ACC Basketball Photos

Posted Sunday, March 30, 2008

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Charlotte, NC – Tyler Hansbrough scored 28 points and had 13 rebounds to lead the Tar Heels over the Cardinals and into their 17 th Final Four. After their 83-73 win over the Louisville Cardinals in the regional finals of the NCAA Tournament at Bobcats Arena, Carolina’s head basketball coach Roy Williams and players Tyler Hansbrough and Marcus Ginyard talked with the press.

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: Folks, Ty is in the locker room getting some ice. I know you all have deadlines. I’m not going to make an opening statement. I’ll tell you we’re ecstatic.

Q. Tyler, could you talk about the 12-point second half lead gets away from you. I’m sure Georgetown might have been on your mind but you looked like you were not going to be denied the trip to the Final Four this time.

TYLER HANSBROUGH: Yeah, I mean, you know, it was in the back of a lot of our minds. One thing about tonight there was that point where they went on that run and I think the difference this year is we handled that run better and stayed poise and came back. Got some points and kept fighting back until eventually we had a run.

Q. Tyler, just what your raw emotions knowing the buzzer sounded that after three hard years, you’re finally going to the Final Four?

TYLER HANSBROUGH: My feelings right now are great. Definitely I’ve never been — it takes all of those past experiences away. But also, at the same time I feel like we want to accomplish more. Marcus said something to me as we were walking in here, it feels like we did something big, but we can also do something bigger.

Q. Coach, could you talk about the pump fake and shot that Tyler hit on the left side and does it sometimes seem like the things he does are larger than life in those big moments?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I’ll answer that but I think we want the questions to go to the student-athletes.

Are you talking about when the score was tied at 59? The reason he made that shot is he’s made it hundreds of times already. Just like that television commercial, the young man shoots extra shots before every practice, every off-day, he’s made that shot hundreds of times.

Q. Marcus, I know you in particular were really affected by last year, it’s kind of been on your mind, and this is something that you wanted to do. Your emotions right now? And could you describe the way you guys picked up your defense with about sixth and a half minutes to go and caused some turnovers, forced them to miss shots?

MARCUS GINYARD: It feels good right now. I’m just going to piggy back on what Tyler said. You know, coming to the press conference right now, Tyler said we just won a tournament in a tournament. So we know that this is not our last step. We’re very excited to get to this point but we continue to have that same attitude that, you know, we have more work to do.

But this team has continued to show that when we need to dig deeper and play better and play harder and play smarter, we do. And I think that just shows how good this team really is. Every time we get into those sticky situations we always get ourselves out. And that’s what you need, you need a team that’s going to be tough enough to not give in, and to continue to push forward.

Q. Tyler, if you could address the two big jumpshots down the stretch that you hit. I think the clock was winding down on both of them. And Marcus, if you would also talk about those and just what that did as far as momentum and everything else.

TYLER HANSBROUGH: Well, to be honest with you, I kinda felt like they were both going in when they left. I was confident. But, you know, in that situation, the clock was winding down, so I knew it was a good shot. And I felt confident. We work on it every day in practice. The bigs do, and it’s nothing that — it just carried over to the game.

MARCUS GINYARD: And, you know, I’m just going to say the same thing Coach Williams says, he’s made that shot each and every day hundreds and hundreds and thousands of times. He shoots that shot every day before practice. Every off-day he’s in there shooting those shots. And everybody on this team feels confident when Tyler shoots those shots. And I told him during the game, at halftime we were talking about using the screen on the ball and having Tyler pop up and knock that shot down. Everybody is confident in it. He’s confident in it and we know he can make it.

Q. Marcus, what was going through your mind when Clark hit that second free-throw to tie the game with a little over 10 minutes left?

MARCUS GINYARD: I don’t remember that free-throw.

Q. It tied the game, what was going through your head.

MARCUS GINYARD: You know, Coach tells us not to look at the score, and just to go out there and play, and to be honest with you, I never saw the score tied, so I don’t know. I don’t know how I was feeling at that point.

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: That shows he’s a very coachable player. I don’t look at the score a lot. When Steve and I were walking down here, he said, They tied the score, and I said, What was it? Was it 64? And he said, No, it was 59. Because I want to play everything possession the best you can, and I think that’s what the kids do.

Q. For Marcus, I was hoping you could talk about how in last year’s regional final it was outside shots, and, yes, Tyler hit some outside shots, but how you found him and how important that was down the stretch?

MARCUS GINYARD: You know, Tyler is a big-time player obviously. So you’ve got to find a way to give a player like that the ball to give him the opportunity to make those big-time shots like that. It says even more about Tyler, the fact that he’s ready and the opportunity presents itself, he’s there and he’s got the guts to knock the shot down.

Q. Tyler, when it was tied up at 59, I think you scored seven points in a row. Did something go through your mind where you said, all right, Wayne is not hitting it, Danny is not hitting. I got to put it on my shoulders?

