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University of North Carolina Athletics
Day'Ron Sharpe
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
UNC-NCSU Postgame Quotes
January 24, 2021 | Men's Basketball
PLAYERS INTERVIEWS FOLLOWING UNC VS. NC STATE
JAN. 23, 2021
DAY'RON SHARPE
Q: Can you speak to your development since the games started the last two months with your post moves on the block? You had a couple spin moves today that were really, really quick and efficient. Can you just kind of address your growth in that area of the game?
Day'Ron Sharpe: Before practice every day, we do our favorite counter where we work on our favorite move and our counter move and work on spinning off the block, pump faking and faceup jumpers. So we do that every day at practice. Just kind of like becoming more used to it, you know muscle memory because we do it every day.
Q: Specific to the freshman, I know you guys are confident. But would you say that you can see that confidence coming more as these games progress? Because again, you, Caleb [Love], RJ [Davis], had another great game today.
DS: Yeah, I feel like our confidence has been growing very much. Coach talked to us a lot about how we got to come in and do things. We got to play, I mean he expects more of us even though we're freshman, he expects more of us like we all upperclassmen. So we got to get the job done.
Q: You mentioned the chip that you guys had a little bit. I know you want to win every game obviously, but did losing in Raleigh add an extra element for getting ready for this game? And is it anything you guys talked about as players, we want to sort of get them back and not get swept?
DS: Well last time we played them, we feel like we were better. Like we feel like we shouldn't have lost that game. We feel like we shouldn't have lost other games too, so we feel like we're a good team we just got to prove that.
CALEB LOVE
Q: Three consecutive halves now where UNC has shot better than 50%. What's working so well for the team?
Caleb Love: Just us playing together, all playing together really. All working as one and I think we just had that chemistry going, getting better and better each and every game, each and every practice. We're just getting better. You see it. During the games and just playing hard, playing smart, playing together. That's all it takes.
Q: You had five turnovers today, but it didn't appear that it affected the rest of your game at all. Is that kind of an example of your confidence growing and you kind of growing more into the role of being the point guard?
CL: Yeah, just because I turn the ball over doesn't mean I stop playing, but I can't have those turnovers. Five turnovers is way too much. I put that on myself. I can't be turning the ball over like that. I'm getting better and better. As I watch the film, looking at the defense, how they're playing it. Just getting better and better each and every day. How to feed the post or where the defense is. Pass, left pass, might not pass that pass, so I'm going to get better at that. I can't keep turning the ball over.
Q: You seem to have a chip on your shoulder, more aggressive to start the game, dropping dimes, continuously attacking the paint, and you set the tempo a lot on your teammates to feed off you. That being said, was there any extra support material from the first matchup? They showed you a couple of times in the game, you and Devon [Daniels] were exchanging shots, talking junk back and forth. Was it just the passion of the game?
CL: You know this was just like a statement game. We knew that we shouldn't have lost that last game. They shouldn't have beat us so just coming out, we knew we had to get at their throat and that's what we did. It was just me being the competitor that I am. I didn't want to lose that game, especially for coach. I knew how much it meant to him so I just went out there and played my hardest.
ARMANDO BACOT
Q: Just getting off to how you started the game, what do you think is the biggest reason for your hot start and how do you think that helped the team going forward?
Armando Bacot: I just knew coming out that I had to be aggressive. They kind of weren't respecting us, just them backing off so hard. So I just like, I was going to take it to them and then back up, shoot jump shots so they had to respect it a little bit. So it just kept opening up things. I knew if I drove it would open up things for like the shooters like Kerwin [Walton], and just make life easier for everybody.
Q: You mentioned earlier in the season the need for the bigs to do a better job of establishing position to make the entry passes a little better. It seems like you specifically have made strides in that area in recent games. Has that been a focal point for you and how do you think the team has done in that regard?
AB: All practice that's all we work on, is just trying to get the ball all the time. And we could be a really good team when we get the ball inside and play inside out. That is just something I wanted to focus on. I mean like during the game I was telling Day'Ron [Sharpe], there was one play when he had a turnover and I was standing out in the middle and I'm like 'you got to stay aggressive, you can't pass me that ball.' I mean after that he kind of turned it up because I'm like you got somebody guarding you one on one and I feel like Day'Ron [Sharpe], nobody's really going to want to one on one with his back to his basket. He's such a big guy physically. Him staying aggressive and me staying aggressive definitely helps us in the post.
Q: Do you feel like the first game, the first lost to State may have turned out to be the turning point for you guys? Like that seemed like when Roy [Williams] ended up shuffling the starting lineup and really putting an emphasis on playing better defense.
AB: I think it definitely was. It was at a low point in our season and I feel like we were kind of complacent, just coming off of beating Kentucky … Even coach said it was one of the worst defensive performances he's ever seen from a team. Honestly, we took offense to that. It was our fault and we took offense to that and coming to this game we knew we wanted to go out there and just make a change and there's no way we would allow them to beat us two times in a row.
ANTHONY HARRIS
Q: Three games in, just curious how you're feeling with the knee and how it feels to kind of get back into the rotation full time now?
Anthony Harris: Knee is feeling great, I don't have any complaints. It feels real good today, Being back in the rotation.
Q: After three games, how would you define your role on this team or what do you think your role can be moving forward as you get more minutes?
AH: Just really whatever coach asks of me. Obviously, stay in front of my man, make defensive plays, and just make the right plays on offense, knock down shots, hit the gaps, find my open man.
Q: When the offense runs efficiently through the post as it did this afternoon, how does that help with the guys in the back court?
AH: Just getting the ball to our post guys is going to open everything up for everybody. We're really big in size so once we get the ball down there, it's going to open everything up for our under guys.
Q: Does that take some pressure off of the back court with so many younger guys in there.
