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NCAA MEN'S 1ST AND 2ND ROUNDS: CHARLOTTEMarch 17, 2018Roy WilliamsLuke MayeKenny WilliamsCameron JohnsonCharlotte, North Carolina THE MODERATOR: We welcome the student-athletes from the University of North Carolina. We have from left to right, Cameron Johnson; in the middle, Kenny Williams; to my mediate left, Luke Maye. Q. This question is for Luke. When we spoke last year, you know, you were pretty low key and this year is just totally different, like I know you can't say that you knew this was coming. But were you ever just sitting there, like you just wait until I get lit and everyone sees how good I really am? LUKE MAYE: Did you just say "lit"? (laughter) I thought I heard that correctly. I thought the biggest thing for me has just kind of been confidence -- really, coming off of last year and my end of the year meeting with Coach, we just talked about continuing the play with confidence and knowing how good you could be. He gave me all the confidence in the world and the coaching staff. Then just playing with my teammates and having such a core group coming back. I knew I had to step up a little bit. I felt like us as a group have stepped up our games and really started to play well at the right time. I think it's been really beneficial to our success. Q. Luke, as well. Luke, you have a pretty daunting task coming into this game going against Texas A&M bigs. Can you talk about that matchup, please? LUKE MAYE: Yeah. They're both, all three of them that we've kind of scouted and looked at are both really skilled. They all do different things. I think we've had experience going against Duke three times, and having teams like Louisville and Miami who both present a strong front court, but I think it will be a great test for us. I think we'll be ready for the challenge and our bigs come off the bench, played outstanding these past couple games, and they'll just continue to play their games and play to their strengths is going to be big for us. Q. Luke, when you came out yesterday, you got the cheer that's usually associated with Luke Kuechly here. This is truly a home game for you. How many people do you have here, and did you feel like the crowd was behind you specifically yesterday? LUKE MAYE: Yeah, I think coming home is definitely a great feeling. I went home on Wednesday and Thursday to my house. It was great to see my brothers. Obviously my one brother is playing baseball, so he's not at home. To be home, have that family feel, and came out and didn't play as well as I would like, but all that matters is we won. Get another chance to play on Sunday, and it's going to be a great game for us. Q. This question is for Kenny. What is going through your mind when you're shooting your 3s? When you're feeling it, like I see the look on your face and how like you get your swag whenever you get in your groove. What is going through your mind at that time? KENNY WILLIAMS: You know, once I hit one or two, I feel pretty good, feeling pretty confident in my jump shot. You know, if I get another one, I'm just thinking it's going in. You know, once I hit two, three, four -- yesterday I hit four, you know, at that point I'm feeling it and I think everybody else knows I'm feeling it, also, and I think they look for me a little bit more. But, you know, it's the same whether I miss two or make two. I think it's going in. Q. Question for Cam Johnson. You've been played an integral role in the Carolina team. This is your first NCAA Tournament. Can you talk about your experience, how you feel? CAMERON JOHNSON: It's exciting. We did play in the tournament at Pitt. That's why they're laughing. We played -- LUKE MAYE: First win. CAMERON JOHNSON: It's exciting to be a part of this team with these guys. I love going out there, playing and competing with these guys by my side and wearing the North Carolina across my chest. And it's something that after the path I've taken to get here kind of means, you know, has a little bit extra special feeling to it. It's something I really embrace and have fun doing. Q. What does it feel like being a UNC player at the "house of Jordan" and knowing that UNC has never lost in Charlotte? You're playing in the "house of Jordan." What kind of feeling does that give you? Anyone can answer. LUKE MAYE: I mean, it's very special. I mean, playing in our home state, being from North Carolina, it's really cool to go out there and hear the roars and the cheers from the crowd. I think the crowd plays a huge factor in every basketball game, and just be able to step out on that floor and have a little bit of an extra advantage already, and just going out there and just playing the game of basketball we all love and in this great state is something special for a home town kid. KENNY WILLIAMS: You know, every time we put the