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ATLANTIC COAST CONFERENCE BASKETBALL MEDIA CONFERENCEJanuary 21, 2013Roy WilliamsCOACH WILLIAMS: I apologize. I'm in the car on the road recruiting, so I hope I don't get a bad area where I lose everything. Maybe you hope that I do, but that will be all right too. We felt very fortunate to play great in the first half against Maryland and survive the second half (Indiscernible). We're a lot better now than two weeks ago when we were in the two game losing streak, but you're only as good as the next game, so we've got to be ready to play Wednesday night. Q. A few weeks ago when you were really struggling, there was a lot of talk about your players having to learn to step up and take some‑‑ develop some leaders. Can you talk about what Reggie's done in the last few weeks? Has he been the guy that's done what you were hoping would happen? COACH WILLIAMS: He's played really well. Even at Virginia, he was the guy that played (Indiscernible), we still lost. But he's been the most consistent player by far, and I think probably the most consistent player with what he's said on the court and in the locker room. So I think that he's done that, but it's not just been in the last two games or anything. I think it's developed over time. They still look to Dexter for leadership because of being a senior. They still look to James Michael because of what he's accomplished. And as I said many times, Marcus Paige even as a freshman at the point guard spot, it's the leadership. But I think it's been a collective thing for everybody on our club. Recently we've played with great urgency (Indiscernible). The other thing is we are so young, that some of the younger guys are learning a little bit more about what ACC basketball is all about. They've had to raise their game to a different level than what it was. Q. Is Georgia Tech dangerous? I mean, they're a winless team in the ACC, but I just saw them last week go to Duke and lead at the half. They're a close team. Is that hard to sell to a team to convince them that, boy, this might be somebody that is dangerous? COACH WILLIAMS: It better not be. It will be more than dangerous, it will be a loss. I think just one thing you said, Al, is they were ahead of Duke at Duke at halftime, and Duke is one of the best teams in the country. At times they've played better than anybody in the nation. So I think we can emphasize that to our guys, and hopefully Reggie and James Michael and Dexter and those guys will be able to lead the young pups along a little bit. But if my Carolina team takes somebody for granted, we're going to have a track meet for several days after that game. Q. Taking you back off what you were talking about with Georgia Tech and Duke, do you see more top to bottom balance in this league and more parity than there's been in years past? COACH WILLIAMS: I think so there's going to be some disparity, because a team like Duke and NorthCarolina State that's highly ranked nationally and doing so well, they're going to win most of their games and somebody has to lose those. But I do think that top to bottom, the league is probably the best in the ten years that I've been back. I don't think Al's comment or question about taking somebody lightly. If you take somebody lightly in this league right now, you're going to lose. I don't care where you are or who you're playing. So I would have to say that I do believe what you're saying is correct. Q. Where is that coming from and what is the origin of all of this parity? Is it something that was years in the making, kind of progressing towards that as programs get better and better? COACH WILLIAMS: We went through a stretch there where we were changing coaches so often. I think this year we only changed one coach, unless I'm going brain dead or something. Then once you get a coach that's been there two or three years, he's getting his style of play, his prospects, his recruits in. I think the stability in the league has been better the last couple of years. I mean, one year we changed four or five coaches. I think over a two‑year period we changed like seven out of 12 coaches, so I think that continuity is something to it. I think the ACC has never been bad, but the new guys coming in have really done a great job. Q. To go back to Reggie for a moment. What are the factors that have led him to be more consistent this year, as opposed to the first couple of seasons? COACH WILLIAMS: Well, I think experience is the biggest thing. He's been through it, more of it than anybody else. I'm sitting here talking about consistency, and he scores 21 points in the first half, and scores 3 in the second half, and he's 0 for 3 on lay‑ups. So I don't know how consistent he's been myself. And I told him that yesterday at practice. But I do think that he has been day‑in and day‑out, done the best job for us, whether it's games or practice, either one. And I want him to get even better at that. But to me, the biggest factor is he's just been through it more often than the other guys. He's been there and played big‑time games. To win a Sweet 16 game, to go to an Elite 8, he's played in a conference championship game. So most of those other guys haven't been in those roles as very important players, or even been in that game at all. Q. Do you see parts of his game or any certain aspects of his game that are just a whole lot better than they were as a freshman and sophomore? COACH WILLIAMS: Well, his sophomore year‑‑ excuse me, his freshman year, he missed the second half of the season with the knee injury. You know, again, Dexter's our only senior, he missed half the year. Leslie's a junior, he missed a full year. Reggie's a junior, and he missed half a year. Even last year, Reggie was a sophomore, but he missed the end of the year for his freshman year. But that consistency, and going through that experience, he has been getting better in every phase of the game. But the one thing that I think has helped him more than anything is he's just a much more confident player for going through those kind of games and being successful and helping our team. Q. Can you give us an update on Leslie McDonald's situation? COACH WILLIAMS: Well, we've got to watch him. We gave the guys the day off today, and we'll have to watch him in practice tomorrow, and we'll try to make an a announcement before Wednesday. We don't want to wait until Wednesday and say something about it. So hopefully we'll know something after practice tomorrow. We're giving the guys the day off today since it's a university holiday too. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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