North Carolina Press Conference Quotes
North Carolina head coach Roy Williams Quotes Prior to Syracuse Regional Semifinal against Villanova
Opening Statement:
“We're excited. We feel much better, needless to say, about the way we played the last two games in Charlotte than we were for the ACC Tournament. It was a great regular season for us, but we really are excited to be here.”
You had talked last week about how last year was one of the most miserable of your coaching career. Could you expand on that, and explain what you meant by that?
“I rarely used the word always, it is the most difficult year I ever had. I don't think that anyone in coaching, the way I look at it, could ever be miserable, but it was the most difficult year, which may mean I have lived a sheltered life because the rest of them were pretty dog goned good. But you have the emotion of leaving a place that you loved, and had been for years. The difficult emotions of the kids, that had gone through the tough time at North Carolina. They are trying to establish the trust that you need as a coach and player relationship. Going through some injuries and not having enough depth at certain positions, so on the court, it was difficult. But it was just a difficult year.”
We noticed that Sean May, along with talent, he's very verbal and articulate. Do you have a lot of dialogue with him, and also, do you talk much with his father?
“It is hard to have a lot of dialogue with Sean because he talks so much. No, I'm teasing. He's just a marvelous young man. I said last year, and including this year, probably in the two years that we've had practice, I ask a lot of questions during my practices because I treat it like a class. People I admire the most were my teachers and I try to do that in coaching. And I think that probably, once or twice in two years I have asked Sean a question that he didn't know the answer. So, he's extremely bright, and he's fun to be around. So it is not just the basketball part of it you enjoy being around him, so we do have conversations. I've had, you know, two or three or four conversations with his dad and that's been fun as well. I have a great deal of respect for him. I had admired him a great deal when he played, and he's been nothing but 100 percent supportive of Sean and of our staff and what we tried to do when we came in after Sean's first year which was a difficult time for him.”
Someone from Villanova said they had never seen a team go from defense to offense as fast as your team does. I know you did that at Kansas. How did you teach and it get the kids to buy into it?
“You keep emphasizing that each and every day and every phase of our game we always make sure that we have change of ends to try to continue working on it. We are pretty good at it. We're not as good as I would like. We've had spurts where we've been really good. At Kansas, it was probably the best we have ever been at it. But, I think that we just continued to emphasize it. Players like to play that way though. I think that years ago, when I played, and I wasn't very good, I like to play at a fast pace. If you're going to do it badly, let's do it badly quickly, I guess is what I was doing. But, I think that fans like to watch and players like to play that way. And jokingly I say this, everybody thinks that I'm completely joking, but I'm not. You know, in coaching, you have negative thoughts all the time. I couldn't be a football coach because you have seconds between plays. So if you played a real fast pace, you're not worrying about what happened last play because now all of a sudden it is three plays ago, so I like that part. You don't have as much time to worry.”
Coach, you've been a number one seed in your career I think seven times. Could you talk about the added pressure that comes with that and obviously, the history of never having won a championship?
“Well, obviously to me, it is not any extra pressure. If you lose, you go home and if you win, you keep playing, and we've made the Final Four as a one, two, three, and I'm going to have to go back and look because I can't remember what the fourth one was. I don't allow someone else's expectations to put pressure on me. I put enough of that on myself. So I don't think that there is that big of a difference between a one and a two or one and a three. The second part, you know, there's no question I would love to win a national championship. And at one point in my life, it was my number one goal and number one dream. But I'm a lot smarter now, or mature, either way you want to put it. But I desperately want to win. I have more desire in my little finger to win a national championship than all of the North Carolina fans that there are. But still, it's life and it has to go on regardless of what happens. I try to do the absolute best that I can every single day. I don't cheat anybody. I didn't cheat anybody for years at Kansas, and nobody on my staff has had a day off since Christmas day. Not one. And so, I don't think that there is anybody that can work harder. We just do the best we can and see what happens, and at the end, when I stopped coaching, if we've never won one, and I have the same relationship with my former players that I do with the players that I've coached right now, I’ll still feel very fulfilled.”
