CHAPEL HILL – UNC basketball coach Roy Williams met with the media Monday in advance of the Tar Heels’ game Tuesday night with No. 2 Maryland.
Here is what the coach had to say:
On how having Marcus Paige back changes the starting lineup
Marcus will start if he has a good practice today. If he feels good he will start. I think he earned that over three years. I’m not 100% sure whose place he’ll take, but more than likely Theo’s, but that could change, too.
On how much Marcus has been able to do so far
Friday and Saturday, that was it. As a matter of fact, Saturday’s the only full day he’s had and yesterday. He’s been doing a lot of shooting, he’s been doing a lot of running but Saturday is the first time he went live 5-on-5. They felt good about giving him just a little more time, and as I said to somebody, maybe it was in the presser after the game (versus Kansas State in Kansas City) if it would have been an NCAA Tournament game I think we probably would have played him last week, but it wasn’t. So we tried to give him a little more time.
On when Marcus went down Williams said it was an opportunity for someone else to step up, who took advantage
I think probably Joel Berry and Nate Britt, and to a certain degree Theo did, too. I think all of them did some good things, but I think Joel Berry probably more than anybody.
On how comfortable it will be to have Paige back out there
Extremely comfortable. He’s our best player, our best defensive player – that’s what everybody forgets – and I think that we’ve got to get a lot better defensively than the way we played the first six games. I think that will help us and I think his intensity level will help us raise everybody else’s level, too. And that’s something that we need to have at a higher level on a more consistent basis, I think he’ll help all of that. But you never know how somebody’s going to play in their first game back. I’ve seen some guys just be terrible because they put so much pressure on themselves and then I’ve seen some guys just go off.
On how he thinks they handled things overall without Paige
Joel, Theo and Nate, they all benefitted from it, so hopefully that is something that will help them even more down the line. I’m not pleased with the way we played or anything like that, there’s only five guys on the court at one time, and when your best player is 20 percent of your team it’s a difference. I think I would have liked to have played a lot better than that 11-minute stretch at Northern Iowa, but other than that we’ve been okay.
On what ways Paige has an impact defensively
He’s just the best defensive player. He’s where he’s supposed to be when he supposed to be there. He does a better job of guarding the ball and there’s a security blanket there because he’s where he’s supposed to be. Again, it’s just 20% of your five that are out there, but a lot of times it’s even more important than that. If I’m not mistaken he was our Defensive Player of the Year last year, so you like to have those kinds of guys back.
On what he wants to see his team improve on with Paige back
We’ve got to get our play and the intensity level to a higher level and keep it there for a longer period of time. There’s no reason for Kansas State to take the ball out of bounds and lay it up on the other end and everybody looking around ‘That’s not my guy.’ It’s not a very pleasant moment, so I have not forgotten that one.
On if he came away from the K-State game with positives
I loved their toughness and competitiveness the last 3:38. They believed what I said, you know ‘we’ve got a great chance.’ Joel being tough enough to knock down the shot that cut it to 2, and then us getting a stop and we were much more active defensively. I think we (forced) three turnovers in the next four possessions. Justin making a tough shot, Kennedy getting a steal 45 feet from the basket and went down and scored, Theo knocking in a big 3, I love that competiveness there, but I’d love it a lot more if it was that way for the other 37 minutes.
On if Maryland is better with the 3 or 4 new guys they have added
I don’t know that much about, last year I watched them every time I had a chance as a fan because of Turg (coach Mark Turgeon). I didn’t study them or anything like that. I just thought it was so fitting that everybody had doubts about him and he had a great, great year and they’re better this year… I know that Robert Carter is a very good basketball player. I remember talking to Robert four or five years ago on the phone because I was interested in him. And I know that Melo (Trimble) is so much better as a sophomore than he was as a freshman. Them getting Rasheed Sulaimon is a huge addition for them, so they have added some different parts… They are really fricken good.
On them not being an ACC team anymore and it being strange
Well, it is because the name Maryland, and all the old school who have been here a long time will always think of Maryland being an ACC school. But we have a magnificent conference right now and they would still be part of a magnificent conference if they stayed with us they would have added a lot to us. The fact of the matter is they’re not and I don’t care whether they’re Big Ten or Pac-10 or 12 or 11 of whatever everybody else is, it’s a heck of a basketball team.
On when Tyler Hansbrough had the injury when he was at UNC if Williams learned anything about how to handle a team without their best player early in a season
A little bit but they are really different. With Marcus’ this was a specific injury and this is what has happened. With Tyler, this is where he stands right now and we don’t know where he’s going to be next week, we don’t know, maybe we should put him in the cold tub three hours a day and not say anything to him or maybe even play him 45 minutes in a 40-minute game, there was no blue print. This time (with Paige) it was cut and dry: He’s out, don’t play him until we have a chance to look at the x rays again and we’ll see what it is. That one (with Hansbrough) was much more taxing on my brain.
On what he thought when he learned this game against Maryland and Turgeon was scheduled
I didn’t like it, no question about it. I didn’t like it, I didn’t think it was what I wanted.
On this being a big game, but in the grand scheme of things how important is it
You can look at it three or four ways. It’s extremely important, it tells you a lot about your team. Okay, if you go out and you stink it up and you get killed, I had one writer say there is ‘no way that North Carolina is a Final Four caliber team’ after we lost by 33 at Florida State and we won the regular season and made the Elite 8 and didn’t have two of our guys, so we were pretty doggone good. We got killed here by Duke, the Rivers shot destroyed me, and two weeks later it meant nothing, so who knows. But I think that it’s what I try to do is play the best we can every single day and be the best team, and if you do that over the course of the year my philosophy is you’ll be better.
