UNC-PItt Postgame Quotes

UNC vs. Pitt 1-26-21 Postgame Quotes

Q: You've been wanting your guys to feed your bigs. How pleased were you with their ability to do that tonight?

Roy Williams: Needless to say I thought it was huge. The first half we were like 10 for 15 between Garrison [Brooks] and Armando [Bacot] and our starting three perimeter players were like 2 for 10, so we emphasized it again at halftime. And we should throw it into those big guys and then when they throw it back out it'll be a better shot. But I think we did a great job of getting it to them in the second half. They had a difficult time handling our big guys inside and I think that was a key point in the game. The other key point to me, Coach (Steve) Robinson said, is that every time they made a run, we answered it. I think that was a big thing, too, because we can't shoot 4 for 17 from the 3-point line and 7 for 14 from the foul line. But we luckily got by today because they didn't shoot it much better at 6 for 15.

Q: [Au'Diese] Toney and [Xavier] Johnson were a combined 15 points. What did you guys do to keep them from being anywhere near their averages and how big was it for you to not let another guy go off?

RW: Yeah, that was big. I think, what you said there at the end, we've been letting guys set career highs against us. But against Pittsburgh, [Xavier] Johnson is one of the two focal points we talked about. The other was no doubt about it was [Justin] Champagnie. But we tried to build a wall, not let him get all the way to the basket and had to get our big guys to help slow him down and I think that that was important to us. We changed our way we covered a screen on the ball about a third of the way into the second half because they were scoring every time. All of a sudden that helped us a little bit. I think with [Xavier] Johnson trying to make sure he didn't get it all the way to the rim every time and I think [Au'Diese] Toney is a big-time player too he just didn't shoot as well today. I was pleased at that part of it. I can't believe that [Justin] Champagnie isn't having a better year at this moment than anybody in the league. We had a defensive possession in the first half where we were supposed to be man to man, and we let him cut straight to the ball and catch it and lay it up. And we had more than one freshman out there, again they're not freshman by now. But happy as I can be to get a big win and get out as quickly as we can.

Q: Obviously the wins are starting to pile on now. What are you most excited about? From the outside ,it seems like you guys have turned the corner on this season. What are the little things that you're most excited about how you guys are executing right now?

RW: Well you guys should know me better, I corrected somebody at the last press conference. I don't ever think you frickin' turn the corner. You're in the ACC, you're only as good as your last game. I'll go back to what I said consistently, I think we are getting a little bit better and a little bit better. One of the things I like, I look down there and Caleb [Love] didn't shoot the ball very well and didn't shoot his free throws well, but he had five assists and one turnover. That one turnover was a big one right at the end of the game that was important for us, but that's something that's extremely important. RJ [Davis] was 3/2 so our assist error ratio was 22/13. I'm happier about that, we had 22 assists on our 32 field goals. I'm happier about that. We had 37 rebounds to their 29. So, there are a lot of things that please me but there's no way in the world I'm going to say we've turned a corner. I mean we are getting a little bit better and the day that we, if we're lucky enough in this lifetime or my next one, that we're playing for the national championship, I'll tell somebody, 'yeah we've turned a corner we're pretty good.'

Q: Can you speak on the first half performance and how that was able to carry over into the second half? How proud of the start you were in that first half and how easy was it for them to transition that into the second half performance?

RW: The first half, again I'll go back and I think I'm right that Garrison and Armando were 10 for 15 and we had to keep telling the guys let's keep trying to go in there. We think that Kerwin Walton is going to make every shot and he made 2 of 5 but we think he's going to make every one of them, we've got to look for him more. Caleb made a big three and then yet Caleb goes to the free throw line and misses both foul shots, but we get a tip out and he goes and scores the layup. Yes, I'm getting happier with them, I'm getting more proud of them because it's a hard league to try to get everybody together on the same page because every night is a battle. But I do believe that, and I'll say it again that, we are getting a little bit better and a little bit better and hopefully we'll keep that going on our practices the next couple of days.

Q: I just wanted to ask you about the ball movement. I thought it was particularly impressive in that second half, you guys had the 7-0 run that pushed the lead up to 12. Is the better ball movement just from the guys getting more comfortable playing together or is it the freshman understanding a little bit better, shot selection wise what you want them to do or what do you sort of attribute that to?