Sean was just out here talking about his possible legacy of turning the program around. How much pressure or do you guys address the pressure, of being a Carolina basketball player and what it takes to be great, what it takes to have the program back where it is, and is it?
“Well, you know, I don't know that we've gotten it really turned around yet. This is one really, really good year. You know there’s no question there. But I think that my goal is the same I had at Kansas. I want our team to be one of the teams every year that that has a chance to win the thing. And that means that you've got a chance to make a sweet sixteen every year, and so, I think that over time, that's when you decide if you've gotten things truly turned around. There is pressure. There is stress because of the expectations as a North Carolina player there’s no question there. And, you know, when you're walking into the building and seeing Jordan's jersey and Worthy and Jamison and Carter, and you hear people talk about what those guys accomplished, and those guys come back, and Michael came and watched us practice this year and talked about things that, there is no question that there is some expectations there. But I like that. You know, I tell our guys that when they are freshman, if they walk into the classroom, somebody is going to say, ‘Hey there is a new freshman basketball player,’ and when that guy doesn't come to class, they're going to say, ‘That new freshman basketball player was absent in class today.’ So, it's a double-edged sword. It is some good and some bad, but I think by far, it is much better for you because, you know how important it is to everyone.”
Coach, you talked about Sean having a rough first year. Can you talk about how his game has matured?
“He plays a huge factor in every game, even if the other team has a wonderful front line. He's playing very, very well. He does some things that the other team has to be concerned about because he is such a great rebounder. You know, his freshman year he played a few games and got hurt and tried to come back at the end of the game. He was probably one game away from being able to apply for a medical hardship. So, you know that was difficult for him. And to come back, last year, to make it through the season without getting hurt, and having such a great year this year, I think he's really made some significant strides, and probably, in the offseason, worked as hard as any guy that I have ever had working on his body. I’ve had guys work on their shot before, and they are working on the dribbling or something like that. But he just spent so much time trying to be a better athlete and a more conditioned athlete. And I think that his success is directly related to that hard work that he put in.”
Coach, if I'm not mistaken, five guys from your Kansas team are in the NBA right now, and a starter on the team is on your staff. Was that your most talented team? And if so, how does it compare or contrast?
“That was the most talented. We lost to Missouri when the ball was deflected back off the kid’s leg and another kid picked it up. We lost to Arizona who won the national championship. We had the last three shots to tie that game. Jerod Haase had broken his wrist. He was only able to play minutes in the game and the fact that his wrist was operated on four days later, and it has never been the same so that was a big blow for us. But, four of those guys and Billy now who was picked up from some league, I forget which one it was, but I know that he's in the NBA with the Nets now. He persevered and played a lot of basketball across the world to get to that spot. But Paul Pierce, Raef, Scot, were number one draft choices and so it remains to be seen what these guys are going to do in the NBA, or how they are going to be looked at in the NBA. But, two differences. That team was extremely difficult for people to play on the defensive end of the floor because they could just undress you. I mean, you had a hard time making a pass or a dribble for a shot because that team was really good defensively. And, the other thing is, that team was so experienced, and this team is not nearly experienced in number of games but also, in the number of big games and tournament games.”
With Villanova's quarter-court pressure they have shown throughout the years, their staple, do you anticipate them to do that and talk about the tempo that you anticipate them to play, and if you could give a quick thought on Randy Foye and Kyle Lowry and what impressed you the most about them on film?