jersey on it's a sense of pride. I think it's a little bit more when we play in North Carolina because we want to defend our state, really. We just go out there and we're excited. We ran out and heard the crowd and the reaction. That pumps us up a little bit more, knowing we have that many people in the crowd with us. And like I said, that is just a sense of pride when we put the jersey on. THE MODERATOR: Cam. CAMERON JOHNSON: I really agree. I think it gives us a good home feel, you know, lot of Carolina support in the crowd, and you can see it all over when you look around. That really kind of picks us up, helps us along. I really think the crowd can make an impact in the game, and it's pretty positive, you know, to have it in our home state in the "house of Jordan," like you said. Just this stage means a lot and to be closer to home, to play in a game with so much significance and so much, you know, familiarity is really special. Q. All three of you guys. You know Virginia better than anyone. Played them the last game before the tournament. How surprised were you watching last night? What was that like for you? Did the Coach say anything to you about that game? KENNY WILLIAMS: I was actually really surprised. You know, UMBC did a great job doing what they wanted to do, driving and kicking and knocked down their shots. They executed their game plan perfectly, and, you know, it was just surprise to go see Virginia give up that many points on defense, honestly. LUKE MAYE: Yeah, I would agree with Kenny. I felt like Virginia coming into the tournament was the hottest team out of anybody. And I mean obviously to lose Hunter was really huge for them. He's great on the defensive end, really makes a lot of key plays for them offensively. When you get to tournament time, everybody, it could be their last game. You got to give everything you have and UMBC just played better, and that's what it comes down to. THE MODERATOR: Cam. CAMERON JOHNSON: Yeah. It surprised me, definitely, but I think UMBC just did a great job of attacking and scoring and it was their night. They hit a lot of shots. Virginia is a great team, they proved that all throughout the year and just crazy. Shows you anything can happen in March. THE MODERATOR: Other questions for the student-athletes. Q. Are any of you familiar with any of the UMBC players? None of their names or anything in the junior ranks or anything? LUKE MAYE: Coach Odom was at Charlotte when I was going through the recruiting process. He was unbelievable assistant coach, him and Coach Major really came and watched me play a lot and being from North Carolina. Really got to know him and the staff really well. And I was just so excited for him to have that opportunity to really play on the big stage and be successful was really cool to see. THE MODERATOR: Cam or Kenny, any connection? KENNY WILLIAMS: Jairus Lyles was at VCU before he went there, so I didn't get to know him really well but I had spoken to him a couple times. Q. You guys have this opportunity all the time, every year, you're expected to be on this stage. What do you think it means to those guys to first make the tournament and then pull off history? CAMERON JOHNSON: They got to be on Cloud 9 right now. To pull out something like that is pretty historic. They got to be riding high right now, feeling real good. They got another game coming up soon, so they can't fly too high. Something you got to enjoy, you know. To win a game like that, to have a performance like that against a team that's very, very good, shows a lot about your team and your toughness. I think the guys really stepped up to the occasion. So it's definitely something they got to enjoy. Q. I guess this question is moreso for Kenny and Luke. How are you soaking up these last moments with your seniors, especially Theo and Joel, enjoying these last couple of weeks that you have for them with them? KENNY WILLIAMS: I think on the court is going out there and giving everything I can for them. You know, doing everything I can to make sure that they go out on a high note, controlling that aspect on the court, and then just spending time with them off the court. You know, they're two great guys, great to be around. You want to spend time with those two. Joel and Theo specifically, you know, it's easy to want to be around them because you always going to laugh, it's going to be a great time. You know, just living in the moment and just enjoying whatever time I have with them left. THE MODERATOR: Luke. LUKE MAYE: Yeah. I'm not really trying to think about it, honestly. I can't imagine a team without Joel or Theo. They've been so much to this program and so much to my improvement and my success. Theo is the best teammate I've ever been around. He makes everybody better, makes everybody laugh. Makes practice so much lighter. But he just -- both of them are just -- Joel is the best worker I've ever been around. It's really cool to have such great seniors who lead by example and vocally. Both each other are very different but they get the best out of all of us, which is really important. Q. Cameron, as I recall last year when you decided to transfer, A&M had pursued you. Could you take us back to that. How much did it come down to Carolina? Was A&M in the mix and ultimately why did you choose Carolina? CAMERON JOHNSON: I never talked to A&M. Ultimately I chose Carolina to be in a position like this, to have teammates like this, and to be a part of something that's pretty special and pretty big. It took a long -- lot of talking with my family and a long process to kind of figure it out, and it was difficult at times. But I feel like I made a great decision coming here and I couldn't be happier. THE MODERATOR: Any other questions? Okay, guys, thank you. Good job. See you tomorrow. ROY WILLIAMS: You know, he bogeyed 2 and birdied 3, 4 and 6 and I heard he bogeyed another one. And that shot he hit on the par 5, I thought that was the right play before I left the room. Is that enough? Q. You're in this tournament 30-something times. You figure at one point or another, you're going to get popped in the first round. It's just simple math. You never have. When you see something like last night, how do you put into perspective for yourself that not getting beat in the first round is one of your accomplishments in your career? ROY WILLIAMS: Well, that was unbelievable. 21 -- 21 at halftime and we're going into eat and second half is starting. And I said guys, I'm not -- literally, I'm -- not doing anything against Ryan Odom. I love Dave. I almost went to work for Dave at one time. I'm not watching this. I'm going back to my room and watch Texas A&M and Providence. There's no way that's going to happen. So, we have beds over here, there's a phone, TV, and around the corner we've got a nice room. Around the corner I'm watching the Texas A&M and Providence and I go back and look. Good gosh, I go back and I go back and look and I finally watched the last three, four minutes. That was unbelievable. We always try to just talk about playing one game, just one game. I've never spoken to our guys about, okay, we're a 2 seed and they're a 15 seed. I don't really think that I've ever said that to them. I said the better we play, the better seed we get, the better chance we have of continuing. Last night I saw the thing up on the TV and I really try not to get caught up in any records or anything like that, but that's one I've been very proud of. I thanked the team in the locker room. Pretty good streak, we kept it going. When I saw it up there, 28-0 in the first round, when we tied Coach Smith's record I think his was 17. It's something I've been proud of. But other than that, I really don't get caught up in those record kind of things. I can tell you all five times I shot 69 and those kind of things, but so the answer the part of it about saying it to my team, I always try to prepare them -- I did tell them this, that I may miss a year, 2002, we're in St. Louis and we were playing Holy Cross was a 16 and they had the lead with five, six minutes to play, and we came back and won. And then the next game Kirk Hinrich hurt his foot in the Holy Cross game. He's sitting on the end of the bed with his leg up there on ice. I didn't know if he was going to play. We got off to such a great start against Stanford, 18-0. And so I have been aware of it and I've said some things but never made a big deal of it except, let's do everything we can, be as successful as we can, because when that big tournament starts which is what we really aim for, perhaps we'll be little easier at the start. But that was -- I was shocked. I kept thinking something April Fool's Day or something. I didn't know what the crap was going on. Q. You recruit kids that expect to be on this stage and they are accustomed to playing and enjoying these moments. What do you think the UMBC kids are feeling right now and going through and how -- as an educator and coach, how special is that, do you think, to see those kids have that one chance? ROY WILLIAMS: That's the beauty of the tournament. I mean, it's hard on coaches, one game, bad, you're gone. That's the beauty of the tournament and to see those kind of things. As I said, I've been there a couple times when it's been awfully close, but you have to feel so good -- I watched -- at the end I have no idea what the guys were saying on TV because I had paid no attention to them. I was just watching the kids run around. It's called hugger. You don't care how smelly or sweaty, you run and hug each other. Seeing the people in the stands and the people they identified as parents. I was really looking to see if they would show Dave