TYLER HANSBROUGH: Not necessarily, I think there were times when I became more active and my teammates got me the ball. Certain times when things aren’t falling outside we try to get the ball inside, and I just happened to demand the ball and got some looks.

Q. Tyler, I would like to get your reaction about what Coach Pitino said about you because I thought he gave you one of the ultimate compliments: He mentioned a lot of the great players he’s coached against in the NBA and college, Michael Jordan and a lot of different people, and he’s never seen any player play every possession as hard as you play it. To hear a guy like that say to you, what does that mean to you?

TYLER HANSBROUGH: It means a lot. Coach Pitino, if you know basketball, he’s one of those guys that everybody kinda knows. His teams are always great, so I know that he’s seen a lot of players, and it’s an honor to be considered in that category that he’s put me in.

Q. Marcus, could you just speak a bit about Louisville’s defense? I guess you could consider this the first really tight game you all have played in some time, particularly in the second half.

MARCUS GINYARD: Louisville did a great job of pressuring us, and forcing us to make bad plays, I think, for a good stretch there. We weren’t taking care of the ball, and they were capitalizing on those opportunities that they created for themselves. So they did a great job of fighting back and just staying on top of us. But in the end it gets back to, you know, this team getting put in that situation, we’ve got to step up and we did a great job of stepping up tonight.

Q. During the tournament how much were you all able to watch what was going on? Like Davidson has been a big story in the tournament, do you see those games or the Kansas games? How much time do you allow for that?

TYLER HANSBROUGH: A lot to be honest with you, because a lot of times during breaks and things we’re laying around the hotel, and it’s hard not to turn on the TV. And you hear about Davidson and Curry, what he’s doing. You see all these other teams. So I’m aware of it. I mean, I can’t talk for Marcus, but that’s just my take.

MARCUS GINYARD: We’re definitely aware of it. We see it on TV, but nothing that is going on on TV while we’re not playing is really that important to us. Obviously we enjoy watching it to see what happens, but we’re more focused on what we’re going to do what when we get on the court.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, guys. Congratulations. Questions for Coach?

Q. Coach, it just doesn’t seem like this team has ever really been rattled in the last few weeks, even when the game was tied. The team’s focus seems like it’s at an all-time high.

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: They are focused young men. They have dreams and hopes. I’ve said many times this year, we don’t deal in other people’s expectations. They don’t have anything invested in it like these kids do. When the score did get tied, Tyler came down and he got a layup. And he showed a lot of poise because he faked, and guys were flying around, and I think this is the right one, and he ended up laying the ball up. And then we go down and get a stop, and he comes down and he scored again. And we go down and they miss, and we come down and I think we’re up four, and we pass it around and it gets knocked out of bounds. And it was our ball out of bounds underneath. And it’s one of the times Louisville was playing man to man. And I called a set play for Ty to get a shot from the corner, and he stepped up and knocked in the three.

So it was something where the kids were able to step up and make plays, they are focused, they’re tough kids. We still don’t guard people as well as I would like for us to guard, with Louisville shooting 50% for the game. But we did get some stops down the stretch, and they had some turnovers and things that helped us as well.

Q. You all played Davidson in the first game, are you surprised at all by the run they’ve had and what they’ve been doing in this tournament?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I would say I’m a little surprised, you beat a 2 seed and a 3 seed, and I think that’s what they’ve done. I think Georgetown is a 2, Wisconsin was a 3. That’s been sensational. I think Steph Curry’s accomplishments in the games that he’s played have been phenomenal. I really haven’t watched a lot of other games but I’ve seen the highlights on Sports Center, and he’s just been phenomenal. I knew they were an extremely good basketball team. You know, they had UCLA by 18. They played us and lose a close one. They lose a close one to us by 4, a close one to Duke by 6. So when you think about that, you shouldn’t be surprised, but maybe I’m just not as big of a fan of the other teams or the Selection Committee or what’s going on. I’m so focused on our club, but to beat a 2 and 3 seed to get to the final 8 is amazing.

Q. Roy, we’ve talked about Tyler for three years and watched him do a lot of stuff, but to hear a guy like Rick say he’s never seen a player play every possession the way he does, as his coach, could you comment on that.

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: You guys have heard it before, he does the same thing in practice every day. I mean, the young man is the most driven, most focused youngster I’ve ever seen in my life to try to be the best player he can be and to help his team win. And twice during a late time-out he yelled, “Hey, come on, let’s finish this off.” One other time he said “Come on guys, let’s go.” He’s not a rah-rah individual. When he says something like that, they listen to him. But, I mean, 28 points and 13 rebounds and being willing to take those shots. But he does, last week, I forget which day it was that we had off, he was in the gym two and a half hours on the off-day. So for Rick to say it, it was fantastic. I compliment Rick for making a youngster feel like that, I think that’s great. But that’s Tyler Hansbrough. And that’s Tyler Hansbrough at practice every day. That’s Tyler Hansbrough in the off-days. It’s what he is.

And I’ve said that when that young man takes the Carolina blue uniform off and doesn’t put it on, I’m going to sit on top of the Smith Center or whatever and sit there for an hour and realize how lucky I am to have coached that youngster.

