CHAPEL HILL – UNC basketball coach Roy Williams met with the media Monday to discuss the upcoming season.
Here is what the coach had to say:
Roy: We’ve had six practices, today is our seventh. Things have gone pretty well. We’re still trying to focus on our halfcourt offense, our halfcourt pressure defense and our fast break. Everybody has done a pretty good job. Kennedy missed the last practice and he’ll miss three more days. H tweaked his knee a little bit. He feels so much better already. I like what the kids have done, they’ve had a great attitude. Practice has been fun. No coach is going to say they’re satisfied at this time, but I like what our guys have done.
Q: You said last spring for this team to improve it had to come at the individual level, how much of that have you seen in practice and how much of it you maybe won’t see until games are played?
Roy: I also said it’s always good when you can add something; if you can get a Marvin Williams and how much he helped in ’05 or Ed Davis and how much he helped in ’09. But, I think our guys have improved and I think you hit it right on the head it’s too early to tell how much they’ve improved. Marcus is feeling better, he’s not in pain as he been the last few years for sure. I think Brice has done some better things in practice. Joel Berry has done some really nice thinking shoot the ball in the basket and taking the ball to the basket. So I think we’ve seen some of that improvement but I don’t think we’ll know until at least we get into an exhibition game and start playing other people and see how they do it out on the court.
Q: Last year you stood up for your guys when asked about toughness, but is there room to ask about having a killer instinct?
Roy: I think we’ve got to get better in every area, but that’s one of them. Last year we had the lead eight times in the second half and didn’t finish it off, and a lot of that is toughness. It’s not just who’s going to stand up and fight somebody, it’s just doing the simple things, the little things that you’re supposed to do – remembering everything you’re supposed to do – taking care of all of your business, touching every base. So we’ve got to improve in every area. That’s something that we’ve focused on with the kids in our discussions in the summer, it’s some things we’ve already talked about in our first six practices. I think you have to improve, but there’s something we want to finish games a lot better.
Q: In terms of expectations, do you enter this season with a similar feeling you did before 2005 and 2009?
Roy: Not really. In '05 I thought we were if not the best one of the two best teams in the country and in '09 I thought we were the best. This year I think we're one of the best and if we play the best down the stretch we could be the best. There's a big difference there, I think. And if I'm not mistaken, in '09 it was the first time the Associated Press had ever had a unanimous No. 1, and I told our guys it didn't bother me because I thought we were the best team also. But we've got to be able to do it out on the court now. We’ve got to see if Kennedy’s lost weight is going to correlate to a more explosive player around the basket. We’ll have to wait and see on that; Brice more attention to detail, playing harder; Marcus not having the pain to go through. I think we have a chance to have a very good basketball team but you still have to do it on the court.
Q: Justin closed last season really strong, is he one of those guys you have to wait and see if he’s connected last season to this season, or have you seen it already in practice?
Roy: He's played better in practice do far for 100 miles than he did last year in pre-season practice as a freshman. And I think he's much more confident now. But still, I've seen some guys that were the greatest players in the world out there on the practice court, I want to see how it I when the lights are on and you have to play against somebody else... He's far better than he was last year at this time.
Q: Is Theo 100% physically?
Roy: No. Theo has not done one full-court drill yet. He did not play one pickup game all summer. We've restricted him to half-court stuff in the first six practices and gave him one of them off completely. We're still trying to be cautious with what we're doing. He won't be released until after the first three weeks of practice.
Q: How important is he especially considering you lost JP?
Roy: Really important. You look and say, okay, start somebody at the point guard and you pick Marcus, well who’s going to start at the 2/3? Somebody who’s never started a game. There is no question we need to get Theo back out there.
Q: When Marcus and healthy and happy, does that translate to the team as well?
Roy: I think so. The better players, one thing that’s good about leading is you lead by example and by what you say. So he’s always been saying he right things, he’s always tried to lead by example as well, but I think again – knock on wood – he’s healthier now than he’s been in a while.