Odom, because he has been a good friend for a long time. North Carolina guy. But -- the other thing I was almost as stunned by the way Coach Odom handled himself. He was so daggone -- Jesus Christ, son, do you realize what just happened? I'd be running around acting a little crazy or something. I was really impressed with how he handled it. But the kids -- and I've said many times and I get corny at times, but the biggest thrill in coaching is seeing the looks on your kids' faces when they've accomplished something really important, and especially if it was really hard to do. And that's -- you know, in basketball, that's Chaminade against Ralph Sampson. I can't even think of anything else that's close to that. Those UMBC kids, they had a tough time going to sleep last night and so did Coach Odom, too. He's had -- he had to go inside and scream for something. Q. You said to this group they were going to play the small lineup, they had to rebound if they wanted to stick with it. You guys were second in the country in rebounding margin, maybe a little bit more unconventional fashion, how you guys go after on the offensive glass. Did you think this group could ultimately rebound as well as they have, and does anything change when you've going up against a team with that much size? ROY WILLIAMS: I'd mad because we're number 2. We were number 1 for awhile. I sort of got on them for losing that lead kind of thing. Actually, you've heard me before, it's the most critical factor in the game, the way we play. Maybe somebody else plays it differently or they can convince themselves. I knew we would be a real good rebounding team, because if they didn't rebound and wouldn't boxout, they won't play. But we also emphasize it so much that they bought into it. It's been harder because Kenny Meeks was naturally a great rebounder, so he could get them. Justin was great, Tony Bradley was a great rebounder. The surprise of being able to do it at that level is there. But if we don't do it, we don't win is the way I look at it. Now you watch Texas A&M and they just -- maybe the biggest team I've ever looked at. And so we've got to try to do it at a higher level now than anybody else that we've played. We've had three, four games where the other team out rebounded us. Duke outrebounded us, and they've got similar size like that, but A&M got it through some of their perimeter players as well. It's got to be the primary focus for us. I thought we would be a good rebounding team and perhaps at the level we are maybe surprised me. Q. Roy, when you dive into the tape of A&M, how have they really changed since TJ Starks really started handling the controls and coming into his own? ROY WILLIAMS: You know, again, I never watched an A&M tape the until last night. I didn't see when they've had two point guards that they started with, one hurt and one suspended. I never saw them when they had those guys. I said in the press conference last night, I remember watching five, six minutes of the early game, the one that was -- I keep saying it was outside the country -- was it Germany? Yeah -- against West Virginia. I remember watching a little bit of that. I saw them play a little bit against Kentucky and a little bit against Kansas. And so until yesterday I didn't have enough knowledge to even talk about them. But that's the way I do everybody. Normally I will watch a game tape the night before we play someone. Now, with Lipscomb is a little different. I knew Sunday we were -- so I had watched three full games on Lipscomb. Well, Brad Frederick had the team, he watched 12 games. Hubert Davis, A&M, by tomorrow he will have watched 10, 12 games. I'll get more idea. I know Billy. And I said last night, I can't have anymore respect for anybody than I would him. And I'm not trying to act like we're bosom buddies. I always say hello. When I heard what was going on with him a few years back, I said something to him. He's a fantastic guy, fantastic coach who -- the focus that he has is just incredible to me. I've known little bit more about them just because trying to see how he's doing. Q. Roy, Sterling and Garrison over the last two, three weeks have started playing a little bit more, getting more involved. Is that just a matter of freshmen developing and now being more confident and ready, and how much are those two going to have to contribute against that big Texas A&M team? ROY WILLIAMS: I'd like to say it's coaching but I think it is as kids developing. And two months ago, three months ago, whenever it was I decided to go small, and then all of a sudden later, wait a minute, i got to help these kids be developed, too. So we're going to give them more opportunities. I'm not going to forget them completely. And so we're trying to give them more time. We're putting them in the game in difficult situations and expecting