Q. Before we go you might want to describe that play and give us an injury report on your left hand, when Tyler pitched that ball over there to you. It didn’t look like you were ready to receive that pass.

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: No, I wasn’t. I slammed it to the floor. I wasn’t mad at the officials by any means, I was mad at our offense. Two possessions in a row. And I really jammed the dickens out of my finger here, but sometimes you’ve got to suck it up and not be a baby.

Q. Obviously you have a great love for Kansas, when you watch that game tomorrow, knowing if they win, what will your emotions be like?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I have the greatest love for a place I gave my heart, body and soul for 15 years. I have no idea what my emotions are going to be. I know when I was at Kansas and we played North Carolina in ‘93 and ‘94. I said I hated it, but if I was ever going to play North Carolina and Coach Smith, I wanted it to be at the Final Four.

I will never play the University of Kansas in a regular season game. It will have to be a tournament, whether it’s NCAA Tournament or a holiday tournament. But nobody could have more love and try to give more to that place than I did for 15 years and they gave me a chance. They gave me a chance when I had Bob Frederick, and a chance when not exactly a household name. I was barely a name in my own house.

So I have no idea what the emotions will be. I’m ecstatic for this club right now to be going to San Antonio and enjoy what’s going on, and enjoy the accomplishments that they have made.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you.

Louisville basketball head coach Rick Pitino came out with players David Padgett and Terrence Williams.

COACH RICK PITINO: Well, we congratulate North Carolina on making it to the Final Four, it was a much-deserved victory. Real proud of our guys. They played their hearts out, made a few turnovers down the stretch that really shot us in the foot, but I couldn’t substitute as much as I wanted. And I had some guys giving everything they had, their heart and soul to try and get a victory.

Tyler Hansbrough made two shots that you prayed they were going to take, and shows you what an All American he is to make those shots, because they were both challenging — I was following the flight of the ball; he couldn’t even see the basket. That’s what an All American does, makes those shots and he’s a heck of a basketball player. First time I’ve seen him up close, and some pro team is going to be very lucky. I haven’t seen a guy play every possession like that in a long time. I’ve never seen it, actually.

So we congratulate North Carolina. I’m real proud of our basketball team. They’ve had a very good season and I’m real proud of them.

Q. For David and Terrence, if y’all could talk about Tyler Hansbrough after seeing him firsthand, because it’s one thing to see a kid on TV, and you guys know better than us what it’s like when you actually guard someone.

DAVID PADGETT: Yeah, I mean, he deserves every accolade and all the success that he gets. Like Coach said, I’ve never played against somebody who plays that hard, and the kid is just absolutely determined to be a great basketball player. And big-time players make big-time plays and he made two big-time plays at the end of game.

TERRENCE WILLIAMS: I agree with David. I’ve never been on the court where someone goes hard for every position, every rebound, dives on the floor and do whatever to make his time win. He deserves everything that he gets.

Q. Where do you think things went wrong for you in the last ten minutes of the game? Because you were drawn even at 59-all.

DAVID PADGETT: They hit some big shots when they counted. You got to give them credit, they’re an outstanding basketball team. And they made big shots when they counted. You’ve got to give people credit when they make big plays, and that’s what they did.

TERRENCE WILLIAMS: Like he said, they made big shots, and we had a couple of key turnovers, and they got a couple more rebounds than we did.

Q. What do you think went into them getting their lead, what were they doing well and you not doing well, and what went into you pulling back even with them?

DAVID PADGETT: Well, they’re one of the best offensive teams in the country. They played well tonight and did a good job rebounding the basketball. And we came out after halftime and I thought we dug in and slowly chipped away at the lead and tied it up, but it’s tough when you dig yourself a hole like that. But I thought our guys did a good job of battling back in and not giving up and trying to get out of here with a win. They were just a better basketball team.

TERRENCE WILLIAMS: Our team didn’t lay down but they fought back hard. For everybody watching, that speaks volumes for their team, and they happened to make more shots than we did.

Q. Guys, you got back and did a good job in transition defense a lot of the night, but they still had speed and were able to hurt you with that. Can you talk about the way they were relentless in pushing the ball?

DAVID PADGETT: That’s their style, but I didn’t think they hurt us that bad in transition. They’re going to score in transition once in a while because that’s how they like to play.
But like we’ve been saying, when it came down to it, they made big-time shots.

THE MODERATOR: Guys, thank you. Questions for Coach.

Q. Rick, do you feel like the pace caught up with you at all? Did you guys lose your legs at the end?

COACH RICK PITINO: No, I don’t think when you make a post move and you get called for two travels that’s losing your legs. I think they pulled the chair and played good defense on him. He learned a valuable lesson from that. He thought he was getting fouled in the beginning, and then they pulled the chair on him twice, and he had two. Turnovers hurt us down the stretch, but like I said, they made some real difficult shots. I don’t think the transition game was a factor for them. I think they made some very difficult shots, made all their free-throws and we turned it over at some crucial times. But we did a lot of good things offensively tonight, really some good things, shot a good percentage, but they were a little bit better than us, and our guys hung tough in a tough environment.