Q: With recruiting not being what it was in recent years, at this point in the season how taxing is it as a coach to put together a squad with not the same sort of talent?
Roy: Well, I think we’re pretty doggone good right now. I think the problems we’ve had with recruiting with all the negatives and everything that’s been going on will more than likely show up later not as much so now. The kids we’ve got now, the younger kids Joel, Theo and Justin all committed to us in their junior years before the stuff came out. Since then it’s been pretty difficult. We’re still out there working and we think that North Carolina is still North Carolina, we’re going to be pretty doggone good. Kids have a great opportunity to come in and play because we have three seniors that play a great deal this year. So, we’re not adopting a ‘Woe is me” attitude. It hasn’t been very pleasant some of the things that have happened recruiting-wise, but still you’ve got to play, and right now, this team, there’s no Tyler Hansbrough or Harrison Barnes, but we’ve got a pretty dadgum good basketball team out there.
Q: In the current climate in college basketball, how comforting is it to have three seniors that are so important?
Roy: It is for teams at our level, but guys past that top 20 have a lot of seniors. It’s good and bad, nobody was beating their door down trying to get them to leave. You’d like those guys that people want them to leave and they decide they’re going to stay, that’s really a nice moment. Marcus could have left, Brice, it was going to be a very chancy thing for him and I think he made the best decision to try to come back and improve. And Joel, it was the best thing for him to do, too. So, if you have guys that are going to be a lottery pick and they come back that’ a surprise, but it wasn’t really a big surprise. Marcus getting his degree has been extremely important to him since day one.
Q: You guys have juniors, too.
Roy: Kennedy, Isaiah and Nate, they’ve been important to us. It is unusual for a top, you guys pick, 5, 10, 20 team to have a lot of seniors if you’ve been a very good program, if you’re an up and coming on and they decide to stay it’s different. That part feels good.
Q: Do you prefer to build it that way?
Roy: I’d take Brandon Wright and Marvin Williams right now and they both came and played one year. I’ll take them again today and be the happiest guy in the world. Cal has made a living on guys coming in and staying one year, but his teams the last couple of years also had some upper classmen, too. I’ve always said that I didn’t want everybody on my team to be ready to leave after one year. Those guys that Kentucky took, we tried to recruit those guys, too. I like a mix. I like some guys that you think are going to be around for a while but no, Marvin Williams comes through that door and says the NCAA has given him eligibility back I’ll take his rear end so fricken fast it would be ridiculous. Brandan Wright the same thing. Michael Jordan has a year of eligibility left, I’ll take him for one year.
Q: Do you feel like you’re fighting a perception battle?
Roy: In recruiting, yeah. The sensationalism that’s been done has been very disheartening. There have been some negative things said that’s been disheartening. But it’s what it is. We’ve had some problems, they’ve been very evident for a long time, they’ve hurt us for a long time, that’s what it is.
Q: What have you been telling kids amid all the questions and unknowns about what might happen?
Roy: Tell them what I know, that’s the NCAA thing’s not over with yet we have to wait and see. There’s no allegations toward men’s basketball, we feel good, but it’s not over yet. Do I feel good about what happened, heck no. I’m mad about it, embarrassed about it, sad about it you can use all of those statements. But I’m not going to go around with my head in the sand and say ‘We did nothing, everybody’s just saying bad things about us.’ We had some mistakes made, but at the same time I feel pretty doggone good about what we’ve done right here. It’s hard to separate for some peoples.
Q: Is there a sense of urgency for this year with what might be looming beyond?
Roy: Nope.
Q: For Brice, has it been just one of those kids where it takes time to figure things out and when they do the ball keeps rolling?
Roy: I think so and it has been a steady thing. You saw him as a freshman and you’d say ‘boy he was better as a sophomore.’ Then you saw him as a junior and you say, ‘boy, he’s better as a junior.’ And his head coach is saying ‘I want more.’ And I think after three years the guys understand that we do want more from them, but I think each individual, their rate of development varies from every kid.