them to perform. If they don't perform, I chastise them. If they do perform, I pat them on the back. What they've done so far has been good. Now this is going to be maybe the biggest challenge they've had. Similar to Duke, because with Wendell and Marvin, the guys they play are that size. The difference is going to be the guys that Theo and Kenny. Williams will guard. They've got to come through for us. They've got to be big. Q. How big a deal is it that they've stayed engaged and didn't sulk and didn't kind of drift off and didn't play much? ROY WILLIAMS: I'm very lucky they're not that kind of kids. That's who I look for anyway. I tell them, every kid I recruit, every kid, I didn't tell -- Tyler Hansbrough came to North Carolina thinking he was going to play behind Marvin Williams Sean May. I am not a nice guy. I am going to be hard on you. I'm going to push you more than you've ever pushed. That part of it I don't really get into. Q. For all these years, teams have tried to solve your size. Is there anything you picked up from them that you can try to solve Texas A&M's size? ROY WILLIAMS: Teams have tried to spread us and milk the clock more is the way they've gone after us over the years. That doesn't really fit me. I don't really think I can do it. The other way they've done it is when we've driven the ball to the basket, they blocked every shot. We tried to make sure we stop a little short. No, their size is impressive. I just did an interview with Coach Thompson's group. He said it may be the biggest team that he's ever seen. It really -- when you look at how big -- look what during the opening tip, look at the guy that Kenny is going to stand beside and the guy Theo is going to stand beside. They're big guys. They're as big as some of the other big guys we're playing against. Their perimeter guys are a lot of size. You got to get them off of you before you try to take an outside shot, so you got to take -- create some space with your dribble and try to take them to the basket and go right by them and not try to stretch it out. Because against a shot blocker, you do all this dipsy-do stuff and you stretch it out. You just give them space to find it and block it. Got to hope we get them in foul trouble and get down to some of the other guys. But they're here because they're really good and hopefully we're here because we're really good, too. I didn't sleep really well last night, and it wasn't just because I was excited about us winning or stunned by Virginia. Sort of watching that tape right before I went to bed. I have a bad enough time sleeping and they added to it last night. But we are not going to spread it and hold it. Give you a clue. Q. Luke said that when his shot is not falling, you stay on him about remaining involved in the game in other ways. What is your message to him when you see maybe he doesn't have it? ROY WILLIAMS: You know, some things are not meant to be shared with everybody. I chewed his butt out last night. You're one of the best players in the America, first team all ACC, third team All-American Kansas. Just be Luke. Quit worrying about things. Just play basketball. Sometimes I get a little more heated with him, and last night I kept him out a little bit because I wanted this to see if I could get him simmering over there a little bit. He can't beat the world by himself. And I love kids who care and Luke Maye really cares. And I don't have to coach Luke very much. Just push him a little bit and with a little finger and that's about it. Q. Coach, you guys have had a lot of highlights, A&M hasn't had as many. One of them was beating North Carolina in 1980. You were a student grad assistant or assistant coach. Do you remember that game at all? ROY WILLIAMS: Part-time assistant. It means full-time job, part-time pay. I remember that part. Q. Do you remember the game? ROY WILLIAMS: Give you a trivia question. Have you ever seen a game where you have the last shot to win the game and lose by 17 or 19? Because that was that game. Was it 17? We had the last shot to win the game in regulation and missed it and they beat us by 17. I remember that game, yes, walking out of the gym in Denton, Texas. Eddie Fogler looked to me. We have to get to Albany, New York, a guy named Sam Perkins up there to help us. Q. Does Manley have an increased role for tomorrow because of his size? ROY WILLIAMS: Not really. I mean, what I do is I put him in first or Garrison in first and whoever plays the best the first time, they get in get a little more time. Last night I thought Sterling defensively would help us a little bit against Marberry, make it more difficult. But Garrison got in, had three assists, and did some good things. I went back with him first. So it's a go-by-the-seat-of-the-pants kind of thing. I didn't like the way Sterling was a screen and roll, and I didn't