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University of North Carolina Athletics
UNC-Maryland Quotes
February 27, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 27, 2011
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Head Coach Roy Williams:
Opening Statement:
"So I don't know about you guys but I like scoring 87 a lot better than I like scoring 48. Gives you a little more heart attacks during the game going up and down like that, but I like that a lot better. Kendall [Marshall] and Dexter [Strickland], Steve gave me the stats that I liked, they had 18 assists before either one of them scored a basket and Kendall only scored one anyway. And I think that is something that you've got to have is guards that will be able to share the ball. It couldn't have been any better, Kendall went to sleep for a spell in there and had two or three turnovers in a row, but I thought Z [Tyler Zeller] was really something for us inside.
"I thought our defense was pretty doggone good except we didn't do a very good job against [Terrell] Stoglin, he's hard to guard, hard to keep in front of you. He and Kendall are going to have some big time matchups. Kendall better get better defensively a lot quicker, and use his length a little bit more, but it was a kind of game I thought it would be, Gary's clubs, they play so hard all the time, they like to push the ball. We like to think we play hard; sometimes I think we do, sometimes I don't. But we do like to push the ball and like to let kids play going up and down the court. And we both try defensively, but sometimes some of the offensive talent takes over. I don't think either team was really sharp. The ball wasn't going into the basket for everybody, but it was a very hard-fought game against a club that I really like, and I think that Gary always does a good job, we call him "whacko" for a reason, but he is really a very good friend, and a big time coach. He had that team with two freshman guards really doing some nice things too. You look down there and see, again, 18 assists with two guards, and John [Henson] 15 rebounds and seven blocked shots - he does do a lot of damage inside and takes away some of the other team's inside threat. We like for the other team to shoot 41 percent, but you would like to see better than 40, and let that be a good explanation of the whole game for us. It's a good win and we are very pleased that we were able to get it."
On what he can achieve with this young team as opposed to an older team:
"I've just preached the whole year, let's just try to do everything we can to get better. And in the pre-season I told you guys I thought we would get better and that is what I have been preaching to these guys. And with each little step as you get this late in the season, I've been congratulating them saying we can do more. We always have big time dreams and big time goals, and it's been a long time. I've been telling these guys that it's okay to have those big time dreams and big time goals. I think they are quite realistic for us. But it's not going to happen just because you think you want it. The only way to make big time dreams and big time goals happen is to be extremely focused, be extremely driven, and be willing to pay that price every single day."
UNC Players
Harrison Barnes
"We knew this was a big game for us."
On his first college season:
"It's been an up and down season. I mean we've been through a lot as a team and, you know, individually we've all been through our struggles. But the biggest thing is that we've got to stay in the gym; got to continue to work hard."
On winning the past few games:
"You know, that's been good but you know it's going to come a point where it's going to be a one-game elimination so we've just got to come ready to play every night and be as consistent as possible."
Kendall Marshall
"We knew this was a big game, you know. We have the chance to win the ACC's. We've got to take it one game at a time. I think we did a good job today coming out playing."
"I like the way we're finding a way to win. You know, we never know how we're going to do it. We may have to hit a bunch of threes against Boston College. We may have to get the stops against Virginia Tech. But at the end of the day we're just finding ways to win and at the end of the day that's all that matters. "
Tyler Zeller
"When they're going in it makes it so much easier and I just kept shooting."
On body's fatigue:
"It's one of those things at this point in time you're going to have aches and pains. And everybody has them so you just got to keep going and you get more and more motivation as the end of the season comes."
Maryland Coach Gary Williams' Opening Statement:
"We knew coming in we were going to have to really work hard, especially in the rebounding area. Not just because of their size, but the way they go after the glass. They really do a good job of that on the offensive glass. We weren't able to get done what we did last game so we got hurt there. But, early on, I just thought that it wasn't one of our better starts in terms of our effort, just being aware, being alive, that's kind of where it came from. But, you know, that's the way it was. And, once you get behind like that it's really hard when you burn that much energy just to try to, first of all, keep that game in striking distance, and then try to make a comeback. So, we had to try to get some things turned around. I thought we did a pretty good job in the second half, but you know you go down by 12 at halftime to a good team it's not going to be easy coming back and you know, we had a good couple chances to get it under 10 but we never seemed to be able to connect on that particular play when we were in the situation. But, you know, we had some guys, you know, Dino Gregory's really been brining it defensively and working hard and Jordan Williams has had the year he had. And Terrell Stoglin has, you know, really been stepping up for us in the backcourt. You know, those guys, they gave the effort in the second half, which we needed for forty minutes, and we just couldn't get it tonight in a game we wanted to win. But, we just didn't get it to the point where we could win the game."
On the difficulty getting to the bucket because of North Carolina's size:
"Well, you know, they're going to block some shots. [John] Henson, I don't think there's a better shot blocker in the country. And, of course, [Tyler] Zeller tonight was tremendous up front. You know, he's making his shots plus he looked very alive, very active out there. So, that's a pretty good combination when it's seven foot and 6'10''. And, you know, there's some NBA teams who would like to have that size up front."
On Coach Dean Smith's 80th Birthday (Monday Feb. 28):
"I would just like to say, Congratulations to Coach Smith on his 80th Birthday. He's one of the guys when I was assistant coach at Lafayette, I used to see him at camps or whatever in summertime and he always had time to talk, not just to me, but to a lot of young coaches. So, I think there's a lot of coaches out there that all owe Coach Smith a great deal for what he did for the game and what he did for coaches, so, I just wanted to say that."
