University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Maggie Hobson
UNC-Clemson Postgame Quotes
February 3, 2021 | Men's Basketball
Roy Williams
Postgame Media Zoom
UNC vs. Clemson
February 2, 2021
Q: 18 points in the paint. What did Clemson do to kind of limit the effectiveness that you guys have previously been having so much success with inside?
Roy Williams: I think that they've always been a good defensive team. You have 17 turnovers in a low possession game, you're not going to have a lot of points from anywhere. It's a low possession game and 17 times we gave it to them without a shot. You look down there and none of the big guys, Day'Ron [Sharpe] was 6 for 8, but Armando [Bacot] was 0 for 1, Garrison [Brooks] 4 for 10. So when we did get it, we didn't necessarily make it but it wasn't just that they cut us off inside. Our whole offense, 10 turnovers in the first half, two offensive rebounds in the whole first half. It wasn't just getting the ball inside. Our big guys were not as active as we needed them to be. If we were more active, we would've had more offensive rebounds in the first half but that's about it.
Q: I wanted to follow up on the offensive rebounding. Obviously far off the sort of the pace that you guys have been streaming towards the last couple of games. Was that just a matter of matchups, intensity, or what do you sort of attribute that to?
RW: I'd say two things and first, let's give Clemson some credit guys. They're not sloopy dogs team, they're a good defensive team and they try to take away your second shot opportunity. I would imagine that Brad [Brownell] felt like offensive rebounding of ours was a strength and so they try to do a good job. And then again, we didn't do as good a job as we want to of getting to the boards. Second chance points, six and five. That means that both clubs tried to do a better job of rebounding and taking away those second shot opportunities that a lot of times turn into points. But guys, two offensive rebounds in the whole first half and we missed 12 shots, we've got two offensive rebounds. Our percentage is way up there in the country about the percentage of shots that we retrieve ourselves. So Clemson is going to box you out, and we know that but really good teams are going to do that.
Q: How much do you think with this young team having that week off affected maybe the rhythm that they had gotten into in winning six of those last seven games before tonight?
RW: I guess it could have, I didn't feel like it would be. We had two really good practices. We worked 10 times harder in practice the last two days than we did in the game tonight. I felt that we would play well, I really did. I thought that we had made some good strides defensively in the practices the last two days. [Alex] Hemenway is a shooter and we understand that so we don't deny and then he gets the ball and drives straight to the basket and dunks on us. That's like the first or second possession of the game. One time we had a guy cross the lane and we didn't have anybody help the helper so he lays it up. So it was a total breakdown defensively and they hit us early and we were still ok. We were even ok midway through the second half. It's a four-point game and RJ [Davis] misses a layup, Day'Ron gets a rebound, misses a layup, Garrison tries to dunk it and misses. That would've made it a two-point game and you like your chances a little bit better. But when you miss three layups in a row and then the next possession I think is when Caleb [Love] charged inside. I think you got to give Clemson credit too. Aamir Simms, six assists and one turnover. We had eight assists and 17 turnovers as a team. So I think you try to give them a lot of credit for doing some more things that were really good too.
Q: You mentioned the turnovers, you're averaging a little under 15 coming into this game and you had 17 tonight. What needs to change to fix that? Is it just a matter of being more attentive with the ball or changing something about the offense?
RW: Tonight, I think it was everything. We had a player drove to the middle, drove from the corner to the middle, turn around and made a bounce pass to the corner, there was nobody there. You know, some of the turnovers were really bad, really bad. Guys, 17 turnovers is 10 times worse in a low possession game. I don't have my points per possession chart to see how many possessions it was (72), but I feel like it was a lot fewer possessions than what we've been having recently. Coach [Dean] Smith used to say that turnovers are usually selfishness, which means the guy is trying to make a great play, or carelessness. And I think some of them was selfishness but more of them were carelessness. And give Clemson's defense some credit too.
Q: What did you make of Armando [Bacot] tonight? I mean it seemed like he never was in it, only one shot and he obviously had been playing so well the last couple games.
