University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Texas Quotes
December 18, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 18, 2010
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Roy Williams Opening Statement:
"We get the three-point lead with eleven or ten minutes to play, they make two free throws, we come back and miss a shot, they score, and we come back and miss another shot. And all of a sudden it's difficult to come back. We had our chances. We made some mistakes. And what really, really hurt us badly was rebounding the ball, particularly early in the game and our turnovers that led out to some baskets for them was something that really hurt us in the game."
"I don't spend a lot of time watching the scoring time when it gets down to the time to score situations but I think we had a five-point lead, seven-point lead, maybe even somewhere in that range and we threw a long pass and don't catch it and that could've been a layup and we miss two straight free throws and on a two-shot foul and those things hurt us. We also did a poor job defensively one of those times on one of those drives because we let the guy drive and lay the ball up against us. We had some opportunities that we didn't make the play we needed to."
On Running the Screen:
"We didn't play it the way we were supposed to play it. And its not just the two guys involved in the screen. One time a guy in the corner stayed out there and didn't get back in there and help on the drive."
On Where The Team Goes From Here:
"We are not a very confident team right now, we are a very ticked off team right now. We had some chances. It was something that was important to us to play well and I said it the first of the year and I'll keep saying it until they put me in the grave -- we are a team that's going to get better and better but the first 12 minutes today we were backwards and the stretch about three or four minutes defensively in the second half we went backwards today. You can't be a good basketball team -- Texas is a good basketball team -- you can't beat a team if you allow them to shoot 53 percent in the second half. One play we had a wide open three and we missed it and they had a wide open three where I felt like we got a hand up and they made it. And uh, it was something that the game of basketball you got to make shots, got to make shots. But I feel they know they can be a good team but right now we are not trying to be with confidence so they better be ticked off."
Texas Head Coach Rick Barnes Opening Statement:
"I thought our guys were really tough in the last four minutes. Both teams played their hearts out, and it was a great win for us. It really was. We had a lot fouls but I just told the team from top to bottom, this is as good of a team as its been in a long, long time."
On Cory Joseph's game-winning shot:
"He was tremendous. Cory just keeps getting better and better...he made a similar shot like that up in New York and we had gone to a pick and roll. I felt that if we did it again, Roy (Williams) would probably double it and get it out of his hands, so we just opened up the floor and let him go make a play. It's not the one I really wanted him to make. I really wanted him to drive it and try to get fouled, but he made the shot."
On his return to the state of North Carolina:
"You know, I've been gone for so long, and I love Carolina. I love the state of North Carolina. I love [the Greensboro Coliseum]...I was watching the NBA this morning and I heard LeBron James talking about the Mecca being in [Madison Square Garden]. To me this place was Mecca, this place right here, and I understand the Big Four here, and I don't know that unless you grew up here, if you really do and I have unbelievable respect for Roy and the North Carolina program."
North Carolina Player Quotes
Junior Forward Tyler Zeller
On the level of physicality of the game...
"Going up against Texas, we know it's going to be physical. We know it's going to be a very hard-fought battle. But in the end, they were able to pull out some plays at the end and we weren't."
On why the game went back-and-forth...
"I don't really know. I don't think you can put it on one thing. Experience always helps, but at the same time, we're a team that's gaining a lot of experience. I don't really think that's an excuse anymore. So I don't really know if you can put that on one thing."
On letting a late lead slip away...
"I think at the four-minute break we were up seven. So that is very difficult. Like I said, at the end of the game, they made the plays and we didn't. So it's something we have to be able to improve on and hopefully next time we won't have that problem."
Sophomore guard Dexter Strickland
On his defense on Cory Joseph's game-winning shot...
"It was a tough shot. He's a great player; I'll give him that. I could have done a better job of not going for the first shot, the pump-fake, and staying down and contesting the shot even better. But like you said, it was a tough shot and he's a great player."
On being aggressive offensively...
"What we wanted to do was run a four-out, one-in (offensive set) and just get guys to space out so guys could drive, like me, Harrison and Larry; and it worked. So when I would drive and nobody was there, if I didn't have the layup, Z (Tyler Zeller) would be wide open or John (Henson) would be wide open. It worked pretty good in the second half."
On what the Tar Heels can take from this game...
"It motivates us. It motivates me. I think I speak for my team when I say it's going to make us better. We know what type of game we played and what type of intensity the game is going to be. This experience alone is going to help us."
Freshman forward Harrison Barnes
On what the Tar Heels can learn from the game...
"We definitely learned a lot about ourselves. We didn't come out ready to play in the first couple of minutes, and that led to our deficit. And then we got to be mentally tougher down the stretch. We were up five for the majority of the game and then we gave in at the end there. So we have to get better defensive possessions. We can't have any lapses."
On how tough this loss is for him...
"Every loss is tough. You can't weigh it, considering this is a bigger game than another game. A loss is a loss. I think we learned a lot about ourselves because we didn't come out ready to play from the get-go."
