North Carolina Players - Saturday, March 26
2005 NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship
Syracuse Regional
March 26, 2005
North Carolina player quotes prior to regional final game vs. Wisconsin
JAWAD WILLIAMS
When you have the height advantage like you do tomorrow, how do you take advantage of that?
“The big thing is we'll get the ball inside. Pass and dribble. We're not going to focus on one area, we'll try to play our game and hope for the best.”
How is your hip, and is it limiting your game in any way right now?
“I'm never going to use an injury as an excuse. I haven't been playing as well as I want to play, but my teammates are stepping up and making plays for me. My shot is not falling, but I still try to do other things as far as rebounding and plays defense. I will be fine.”
The biggest differences this year on the team, maturity level, whatever the reasons are, why you guys are where you are now as opposed to where you were the past couple of years?
“I believe it's also maturity. Guys are really stepping in, playing their roles. Even in the postseason, roles for guys on the team have changed. Even mine has changed, but I'm not complaining about that at all, because I love my role when the team is getting wins.”
How much do you know of AlandoTucker and the challenges he might present to you guys, and does he remind you of anyone that you have played against this year?
“For me we're not going to worry about anybody else. We'll worry about ourselves and go out and play good team defense, play our principles and hopefully we'll come out with the W.”
You are the last ACC team standing. Does that conference stuff matter to you guys?
“Not at all. The conference stuff has nothing to do with the NCAA Tournament. I could care less about the ACC winning, the ACC-Big Ten Challenge and all that type of stuff. Those records and those wins are not going to help us now.”
How important were those four games that you guys won without Rashad? Was it preparing you for what you went through last night?
“I think it was a blessing in disguise because when Rashad went out, we had to play them harder as a team and last night, Raymond got in foul trouble. He fouled out and Melvin stepped in and played a big role in the win last night. So that just showed when we lose somebody, other guys can step up and make plays.”
JACKIE MANUEL
What were your thoughts on last night’s game against Villanova?
“It was a great win. It was tough. Those guys played great. It was a great run for us to play a game like that, so close. We took a lot from that, and hope to not put ourselves in that situation again.”
Why are you guys are where you are now as opposed to where you were the past couple of years?
“I think it is just maturity, you know. We understand what it takes. Guys understand their role. We all have one goal in mind and that's winning. So everybody is willing to sacrifice their own game and do whatever it takes to win.”
How important were those four games that you guys won without Rashad, was it preparing you for what you went through last night?
“It was tough for us. To lose our top scorer, Rashad, but it also gave other guys the opportunities to step up. With that, and Rashad back into the mix, it just made us more dangerous.”
You said earlier that the game last night was a learning experience. What did you learn and how do you apply it?
“That it is going to take the little things to win a game. And especially now, its crunch time, so we have to go and work on those things and make sure that we're ready.”
RASHAD McCANTS
What were your thoughts on last night’s game against Villanova?
“For me personally, it's only two letters that you can really take from it. You can have the L or the W. And we didn't want the L. I told the guys before the game, that we didn't want this to be our last game and we definitely didn't want to lose our last game. We had to take from it all the pressures that they put on us, the press, the defensive pressure, and offensive pressure. It was a tough game. I think that was one of the toughest games of the year as far as having to play defense like we did, and being pressured on offense. Having to make the best of it.”
I'm sure that you're still learning a little bit about Wisconsin, but you know North Carolina State well. So when you see what Wisconsin did to State last night, what does that tell you about their toughness, and their team?
“From what I saw, State put a lot of pressure on them early and turned the ball over in the first half quite a bit. And in the second half, they came out and hit shots and they came out very aggressive. Wisconsin is normally known as a great defensive team, and they really got up there and pressured N.C. State into really taking tough shots and limiting their offensive rebounding. I think our advantages will be on the backboards and our front court as far as Marvin and Jawad and Sean. It's going to be tough down low for them, and getting those big guys in foul trouble and making them get deep in their bench.”
Do you think that when it gets down to inside 15, 20 seconds, that unless there is something blatant that has to be called, that refs should not make a call?
“I don't know. That's really tough for the refs. That puts them in a tough position because depending on how the game has been called the whole time, those last ten seconds they are going to be decisive with the whistle in their mouth and it's going to be tough. But that's a hard question to answer.”