RW: If I knew I would've tried to change it before the game started but that was hard to understand as well because as you said, I think the last two games he's like 8 for 10, 8 for 11 or something like that for the last two games and was really active. But it was bad when Aamir Simms, the first time he got the ball, drove him right to the basket and laid it up over top of him and sometimes those kind of plays tend to affect kids mentally and maybe Armando couldn't shake that part of it. Took one shot, two turnovers, four fouls. It was not a good night for Armando and he, for the most part of the year, has been our most consistent player. So 72 possessions and 17 turnovers is a lot higher percentage wise than what we've been having.
Q: What specifically can you do to ensure that Bacot gets more field goal attempts throughout the game?
RW: He's got to play better. That's the bottom line. I'm never concerned about him and the shot attempts that each of our guys get. If they play better, they're going to get more of those. Garrison got 10 attempts, Day'Ron got eight, you know and it's kind of about the number of shots they usually get. Armando has got to move more, move better. Twice, one time he got it and took it up, missed it and got it, it was a jump ball. He got an offensive foul in the first half, turn and leading with his elbow and hit the guy in the chest. He's got to play better.
Q: It's hard to gauge this when you're not in the arena. But it seemed like your players seemed to lack a sense of urgency. I'm wondering if that stems from the troubles Clemson's been having lately that they maybe underestimated.
RW: I don't think so, I told them, I said this is going to be a bigtime basketball game. I think Virginia, Florida State, Clemson are the best defensive teams in our league. They're always going to guard you, (Brad Brownell) he's done a great job with that over his career. I told them this was a wounded team. They were embarrassed in their last game. We should not take anyone lightly. Respect everyone, fear no one, but never take anyone lightly. So we even talked about that and I guess the same answer I gave a few minutes ago, if I had known how to correct it, I would've corrected it before. But I was so dumb, I thought that we would be ready to play tonight and I thought we would play well.
Garrison Brooks
Q: 18 points in the paint for you guys tonight, not much on the offensive glass. What went wrong for you and what did Clemson do to stop you guys down there?
Brooks: They're a really tough defensive team. Made it really tough for us to get the ball inside. They did a really good job boxing out. I think that's just something every team in the country knows we emphasize so much and they did a good job of taking that away from us.
Q: How much do you feel like this performance tonight kind of erased what you guys were building? Or at least how much do you feel like you guys maybe took a step back because of this performance?
Brooks: I think we didn't take a step back. We just stayed in the same spot instead of taking a step forward. I think we struggled today. I mean you're gonna have days where you struggle, but most of the time you are going to overcome it. Today we struggled and we didn't win. I think it's something we can still learn from. I think it's something where we can come to practice tomorrow and get better. I don't think it's something where we took a step backwards.
Q: In terms of defense, what were they doing that was giving you guys problems? I know that Aamir (Simms) is a difficult matchup. has it just their ball movement, spacing, what was it that seemed to give you guys some trouble.
Brooks: Just how they move their offense. How they move so hard. That's what made it tough for us. We couldn't get in front of the ball and stop the ball.
Q: Turnovers have been a problem this entire year, you had 17 tonight. Was Clemson doing something especially or was it just being careless especially in the first half?
Brooks: We were careless. We didn't really take care of the ball.
Q: Is it more productive just to sort of try to forget this one? I was kind of surprised that Roy didn't seem like he was too furious afterwards. Is it better not to get mad after a game like this and to move on?
Brooks: You always gotta get upset. These games you gotta have on the road against a really good team. I think it's something we gotta have. I think it's something to have until midnight. I think Coach Williams is probably going to watch the game five or six times before the next time he sees us. We're gonna come into practice and get better.
Day'ron Sharpe
Q: How much did not having a game on Saturday and basically having a week between games, how much did it affect the rhythm, or lack thereof for you guys in the first half coming back out?
Sharpe: I feel like not having a game on Saturday probably hurt us a little bit because practicing against your teammates, they kind of know the stuff you're doing and all that stuff. They're not the other team. We came out versus Clemson in the first half and they was running everything really hard and stuff so we was not really used to it, so we had to adjust.