Here is what the coach had to say:
Roy: We’ve had six practices, today is our seventh. Things have gone pretty well. We’re still trying to focus on our halfcourt offense, our halfcourt pressure defense and our fast break. Everybody has done a pretty good job. Kennedy missed the last practice and he’ll miss three more days. H tweaked his knee a little bit. He feels so much better already. I like what the kids have done, they’ve had a great attitude. Practice has been fun. No coach is going to say they’re satisfied at this time, but I like what our guys have done.
Q: You said last spring for this team to improve it had to come at the individual level, how much of that have you seen in practice and how much of it you maybe won’t see until games are played?
Roy: I also said it’s always good when you can add something; if you can get a Marvin Williams and how much he helped in ’05 or Ed Davis and how much he helped in ’09. But, I think our guys have improved and I think you hit it right on the head it’s too early to tell how much they’ve improved. Marcus is feeling better, he’s not in pain as he been the last few years for sure. I think Brice has done some better things in practice. Joel Berry has done some really nice thinking shoot the ball in the basket and taking the ball to the basket. So I think we’ve seen some of that improvement but I don’t think we’ll know until at least we get into an exhibition game and start playing other people and see how they do it out on the court.
Q: Last year you stood up for your guys when asked about toughness, but is there room to ask about having a killer instinct?
Roy: I think we’ve got to get better in every area, but that’s one of them. Last year we had the lead eight times in the second half and didn’t finish it off, and a lot of that is toughness. It’s not just who’s going to stand up and fight somebody, it’s just doing the simple things, the little things that you’re supposed to do – remembering everything you’re supposed to do – taking care of all of your business, touching every base. So we’ve got to improve in every area. That’s something that we’ve focused on with the kids in our discussions in the summer, it’s some things we’ve already talked about in our first six practices. I think you have to improve, but there’s something we want to finish games a lot better.
Q: In terms of expectations, do you enter this season with a similar feeling you did before 2005 and 2009?
Roy: Not really. In '05 I thought we were if not the best one of the two best teams in the country and in '09 I thought we were the best. This year I think we're one of the best and if we play the best down the stretch we could be the best. There's a big difference there, I think. And if I'm not mistaken, in '09 it was the first time the Associated Press had ever had a unanimous No. 1, and I told our guys it didn't bother me because I thought we were the best team also. But we've got to be able to do it out on the court now. We’ve got to see if Kennedy’s lost weight is going to correlate to a more explosive player around the basket. We’ll have to wait and see on that; Brice more attention to detail, playing harder; Marcus not having the pain to go through. I think we have a chance to have a very good basketball team but you still have to do it on the court.
Q: Justin closed last season really strong, is he one of those guys you have to wait and see if he’s connected last season to this season, or have you seen it already in practice?
Roy: He's played better in practice do far for 100 miles than he did last year in pre-season practice as a freshman. And I think he's much more confident now. But still, I've seen some guys that were the greatest players in the world out there on the practice court, I want to see how it I when the lights are on and you have to play against somebody else... He's far better than he was last year at this time.
Q: Is Theo 100% physically?
Roy: No. Theo has not done one full-court drill yet. He did not play one pickup game all summer. We've restricted him to half-court stuff in the first six practices and gave him one of them off completely. We're still trying to be cautious with what we're doing. He won't be released until after the first three weeks of practice.
Q: How important is he especially considering you lost JP?
Roy: Really important. You look and say, okay, start somebody at the point guard and you pick Marcus, well who’s going to start at the 2/3? Somebody who’s never started a game. There is no question we need to get Theo back out there.
Q: When Marcus and healthy and happy, does that translate to the team as well?
Roy: I think so. The better players, one thing that’s good about leading is you lead by example and by what you say. So he’s always been saying he right things, he’s always tried to lead by example as well, but I think again – knock on wood – he’s healthier now than he’s been in a while.