AH: Every time you throw the ball, every time we throw the ball in the post it's going to take pressure off of everybody.
JAN. 23, 2021
DAY'RON SHARPE
Q: Can you speak to your development since the games started the last two months with your post moves on the block? You had a couple spin moves today that were really, really quick and efficient. Can you just kind of address your growth in that area of the game?
Day'Ron Sharpe: Before practice every day, we do our favorite counter where we work on our favorite move and our counter move and work on spinning off the block, pump faking and faceup jumpers. So we do that every day at practice. Just kind of like becoming more used to it, you know muscle memory because we do it every day.
Q: Specific to the freshman, I know you guys are confident. But would you say that you can see that confidence coming more as these games progress? Because again, you, Caleb [Love], RJ [Davis], had another great game today.
DS: Yeah, I feel like our confidence has been growing very much. Coach talked to us a lot about how we got to come in and do things. We got to play, I mean he expects more of us even though we're freshman, he expects more of us like we all upperclassmen. So we got to get the job done.
Q: You mentioned the chip that you guys had a little bit. I know you want to win every game obviously, but did losing in Raleigh add an extra element for getting ready for this game? And is it anything you guys talked about as players, we want to sort of get them back and not get swept?
DS: Well last time we played them, we feel like we were better. Like we feel like we shouldn't have lost that game. We feel like we shouldn't have lost other games too, so we feel like we're a good team we just got to prove that.
CALEB LOVE
Q: Three consecutive halves now where UNC has shot better than 50%. What's working so well for the team?
Caleb Love: Just us playing together, all playing together really. All working as one and I think we just had that chemistry going, getting better and better each and every game, each and every practice. We're just getting better. You see it. During the games and just playing hard, playing smart, playing together. That's all it takes.
Q: You had five turnovers today, but it didn't appear that it affected the rest of your game at all. Is that kind of an example of your confidence growing and you kind of growing more into the role of being the point guard?
CL: Yeah, just because I turn the ball over doesn't mean I stop playing, but I can't have those turnovers. Five turnovers is way too much. I put that on myself. I can't be turning the ball over like that. I'm getting better and better. As I watch the film, looking at the defense, how they're playing it. Just getting better and better each and every day. How to feed the post or where the defense is. Pass, left pass, might not pass that pass, so I'm going to get better at that. I can't keep turning the ball over.
Q: You seem to have a chip on your shoulder, more aggressive to start the game, dropping dimes, continuously attacking the paint, and you set the tempo a lot on your teammates to feed off you. That being said, was there any extra support material from the first matchup? They showed you a couple of times in the game, you and Devon [Daniels] were exchanging shots, talking junk back and forth. Was it just the passion of the game?
CL: You know this was just like a statement game. We knew that we shouldn't have lost that last game. They shouldn't have beat us so just coming out, we knew we had to get at their throat and that's what we did. It was just me being the competitor that I am. I didn't want to lose that game, especially for coach. I knew how much it meant to him so I just went out there and played my hardest.
ARMANDO BACOT
Q: Just getting off to how you started the game, what do you think is the biggest reason for your hot start and how do you think that helped the team going forward?
Armando Bacot: I just knew coming out that I had to be aggressive. They kind of weren't respecting us, just them backing off so hard. So I just like, I was going to take it to them and then back up, shoot jump shots so they had to respect it a little bit. So it just kept opening up things. I knew if I drove it would open up things for like the shooters like Kerwin [Walton], and just make life easier for everybody.
Q: You mentioned earlier in the season the need for the bigs to do a better job of establishing position to make the entry passes a little better. It seems like you specifically have made strides in that area in recent games. Has that been a focal point for you and how do you think the team has done in that regard?
AB: All practice that's all we work on, is just trying to get the ball all the time. And we could be a really good team when we get the ball inside and play inside out. That is just something I wanted to focus on. I mean like during the game I was telling Day'Ron [Sharpe], there was one play when he had a turnover and I was standing out in the middle and I'm like 'you got to stay aggressive, you can't pass me that ball.' I mean after that he kind of turned it up because I'm like you got somebody guarding you one on one and I feel like Day'Ron [Sharpe], nobody's really going to want to one on one with his back to his basket. He's such a big guy physically. Him staying aggressive and me staying aggressive definitely helps us in the post.
Q: Do you feel like the first game, the first lost to State may have turned out to be the turning point for you guys? Like that seemed like when Roy [Williams] ended up shuffling the starting lineup and really putting an emphasis on playing better defense.
AB: I think it definitely was. It was at a low point in our season and I feel like we were kind of complacent, just coming off of beating Kentucky … Even coach said it was one of the worst defensive performances he's ever seen from a team. Honestly, we took offense to that. It was our fault and we took offense to that and coming to this game we knew we wanted to go out there and just make a change and there's no way we would allow them to beat us two times in a row.
ANTHONY HARRIS
Q: Three games in, just curious how you're feeling with the knee and how it feels to kind of get back into the rotation full time now?
Anthony Harris: Knee is feeling great, I don't have any complaints. It feels real good today, Being back in the rotation.
Q: After three games, how would you define your role on this team or what do you think your role can be moving forward as you get more minutes?
AH: Just really whatever coach asks of me. Obviously, stay in front of my man, make defensive plays, and just make the right plays on offense, knock down shots, hit the gaps, find my open man.
Q: When the offense runs efficiently through the post as it did this afternoon, how does that help with the guys in the back court?
AH: Just getting the ball to our post guys is going to open everything up for everybody. We're really big in size so once we get the ball down there, it's going to open everything up for our under guys.
Q: Does that take some pressure off of the back court with so many younger guys in there.
AH: Every time you throw the ball, every time we throw the ball in the post it's going to take pressure off of everybody.
Players Mentioned
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