“Did you say quick to all of those questions? The pressure I think they will press us because I believe most coaches, believe in that saying , ‘you dance with who brung you.’ And I think that's been extremely effective for them. So I think they'll continue to do that. The tempo, I think we want it as fast as it can possibly be. Some teams press to try to slow you down. And, you know, some people press to try to speed you up. The pressure that we try to put on people is how we try to speed you up, we try to steal the ball. Our goal is to steal the dag-goned ball. But, you know, it remains to be seen how we can attack their pressure and see if it does, in fact, slow the tempo down or not. The guard play is really the strength of the team, particularly with Sumpter being hurt. With Allan and Foye and Nardi and Lowry coming off the bench and sometimes they probably will play all four of those guys together against us tomorrow. You have to be very concerned about the basketball because defensively, they have a great deal of intensity and on the other end of the court, all of their guys can put the ball on the floor and penetrate to the basket and I think that's the most difficult thing to guard in college basketball nowadays. I did get all of them?”
Could you talk about the importance of your perimeter defense knowing how much their guards like to shoot the ball?
“Well, there is no question that the guards like to shoot the ball. It is a factor in the game because they break you down, and you come and help, and they can give it to the big guys, or even if they don't pass they shoot the ball. It breaks you down, so now they get offensive rebounds because it breaks down the box outs. And so, the dribble penetration, and the ability to get the ball in the middle of the lane, is a big challenge for us to try to limit that. And once they do get it, because they will get it in there, once they get it in there, to be able to continue to play defense without fouling them is big for us, too.”
This being the anniversary of Villanova's run to the championship, if they beat you tomorrow, do you think that's an upset?
“I mean, obviously they are probably not as big an underdog as they were then. I really think that when you get in the Sweet Sixteen there are no such things as upsets. I think that every year, there are teams that have a chance to win the whole thing. And I think that some teams’ chances are better than others. There is no question about that. But, it is not exactly like me playing Tiger Woods, you know. I've got a chance, but it is not a very damned good one. You know, that kind of thing. I think that this Villanova team, again, I'm extremely impressed. Wake Forest beat us, period. Wake Forest beat us. West Virginia beat Wake Forest. Villanova beat West Virginia by 38. Now, I think they got a pretty good chance. So I don't think that it would be an upset. They are a fifth seed, so they are right on the edge of doing what people expected them to do in the tournament anyway. Wisconsin-Milwaukee, I think is a 12 seed. Is that correct? I mean, it's a much bigger upset even though I love Bruce and watching their club. But, that's one that's a much bigger upset possibility.”
You've got Marvin this year and Quentin, but largely this is the same core as last year's team. What's been the biggest difference? Is it them buying into your system?
“I think it has gotten too much attention and gives the coach too much credit. They've bought in better, but they’re better players because they have worked in the offseason on what we asked them to work on that would help them in this style of play. But, don't underestimate the value of Marvin. I mean, I realize he's just one guy, but last year, David Noel was our first sub off the bench as a post player and he is 6-5, trying to guard everybody else's big guys. And Marvin is as big as Jawad and Sean, and comes in and is able to do so many things for us - rebounding, scoring, and that enables Sean and Jawad to not have to pace themselves. So, the other thing is, we had no backup as a true point guard for Raymond and now we do with Quentin. And Quentin struggled quite a bit at times but, still that gives us even more time to allow Raymond to rest even if it is during practice. So, those guys are really important, but I think that the biggest thing is, the combination of kids working on the things that we’d asked them to work on and some new blood and new life and even last year, when I say that David was our first sub, I mean, he missed six, seven, eight games. I can't remember because of problems with his thumb, so we were really thin at times last year.”
North Carolina Player Quotes Prior to Syracuse Regional Semifinal against Villanova
SEAN MAY
Obviously you breezed through the first two rounds. Villanova is a team that hasn't lost by more than six points in their seven losses. What are some of the things, problems that they present?
“They dominate like Iowa State did with Stinson, you know. Allan Ray is having a terrific year. Nardi can really shoot the ball. Their guards have taken, you know, over. They take over 75% of the team’s shots and the big guys don't get the ball as much, even though Jason Fraser did have a really good game the first two games of the tournament. So, for us, it is our guard play and our team defense. If we do the things that we have been doing the first two games of the tournament, we'll be fine. I think with Sumpter out, you know, he's a terrific player. He presents matchup problems, but sometimes when a key player goes out, everyone else elevates their game. So we're going to look for a hard-fought game. We'll play our game and do the things on the defensive end of the floor that the coach asks.”
