March and the ACC and NCAA Tournaments looming, North Carolina appears to be playing its best basketball at the right time.
The Tar Heels have won 11 of their last 12 ACC games, marking their best stretch in conference play since 2013-14, when they won 13 of 14 games. They're also currently tied with Virginia atop the league standings, having already secured a double bye in the ACC Tournament.
Much of this success has been due to the improvements they've made on defense. But speaking with reporters on Friday, Roy Williams said his team can still make significant defensive strides between now and postseason play.
"With some of the breakdowns we have, I turn around at the bench and look at my guys, coaches or players," Williams said. "And one game I turned around and one player said, 'We have no idea.' It's that kind of thing.
"It's got to be total concentration 100 percent of the time that you're out there on the court and taking the information we give you on the scouting report, putting that to use and then doing the things we practice every day. But I do believe we can get a lot better defensively."
Here are three more notes from Friday's press conference, leading up to Saturday's 6 p.m. game at Clemson:
Injury updates
For the first time since Sterling Manley started experiencing soreness in his left knee, Williams said the sophomore forward practiced full court on Thursday. But he doesn't anticipate Manley, who has missed the past 16 games, will play against Clemson.
The same goes for Leaky Black, who has missed the past eight games with a left ankle sprain. Williams said Black has yet to practice in either half-court or full-court drills.
Over the last few weeks, UNC has relied heavily on its starting five, with Nassir Little, Brandon Robinson and Seventh Woods seeing the most consistent bench minutes. The chemistry that group has developed has been key to the team's recent success. And that presents another challenge for Black and Manley as they attempt to return to the lineup.
"Now it's a tough situation because you've got to be significantly better or I'm not going to put you in there," Williams said. "That's the bottom line. What's best for that team might be what we already have and the rotation we have and the minutes we have. So if you're going to try to come back at this time of the year, you better be coming back really good."
'Positive and enthusiastic'
In some ways, Kenny Williams' senior season perhaps hasn't gone as he expected, as he's averaged about three fewer points and seen his 3-point shooting percentage drop about 11 percentage points. But that hasn't changed his attitude.
"He's very positive and enthusiastic every single day," Roy Williams said. "He's fun to be around every single day. Last year, he had some stretches early where he scored 15 or 18 in the first half and then wouldn't take but one shot in the second half. I said, 'I'd like you to do the same thing both halves.' But this year, it's been more difficult for him.
"The shot hasn't gone in as easily as it was going in for him last year, but defensively, he's continued to take almost every game the best perimeter guy."
By doing that, Roy Williams said Kenny Williams might be exhausting himself so much on the defensive end of the floor that it's affecting his offensive game. But Roy Williams said he's been impressed with how the senior has responded during ACC play, shooting 32.8 percent on 3-pointers compared to 25.9 percent during nonconference play.
"I think that's directly related to his toughness and his focus," Roy Williams said. "Once we got into league play, he raised it a little bit."
'Very unlucky'
Clemson (17-11, 7-8 ACC) enters Saturday in ninth place in the conference standings and is currently being projected by ESPN's Joe Lunardi as one of the final four teams to make the NCAA Tournament field.
A win over UNC would certainly polish the Tigers' postseason resume. But they easily couldn't be in this position, having lost four games by two points or fewer, including three ACC games.
"Brad (Brownell) really does a good job," Roy Williams said. "Defensively, they're really good. … But they've lost two or three games by one and another game by two, and all of them (have been) a little weird. So very unlucky is what I would say, and I hope it lasts another 36 hours."
With February turning into March and the ACC and NCAA Tournaments looming, North Carolina appears to be playing its best basketball at the right time.
The Tar Heels have won 11 of their last 12 ACC games, marking their best stretch in conference play since 2013-14, when they won 13 of 14 games. They're also currently tied with Virginia atop the league standings, having already secured a double bye in the ACC Tournament.
Much of this success has been due to the improvements they've made on defense. But speaking with reporters on Friday, Roy Williams said his team can still make significant defensive strides between now and postseason play.
"With some of the breakdowns we have, I turn around at the bench and look at my guys, coaches or players," Williams said. "And one game I turned around and one player said, 'We have no idea.' It's that kind of thing.
"It's got to be total concentration 100 percent of the time that you're out there on the court and taking the information we give you on the scouting report, putting that to use and then doing the things we practice every day. But I do believe we can get a lot better defensively."
Here are three more notes from Friday's press conference, leading up to Saturday's 6 p.m. game at Clemson:
Injury updates
For the first time since Sterling Manley started experiencing soreness in his left knee, Williams said the sophomore forward practiced full court on Thursday. But he doesn't anticipate Manley, who has missed the past 16 games, will play against Clemson.
The same goes for Leaky Black, who has missed the past eight games with a left ankle sprain. Williams said Black has yet to practice in either half-court or full-court drills.
Over the last few weeks, UNC has relied heavily on its starting five, with Nassir Little, Brandon Robinson and Seventh Woods seeing the most consistent bench minutes. The chemistry that group has developed has been key to the team's recent success. And that presents another challenge for Black and Manley as they attempt to return to the lineup.
"Now it's a tough situation because you've got to be significantly better or I'm not going to put you in there," Williams said. "That's the bottom line. What's best for that team might be what we already have and the rotation we have and the minutes we have. So if you're going to try to come back at this time of the year, you better be coming back really good."
'Positive and enthusiastic'
In some ways, Kenny Williams' senior season perhaps hasn't gone as he expected, as he's averaged about three fewer points and seen his 3-point shooting percentage drop about 11 percentage points. But that hasn't changed his attitude.
"He's very positive and enthusiastic every single day," Roy Williams said. "He's fun to be around every single day. Last year, he had some stretches early where he scored 15 or 18 in the first half and then wouldn't take but one shot in the second half. I said, 'I'd like you to do the same thing both halves.' But this year, it's been more difficult for him.
"The shot hasn't gone in as easily as it was going in for him last year, but defensively, he's continued to take almost every game the best perimeter guy."
By doing that, Roy Williams said Kenny Williams might be exhausting himself so much on the defensive end of the floor that it's affecting his offensive game. But Roy Williams said he's been impressed with how the senior has responded during ACC play, shooting 32.8 percent on 3-pointers compared to 25.9 percent during nonconference play.
"I think that's directly related to his toughness and his focus," Roy Williams said. "Once we got into league play, he raised it a little bit."
'Very unlucky'
Clemson (17-11, 7-8 ACC) enters Saturday in ninth place in the conference standings and is currently being projected by ESPN's Joe Lunardi as one of the final four teams to make the NCAA Tournament field.
A win over UNC would certainly polish the Tigers' postseason resume. But they easily couldn't be in this position, having lost four games by two points or fewer, including three ACC games.
"Brad (Brownell) really does a good job," Roy Williams said. "Defensively, they're really good. … But they've lost two or three games by one and another game by two, and all of them (have been) a little weird. So very unlucky is what I would say, and I hope it lasts another 36 hours."
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