Q. Rick, you’ve seen so many great basketball players and been around so many, to say you’ve never seen someone play quite like Hansbrough is a little astonishing. I realize I’m getting you to talk about the same thing over again, but if you could elaborate on why he catches your eye in such a way?

COACH RICK PITINO: Because I’ve coached against Michael in his prime, Barkley in his prime, Kareem when he left, Magic, all the great ones I’ve been fortunate to watch and observe those guys. Certainly he doesn’t have those abilities of those superstars, but just like shooting, rebounding, playing defense, passing, skills, working hard is an acquired skill. Every NBA coach would love to have a player not only because he works hard, but he has a lot of talent. Imagine that. You know, we have an old saying as an offensive rebounder, “treat every shot as a pass to you.” And it’s a good saying, except most players can’t do that. He does that.

But the shots he made, I mean, I was right there, were unbelievable shots because they were under duress, and he had very little time to get it off, and he came up big. And obviously I don’t like to lose, but you’ve got to give credit to a great basketball player.

Q. Coach, did you change anything up at halftime to get you back in?

COACH RICK PITINO: We were just turning the ball over too much and we were shooting a good percentage, we were turning it over. You know, turnovers hurt us against Tennessee and turnovers hurt us against Carolina a little bit. You can’t work that hard and force turnovers. Some of my great teams would force 23 turnovers, but most of the season we would only turn it over 13, 14 times.

The second half the reason we came back because we weren’t turning it over. And then we got those two travel violations. And that type of turnover doesn’t bother me as much because it’s a great defensive play by a guy who pulls the chair on him and he traveled. The other turnovers when T Will turned it over on a pass, he was just dead on that play. When our guys did a much better job in the second half. The elements caught up with us in the second half, but our guys did a wonderful job. They’re a terrific basketball team. You’ve got two teams going to the Final Four right now that are both great on defense, terrific on offense.

Q. They were pretty much good in any style on offense whether you dropped back or pressed. How much did you weigh whether to come after them with full-court pressure or drop back?

COACH RICK PITINO: We played exactly the way we needed to play to beat them. We tied it up, had a chance to win, and they overpowered us down the stretch. We played exactly the style of play we needed to win. Very difficult sometimes for people to admit when the other team is better but we’re a very good basketball team this year, very good, and they were better tonight, made big shots. So we played exactly the way we needed to play, they just played better.

Q. Coach, there was a time back in December where I don’t know if you thought your team would get to this point. What changed from then to now?

COACH RICK PITINO: You serious?

Q. Yeah.

COACH RICK PITINO: We got healthy, we had no Padgett, you want me to repeat all that?

Q. Sure.

COACH RICK PITINO: We had no Padgett, we had no Palacios, we suspended Caracter for a game against Purdue. We didn’t get healthy until the first Big East game another two weeks later. I used Georgetown as an example, if you don’t have Hibbert and you don’t have Patrick Ewing, Jr. or you don’t have Tyler Hansbrough, and you don’t have one of their big guys, how good would they be? It’s very simple. This is a players’ game and you win with talent.

The worst thing about everything that we went through and all the things we had to overcome is we had to play Walter McCarty in practice for three weeks. That was the most difficult thing. We couldn’t even practice. On top of all our problems, the NCAA clearinghouse never cleared two of our freshmen. One had open heart surgery and the other was declared ineligible. So it was difficult times. So for us to get to the Elite Eight and come back and do this…

What every coach wants is for their team to reach their potential, and that’s when you give the players credit because they reached their potential. And they played a tough team tonight. And I’m real proud of the fact that they came back and fought in the second half.

THE MODERATOR: Thanks, Coach. Congratulations on a great year.

Charlotte, NC – Carolina head basketball coach Roy Williams sat down with Tar Heel players Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington to speak with the sports press.

THE MODERATOR: Questions for the student-athletes.

Q. Wayne, it’s been said over and over Washington State doesn’t pass the “I” test. They weren’t the most talented Pac 10 team and I’m sure you guys knew teams in your conference that didn’t make it, but you have had a chance to play Derrick Low and other players. Have you guys have to remind your players not to overlook them?

WAYNE ELLINGTON: Haven’t had to remind them because any team in the Sweet 16 they’re going to have talented players, but I told the guys about things we like to do well and their offensive game, and some of the things they like to do on the floor.

Q. Ty, are you 100% now? How did it feel the last couple of games?

TY LAWSON: I’m about 95%. It’s feeling good. I think I’m doing real well and it’s doing real good.

Q. Some people say you had an easy road so far playing in your home state. You’ve been able to tear through your first opponents. Do you guys look at it that way?

WAYNE ELLINGTON: I think we’re playing well right now. I don’t think it’s an easy road. I think everybody is coming back from injuries and we’re finally getting our team together collectively, and I think as a result of that we’re playing great basketball.