People sometimes say things are meant to be or meant not to be. You could have gone to Indiana. A lot of of people thought you should. Was it not meant to be, and what do you think reflecting on your decision of three years ago?
“You know, it worked out great for me right now. It was tough at first because the year I decided not to go to Indiana, they went to the Final Four. And I had to go through a lot of stuff back home with people, you know, really looking down upon me, and it was tough. It was tough for my family and my father who played there. He did so much for that university and cares so much about that university. You know, to say it wasn't meant to be, there are specific reasons why I'm not in an Indiana uniform. I know those reasons, Coach Davis knows those reasons, my father knows those reasons. But I'm happy to be here. You know, I bleed Carolina blue. I always loved Indiana basketball. I grew up watching it, but this is home for me and it worked out great for me now. I learn so much about the game of basketball because of the coaches and I couldn't be happier right now.”
You said the big men don't really get the ball. Do you feel that you can exploit their inside presence?
“I feel like we can. I feel like it is an advantage to us. I think we rotate, you know, three really good big guys with myself, Jawad Williams, Marvin Williams and David Noel down there some. Jason Fraser, you know, playing with him in high school, he has had a rocky career with injuries but, you know, if anybody knows, I know what type of player he is, and he's good. He's a big-time player. Especially on the defensive end, he blocks a lot of shots. For us, you know, I think that we’re going to make a point of getting the ball down low and attack them with our bigs, but at the same time we'll run them a little bit. They like to run the basketball too. But we don't know how well they're going to get back. So for us, we'll play our game and if we play our game, we'll be fine.”
After last week and the way Iowa State went, they pressed you and tried to run against you. Will you be surprised if another team tries to run that way in a tournament game against you?
“It just depends. When we press and we run, we try to speed people up. Iowa State was trying to slow us down and in fact, you know, sped us up even more. I know Villanova runs a trap sometimes in the backcourt. So for us, I think with Raymond having the ball, and, you know, him playing as well as he's playing, I wouldn’t be surprised if a team does try to do it. But for someone like Villanova who has had success all year, they did it against Kansas and really exploited them on it so, they could probably try to do that against us.”`
Coach Williams had disappointments over the years in the tournament. Could you talk about your team being a number one seed, the way this region has played out, and the kind of pressure that there is on him.
“You know, I think he said it before that, winning a national championship doesn't mean that he's fulfilled all of his dreams in coaching. He's done a great job and been to three or four Final Fours and his track record speaks for itself. He can coach. For us, there is a lot of pressure on us because we want to do our part, and I think about all the time being able to walk over, you know, in St. Louis and, you know, give him a hug and be one of the first players to bring home his national championship. But the only pressure he feels is from himself. And I don't think that, you know, he feels that much pressure. You know, he approaches it one game at a time. He tells us everyday, we only have one game. We take it one game at a time.”
We've read a lot about the junk food you used to like to eat. What do you miss?
“Most, probably pizza and cookies. After every game, we always have pizza, and I'm always eating a grilled chicken sandwich or something. And it's tough. My trainer, you know, he calls me the cookie monster because he knows how much I love cookies, so I try to stay away from it. Especially this past off season, and during the course of the season, I tried to eat as healthy as I could to stay fresh and, to, you know, not put on the extra pounds.”
Along those lines Sean, can you talk about how your game has matured and elevated this year?
“This year has been a great year for me individually and I think because everyone has elevated their game. Jawad Williams, has had a great year. Rashad McCants had a really great year, even with some illness battles. Raymond Felton is playing, to me, better than any point guard in the country. He sacrificed himself and I think with the addition of Marvin Williams, knowing that there is somebody right behind you being able to come in and, you know, the jeopardy of taking your spot if you don't perform. It has made me elevate my game. And in practice, the battle every day has made me play harder and learn what it means to work harder. And, just getting prepared for the season. The off season, that's what I did. Because, I knew coming into the season that you know, my minutes were going to be subject to change.”
