Roy Williams Talks FSU, Winning Streak & More
CHAPEL HILL - North Carolina Coach Roy Williams met with the media via Zoom on Friday morning ahead of the Tar Heels’ trip down to Tallahassee, FL, for a noon matchup with Florida State on Saturday.
Among the topics discussed were Florida State, taking better care of the ball, Anthony Harris’ status and much more.
Here are a few pulled notes and quotes from what Williams had to say:
*Williams and Florida State Coach Leonard Hamilton are no strangers.
Since returning to Carolina in 2003, Williams has posted a 20-7 record against Hamilton’s FSU teams and is 8-4 against them in Tallahassee.
The Seminoles have won two of the last three against the Heels, however, beating Carolina 65-59 last season in Tallahassee before going on to win the ACC regular season title.
So, what makes Hamilton’s teams so difficult to face?
“They're extremely athletic and talented, but they do a great job of pressuring you,” Williams said. “When I was coaching at Kansas, Leonard had worked with Eddie Sutton a little bit and I always thought that Eddie Sutton was one of the best defensive coaches in our game.
“And Leonard took some of those things he got from Coach Sutton and made them somewhat even better in some ways. So, I think we always think about how not just gifted they are, but how hard they work defensively. I think that we always wonder if we're ever going to score a basket against them.”
*UNC is on a bit of a hot streak, winning three straight games after beating Notre Dame, Miami and most recently Syracuse all in a 10-day period.
One thing that has helped the Heels pick up these victories is taking better care of the ball. In the win over the Irish, Carolina had just eight turnovers, its lowest total of the season, and just 11 earlier this week in the 81-75 win over the Orange.
The one outlier during the win streak came against the Hurricanes as UNC turned the ball over 20 times, its second highest total of the season.
While Williams does think his team is improving in that aspect of the game, they’re still nowhere close to where he wants them to be, with the Miami game a prime example.
“I think we're getting better, but I don't know that I would say that we've turned the corner because, just like you said, that one game against Miami was just two games ago and we were terrible in that game,” Williams said. "But I know that we're emphasizing it more this year than any team I've ever coached and it’s not even close and we've got to continue to get better.
“And we are playing a team tomorrow that pressures you better than anybody else in our league, and maybe as well as anybody in college basketball, so it's got to be a major concern for us tomorrow.”
*FSU is coming off a blowout 105-73 victory over NC State in Tallahassee on Wednesday and currently sits at 6-2 overall and 2-1 in ACC play.
In the win over the Wolfpack, the Seminoles shot an impressive 70.7 percent from the floor and are the fifth-best shooting team in the conference, shooting 46.6 percent on the season.
In comparison, UNC currently has the worst field goal shooting percentage in the ACC, shooting just 41.7 percent through its opening 12 games.
Not only that, but FSU is one of the deepest teams in the country, with 11 players having seen action in all eight of its games and another three playing in seven of the eight.
What does Williams think about the matchup?
“If they shoot 70 percent tomorrow, they're gonna beat us to death, too,” Williams said. “It's a pretty easy deal there. They were phenomenal. I did watch the whole game because we had played Tuesday night and they played Wednesday, and it was an impressive show. But, their depth is something that Leonard always plays, like I try to do, he does an even better job of it. But, they've always had depth.”
*Redshirt freshman guard Anthony Harris dressed out and went through warmups in Tuesday night’s win over Syracuse, the first time he has done so since tearing his ACL last season in UNC’s win over Yale on Dec. 30, 2019.
He was listed as a game-time decision against the Orange, but did not see any action.
When will Harris, who just started practicing full-court again last week, be available for the Tar Heels? Williams still isn’t exactly sure.
“I dressed him the other night, just so he could warm up, just so he could get more reps kind of thing,” Williams said. “But, I don't have a date on the calendar marked with an X that says, ‘I'm going to play Anthony here.’ You’ve just got to give the kid a fair shake of running up and down the court enough. You can't go from doing nothing full-court for a year and then, all of a sudden, practice full-court two days and play a game. So, we've got to be a little patient ourselves.
“I know it's hard for you guys, because you're always wanting something different, but when we feel like that he can help us and not hurt himself, we'll put him in the game. But, I'm not at that point today. I may be today after practice, I don't know. There's no clear cut thing, you’ve just got to see how the guy practices and see if he's going to run up and down the court three times in a row and feel like he needs an oxygen tank. So, it’s gonna be time.”