University of North Carolina Athletics
Postgame Quotes
December 31, 2014 | Men's Basketball
North Carolina 86, William & Mary 64
Dec. 30, 2014 • Postgame Quotes
North Carolina Head Coach Roy Williams
On the circumstances of the technical foul
“I was yelling at Theo [Pinson]. I was yelling at Theo, saying 'call timeout.' And he's pointing at me like 'I can't call a timeout.' I didn't think I was dealt with fairly, but that's all right. Those guys have a hard, hard job.
I was frustrated at us. Is a coach ever going to like a call that's reversed? When it's a charge and it's your ball going the other way, then all of the sudden…No coach is ever going to like that, but I was frustrated at my team.”
On how he feels going into conference play
“I don't know. That's the best answer I can give you. We do some good things. We aren't focused enough. In the second half we turned the ball over four times. I like that, because at the half I was really mad about our turnovers. We were forcing them, because J.P. [Tokoto] threw one pass to Justin [Jackson] and Bryce [Johnson] intercepted it and dunked it. So he got an assist when it was really a turnover. I thought we handled it better, but we just weren't focused to start the second half. We've got to maintain focus because that's the only way you get better. We're trying to build habits, and not say 'we're up 25, so I can do this.' What we're trying to do is build habits so we can become a really good basketball team. Kennedy [Meeks] has been sick the last three days. He's only practiced in about half the practices the last three days. As a matter of fact, he's in there right now and they're giving him an IV. We knew it was going to be a difficult game for us defensively because they spread it so well, and they shoot the ball pretty doggone well from outside with four guys. So they were doing that, and I went small and played J.P. as a four because Isaiah [Hicks] had four fouls and Bryce wasn't as involved and the referee feel like Bryce was talking to him. I didn't like that, so I took Bryce out at one point. It's hard to say. I feel like we've gotten better, but we made more mistakes tonight than I would hope we would make…I would hope that you would get rid of those mistakes in the five days or four days before the first conference game. It will be a big challenge for us. In practice we need to focus on the things we need to focus on to get a heck of a lot better.”
On if he's getting more comfortable with his team's outside shooting
“You know, I think we're getting better. The crazy thing is that Justin Jackson the last two days in practice made a bunch. I mean, a bunch. And he was 0-4 tonight, but I really think that he's shooting it better as well. If you go back, not that you should – just try to take my word for it – I said that at the start of the year I thought we get better as a shooters. I think we have. We've go to do a better job of moving against a zone. Kennedy and Bryce have to do a better job for sure, and the other guys, too, because the zone has to worry about those guys a little bit. Then we will have more open outside shots as well."
UNC Player Quotes
Marcus Paige, Jr., G
On William & Mary's zone defense
“The zone bothered us at times. We turned the ball over 20 percent of our possessions in the first half. Even though we were making shots, for some reason [the zone] was bothering us. In the second half, we did not get great shots because the zone was very effective.”
On defensive struggles in the second half
“I was frustrated with our effort, intensity and defense. We were letting them run dummy offense. They were basically playing five on zero on their offensive end.”
On the team's response to Coach Roy Williams' technical foul
“It fired me up. The game had gotten ugly. The lead was about nine or 10. I tried to get the guys to know that we needed to increase our intensity level and push the lead back open.”
J.P. Tokoto, Jr., F
On Coach Williams' technical foul
“[His response] fired us up. We used that as energy. We were huddled up when Coach was away and we're talking amongst ourselves about using Coach's energy as our energy. We got after them after the call.”
On how to improve heading into Atlantic Coast Conference play
“Defensively, we need to get after them. Whether it is being loud talking, pressuring the ball, denying a pass or taking them out of their offensive scheme. That's our game plan going into every game, but sometimes we get away from it, as we did tonight.
On the team's potential
“We can be great. We just have to be consistent. That was the problem last year when we started off ACC play going 0-3. After that, we had a couple guys who took the team by the reins and showed everybody that this is how we have to play. We are looking to do the same thing, but quicker.”
Nate Britt, So., G
On the offensive lull in the second half
“We got lazy. We got careless with our passes and had a lot of turnovers. We were also lazy on the defensive end. We allowed them to drive [to the basket] and kick the ball back out. That caused them to narrow the lead to nine points.”
On confidence with the three-point shot
“I am very confident with my shot. I have put in a lot of work with our coaching staff and it is showing.”
William & Mary Head Coach Tony Shaver
Opening Statement
“We got beat by a superior team, there's no question about that. I felt like they are playing at a high level right now. Extremely proud of how we competed tonight. I thought that after such a horrendous start for us, to dig the hole that we dug, [it was] very difficult to get back in the game in a place like Carolina. I thought in the second half we were a really tough basketball team, really competed hard, [and] really played with a high level of confidence. We've had a brutal month in terms of road games. Four of our five games that have been on the road have been against high-level competition. If we learn from this it is really going to help us in conference play.”
On Daniel Dixon's game
“Daniel [Dixon] is really playing well right now. He has been one of our real solid consistent players all year long. A lot of confidence in his shot right now, 20 points, four out of eight from three. Really the only player that has shot it well from the perimeter and we need to make shots. To win a game like this, we need to make shots. Daniel is our best defender. I think he is rebounding the ball pretty well and doing some good things for us.”
On changes in the second half
“We talked really hard about competing. You can give in in these situations or you can compete, and we competed hard. We did make one slight change offensively, with what we called a stack offence. I think it allowed us to run the offense a little bit better, kind of a one-guard look out there. We entered the ball a little bit easier, but no major changes quite honestly. It's just our guys played hard and competed hard that last 20 minutes.”
On the play of Mike Schlotman and Greg Malinowski
“We need that desperately. Every player we bring off the bench is a freshman. We are a very young basketball team. Mike Schlotman, that's the best he has played all year long. Greg Malinowski was really good in a tough environment. So very encouraging to see that.”
On the play of Terry Tarpey and Sean Sheldon
“They're warriors. I mean really warriors. Terry [Tarpey] really didn't play a good first half, missed two of three lay-ups. Really had trouble holding the ball, rebounding the ball, but he was a man the second half. I don't know how many rebounds he had in the second half but did a great job. Sean Sheldon obviously didn't have the size or the athletic ability that their kids did but really played hard that second half. He had some big stick backs for us. He is a warrior. He really played hard for us.”