like the way he got back to the roll guy. So I took him out and put Garrison in. The first play Garrison did it well. When I put Sterling back in, he got three rebounds in a row. It's more of a seat-of-the-pants kind of thing. Q. Coach, Cam said yesterday he had 7 rebounds yesterday. He said late in the game you pulled him one time because he didn't crash the boards. He said maybe one of the biggest adjustments about playing for you is that constant mandate of never letting up, even a guy like him who has got 7 boards, banged up, but he didn't do it one time and you pulled him out. How has he handled transitioning into dealing with the mandate that you give these guys, regardless of what the circumstances are? ROY WILLIAMS: Well, if he dealt with Jamie and he dealt with Kevin, now he's dealt with me, he's dealt with Three Stooges. Maybe I'm the worst of the three. He's already done it. He's in is a demanding family. His dad has pushed him and he pushes himself. He's dealt with three different personalities in four years because he red shirted one year. But I had already taken -- I think I had taken Kenny out for that reason once as well. I exposed and said it straightforward to Cam about it. I took Cam out because he didn't go to the boards. Because in the first half I was really ticked because Luke Maye shot the ball twice and I got four guys standing outside the 3-point line and not one dadgum guy went to the board. That happened twice. I ripped all of them at that point. I felt like that should be enough. The one I took Cam out was in the second half. I'm not going to tell Luke Maye you can't shoot because we don't have anybody to rebound. Those other guys better get their butts up there and rebound also. Luke is our best percentage shooter from 3 and maybe our best from overall as well. His doesn't go in all the time either. Somebody got to go rebound it. If I'm not mistaken, we were up rebounding-wise like 3 or 4 in the first half and I think we ended up being up by 19. 18, 19. Q. Roy, the last couple years you've been to the tournament, your program has been under scrutiny for things that happened off the court. Has life returned to normal this year, and especially given the context of all the other things going on in college basketball, has that been nice for you that you haven't had to deal with that? ROY WILLIAMS: It really has been. The last three, four years I've been on record saying the kids and my time on the basketball court with the kids has been -- I'm not trying to be too dramatic -- it's been my salvation. If I hadn't those, I would have gotten out the door. I felt like I needed to stay and see the thing through. I didn't feel like I had anything to do with it, but boy those kids really made me feel good about being with them. This fall we had couple of guys visit who were Top 10 or Top 15 kids. We hadn't been able to get those kids on campus for three, four years. That felt better. There's no question about it. And coming to a press conference when I say, guys, come on, let's please talk about the tournament and other people wanted to talk about the other stuff. It wasn't nearly as much fun. Yeah, it's been more fun. This team has been sort of like the rest of them. They've really been a salvation for me, even though I've been having more fun anyway so it hadn't been needed as much. But no, you're exactly right. I think you said pleasant. I think that's the terminology you used. It's been more pleasant for me, yes. THE MODERATOR: Last question. Q. What are your feelings on tights-sneaker day in Chapel Hill? Do you have any? ROY WILLIAMS: Wait a minute. There were a lot of other people around. Let's make sure you understand we're going to talk about tights, not just me and you. Q. Do you have any rules as far as what your guys can wear as far as headbands, tights, any of that kind of stuff? Any feelings on that? ROY WILLIAMS: Headbands went the way of Gonzaga in 2006 in Madison Square Garden when I walked out on the court and got five of six guys in headbands. We got beat. We stunk. There's never been a headband, never will be another headband on another North Carolina player. Shane Battier, if he wanted to come back and play, we would talk about it. Tights, I kid them all the time. "All my coaches wear them out there." I told them I'm really going the surprise them one day, I'm going to walk out with tights on and Theo just about puked right there. You know, it's crazy, me wearing them one leg and not the other. I see that. The next day you may switch. I tell them, I wouldn't mind wearing them sometimes it's cold. But no, that is honestly the full extent of our conversation of tights. Make sure we understand that. Guys, thank you very much. FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports   |
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