RW: I think all of the above, but they cut it down to four or five or six or something like that with a run and they're pressing. I think we turned it over once early in the press. So, then it's an open court. And we did make better decisions in the open court and all of a sudden, we're getting layups or dunks. I think Leaky [Black] got a steal and goes down and dunks it on the other end. You need to get easy baskets at some point and if a team is going to press you, guys just think of it, it's more difficult for five guys to guard the whole court then it is for five guys to guard the half court. If they're extending their defense, we've got to move it well enough to get the easier ones on the other end and again, that 22 assists for 32 baskets, that's closer to where our good teams have been in the past.

Q: The ball movement was where I was going with it too. With the 22 assists, with the way you shot it in the second half, I think it was almost 61%, another half over 50% here recently. Is patience something that's starting to develop in the half court at least for you guys? I mean is there less of a, I don't know, helter skelter feeling with some of those possessions in the half court do you think?

RW: I think there's fewer of those, there's no question about it. But guys, the game is not really that difficult. Get shots that you can make and the guys that make the most of them should get most of the shots. And we've always thought that. When we had Coby White, I was very comfortable with Coby shooting about any shot he shot because he shot a good percentage, he could attack the basket, get the other team in foul trouble, and we had big guys. Well now we have big guys that we need to throw the basketball to them and get good things to happen and if we do that, we've got a better chance. I do think that the ball movement is getting a little better. I've showed our guards, particularly RJ and Caleb, their crazy shots, those running, one-handed, one-legged kind of shots. You don't need to shoot those. I look down here and Armando is 8 for 10 and Garrison is 8 for 11. We've got to use our brains. Those guys should get more shots. I mean Armando is 21 (points)/10 (rebounds), 8 for 10, I think that the last game he was what, 8 for 11 or something. It makes sense that those guys should get more shots if they're making a higher percentage. If you take great shots, you're going to make a lot more of those. Kerwin for example tonight, he took one mediocre shot and the rest of his shots were all good. Well he's 4 for 8. If you're a good shooter, you're going to shoot higher percentage if you take the better shots.

Players' Postgame Media Zoom
at Pittsburgh, Jan. 26, 2021

Caleb Love
Q: You had a 5/1 assist to turnover ratio tonight. What was key for you in running the offense effectively?

Love: Just getting shots for my guys. Just making it a little easier, breaking down the defense and finding my teammates. So that's exactly what I did. I got downhill sometimes, getting open shots for Kerwin (Walton), getting downhill, getting shots for 'Mando (Bacot) and the bigs. Just getting open shots for them and helping.

Q: Your growth throughout the season has been pretty tremendous and noteworthy. How much would you attribute it to kind of understanding the Carolina system as a point guard versus just confidence and getting more reps in a UNC game?

Love: It's all of that. Me watching a lot of film, just seeing where I can pick my spots and where the defense is playing me and how the defense is playing our team. Just staying true to my work. Staying in the gym just perfecting my craft and its showing

Q: How have you seen Armando Bacot improve since you've been here? It seems like he is getting better each game and performing well the last couple of games.

Love: He's doing great. He works on his craft a lot. He's in the gym all the time. Just him being that dog. I tell him before every game, 'you ready?' And he'll tell me he's got my back. So just going into every game I know he's going to bring it. It's good to have a big like that you can count on.

Q: Xavier Johnson was two for eight, had four turnovers tonight. What did you and you guys collectively do from keeping him from playing at the level he had been coming in?

Love: He's a shifty and fast guard and he gets downhill with the best of them. Probably the fastest guard I've played this year besides probably Matt Coleman (Texas). Just getting him out of his game. Making him shoot outside shots and taking away the drive. So that's exactly what we did.

Q: Just under three minutes, at about two minutes Pitt made that big run at you guys. Then they left you all alone outside the three-point arc for that shot. You hadn't made one all game. What are you thinking at that point when they are practically daring you to take that shot?

Love: Coach told us a famous Joel Berry quote: 'if you're gonna shoot it, have the balls to make it.' So that's exactly what I did.

Q: Garrison (Brooks) and Armando, you know they got it going early and they kept it going. Strong around the basket all night long. Did you see anything early, I don't know a certain moment or play, that sort of let you know they were going to be locked in and delivering down there?

Love: Just because Pittsburgh likes to switch a lot sometimes you get a guard on a big. Pittsburgh also likes to hedge the ball screen super hard. As you can see on that first play he hedged super hard and I got 'Mando for the lob. So just different reads and seeing that. Picking apart the defense.

Armando Bacot
Q: This isn't the first time this year you guys have had a three-game win streak, but I wanted to see what feels different about this streak this time than previously?