When Raymond went down last night, you seemed to sort of step up, show a lot more emotion on the floor than sometimes you do. Do you believe that you have developed some leadership over the course of the last couple of months? Do you think that was leadership on your part?
“Well, I have always tried to show a lot of leadership on the court, but it is often confused with me being moody or showing too much emotion and too much facial expressions. So I have tried to cut down on all of that and lead by example. Last night was a prime example of a lot of my teammates coming to me and telling me to really just be aggressive. They kept giving me the ball to get fouled, and Marvin stepped up and made a huge three that really capped off our run. I think that was really big for us as far as momentum. They had to continue to foul, and it put them in a hard spot.”
Could you talk about end game situations? You guys kind of let a big lead evaporate late in the game. Where you concerned about that at all?
“Like I said before last night, good teams are going to make their runs, and it is hard to really deny a good team from shooting the ball as well as they were last night. We knew as a team that we had to find a way to win and that was just on our defensive end, and using our bread and butter defense to stop one play at a time. I think that was very important for us just to come down every play and make a stop and make them take a tough shot.”
The biggest differences this year on the team, maturity level, whatever the reasons are, why you guys are where you are now as opposed to where you were the past couple of years?
“It is amazing what can be accomplished if no one cares who gets the credit. I think that was probably the most instrumental thing about our season, that we had a lot of guys sacrificing a lot of their part of game just to be successful. Coach wanted us to go out and just believe in him, that he was going to take us to the promised land. He's been successful in the past getting here many times, and we have never really won anything. So if we just got on his back and just rode him, we would get here. Now we're two games away, and it gives us goose bump just thinking about going somewhere we've never been.”
MARVIN WILLIAMS
What were your thoughts on last night’s game against Villanova?
It was a great time. They are very well coached. They are big‑time players. When Raymond went down for the game, Melvin came in and stepped up and that was big for our team so it was a big win for us.”
How much do you know of Alando Tucker and the challenges he might present to you guys, and does he remind you of anyone that you have played against this year?
“I have not watched anything. I wouldn't be able to answer that question.”
RAYMOND FELTON
Are you tired right now after last night?
“No I'm fine, I'm fine. I’ll be ready to play tomorrow.”
The game you had against Villanova, they play a slow down kind of game. You're going to see that again with Wisconsin. How did last night's game prep you for tomorrow?
“There are several teams that tried it against us including N.C. State. They play a slow pace game so I think we're prepare for that. We're going to come out during practice and work on it more, but I think we'll be ready tomorrow.”
Knowing how important it has been for you to be on the floor for this team, do you go into this game trying to avoid fouls?
“No, I know one way to play and that's to play hard and that's the way I play. It went a bad way last night but I'm not going to think it is going to be that way tomorrow. I'll go out and play the same way.”
How much better defensively is the team this year than it has been in the last year or two?
“We play a much better team defense than anything. But we still have little things that we've got to work on. But at the same time we've done a tremendous job with that this year. It shows. We're 30‑4. That sums it up right there, but we definitely do a much better job playing team defense.”
SEAN MAY
What kind of confidence does having Coach Williams, instill in you guys?
“It instills a great deal of confidence. He's been there; he's not up with one of the first‑time coaches and trying to show us the way to do something for the first time. He's been there. He knows his stuff along with Coach Robinson, Coach McGrath and Coach Holladay. They know what they're doing. There were times last night when I thought I was right on something and he said, ‘I've been coaching a long time, I know a lot more than you.’ And I said ‘Yes, sir.’ I changed it, you know, and that's the thing. When you have coaches that instill a lot of confidence in you, it allows for them to hide your weaknesses and showcase your talent.”
How much better defensively is the team this year than it has been in the last year or two?
“We are better defensively than we were last year, but at the same time Coach says every day, ‘Let's get better.’ We can continue to do better. Last night we did play a very good team defense. Our guards did a great job of trying to control their guards. They got hot in the beginning of the game, but over the course of the game, they wore down. We just have to continue to keep doing a better job and to continue to keep improving.”
Do you feel games are being called more tightly than maybe they were during the regular season?
“I think they are being called a little tighter, but it has been that way. We can't control how the refs call the game. We can only play. We can only try to play as hard as we can and do the things that we can do to try to change the outcome of the game. I would say that they are called evenly. They were called the same way throughout the whole game. It is not like they allowed us to play and then they were calling it tight. They called it tight the whole time. So I don't think the officiating is really that big of a deal.”