TY LAWSON: I agree. I don’t think we had an easy road. Everybody said we had the toughest match-up in the 8-9. And I think we’re playing well, playing on emotion. We all want to win the National Championship, so we’re all playing together.

Q. Looking back on that benching against Georgia Tech last year, has that helped make you part of the player who you are now?

TY LAWSON: Immaturity, and before I probably didn’t think practices were too important, and I went through the motions but ever since then, I play hard in practice, had a 100% turnaround. And Coach says, “If you practice well, you play well,” and I fully agree with that.

Now I feel like, if we have a great practice we play well in the game. If we didn’t have a good practice, we don’t play well in the game. It did a lot for me in my college career.

Q. As you know Washington State shut down Notre Dame, held them to 41 points last game. What did you see on tape of them about their defense? Can they slow you down at all?

TY LAWSON: I’ve seen them play a little bit, they like to force everybody to the middle, where they have great help. That’s a good defense. They help out a lot, they have great athletes, so their defense is good. If we just run and keep it to our game plan, we will be able to run and things like that, stop them from scoring and get rebounds. We can still score against them and run and things like that.

WAYNE ELLINGTON: I agree. They play great help team defense. I think as long as we do what we’re supposed to do, and play North Carolina basketball we’ll be just fine.

Q. Ty, this is in relation to what you just answered, but what will you have to do to force a quicker pace and to prevent this from being a game into the 50s and play more into their hands?

TY LAWSON: Probably just push off their backs as quick as we can and get into our offense or just scoring, pressure on the ball, not giving them easy baskets and create transition games. Most thing I will have to do is see the ball going to the net and run down as quick as I can.

Q. You guys have done this streak, played different degrees of playing well, not playing so well, different styles of teams. Do these guys remind you of anybody? Because you have won games that have been low scoring and high scoring, so it seems like you’re battle-tested in the ACC and out of the ACC.

WAYNE ELLINGTON: We played against a lot of half-court teams that tried to slow us down in the past. They don’t remind me of any one team. But we’ve played against a lot of half-court teams, and I think we’re used to having teams slow us down and turn it into a half-court game. I think we have to do our job on defense and attack the backboards, and you know, get the ball out quick and we’ll be able to play our style of game all game long.

Q. Wayne, you were teammates with Derrick Low in the Pan-American Games but people in this part of the country maybe haven’t seen him play as much, have you told your teammates about him and what to expect?

WAYNE ELLINGTON: Yeah, we watched tape, also, so these guys know what kind of a player Derrick is, and he’s hard-nosed. He’s a tough player, he can shoot the ball well and he moves great without the basketball. We all know what to expect from him and we won’t have any surprises.

Q. Can either of you guys see yourself playing for a style like Washington State? If you could imagine coming out of high school and people were recruiting you, could you imagine having fun playing in a style like that?

TY LAWSON: Me personally, I probably wouldn’t go to a school like that, because I like to run up and down the court. That’s my type of game. They’re a school that holds the ball — they don’t hold the ball, but setting up the defense every time down the court, I mean setting up the offense down the court, I wouldn’t like that style of offense.

WAYNE ELLINGTON: I agree with Ty. He likes to get out on the open floor, and I like to create things — it’s a great offense, and it fits specific players.

Q. Ty, where did you develop your speed with the dribble? When you were younger did you have a coach that worked with you? How did you develop this?

TY LAWSON: I don’t know. Once I got to high school, everybody was saying I was quick. Before that I guess I wasn’t that fast, but my mom ran track and she says I get it from her. I ran up hills, jumped over things, that’s about all I can remember working on my speed, anything like that.

Q. Playing in Raleigh and then in Charlotte, how much of an advantage do you think it is? Is it business as usual with all your fan following and everything? And also, would it be more fun to go to Anaheim or Houston or somewhere?

WAYNE ELLINGTON: I think it’s definitely been huge for our fans to be here and be able to support us and just staying close, but at the same time, you know, the fans can’t play for you, and this is the NCAA tournament, and no matter where you are, you know the team you’re playing is going to be competitive and you’re going to get everyone’s best shot. So the fans are very important for us and they help us, but at the same time they can’t play for us.

TY LAWSON: I feel like it’s a whole game sometimes. All the crowd stands up — especially parts where we have games that are close, the end of the games. If our crowd pushed us toward — we like when our fans are screaming and things like that, so I think it’s a little of that.

Everybody in the NCAA tournament is a great team, especially the Sweet 16, so I don’t think it’s that much of an advantage playing close to home.

Q. The Australian center for Washington State described how Tyler was a thrashing croc. I’m wondering if that works for you?

WAYNE ELLINGTON: I guess so. I think of him more of a tenacious basketball player. Whatever a thrashing croc means. If it’s similar to that, what I just said, then, yeah.

TY LAWSON: I can see why he says that. I see him thrashing all the time. I see him trashing, I can see where he gets that from. Ty is a great player. He just loves to play, you can see on the court how fierce he is.