Q: How much of the first half was just mental struggles? They start out kind of hot, you miss a couple of shots, and then things seem to spiral a little. You were turning the ball over and it took you guys a while to get going in the game.
Sharpe: I think we just got to learn how to focus in like as soon as the game starts, just focus. Limit our turnovers and make the easy plays.
Q: What was the locker room like after the game, and what was Roy's message to the team?
Sharpe: I think everybody was unhappy with how we played. Coach was unhappy with how we played. I thought this was like one of our worst games, to me. We wasn't focused and everyone's ready to bounce back on Saturday.
Q: Was there a certain mood to the locker room? Was it angry? Was it sad? Was it just kind of motivated?
Sharpe: I think it was more like angry at first at ourselves. It wasn't just like, we didn't play like ourselves today, and I think everybody was frustrated about that.
Q: How exactly does Carolina bounce back after a loss like this? You just stated that this is one of your guy's worst losses. With a heated upcoming rivalry against Duke, it's always a big game whether you guys are ranked or not. How do you guys adjust and get back on the wagon, back on track to defeating Duke?
Sharpe: I feel like we just go back to practice and just work hard every day. We just get ready for Duke, I feel like that's the only thing you can do.
Q: You mentioned this is one of the worst games you guys have played. Did you think Clemson was the best defense you guys have played so far? And if so, what was it about them that was such a hard challenge?
Sharpe: I don't feel like they really made us turn the ball over. I feel like we were just making bad passes and stuff like that and just wasn't thinking. Coach and the press was telling us how good Clemson denied the ball and stuff. But we just got to like turn around.
Q: Did tonight in some ways feel like some of those December losses that you guys had? Where you fall behind by a pretty big margin in the first half and the turnovers are a problem and things like that. Did it feel like some of those games that you feel like you might have gotten past?
Sharpe: I feel like tonight we took a step back to where we was and where we first started. We was going on a good streak of getting better and better, playing defense better and limiting our turnovers. I feel like we're going to fix that going into Saturday.
Postgame Media Zoom
UNC vs. Clemson
February 2, 2021
Q: 18 points in the paint. What did Clemson do to kind of limit the effectiveness that you guys have previously been having so much success with inside?
Roy Williams: I think that they've always been a good defensive team. You have 17 turnovers in a low possession game, you're not going to have a lot of points from anywhere. It's a low possession game and 17 times we gave it to them without a shot. You look down there and none of the big guys, Day'Ron [Sharpe] was 6 for 8, but Armando [Bacot] was 0 for 1, Garrison [Brooks] 4 for 10. So when we did get it, we didn't necessarily make it but it wasn't just that they cut us off inside. Our whole offense, 10 turnovers in the first half, two offensive rebounds in the whole first half. It wasn't just getting the ball inside. Our big guys were not as active as we needed them to be. If we were more active, we would've had more offensive rebounds in the first half but that's about it.
Q: I wanted to follow up on the offensive rebounding. Obviously far off the sort of the pace that you guys have been streaming towards the last couple of games. Was that just a matter of matchups, intensity, or what do you sort of attribute that to?
RW: I'd say two things and first, let's give Clemson some credit guys. They're not sloopy dogs team, they're a good defensive team and they try to take away your second shot opportunity. I would imagine that Brad [Brownell] felt like offensive rebounding of ours was a strength and so they try to do a good job. And then again, we didn't do as good a job as we want to of getting to the boards. Second chance points, six and five. That means that both clubs tried to do a better job of rebounding and taking away those second shot opportunities that a lot of times turn into points. But guys, two offensive rebounds in the whole first half and we missed 12 shots, we've got two offensive rebounds. Our percentage is way up there in the country about the percentage of shots that we retrieve ourselves. So Clemson is going to box you out, and we know that but really good teams are going to do that.
Q: How much do you think with this young team having that week off affected maybe the rhythm that they had gotten into in winning six of those last seven games before tonight?