Here is what the coach had to say:
On how having Marcus Paige back changes the starting lineup
Marcus will start if he has a good practice today. If he feels good he will start. I think he earned that over three years. I’m not 100% sure whose place he’ll take, but more than likely Theo’s, but that could change, too.
On how much Marcus has been able to do so far
Friday and Saturday, that was it. As a matter of fact, Saturday’s the only full day he’s had and yesterday. He’s been doing a lot of shooting, he’s been doing a lot of running but Saturday is the first time he went live 5-on-5. They felt good about giving him just a little more time, and as I said to somebody, maybe it was in the presser after the game (versus Kansas State in Kansas City) if it would have been an NCAA Tournament game I think we probably would have played him last week, but it wasn’t. So we tried to give him a little more time.
On when Marcus went down Williams said it was an opportunity for someone else to step up, who took advantage
I think probably Joel Berry and Nate Britt, and to a certain degree Theo did, too. I think all of them did some good things, but I think Joel Berry probably more than anybody.
On how comfortable it will be to have Paige back out there
Extremely comfortable. He’s our best player, our best defensive player – that’s what everybody forgets – and I think that we’ve got to get a lot better defensively than the way we played the first six games. I think that will help us and I think his intensity level will help us raise everybody else’s level, too. And that’s something that we need to have at a higher level on a more consistent basis, I think he’ll help all of that. But you never know how somebody’s going to play in their first game back. I’ve seen some guys just be terrible because they put so much pressure on themselves and then I’ve seen some guys just go off.
On how he thinks they handled things overall without Paige
Joel, Theo and Nate, they all benefitted from it, so hopefully that is something that will help them even more down the line. I’m not pleased with the way we played or anything like that, there’s only five guys on the court at one time, and when your best player is 20 percent of your team it’s a difference. I think I would have liked to have played a lot better than that 11-minute stretch at Northern Iowa, but other than that we’ve been okay.
On what ways Paige has an impact defensively
He’s just the best defensive player. He’s where he’s supposed to be when he supposed to be there. He does a better job of guarding the ball and there’s a security blanket there because he’s where he’s supposed to be. Again, it’s just 20% of your five that are out there, but a lot of times it’s even more important than that. If I’m not mistaken he was our Defensive Player of the Year last year, so you like to have those kinds of guys back.
On what he wants to see his team improve on with Paige back
We’ve got to get our play and the intensity level to a higher level and keep it there for a longer period of time. There’s no reason for Kansas State to take the ball out of bounds and lay it up on the other end and everybody looking around ‘That’s not my guy.’ It’s not a very pleasant moment, so I have not forgotten that one.
On if he came away from the K-State game with positives
I loved their toughness and competitiveness the last 3:38. They believed what I said, you know ‘we’ve got a great chance.’ Joel being tough enough to knock down the shot that cut it to 2, and then us getting a stop and we were much more active defensively. I think we (forced) three turnovers in the next four possessions. Justin making a tough shot, Kennedy getting a steal 45 feet from the basket and went down and scored, Theo knocking in a big 3, I love that competiveness there, but I’d love it a lot more if it was that way for the other 37 minutes.
On if Maryland is better with the 3 or 4 new guys they have added
I don’t know that much about, last year I watched them every time I had a chance as a fan because of Turg (coach Mark Turgeon). I didn’t study them or anything like that. I just thought it was so fitting that everybody had doubts about him and he had a great, great year and they’re better this year… I know that Robert Carter is a very good basketball player. I remember talking to Robert four or five years ago on the phone because I was interested in him. And I know that Melo (Trimble) is so much better as a sophomore than he was as a freshman. Them getting Rasheed Sulaimon is a huge addition for them, so they have added some different parts… They are really fricken good.
On them not being an ACC team anymore and it being strange
Well, it is because the name Maryland, and all the old school who have been here a long time will always think of Maryland being an ACC school. But we have a magnificent conference right now and they would still be part of a magnificent conference if they stayed with us they would have added a lot to us. The fact of the matter is they’re not and I don’t care whether they’re Big Ten or Pac-10 or 12 or 11 of whatever everybody else is, it’s a heck of a basketball team.
On when Tyler Hansbrough had the injury when he was at UNC if Williams learned anything about how to handle a team without their best player early in a season
A little bit but they are really different. With Marcus’ this was a specific injury and this is what has happened. With Tyler, this is where he stands right now and we don’t know where he’s going to be next week, we don’t know, maybe we should put him in the cold tub three hours a day and not say anything to him or maybe even play him 45 minutes in a 40-minute game, there was no blue print. This time (with Paige) it was cut and dry: He’s out, don’t play him until we have a chance to look at the x rays again and we’ll see what it is. That one (with Hansbrough) was much more taxing on my brain.
On what he thought when he learned this game against Maryland and Turgeon was scheduled
I didn’t like it, no question about it. I didn’t like it, I didn’t think it was what I wanted.
On this being a big game, but in the grand scheme of things how important is it
You can look at it three or four ways. It’s extremely important, it tells you a lot about your team. Okay, if you go out and you stink it up and you get killed, I had one writer say there is ‘no way that North Carolina is a Final Four caliber team’ after we lost by 33 at Florida State and we won the regular season and made the Elite 8 and didn’t have two of our guys, so we were pretty doggone good. We got killed here by Duke, the Rivers shot destroyed me, and two weeks later it meant nothing, so who knows. But I think that it’s what I try to do is play the best we can every single day and be the best team, and if you do that over the course of the year my philosophy is you’ll be better.