Q. What do you like about Alan Iverson when you were a kid?

TY LAWSON: Just that he was so small and still controlled the game, scores, played tough-nosed defense, plays when he gets hurt. Just a lot of his toughness as a player is why I admire him.

Q. Wayne, any recollections from the Pan-Am Games? Since you were competing for playing time, did you bond with those players? Or what was that experience like?

WAYNE ELLINGTON: Yeah, you know, we had a chance to spend a lot of time together. We were in Brazil, we didn’t know many other people that spoke our language except for us. So, yeah, we had a lot of time to spend together.
Both great guys, good basketball players. Yeah, I think it’s going to be a tough match-up for our guards tomorrow and we’re looking forward to it. We’re looking forward to competing against them and we’re going to have a lot of fun.

Q. Wayne, when you win a game by scoring more than 100, when you cross that 100-point threshold, can you speak at all about any additional thrill that it gives you? Any special lift? And by extension if you’re able to win this, yet the score is low, is that going to take any of the fun out from your perspective?

WAYNE ELLINGTON: I don’t think scoring over 100 points really does anything for us. It just says that a lot of people are contributing and, you know, I mean, that’s what we need. But we’ve been in tough battles before, tough games and we’ve proven that we’re tough enough to win low-scoring games where we’ve got to battle on the last possession on defense. So I think that’s something that we are used to, and we’ve been through that and that’s something that we’re not shying away from.

THE MODERATOR: Thank you, guys. Questions for Coach Williams.

Q. Coach, last June you came to our Hall of Honor banquet and you told us how you recruited Derrick and you followed his career, but since then have you followed his exploits in the Pan-Am Games and this season? And did you picture him back then as being a player here in the Sweet 16?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: You know, I have followed him, and it’s strange because in high school I saw him as a point guard, and he still has those capabilities. But he is a big-time shooter, and he is more on the receiving end of those passes and stepping into his shot more than I ever picked him in high school. I have followed his play. I like the Bennett family. Tony has done a great job with the team. I used to love watching his father coach, and I think they got off to a start like 14-0 this year, they’re really good.

Q. How much better is Ty’s work ethic now than it was it, say, a year ago, and how much of a struggle was it to get to this point?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: It is better. I don’t know if I’m good enough to put a number on it, but it is better, let’s put it that way. He had never really been challenged, because he is so gifted. That quickness is hard to simulate, so he had always been able to get by people so much easier because of that quickness, and all of the sudden you’re playing in the ACC and it’s not quite as easy. But I do believe his work habits are better. I think it’s a bigger change for somebody that relies on speed and quickness than it is anybody else. So it’s something he worked at. He got much better last year as the season went along. I got mad at him the day before the Georgia Tech game, and I think it got blown out of proportion. And after that I never went back to it and touched on it, and last year down the stretch he was sensational for us. This year he got off to a great start and got hurt, and has gotten a little better each and every week, and I think he’s doggone close to being full speed right now.

Q. How big of an advantage is it really to have played all tournament games in North Carolina and being here this week? Also, in your career have you ever been in the situation where the opposite has been true, where you’ve taken a team in to play somebody where they’ve had a partisan crowd?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: You guys think it’s a heck of a lot bigger advantage than I do. To answer the last part of your question, one of the greatest things we’ve — 2003 we played in Anaheim and we ended up beating Duke and Arizona. And Arizona and California, those states are fairly close together, it was a huge pro Arizona crowd, but they do a great job, and we won the game because our team played better on that day.

In 2005 we played the regionals in Syracuse and Villanova was right there, big crowd, but we played better on game day. Everybody told me in ‘95, gosh, Coach, you just got to win those first two games to get to Kansas City. Well, we got to Kansas City and Virginia beat our tails.

I don’t believe that crap, you’ve got to play on game day.

Q. Coach, did you once apologize to Dick Bennett for dissing that style of play? You’re not a big fan of the Bennett style, are you?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I wouldn’t say that I’m not a fan of that. I’m a fan of basketball going up and down the court. And I made the statement and it got a great deal of play, and I called Dick and he said “I understand.” It was 19-18, at halftime.

Don’t play games. The number of people that enjoy seeing 19-18 is not as many as the number of people that like to see 61-60. If you were to take a poll, you would pick 61-60. So I made a truthful statement, and Dick understood it. He knows I love the way they play defense, I will still say I like 19-18 okay, but I like 60-61 better. Dick and I have been good friends and Tony, I love what he’s doing with the club. Dick, when he did retire, I said, “What are you doing?” And he said, “Walking on the beach every day.” Kind of thing.

I enjoy him. He’s a coach’s coach. He’s old school. He’s going to do what he can do with that personnel, and with that personnel he felt like that was the way to play. I don’t think — put it this way: I think Tony will probably play faster. I don’t think Tony slows the ball down right now. I think they try to be efficient, they don’t take bad shots, make stupid passes. They don’t beat themselves and I think those are all positives, but, again, you’ve got people pick on me for saying the ACC is the biggest cocktail party, well, it is. Let’s be honest. They say, 19-18 isn’t pretty — well, it wasn’t pretty. They’re saying we’re stupid, he’s not saying it’s an advantage to play in North Carolina all the time. Say what you want to say, if my team plays well, we got a chance to win in Siberia. If my team plays poorly, we have a chance to get beat in Chapel Hill, which we did twice this year. I’ll get off the soapbox now.

