North Carolina State University Athletics
NC State-UNC coaches quotes
1/12/2008 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
Opening Statement:
“Needless to say, it was a great first half for us. They had a lot of shots that they normally make that didn’t go in for them today. I think our defense had something to do with it, but it wasn’t the only reason. A couple of things that were really pleasing to me were that Ty [Lawson] did sprain his ankle early, and he got re-taped. I told him that he wasn’t any better looking than he was last year, but that I think he was tougher. He really showed that in the second half because he got refocused again and came out and did a nice job for us.
Quentin Thomas had a good game, did some good things for us. So hopefully, this will give him some more confidence. One of the other things I said at halftime was that the guys that came off the bench really gave us something. Will
On the play of Danny Green:
“Danny has done some good things. I still get frustrated when he doesn’t close out and lets a guy drive right past him, and then the guy scores on Marcus [Ginyard]. Then everyone says that the guy scored over Marcus, but the reason he did was because Marcus had to help out Danny. But Danny has really played pretty doggone well for us all year and has given us really good things. He couldn’t make an outside shot today, but just his activity on the outside boards was great. I said the other day that I feel like I have six starters, and I feel like Danny is playing really good basketball for us. I had a session with Danny and Deon yesterday, and we talked more about defense than anything else really.”
On how good he thinks his team is this season:
“I still don’t know. If we play defense like we did in the first half---and again, our defense didn’t cause all that 18% shooting [for NC State]. They just missed some shots that they usually makebut I was real pleased how we swarmed the ball. We had eight blocks at the half, and one in the second half. I don’t know how many steals we had, but most of those were in the first half. When we play defense, are really swarming, doing what we are suppose to do, and listening to the scouting report then I think we are pretty doggone good. It’s two games into the conference season so we will find out [how good we are] in the next couple of weeks.”
NC State Head Coach Sidney Lowe
Opening Statement:
“It was a tough one, tough game. We played against a very good ball club. We didn’t play particularly well in that first half. We missed a lot of shots inside and we were probably about [3-21] in the paint, and only one free throw. So 23 shots we
missed and didn’t have an opportunity to go to the free throw line. They came down and
executed their stuff, which they do well and got some breaks. I thought the second half
we came out and played a lot better. A little more patient in the second half and as a
result we shot a higher percentage. They already had a big lead and executed their stuff.
We tried to make a run and they jumped right back on us. They played a great game and
it’s a good ball game for them.”
On the absence of a leader at the guard position:
“Huge factor, playing against this team in this arena with the pressure on is tough. If
you’ve never done it before it is an eye opener and it was an experience for our young
guys. Last year we had a veteran to keep us under control. Our guards are going to
continue to get better and this was a good experience for them.”
On a disappointing performance in today’s loss:
“We played against a very good ball club, the number one team in the country and they
played well. I did not expect us to shoot [3-for-21] in the paint and one free throw. If we make a couple of those or we get a couple fouls and get to the line who knows it is maybe a different game, a little closer anyway. I did not see this coming or going [3-21] in the paint. Taking a bad shot against this team is like a turnover because it is going to lead to a fast break or they are going to execute their stuff.”
On what positives you can take from this loss:
“The fact that this is what it is going to be like. This is how the conference is going
to be played. I don’t know about building on it, but understand that this is the type of
the environment we are going to be in and we are going to have to execute. We have to
play good basketball to win on the road or at home. These type of environments exist in
our conference an we have to be ready to play. We have to do the right things at the
start and be patient not break away or be so excited that we try to do it ourselves.”
