Roy Williams Q&A
UNC basketball coach Roy Williams took part in a teleconference Tuesday with the other seven coaches whose teams will participate in this year’s Maui Invitational in Hawaii.
The tournament will take place Nov. 21-23 with the Tar Heels opening up against the host school, Chaminade. UNC will then ply either Oklahoma State or UConn, with Tennessee, Oregon, Wisconsin and Georgetown on the other side of the bracket.
Here is what Williams had to say:
Roy: Thank you very much. We’re excited about it, and needless to say, it’s my favorite way to open college basketball.
Q: Just seeing if we can get an update on your right knee, how it’s doing since surgery.
Roy: It’s not perfect yet, I’m walking almost without a limp. I don’t have my stamina to do my 3-and-a-half-to-five miles yet. There’s still a little bit of discomfort, but I’m seven weeks in and I think that everybody tells me I’m doing great. I’d like for it to be a lot better, a lot quicker, but that’s part of the rehab process. I’ve been doing a ton of rehab and really looking for everything to be really positive.
Q: What is the rehab process like, and are you still thinking about having the other knee done?
Roy: The rehab is a daily process, you’ve got to do something every day. Doug Halberson, my trainer, and Walt Beaver, my surgeon, have worked very well together and told me what I need to be doing. In just about every town I’ve been in this summer, I find a PT clinic and go over there and get some work done, whether it’s Charleston, S.C., Augusts, GA, wherever it is, I’m finding a place to go and get some work done. And the other knee, at one point I was thinking about possibly doing it later in the summer but I’m not going to do that now, I’m going to put that off.
Q: Last season, when you were limping around, was that more out of pain or was it just not strong enough from the previous surgery?
Roy: It was just discomfort and pain. There was hardly a step that I took that felt good. That’s one of the reasons I went ahead with the total knee replacement on the right side. I was tired of limping and I was tired of hurting, so hopefully this is going to cure a great deal of that.
Q: Was it much of a distraction for you throughout the season?
Roy: It was only a distraction that I was doing things I’d never done. Last year was my 43rd as a head coach and last year was the first time I’d ever sat down on the basketball court, even during a water break I’d go over on the sideline, lay down and do some stretches for my back. But as far as sitting down on the basketball court, I’d never used a chair in my entire life, never sat down on the scorer’s table or anything like that. It was a very unusual thing for me, and one I didn’t enjoy as much. I’m gonna make sure I don’t do that same thing again this year.
Q: You guys are the winningest program in this tournament, what does a record like that mean to the program and what is the secret for being so successful here?
Roy: It is a long trip and you’ve got to remain focused on why you’re going. You need experienced players that have been through it before. We have been successful sometimes and sometimes we haven’t been successful. But I think it’s a wonderful tournament. The first time I went it was the greatest pre-season tournament I’d ever been involved in, I almost didn’t leave the island until they promised me I could come back four years later. It’s a wonderful event for me and my staff, and this is the sixth time we’ve been involved and I’ve really enjoyed every one of them.
Q: You used to stop off and play a game in California before going to this tournament, what was the thinking behind scheduling a game at Hawaii before this tournament begins?
Roy: I like to break the trip up and stop and play somebody on the west coast. The other times it’s just fallen in place real easily whether it’s Santa Clara – I think we played Santa Clara twice – Long Beach, different teams, and I still like that idea, but Hawaii had some problems getting games, and the NCAA will let you stop and play Hawaii on the way to Maui and give you a free game, so it was a pretty easy decision.
Q: How long are you guys going to be in Hawaii>
Roy: Right now, I have no idea. We haven’t made those plans of leaving. I think we play on Friday or Saturday, probably Friday against Hawaii and we’ll leave a couple of days before and then be there the entire week. Hopefully, we’ll be out of here to hustle back and see a football game the following Thursday night.
Q: Checking in to see if you’ve completed your four summer practices and what you’d hoped to get out of them.
Roy: We’ve gone four times, yesterday (Monday) was the last one. Between an hour-20, hour-30 and we leave some extra time for them for shooting. My goal has always been, No. 1, to let the freshmen understand what practice is going to be like, No. 2, get them to understand the secondary break, and 3, the pace of the game that we want to play with. We try to emphasize with them that they may think they’re in shape, but they’re nowhere near in shape to play. For the older guys, the upper classmen, just put them in a position to see how they’ve improved, what they’ve done, and allow them to help coach the freshmen as well.