Q. Roy, can you talk about David Padgett after his freshman year in Kansas. Was there any attempt to get him to come to North Carolina? Any contact? What attracted you about him, recruiting him out of high school?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: David and I did speak when he left Kansas. We did talk to him about coming to North Carolina. Wonderful kid, who has had a lot of adversity and has bounced back from it in a great, great way. I loved him when I was recruiting him because he was a big guy who could run, who could catch, who could pass, who had savvy and I think he’s showing all of those things now. Rick has done a great, great job with him.

We were in Las Vegas in the tournament there. I forgot the name. I guess that’s bad for their sponsors. Las Vegas Invitational, is the name, is that what it was? All right, so I didn’t forget any sponsor. But I talked to David at practice. They were practicing right before us and we were going into practice at the facility, and that’s when he was hurt, and I said, “What are you going to do?” And he said, “Well, they’re saying the whole season. And I think I could get back quicker. And if I could get back in January, I want to play this year. I don’t want to try to petition for a sixth year.” And I think he came back early in January and he’s been sensational, and I couldn’t be happier for him.

Q. When you’re playing a team that’s slowing down the tempo, do you have to worry about your team being impatient in that situation, not being disciplined enough?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I think so. I think you’ve got to be patient on both ends of the floor. I think you’ve got to be patient on the defensive end because you’re going to get hit by screen No. 1, and then 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. So you have to be tough enough and patient enough to play the defense for as long as you need to play it. And on offense you have to be patient to get a great job. You don’t want to play defense for 25 seconds — again, I don’t think they slow the ball down as much as people act like they do. They’re going to take a great shot, even if it’s quick, if it’s the shot they want. Don’t put yourself in a position where you play defense for 25 seconds and then come back and play offense for 5 seconds, and then come back and play defense for another 25 seconds.

But you’re right you have to be patient on both ends of the floor.

Q. What was your team missing when Ty was not in the lineup?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I think we were hesitant about what we could do. It took us a game or so to get used to a slower pace because Ty gets you so many easy ones. And I think that’s the easiest answer to your question is that his speed and quickness gets you easy ones and you would like to have some easy ones. You wouldn’t like to have to play against the other team’s set defense. If you play golf you would like tap-in birdies as opposed to putting from 20 feet every time. So that makes it easy.

Quentin is getting us easy ones, also, but I think that’s the biggest thing we missed. And the fact that we had two point guards when we had Ty and Quentin, and after Ty went down we had a second guard, Marcus, who had never played the guard spot in college.

Q. Roy, defensively how do you rate your team compared to past Carolina teams and even back at Kansas?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: We’re getting better, but we’re not where we want to be. I think we are getting better at seeing the big picture and understanding how important it is. We need to do a better job of guarding the dribble and stopping the dribble, stopping penetration. We need to do a better job of closing out on the shooters and it may be more technical than you wanted. I think we’re getting better but we’re not where we want to be. Yet I’ve used this example of 2005, once we got into the NCAA tournament, we really started having the stats to back up that we were getting better. In the semi-finals, Michigan State shot under 30% in the second half, and in the Finals Illinois shot under 30% in the first half, and part of it was they missed shots, but part of it was our defense, too.

So I believe we’re getting better. And how they compare to past North Carolina teams, I’m sure we’re not as good as some of those teams. We’re not as good defensively right now as the 2005 team, for example, but we’re light years better than the 2004 team was.

Q. To go on when you were saying about Q, how valuable has he proven to be this year for you guys and how rewarding is it for you to see a guy who has been a reserve to emerge in the role that he has?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: He’s been a saver and it’s a feel-good story for me as a coach. He had gotten opportunities and didn’t grab it and run with it, and then he got hurt, so he had the adversity of injuries of not playing well when he got an opportunity, and then all of the sudden we needed him to do it. Not just we want him to do it, we needed him to do it and he really did. He grasped it and ran with it. It’s been great for him.

Q. Roy, I’m thinking of the Virginia Tech game, scoring in the 60s as opposed to the 80s, what are some of the things you wanted to do in those games that you weren’t doing?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: It all goes back to the defensive end. You don’t want to give up simple, easy shots. You want to make them work for it and we didn’t do that as much as we wanted, and we were impatient on the offensive end against Virginia Tech. That was probably something that bothered me more than anything. But I like winning in the 80s and 90s, but to be the team and reach the dreams we have and be the team we want to be, you’ve got to be able to win at someone else’s tempo. You can’t be in your comfort zone all the time.

And for the most part I’ve had teams in the past that could win games in the 50s and 60s, I just enjoyed it more in the 80s and 90s.