Q: With recruiting not being what it was in recent years, at this point in the season how taxing is it as a coach to put together a squad with not the same sort of talent?
Roy: Well, I think we’re pretty doggone good right now. I think the problems we’ve had with recruiting with all the negatives and everything that’s been going on will more than likely show up later not as much so now. The kids we’ve got now, the younger kids Joel, Theo and Justin all committed to us in their junior years before the stuff came out. Since then it’s been pretty difficult. We’re still out there working and we think that North Carolina is still North Carolina, we’re going to be pretty doggone good. Kids have a great opportunity to come in and play because we have three seniors that play a great deal this year. So, we’re not adopting a ‘Woe is me” attitude. It hasn’t been very pleasant some of the things that have happened recruiting-wise, but still you’ve got to play, and right now, this team, there’s no Tyler Hansbrough or Harrison Barnes, but we’ve got a pretty dadgum good basketball team out there.
Q: In the current climate in college basketball, how comforting is it to have three seniors that are so important?
Roy: It is for teams at our level, but guys past that top 20 have a lot of seniors. It’s good and bad, nobody was beating their door down trying to get them to leave. You’d like those guys that people want them to leave and they decide they’re going to stay, that’s really a nice moment. Marcus could have left, Brice, it was going to be a very chancy thing for him and I think he made the best decision to try to come back and improve. And Joel, it was the best thing for him to do, too. So, if you have guys that are going to be a lottery pick and they come back that’ a surprise, but it wasn’t really a big surprise. Marcus getting his degree has been extremely important to him since day one.
Q: You guys have juniors, too.
Roy: Kennedy, Isaiah and Nate, they’ve been important to us. It is unusual for a top, you guys pick, 5, 10, 20 team to have a lot of seniors if you’ve been a very good program, if you’re an up and coming on and they decide to stay it’s different. That part feels good.
Q: Do you prefer to build it that way?
Roy: I’d take Brandon Wright and Marvin Williams right now and they both came and played one year. I’ll take them again today and be the happiest guy in the world. Cal has made a living on guys coming in and staying one year, but his teams the last couple of years also had some upper classmen, too. I’ve always said that I didn’t want everybody on my team to be ready to leave after one year. Those guys that Kentucky took, we tried to recruit those guys, too. I like a mix. I like some guys that you think are going to be around for a while but no, Marvin Williams comes through that door and says the NCAA has given him eligibility back I’ll take his rear end so fricken fast it would be ridiculous. Brandan Wright the same thing. Michael Jordan has a year of eligibility left, I’ll take him for one year.
Q: Do you feel like you’re fighting a perception battle?
Roy: In recruiting, yeah. The sensationalism that’s been done has been very disheartening. There have been some negative things said that’s been disheartening. But it’s what it is. We’ve had some problems, they’ve been very evident for a long time, they’ve hurt us for a long time, that’s what it is.
Q: What have you been telling kids amid all the questions and unknowns about what might happen?
Roy: Tell them what I know, that’s the NCAA thing’s not over with yet we have to wait and see. There’s no allegations toward men’s basketball, we feel good, but it’s not over yet. Do I feel good about what happened, heck no. I’m mad about it, embarrassed about it, sad about it you can use all of those statements. But I’m not going to go around with my head in the sand and say ‘We did nothing, everybody’s just saying bad things about us.’ We had some mistakes made, but at the same time I feel pretty doggone good about what we’ve done right here. It’s hard to separate for some peoples.
Q: Is there a sense of urgency for this year with what might be looming beyond?
Roy: Nope.
Q: For Brice, has it been just one of those kids where it takes time to figure things out and when they do the ball keeps rolling?
Roy: I think so and it has been a steady thing. You saw him as a freshman and you’d say ‘boy he was better as a sophomore.’ Then you saw him as a junior and you say, ‘boy, he’s better as a junior.’ And his head coach is saying ‘I want more.’ And I think after three years the guys understand that we do want more from them, but I think each individual, their rate of development varies from every kid.
