Opening Statement
I’ll say the same thing I said last Saturday – things look better when the ball goes in the basket. At the start of the second half, the ball went in really well for us and our depth wore them down. We caught them on an afternoon when things were going really well for us and not so well for them. Early in the second half, we made a bunch of shots in a row and I told the guys in the locker room I was happy about that, but I told them I was really pleased because I thought defensively we were more involved – everybody. In the second half we were even more involved than we were in the first half. They’re hard to guard, they spread you, set a screen on the ball three to four times every possession, so our big guys had to help and guards had to get there too, but I thought we did a pretty good job with that.
On whether he challenged the team after Wednesday’s loss
Not really. The kids just did a good job. We did not practice on Thursday, but I went down to the weight room and eleven of our guys were in there on their own. On Friday, we came in and I showed them two plays from the Duke game and then said, ‘That’s all we’re going to talk about it, it’s behind us now.’ Our focus was on today and we never mentioned the Duke game again. The kids did a really great job of focusing.
On whether this game feels like a defining moment for the team
No. It had a feel of our guys bouncing back and playing pretty hard. The fact of the matter is we were 10-3 and tied for first in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and every coach in the country would take that. I wasn’t going to lay down on my side and say ‘woe is me.’ I told them I didn’t want to hear any of that junk from them either and they took care of it.
On how connected the offense was (high number of assists)
I think we wore them down a little bit because a lot of it was on a break. We ran two set plays and they both worked, but I think my favorite play of the game was when we pitched ahead to Justin Jackson and he caught it and threw it to Brice [Johnson] without dribbling. We moved the ball really well and I think our depth wore them down.
On Miami’s much fewer offensive rebounds in the second half
“I was mad at the starters, and at halftime I said [Miami] better have none in the second half. They had ten and we had eight. We had more points on offensive rebounds, but they had three more possessions than we did in the first half.”
On have you made an effort to get Marcus Paige more minutes at the point guard position
We have been trying to do that all year. Start of the year it was going to be who played a lot at the point. But he got hurt and missed 6 games. When he came back, his right hand was still a little tender and he favored it dribbling the ball, so we stuck him at the two and we started winning. I still wanted to get him more time a couple of weeks ago. I said, I told him what I wanted him to do and he wasn't as aggressive as I wanted him to be, so we focused a little bit more yesterday at practice.
On were you curious about what you would find when you went down to the weight room on Thursday
There were two of them I wanted to talk too. I was only there 30 minutes cause then I got in the car and rode to Concord and saw a high school game up there. So I saw one in Raleigh in the morning and one in Concord that night. I just wanted to see if anybody was around so we could talk. I was trying to make sure they weren't going to give me this Woa is me stuff. I've tried to make sure I never felt sorry for myself in my own life, so I don't like that to happen to my team!
I’ll say the same thing I said last Saturday – things look better when the ball goes in the basket. At the start of the second half, the ball went in really well for us and our depth wore them down. We caught them on an afternoon when things were going really well for us and not so well for them. Early in the second half, we made a bunch of shots in a row and I told the guys in the locker room I was happy about that, but I told them I was really pleased because I thought defensively we were more involved – everybody. In the second half we were even more involved than we were in the first half. They’re hard to guard, they spread you, set a screen on the ball three to four times every possession, so our big guys had to help and guards had to get there too, but I thought we did a pretty good job with that.
On whether he challenged the team after Wednesday’s loss
Not really. The kids just did a good job. We did not practice on Thursday, but I went down to the weight room and eleven of our guys were in there on their own. On Friday, we came in and I showed them two plays from the Duke game and then said, ‘That’s all we’re going to talk about it, it’s behind us now.’ Our focus was on today and we never mentioned the Duke game again. The kids did a really great job of focusing.
On whether this game feels like a defining moment for the team
No. It had a feel of our guys bouncing back and playing pretty hard. The fact of the matter is we were 10-3 and tied for first in the Atlantic Coast Conference, and every coach in the country would take that. I wasn’t going to lay down on my side and say ‘woe is me.’ I told them I didn’t want to hear any of that junk from them either and they took care of it.
On how connected the offense was (high number of assists)
I think we wore them down a little bit because a lot of it was on a break. We ran two set plays and they both worked, but I think my favorite play of the game was when we pitched ahead to Justin Jackson and he caught it and threw it to Brice [Johnson] without dribbling. We moved the ball really well and I think our depth wore them down.
On Miami’s much fewer offensive rebounds in the second half
“I was mad at the starters, and at halftime I said [Miami] better have none in the second half. They had ten and we had eight. We had more points on offensive rebounds, but they had three more possessions than we did in the first half.”
On have you made an effort to get Marcus Paige more minutes at the point guard position
We have been trying to do that all year. Start of the year it was going to be who played a lot at the point. But he got hurt and missed 6 games. When he came back, his right hand was still a little tender and he favored it dribbling the ball, so we stuck him at the two and we started winning. I still wanted to get him more time a couple of weeks ago. I said, I told him what I wanted him to do and he wasn't as aggressive as I wanted him to be, so we focused a little bit more yesterday at practice.
On were you curious about what you would find when you went down to the weight room on Thursday
There were two of them I wanted to talk too. I was only there 30 minutes cause then I got in the car and rode to Concord and saw a high school game up there. So I saw one in Raleigh in the morning and one in Concord that night. I just wanted to see if anybody was around so we could talk. I was trying to make sure they weren't going to give me this Woa is me stuff. I've tried to make sure I never felt sorry for myself in my own life, so I don't like that to happen to my team!