RW: I guess it could have, I didn't feel like it would be. We had two really good practices. We worked 10 times harder in practice the last two days than we did in the game tonight. I felt that we would play well, I really did. I thought that we had made some good strides defensively in the practices the last two days. [Alex] Hemenway is a shooter and we understand that so we don't deny and then he gets the ball and drives straight to the basket and dunks on us. That's like the first or second possession of the game. One time we had a guy cross the lane and we didn't have anybody help the helper so he lays it up. So it was a total breakdown defensively and they hit us early and we were still ok. We were even ok midway through the second half. It's a four-point game and RJ [Davis] misses a layup, Day'Ron gets a rebound, misses a layup, Garrison tries to dunk it and misses. That would've made it a two-point game and you like your chances a little bit better. But when you miss three layups in a row and then the next possession I think is when Caleb [Love] charged inside. I think you got to give Clemson credit too. Aamir Simms, six assists and one turnover. We had eight assists and 17 turnovers as a team. So I think you try to give them a lot of credit for doing some more things that were really good too.
Q: You mentioned the turnovers, you're averaging a little under 15 coming into this game and you had 17 tonight. What needs to change to fix that? Is it just a matter of being more attentive with the ball or changing something about the offense?
RW: Tonight, I think it was everything. We had a player drove to the middle, drove from the corner to the middle, turn around and made a bounce pass to the corner, there was nobody there. You know, some of the turnovers were really bad, really bad. Guys, 17 turnovers is 10 times worse in a low possession game. I don't have my points per possession chart to see how many possessions it was (72), but I feel like it was a lot fewer possessions than what we've been having recently. Coach [Dean] Smith used to say that turnovers are usually selfishness, which means the guy is trying to make a great play, or carelessness. And I think some of them was selfishness but more of them were carelessness. And give Clemson's defense some credit too.
Q: What did you make of Armando [Bacot] tonight? I mean it seemed like he never was in it, only one shot and he obviously had been playing so well the last couple games.
RW: If I knew I would've tried to change it before the game started but that was hard to understand as well because as you said, I think the last two games he's like 8 for 10, 8 for 11 or something like that for the last two games and was really active. But it was bad when Aamir Simms, the first time he got the ball, drove him right to the basket and laid it up over top of him and sometimes those kind of plays tend to affect kids mentally and maybe Armando couldn't shake that part of it. Took one shot, two turnovers, four fouls. It was not a good night for Armando and he, for the most part of the year, has been our most consistent player. So 72 possessions and 17 turnovers is a lot higher percentage wise than what we've been having.
Q: What specifically can you do to ensure that Bacot gets more field goal attempts throughout the game?
RW: He's got to play better. That's the bottom line. I'm never concerned about him and the shot attempts that each of our guys get. If they play better, they're going to get more of those. Garrison got 10 attempts, Day'Ron got eight, you know and it's kind of about the number of shots they usually get. Armando has got to move more, move better. Twice, one time he got it and took it up, missed it and got it, it was a jump ball. He got an offensive foul in the first half, turn and leading with his elbow and hit the guy in the chest. He's got to play better.
Q: It's hard to gauge this when you're not in the arena. But it seemed like your players seemed to lack a sense of urgency. I'm wondering if that stems from the troubles Clemson's been having lately that they maybe underestimated.
RW: I don't think so, I told them, I said this is going to be a bigtime basketball game. I think Virginia, Florida State, Clemson are the best defensive teams in our league. They're always going to guard you, (Brad Brownell) he's done a great job with that over his career. I told them this was a wounded team. They were embarrassed in their last game. We should not take anyone lightly. Respect everyone, fear no one, but never take anyone lightly. So we even talked about that and I guess the same answer I gave a few minutes ago, if I had known how to correct it, I would've corrected it before. But I was so dumb, I thought that we would be ready to play tonight and I thought we would play well.
Garrison Brooks
Q: 18 points in the paint for you guys tonight, not much on the offensive glass. What went wrong for you and what did Clemson do to stop you guys down there?
