University of North Carolina Athletics
Post Game Quotes
December 17, 2000 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 17, 2000
These games always concern a coach. Because you don't want teams, they re 1-3, you always want your team to come out and play with great energy and enthusiasm, as if you're playing for the national championship. I thought our team came out and was really focused and played hard.
The team effort, they're listening. And that excites me as a coach that they listen and they trust what I'm telling them. Joe Forte, we talked about decisions in transition and making the right play. He had a chance in the second chance to take maybe a bad shot along the baseline and threw it back out. That was that one possession that went around the horn and then went back around the horn. Any one of the five guys could have probably shot the ball one or two times, and they gave it up. That, to me, is what Carolina basketball is all about.
Capel, with about 3:15 to go, I told him, "You're two rebounds away from a triple double. You've got about a minute and some change to get it done." He said, "Don't worry coach. I'll take care of it." I was getting a little worried there. I don't want to sacrifice things for individual success. But in certain situations like that, I think it's the right thing to do. And there's no one more deserving than Capel to do that because he works so hard and does all the little things.
On Ronald Curry:
He's given us some stability and maturity. With the ball, he makes
pretty good decisions with it. And he's a great on the ball defender.
I think each and every day you see him become more and more
comfortable. Today, he hit two threes and them he took his man to the
basket in the second half and got fouled. Defensively, he gets his
hands on a lot of balls. Obviously, he's strong. He can just get a
finger on the ball and it knocks it away from a defender. As a result,
we get some easy run outs. I think he gives us a lot.