As a basketball fan, playing the way you guys do, is it hard for you to watch a game when two teams walk the ball up the court or a, slug fest, or run the shot clock down every time? Do you have a hard time watching that play?
“It is tough for me to watch, but at the same time, you want a team like that because you know how uncomfortable they'll be playing at our pace. Few play at a really high pace. A team that walks it up a lot, you know, say like, most of the Big Ten teams do, you know, it is kind of hard for them to adjust to our pace. I think that Illinois is a team that could play both ways, and I think that's why they are having so much success this year.
This is the anniversary of Villanova's championship win over Georgetown. What you have heard about that over the years, and do you think that they can draw any underdog comparisons to that run years ago?
“Somebody asked me about that at the last site. I didn't know they won it years ago. Just shows you how much I pay attention to basketball. But, you know, that was years ago. Here is a new day and age and for us we'll try to make sure it doesn't happen. And, you know, Villanova, like I said, they are a terrific basketball team. They have beaten a lot of people. They beat West Virginia, and they beat Kansas by a lot this year. Those are two really good basketball teams, and for us, we have to go out and do our part and take it one step at a time and we'll be fine.”
You and your dad talk so much, what has he told you about this stage of the tournament, and what is in front of you and how to prepare for it and how to try to do it?
“He just says, you know, it is no different than just playing at every game throughout the season. If you approach it in that way, sometimes you put a little too much pressure on yourself. And he said that's how he approached it when they made their run. And their team was totally different. I mean, they had the streak going and they were getting everybody's best shot. But, for me, you know, he just tells me, just play. When you came to Carolina, you said you wanted to help turn this program around and you have four games left. He says take it one game at a time. Don't think about what is ahead and you have to get past Villanova before you can play the next game.”
When you say you have four games left, are you leaving college after this?
“No, no, what I'm saying is four games left this year. And, I'm not going anywhere. So, you know, if the NBA says Sean, you'll be the number one pick overall then I might think about it, but, you know, that's not the case. Marvin Williams on the other hand, that's a totally different story.”
What's the best thing Jason Fraser does on the court and what do you need to help to shut that down?
“His presence. I think, you know, he's kind of like a Sheldon Williams. He hasn't had the career that he probably thought that he was going to have coming into college because of his injuries. But, the kid is good. I've seen him in high school. I mean, when we played the McDonald's All-American game, he was throwing everything back in practice and that includes NBA all-star Amare Stoudemire. And, you know, his presence down low, he blocks a lot of shots, and he is good. He's good around the rim. He can score with his back to the basket. And, you know he has long arms, and his presence is huge to their team.”
JAWAD WILLIAMS
Could you address the entire Carolina experience after it got off to such a tough start?
“It is a lot of fun for me. I'm sitting here at the sweet sixteen. It has been a lot of fun. We’ve made progress every year, and hopefully we can get a couple while we're here.”
Coach Williams had disappointments over the years in the tournament. Could you talk about, you guys being a number one seed, the way this region has played out, and the kind of pressure that there is on him.
“I think the best thing about this situation is we haven't talked about pressure because we don't feel like there is any pressure on us. We need to go out and play our best and hope for the best every game.”
One, how is your hip? Along with that, talk about playing through something like that this time of year, especially as a senior. And lastly, have you seen Sean sneak a slice of pizza here and there?
“I have a spy. I get out of the bandages today, and hopefully I'll go out and elevate my play. I have to play with compression shorts, but it is not a real restriction. Sean sneaking pizza? Nahh. I haven't seen it. He's telling the truth. He actually does stick to the grilled chicken sandwiches and things like that. It is kind of funny though. Sean claims that he's on a diet but every now and then, I might catch him with a candy bar or something like that in his hand.