Brooks: They're a really tough defensive team. Made it really tough for us to get the ball inside. They did a really good job boxing out. I think that's just something every team in the country knows we emphasize so much and they did a good job of taking that away from us.
Q: How much do you feel like this performance tonight kind of erased what you guys were building? Or at least how much do you feel like you guys maybe took a step back because of this performance?
Brooks: I think we didn't take a step back. We just stayed in the same spot instead of taking a step forward. I think we struggled today. I mean you're gonna have days where you struggle, but most of the time you are going to overcome it. Today we struggled and we didn't win. I think it's something we can still learn from. I think it's something where we can come to practice tomorrow and get better. I don't think it's something where we took a step backwards.
Q: In terms of defense, what were they doing that was giving you guys problems? I know that Aamir (Simms) is a difficult matchup. has it just their ball movement, spacing, what was it that seemed to give you guys some trouble.
Brooks: Just how they move their offense. How they move so hard. That's what made it tough for us. We couldn't get in front of the ball and stop the ball.
Q: Turnovers have been a problem this entire year, you had 17 tonight. Was Clemson doing something especially or was it just being careless especially in the first half?
Brooks: We were careless. We didn't really take care of the ball.
Q: Is it more productive just to sort of try to forget this one? I was kind of surprised that Roy didn't seem like he was too furious afterwards. Is it better not to get mad after a game like this and to move on?
Brooks: You always gotta get upset. These games you gotta have on the road against a really good team. I think it's something we gotta have. I think it's something to have until midnight. I think Coach Williams is probably going to watch the game five or six times before the next time he sees us. We're gonna come into practice and get better.
Day'ron Sharpe
Q: How much did not having a game on Saturday and basically having a week between games, how much did it affect the rhythm, or lack thereof for you guys in the first half coming back out?
Sharpe: I feel like not having a game on Saturday probably hurt us a little bit because practicing against your teammates, they kind of know the stuff you're doing and all that stuff. They're not the other team. We came out versus Clemson in the first half and they was running everything really hard and stuff so we was not really used to it, so we had to adjust.
Q: How much of the first half was just mental struggles? They start out kind of hot, you miss a couple of shots, and then things seem to spiral a little. You were turning the ball over and it took you guys a while to get going in the game.
Sharpe: I think we just got to learn how to focus in like as soon as the game starts, just focus. Limit our turnovers and make the easy plays.
Q: What was the locker room like after the game, and what was Roy's message to the team?
Sharpe: I think everybody was unhappy with how we played. Coach was unhappy with how we played. I thought this was like one of our worst games, to me. We wasn't focused and everyone's ready to bounce back on Saturday.
Q: Was there a certain mood to the locker room? Was it angry? Was it sad? Was it just kind of motivated?
Sharpe: I think it was more like angry at first at ourselves. It wasn't just like, we didn't play like ourselves today, and I think everybody was frustrated about that.
Q: How exactly does Carolina bounce back after a loss like this? You just stated that this is one of your guy's worst losses. With a heated upcoming rivalry against Duke, it's always a big game whether you guys are ranked or not. How do you guys adjust and get back on the wagon, back on track to defeating Duke?
Sharpe: I feel like we just go back to practice and just work hard every day. We just get ready for Duke, I feel like that's the only thing you can do.
Q: You mentioned this is one of the worst games you guys have played. Did you think Clemson was the best defense you guys have played so far? And if so, what was it about them that was such a hard challenge?
Sharpe: I don't feel like they really made us turn the ball over. I feel like we were just making bad passes and stuff like that and just wasn't thinking. Coach and the press was telling us how good Clemson denied the ball and stuff. But we just got to like turn around.
Q: Did tonight in some ways feel like some of those December losses that you guys had? Where you fall behind by a pretty big margin in the first half and the turnovers are a problem and things like that. Did it feel like some of those games that you feel like you might have gotten past?
Sharpe: I feel like tonight we took a step back to where we was and where we first started. We was going on a good streak of getting better and better, playing defense better and limiting our turnovers. I feel like we're going to fix that going into Saturday.
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