From UNC's 91-67 win over Temple:
Opening statement
The guy that just left here (Fran Dunphy) is a quality guy, a quality coach; he’s a coaches coach and he’s one of my favorite guys in all the coaching profession. He chose tonight to spread it and drive us a little bit because we had the advantage inside and they made it very difficult for us. Over the course of the game though, I thought we did some good things as well. I think the scoring in the lane was 42 to 14 and we felt like we had an advantage with our big guys and we wanted to get it there. But we did wanna guard better than we guarded. We were fortunate. They were 9 for 9 from the free throw line in the first half and 1 for 8 in the second half, needless to say that helped us as well. I thought we did some good things, but we also saw some great things we need to work on a great deal. We are happy to get outta here with a win and happy to have a great time while we’re here.
On if this was the best he's seen Kennedy Meeks play
Offensively, I thought he did some good things. I don’t know if it was the best defense because I remember about 29, 30, 33, 35 defensive errors. But I thought around the basket other that the first play of the game, the first play of the game his brain went on vacation. We talk about going to the basket with everything and he shot the biggest fade away I’ve ever seen in my life. He has great touch around the basket. He had a couple of tip ins that we work on and I thought offensively he was really really good. Other than a couple of times, I thought he could have thrown it out of the double team, including the time he got the walking call. 25 and 11 and 3 blocks is pretty doggone good.
On getting a lot of energy from Isaiah and Nate especially in the first half after a sluggish start to the game
I didn’t think Isaiah played very well. Nate gave us a big lift and you asked about the 13 to 2 run, we made 3 three’s in the last 2 ½ minutes, Nate made two of them and Theo made one, but I didn’t think Isaiah very well because he’s played much much better in practice. I was trying to look down and see Isaiah is 3 for 4 and 4 rebounds. He’s played a lot better and I think he’ll play a lot better on Sunday. You write what you want, but I didn’t think he played worth a darn.
On I was asking about his energy
Well as slow as Brice started off, if you’re out there with a heartbeat, you played with more energy that Brice was playing with. Again, I think it was what we expect from Isaiah; I expect even a lot more from him, I really do.
On Kennedy looking like a different guy this year because he was sick at the end of last year
Well, let’s not get too excited. The guys guarding him tonight, they had their 6' 9", 6' 10" guy that didn’t play. So he was being guarded a lot of times tonight by a 6' 6", 6' 7", 6' "8 guy. He is more explosive, there’s no question about that. Other than the first shot, I thought he had great choices on his shot selection. He could have passed out a little quicker out of the double team and reposted, but, I keep challenging him. I’m not gonna anoint him. 25 points and 11 rebounds and they had one true post player playing most of the game. If he does that against some of these other people we’re getting ready to play, if he does that kinda thing, then I’ll start anointing him. 10 for 13 after that 1st terrible fade away, I was really pleased with him on the offensive end. Defensively, again our size is a great advantage for us. Other that the first shot and two times out of the post, I thought offensively, he was really good, so I agree with that.
On what you thought about Joel Berry running the team tonight
I thought he did well. He’s been making more shots than he made tonight. He has the ability to make those little runners, lay ups and he missed a couple of those tonight. He’s been shooting the ball well from the three point line. The thing that happened at the end of the game, I hate because it shatters my feeling, colors my feeling about the game. Nate was ejected. He was not involved in a fight, so he can play the next game. That disappointed me, because I thinks it’s the first time in my 28 years as a Head Coach, that I’ve ever had a player leave the bench. We don’t condone that. It’s bad because Nate really gave us a bigger spark than anybody else on our team. He feeling badly right now. He already apologized to me and the team. Usually after they play really well, we let them wear warm ups back. Tonight, I told them they can put coats and ties on cause Nate screwed it up for everybody. Gotta do some things like that. I feel badly for him because he’s a wonderful kid, but you can’t leave the bench area.
Opening statement
The guy that just left here (Fran Dunphy) is a quality guy, a quality coach; he’s a coaches coach and he’s one of my favorite guys in all the coaching profession. He chose tonight to spread it and drive us a little bit because we had the advantage inside and they made it very difficult for us. Over the course of the game though, I thought we did some good things as well. I think the scoring in the lane was 42 to 14 and we felt like we had an advantage with our big guys and we wanted to get it there. But we did wanna guard better than we guarded. We were fortunate. They were 9 for 9 from the free throw line in the first half and 1 for 8 in the second half, needless to say that helped us as well. I thought we did some good things, but we also saw some great things we need to work on a great deal. We are happy to get outta here with a win and happy to have a great time while we’re here.
On if this was the best he's seen Kennedy Meeks play
Offensively, I thought he did some good things. I don’t know if it was the best defense because I remember about 29, 30, 33, 35 defensive errors. But I thought around the basket other that the first play of the game, the first play of the game his brain went on vacation. We talk about going to the basket with everything and he shot the biggest fade away I’ve ever seen in my life. He has great touch around the basket. He had a couple of tip ins that we work on and I thought offensively he was really really good. Other than a couple of times, I thought he could have thrown it out of the double team, including the time he got the walking call. 25 and 11 and 3 blocks is pretty doggone good.
On getting a lot of energy from Isaiah and Nate especially in the first half after a sluggish start to the game
I didn’t think Isaiah played very well. Nate gave us a big lift and you asked about the 13 to 2 run, we made 3 three’s in the last 2 ½ minutes, Nate made two of them and Theo made one, but I didn’t think Isaiah very well because he’s played much much better in practice. I was trying to look down and see Isaiah is 3 for 4 and 4 rebounds. He’s played a lot better and I think he’ll play a lot better on Sunday. You write what you want, but I didn’t think he played worth a darn.
On I was asking about his energy
Well as slow as Brice started off, if you’re out there with a heartbeat, you played with more energy that Brice was playing with. Again, I think it was what we expect from Isaiah; I expect even a lot more from him, I really do.
On Kennedy looking like a different guy this year because he was sick at the end of last year
Well, let’s not get too excited. The guys guarding him tonight, they had their 6' 9", 6' 10" guy that didn’t play. So he was being guarded a lot of times tonight by a 6' 6", 6' 7", 6' "8 guy. He is more explosive, there’s no question about that. Other than the first shot, I thought he had great choices on his shot selection. He could have passed out a little quicker out of the double team and reposted, but, I keep challenging him. I’m not gonna anoint him. 25 points and 11 rebounds and they had one true post player playing most of the game. If he does that against some of these other people we’re getting ready to play, if he does that kinda thing, then I’ll start anointing him. 10 for 13 after that 1st terrible fade away, I was really pleased with him on the offensive end. Defensively, again our size is a great advantage for us. Other that the first shot and two times out of the post, I thought offensively, he was really good, so I agree with that.
On what you thought about Joel Berry running the team tonight
I thought he did well. He’s been making more shots than he made tonight. He has the ability to make those little runners, lay ups and he missed a couple of those tonight. He’s been shooting the ball well from the three point line. The thing that happened at the end of the game, I hate because it shatters my feeling, colors my feeling about the game. Nate was ejected. He was not involved in a fight, so he can play the next game. That disappointed me, because I thinks it’s the first time in my 28 years as a Head Coach, that I’ve ever had a player leave the bench. We don’t condone that. It’s bad because Nate really gave us a bigger spark than anybody else on our team. He feeling badly right now. He already apologized to me and the team. Usually after they play really well, we let them wear warm ups back. Tonight, I told them they can put coats and ties on cause Nate screwed it up for everybody. Gotta do some things like that. I feel badly for him because he’s a wonderful kid, but you can’t leave the bench area.