Q. I wanted to follow up about using various point guards. Tennessee is doing that. Can you talk about what obstacles that presents and what positives there are to that?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I think the obstacle is knowing exactly what you have for your teammates. Is he going to push it and go all the way or pull up and look for me behind the three-point line? So the familiarity is something that takes practice and games to get that. Obstacles for the other team they don’t know exactly, you know, what one point guard is, does he play exactly the same as the other one? And at the same time, that also keeps them off balance. In baseball you have a fastball pitcher and then all of a sudden you bring in the relief pitcher that’s got the big curveball. Change for change’s sake is good. So there are obstacles and not the least of which we should ignore is the freshness that you have.

Q. Coach, do they try to keep the games in the 60s, and do they do with that the offense or the defense?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I think a little bit of both. They don’t hurt themselves. They don’t take bad shots, they don’t turn it over a lot. They wait until they get the absolute shot they want on the offensive end. On the defensive end they guard you. You don’t get an easy shot. There are a lot of teams that their defense is good for the first pass, second pass, and then all of the sudden it breaks down. I think each time Washington State is prepared to guard you for 35 seconds.
You’ll see tomorrow, they’re going to get an opportunity and they’re going to run the break because they do try to take advantage of opportunities to run as well.

Q. We’re all going to write about their system and how they slow it down. What about their personnel impresses you?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: A little bit of the same answer, because their kids don’t try to do things they can’t do. Rochestie, just a phenomenal kid, great assist ratio, a lot ofbetter athlete than people think he is. Derrick Low is a fantastic senior. Puts the ball on the floor, is crafty, starts around high screen, cuts backdoor. Weaver is a big-time athlete who can put the ball on the floor, shoot the three-point shot, can post you up and then has a wonderful assist-TO ratio. And then some big guys who shoot 56% and 59% are the two starting post players. So they don’t beat themselves, they will try and do the things they do, and they’re able to do that well. I’m watching the Stanford game, and I think they were 11 for 14 from the three-point line. They’re really good.

Q. They did such a good job last year against Harangody from Notre Dame, will Hansbrough present a different challenge?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: I haven’t seen Notre Dame enough to say he and Tyler are close, but it is the same kind of thing, a big guy who loves to run and play. Tyler has been faced all year with people who are trying to stop him, sending two or three guys at him. One of his biggest areas of improvement is his ability to move the ball out of bad situations, his ability to shoot the ball before the bad situation gets there, or his ability to step out on the floor a little more and not just be a post-up player and we need him to do all of those things tomorrow, because Harangody was 3 for 15 or something like that, did have 20 rebounds or something like that. But we need Tyler to have better offensive numbers than that.

Q. Roy, does this have a different feel? The rest of the conference is gone, it’s just you now?

COACH ROY WILLIAMS: To me there is a definite different feel in the NCAA tournament than the ACC Tournament. And, again, people pick on me and say bad things because of it, but it’s the fact that the ACC Tournament is not what it was 25 years ago. We’re trying to beat our brothers, neighbors, establish bragging rights, but we knew that we were going to have an opportunity to play after that. Right now it’s none of that. If you don’t play, you go home and you get out the golf clubs.

So there is a much different attitude, a sense of urgency, and along with that sense of urgency is a realization of you getting closer and closer to a bigger prize. So I think it’s a totally different atmosphere.

Video clip of UNC’s Marcus Ginyard in the locker room after beating Arkansas in the 2nd round of the 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Video clip of UNC’s Deon Thompson in the locker room after beating Arkansas in the 2nd round of the 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Video clip of Tyler Hansbrough in the locker room after beating Arkansas in the 2nd round of the 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament.

Mike Huguenin of rivals.com picked his top five players of this season, in reverse order. If you were at the RBC Center this weekend for the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament you got to see two of the five players in action.

5. Notre Dame’s Luke Harangody

4. Davidson’s Stephen Curry: The sophomore had big games during the regular season against North Carolina, Duke and N.C. State, then stayed hot when the Wildcats played Southern Conference opponents. Still, there probably were a few people who questioned how good he was. If there still are people questioning his talent after what he has done in the NCAA Tournament – 40 points against Gonzaga in the first round (a game he essentially won by himself), then 30 against Georgetown in the second – we question their knowledge about basketball. He has unlimited range, a hair-trigger release and he can run all day. In short, he’s a joy to watch – and a nightmare to cover.

3. UCLA’s Kevin Love

2. North Carolina’s Tyler Hansbrough: When you talk about passionate players, Hansbrough, a junior, has to be at the top. He goes full out all the time. But it’s not just about his effort. The man has talent. He’s great at worming his way underneath. He can pop the occasional 15-foot jumper. He’s more athletic than he looks. He knows how to get defensive position. He’s a good rebounder, and he knows how to get to the line. Once he’s at the line, he knows how to put the ball in the basket.

1. Kansas State’s Michael Beasley

Short video clip of the UNC Tar Heels shoot around on Thursday at the RBC Center before the start of the first round of the 2008 NCAA Basketball Tournament.