That's what you want a guy to do. He cares a lot about this. It means a lot to him. When he hasn't done something well, he's been able to respond positively. |
The biggest, most glaring thing that we thought we could teach was getting off to a good start. We didn't in those two games, and it obviously cost us. We have to do that to give us a chance to win. |
The Carolina basketball system which coach Williams believes wholeheartedly in, it took those guys some time to understand. One, because they had so many young guys, and two, defining roles. Now that they've got it, you add that with the talent, and with that comes the supreme confidence. |
The doctors have looked at him and will continue to look at him. We won't make a decision until we get the final word from the doctors. It's not [Lauris'] decision or my decision whether he'll be ready to play. It's in the hands of the doctors and the trainers. |
The game got away from us very early. We had talked about how the first five to ten minutes of the game would be critical because that is when you have the opportunity to not only keep all the outside factors out of the game, but also to get them back on their heels -? to establish in your mind and their mind that we are here to play. Obviously, we did not do that. |
The NCAA is something that happens at the end of the year as a reward for playing your tail off. We're in year one, and we got eight scholarship guys, and we're just trying to make it. |
Their defensive intensity really got us back on our heels. As a result, they shot the ball well and we didn't. |
There are key moments in the first four of five minutes of a game where you can tell a little about the tone of the game. They got a couple loose balls and a couple of offensive rebounds, and we were a step slow. Anytime a team gets into foul trouble is usually an indicator that a team is a step slow. |
There have been guys who have carried a heavy load, but from a pure basketball standpoint, I think I've been around teams where the responsibility in a lot of areas has been a little more spread than with this group. I'm not just talking about points. I'm talking about everything. I don't know if any team I've been around has had two guys asked to do so much. |
There was a different smell around here this weekend. |
There were some key moments in the first four or five minutes when they got to a couple of loose balls or got some offensive rebounds when you could see we were a step slow. |
They are an excellent team that won five in a row [before losing Tuesday at Virginia] and 10 of their last 11, with the only loss by two points to Duke. They're one of the best teams in America, and one of the hottest. |
They both can shoot the ball, they both can handle the ball, they both play defense. The fact that we rely on our guards so much means that we've got to make sure we control some of the things they do well to give our guys an advantage. |
They had a ton of options that they could go to tonight. We had to put a lot of pressure on Sean and J.R. to make every single play. |
They know when we get back to the gym that I am not going to be real happy. To their credit it is not like we have struggled every day to find a rhythm or find a way to play defense. We have done that. I just worry because you can't be up and down emotionally at this point in the year. We're still learning; we aren't as mature as we need to be, and I think that is why we have won a lot at home and not a lot on the road. |