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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

February 28, 2011

Gary Williams

COACH WILLIAMS: We're trying to get some rest today and tomorrow as well as practice getting ready to play Miami in Miami after coming back from Carolina late last night. So hopefully we can make that turn around.
Carolina, my own personal opinion, they certainly belong a lot higher than 19th or whatever they've been ranked previously. Hopefully, that will happen this week. Any team that's won I think 15 out of 17 or whatever, certainly deserves to be in there playing in a major conference. Carolina has certainly done what they've had to do with their team.
I think that's one of the things that we all have to talk about as a conference to make sure that that does happen because there seems to be a lot of bashing going on with the ACC all year really. And so I think our league has gotten better because we've had younger players get better.
Our kid, Stoglin, for example, is a good example. Jordan Williams as a sophomore for example, and other teams have their examples too of the younger players playing better at this time of the year. So I don't think we should keep defending. I think we should be very positive about where our league is right now going into the last week of the season and the ACC Tournament.

Q. I guess you're probably aware of the Louisville incident yesterday with the cheerleader. I know you had a little thing with the N.C. State manager getting a technical. Can you recall some of that? Have you ever had anything else similar to that in your coaching career?
COACH WILLIAMS: I don't remember -- I kind of remember, but I didn't know any details of the N.C. State situation. But you talk to your players all the time about finishing out the game right. In other words, the Louisville player dunking the ball there, all he had to do was dribble to the corner and the game would have been over. Even if he tried to dunk it without the cheerleader doing that, the ball could have hit the back of the rim and go all the way to half court and give up a possible three to tie the game up in that situation.
That was a reaction by the cheerleader who thought the game was over, I'm sure. Not everybody knows the rules about the clock stopping in the second half or whatever. So those things can happen, but it was strange. There's no doubt about it. But, hopefully, that's a good lesson to all the teams that you have to play it right there at the end of the game.

Q. You talked about last night the slow start your team had against the Tar Heels. Obviously, the ballclub better than anyone. When did you recognize the effort probably wasn't what it should have been out of the gate?
COACH WILLIAMS: I'm not sure it was effort. I think Carolina's a good team, and we didn't play early in terms of running our offense and things like that. But my team's work hard.

Q. You mentioned Stoglin and Williams as young guys developing as players. Tell everybody about Gregory evolving into a quality four man in the ACC as a senior?
COACH WILLIAMS: As time's gone by, he's been able to play off Jordan a little bit as a senior, and he's starting to gain confidence. He has confidence in his jumpshot which he hasn't had before going into this year. He's gotten some open looks. He didn't get many last night, but he's gotten some open looks and taken advantage of them. Naturally that helps your offense, if he can draw the attention away from Jordan a little bit inside, and we've been able to do that in some ever our games.

Q. I was wondering if I could pick your brain just a little further on Carolina, wondering from your perspective. I know last night was a game that played into what they like to do. How do you think they've evolved? How do you think they're positioned from March to play the different styles?
COACH WILLIAMS: Well, we like to play that style too. So maybe that helped Carolina a little bit. But we have to play that way, I think, for us to be good in terms of getting up-and-down the court.
Carolina's interesting because of their size across the front line. In today's game where a lot of teams play three guards. They go 6'8, 6'10", 7 foot, and those basketball players are not just big people they put out there on the court. Zeller's talented, Henson's got great timing especially on the defensive end of the court. Of Course, Barnes is a great freshman, so that's what they bring.
Then they have the ability, their back court has kind of settled down. In other words they really know their roles. At this point that's really important headed for March where they are right now mentally. They had some guys come off the bench that played very well for them last night.
It's a deep enough team. You don't have to go that deep in tournament time because you get some time off to play this game. So I think Carolina's really going to be a tough out. In other words, they have the necessary things to be a good tournament team.

Q. Could you expand just for a second on Barnes in particular, your impressions?
COACH WILLIAMS: He came out and hit three threes against us. Sort of the game where we didn't do a great job matching up. But they were still good shots, and you have to make those shots. Plus, he can post up. He's got the skill to post up and he can drive from the wing. He's not afraid to put the ball on the floor.
So I think given the attention he got at the start of the year which was completely unfair and completely nothing that he did. It was just no one has ever had to have that type of pressure before as a college basketball player to be picked first team All American before the season started, unless they did it with Kareem or somebody way back.
But college basketball now is a very tough defensive game. Nobody's going to come in and average 20 points a game very often. What he's contributed to Carolina has been a great contribution for a freshman.

Q. You mentioned Henson's timing on the defensive end. Can you talk about his emergence as a defender? It looks like we were conceding Chris Singleton as Defensive Player of the Year before he got hurt. But has Henson put himself in that conversation?
COACH WILLIAMS: Definitely. He changes the game a little bit once he blocks a couple. He doesn't have to block too many more. The intimidation factor is already there. Plus he's really big. They list him at 6'10", but I'm not sure if he's not a little bigger than that and he's got long arms.
The thing I like is he can block with the left-hand. He's got a good left-hand and dribbling the ball quite a bit. I think that helps him blocking shots. Most guys are one hand or the other blocking shots, but Henson's one of those rare guys that can block with both hands.

Q. The last few games, Terrell Stoglin has really emerged particularly on the offensive end. Did you see that coming that it was beginning to fall into place for him like it has recently?
COACH WILLIAMS: I think he's worked hard. He was a scorer in high school in the summertime, but he always had the ball. So the adjustment he's had to make is to take more responsibility for running an offense and getting the other four players involved.
I think that hurt him for a while trying to do that, but now he's more comfortable with that role so the scoring is coming back. He's played a lot of games now. He has confidence that he's going against some really good teams and had to play. He's done a great job.
I mean, we lost Eric Hayes and Greivis Vasquez last year, so it was very important that Terrell came in and do what he did. He certainly grabbed the opportunity.
As he seized opportunities, he's gotten better in terms of knowing when to go, when to pull up and things like that. It's a learning process. He's had four straight games now where he's really played well. That's not always going to had happen yet in his career. But I think he sees what's out there for him if he continues to work hard.

Q. It seems like he doesn't need a real big opening to be able to slide through and take some off-balance shots that go in. He just has a way of getting into the cracks or seams of a defense?
COACH WILLIAMS: Well, he's very quick with the ball. I think he's one of those people that can probably dribble as fast as he can run, plus he can finish with either hand. I think his teams -- part of the learning process as teams start to respect that and maybe back off of him a little bit to see when to pull up and take the jumpshot and not necessarily force it every time if it's not there.
As he develops in college, that will happen more and more because the experience of getting into an off balance situation once in a while, which he does, that will go away a little bit as he gains experience.

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