Bacot: This obviously feels good because as a team we are getting a lot better. Pittsburgh they're a really good team. (Justin) Champagnie, he's a really great player and obviously had a good game. We got him in foul trouble so that obviously affected him on defense and that helped us a lot. I feel like we're getting a lot better. We've started to talk more on defense. Everybody's starting to play how they're supposed to play. So it's been going good.

Q: In the second half after one of your and one's they caught you on camera kind of smirking at your defender. Is this kind of you coming into yourself and realizing the real impact you can have on a game? It looked like you were looking at the guy knowing there was nothing he could do to stop you.

Bacot: Nah, we all kind of fool with each other. JC (Champagnie) and Kareem (Coulibaly), I've known them for a long time so it's kind of funny playing against those guys. Usually y'all see me on the court and I'm just a blank face the whole time. But it's just funny, I've been playing against them since middle school so it was fun being able to joke with them and stuff like that

Q: Do you feel like you Day'Ron (Sharpe) and Garrison are getting into a rhythm where you guys can start playing some bully ball down there in the paint?

Bacot: Yeah, I'd definitely say as a trio we've been finding our swagger a little bit. Just starting to know where others like the ball. That just makes it a whole lot easier when we can start to play off each other in the high post and the low post. Our guards are starting to knock down shots, too, so they are having to start respecting us so it's making it a lot easier on us. We're getting more one on one coverage and things like that. Us when we get in one on one coverage we just high power ability them, we're gonna score.

Garrison Brooks
Q: You've played a lot of basketball at North Carolina. In your opinion what is working so well for this team right now?

Brooks: Just playing with a lot of confidence, getting the ball inside. Just playing how we normally were taught to play every day. Just crash the boards, get the ball inside early. It's just play to our strengths.

Q: What's been the key offensively the last couple of games? You guys are shooting a much higher percentage than you were earlier in the year.

Brooks: Yeah. just get the ball inside early, let the big guys work. It opens up for the outside perimeter so it helps them a lot.

Q: (Au'Diese) Toney and Johnson combined for like 15 points. They were way below their averages, I think Johnson was 2 for 8. What did you guys do collectively as a group to keep them from going off today?

Brooks: I mean it was just a good job by Caleb (Love) and Leaky (Black). Johnson and Toney are two really good players in this league. It was really the tone Caleb and Leaky set for the defense.

Q: Do you feel more like the UNC teams for your first two years here in Chapel Hill?

Brooks: Correct. I mean we are winning games, playing together and just being ourselves. You know the biggest thing is winning. That's the biggest difference between my first two years and last year.

Q: You mentioned playing with confidence. How hard was it to keep that confidence when you guys went through some of the valleys of the earlier part of the season?

Brooks: I mean it's a part of growth. I think you're going to struggle a little bit at times. It's just weathering the storm, working every day and keep getting better every day. So now we are just reaping the benefits. We can only get better from this.

Q: In your second year playing with Armando, have you guys kind of figured out each other's games and figured out how to play off each other a little more? It kind of looked like today that kind of was the case.

Brooks: Whenever we get the opportunity to be in there a long stretch together I think we both play well. I mean I think that's something you just get accustomed to. Personally we had a really good year last year together, but I mean it's something we can always grow off of.

Q: With Armando, I'm sure you've spent a lot of time with him. How have you seen him grow so much from the summer to now? Where has he made the biggest strides? Whether it be physically, mentally, or just overall game.

Brooks: He works at his craft a lot. I mean he's just a student of the game every day. He tries to get better every day. I think he's gotten a lot more confident in his post moves. He's a terrific offensive rebounder. You can tell by the numbers. I think just him working out every day with Jonas (Sahratian) and him just growing with confidence by himself. I think it's great for him.

Q: Obviously Roy wants to push it all the time, we know that. But in the half court, with you guys in your halfcourt offense, is the ball movement, the sharing, the decision making, it just seems like that has improved, there's more patience. What do you see happening in the half court to where you guys are getting better shots and you're converting them?

Brooks: I mean it's just us growing together. Obviously we score, I mean I forget the number. I feel like we had a lot more assists today. We had 22 assists on 32 baskets? I mean that's just good basketball.

Q: Champagnie had 23 and was 7 for 9 from the floor, but he's averaging 14 field goal attempts per game. What did you do to limit his touches?
Brooks: Just trying to make it hard on him to catch it. Obviously he's a really good player. Best player in our league right now. Just trying to deny him the ball, make it tough for him. Obviously it worked a little bit, but 7 for 9 that's tough.

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Garrison Brooks

Caleb Love

Kerwin Walton

Coby White

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