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CBS SPORTS CLASSICDecember 20, 2014Shannon ScottSam ThompsonCHICAGO, ILLINOIS North Carolina – 82 Q. Shannon, it seemed like when you guys were on offense that their length made it very difficult to get inside against them and get really good two‑point looks. I just wondered how much of an effect that had on you guys making shots today? SHANNON SCOTT: I mean, they're a long team, but we settled a lot. We shot 29 three‑pointers, and we don't need to shoot that many threes to win a game. We need to get inside the paint a little bit more to make it easier on ourselves. Q. Sam, on top of that you guys had a lot of really good looks from the outside, and at times were some big ones if they would have gone down might have changed the game. Was it just a tough shooting night? SAM THOMPSON: Yeah, we knew North Carolina were going to step up and load the guys in the paint on our drives, and we were going to have a lot of kick‑out threes. Like Shannon said, I think we settled a little bit. We also needed to do a better job of stepping up and knocking down shots. That's what we've been doing all year, and we didn't do it today. Q. Shannon and Sam, you guys are always trying to get the best out of Amir. Can you talk about what he gives you when he's playing well and how you can get that from him more often? SHANNON SCOTT: We've just got to keep him active, really. He's a great player. We've just got to keep him motivated and keep making sure he plays every possession. SAM THOMPSON: Like Shannon said, he's a great player. We think he's one of the best defensive centers in the country. He can really dominate the game on the defensive end. He's one of the best finishers in the country. We've got to do a better job of getting him the ball. We've got to do a better job of getting him the ball early. Q. Sam, for most of the game, they were able to handle your pressure pretty well, and you guys weren't able to either buy a turnover, or rebounding you guys weren't able to get out and run much. What was the key to that not happening? SAM THOMPSON: We didn't rebound the ball. We felt that our pressure did what we wanted it to do. They were chewing up some clock. They got some buckets in transition after missing that made basket that we can't allow, but they bottom line is that we knew that we had to rebound the ball. We knew they were going to shoot a ton of threes and if they weren't shooting a great percentage, the game would be won on the backboards, and we didn't do a good job of doing it. Q. Sam, you guys obviously didn't get the result that you wanted, but what was it like for you to be back here in the city? SAM THOMPSON: It's just another game. It's another game that we have to win. It's a big game, big‑time venue, but at the end of the day, you're not thinking about being back home and playing. I'm just thinking about winning the basketball game. Q. Sam, this is the second big non‑conference game you guys have had against a ranked opponent.  How disappointing is it to have the opportunity on this stage to maybe make a statement, prove something to yourself and come up short? SAM THOMPSON: I was very disappointed not in the sense that we just came up short but in the way that we came up short. This is the second time we've dug ourselves a big hole and tried to fight out of it. We did a good job fighting out of it, we did some things we wanted to do, but again, in the first half we weren't really able to strap up, get a stop, get a bucket when we needed to, and that hurt us again. Q. Sam, you've got two days until your next game, really quick turnaround. As far as getting everybody back up to play on Monday, you guys are seniors, what do you have to do? SAM THOMPSON: Everybody understands that we didn't show up to play today the way we needed to, and they understand the best part about the game of basketball is that we've got another chance to do it in less than 48 hours. We have no issues about being ready to play. We're going to come in, we're going to practice tomorrow, we're going to do what we need to do, and we're going to take care of Miami. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
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