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CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina big man Armando Bacot met with the media briefly before practice Friday afternoon ad in advance of the Tar Heels’ game Saturday night at Wake Forest.
Among the things discussed included player leadership, the loss of Anthony Harris, and much more.
Above is the full video of Bacot's presser, and below is the complete transcript.
Q: When you fell against Miami, did you think the injury was more severe than it turned out to be?
BACOT: "Definitely, initially, I was in a lot of pain, but Doug Halverson (UNC head athletic trainer) did a good job just helping me recover these last two days. We were kind of just really attacking it harder. Now I'm 100 percent feeling good."
Q: You have spoken out a couple of times, certainly after Notre Dame, about being a voice in that room to get everybody on the same page, especially when things aren't going very well. What did you learn from the other night that maybe you or Leaky, some of the older guys, can do that when stuff is going poorly, you can maybe say something or do something to sort of straighten things out a little bit?
BACOT: “I'm still learning how to be a leader and just things to do. I mean, just in situations like that as a team, I think a lot of times, a lot of us we are always going to like this hero ball thing and kinda usually doesn't go the right way. It's just something to me and Leaky and just us as a team we gotta just figure out how to not just you know kind of panic in those moments and just kind of stay together."
Q: I don't want to be overdramatic with this game on Saturday, but coming off of the Miami loss and looking at the way the NCAA uses the net ranking, this would be an opportunity for a quad one win. How important is Saturday's game not just in terms of winning and losing but in terms of showing the kind of effort so that games like Tuesday don't happen?
BACOT: "Desperate. I told the team before the game versus Miami like that was our Super Bowl. Since I've been here, I haven't had a chance to be the best team in the ACC or the second-best team man, just a big game. I'm pretty sure we don't have any quad one wins. We definitely need it. Just every game, I'm just desperate to win because it's something that I definitely want to be a part of; it is just a winning good team at Carolina.
“It's something I really want. And wake forest is not a team to take lightly. They are a great team. They got Alondes Williams, one of the best players in the country. They're just a good balanced team, and we put it on them last year, so I know they will come out ready to play."
Q: Coach Davis spoke about the lack of player leadership on this team, and you're one of the more veteran players wondering your take on that? Where's the leadership coming from a player side, and how do you approach that as one of the better players and word veteran players?
BACOT: “I feel like it's just something I'm just learning because I could say the right words, but at the end of the day, we gotta be more than just talk, we just gotta go out there and play. I want to just find more ways on the court, just at the beginning of the game or just when things get tough. Things that I can do better if that's maybe giving a hard foul just to wake us up or slapping the ground on defense or just something. That's something that I'm struggling at trying to figure out just kind of how to light a fire under us during those times when it gets tough."
Q: Are there other players on the team who can take on that role?
BACOT: "I guess really no one. I think maybe that might be a part of the problem. We need more guys to just step up on the court and off the court, just be more vocal and a leader, and also do it with the play, too, because that's a huge thing too.
“When you are out there playing hard and doing those types of things. Players will respect you and follow you, and that's one of the things that I talked about with Coach Davis; just with my play, it's something that I could do more, to just bring more out of the team and just light a fire."
Q: Just wondering if you could give us your thoughts on not having Anthony for the rest of the season?
BACOT: "I found out when y'all found out, so I still don't even know the whole story. It's just kind of sad just me playing, and we've been on the same team since the 7th grade. He's my roommate, been my roommate since I've been here, roommate when we travel, so there's definitely something that'll be tough.
“Ant is one of those guys actually that the way he plays, especially you see in the big games like Purdue for example just he kind of lights the fire and just how he plays he gets a big steal, hits a big corner three and was one of those guys.Just not having him, we need guys like Kerwin (Walton) to step up even more D'Marco (Dunn) (and) Dontrez (Styles).
Q: With the absence of Anthony Harris, are you excited to see some guys step up, and who do you think might step up?
BACOT: “D'Marco (Dunn) and Kerwin (Walton). Both of them kind of being the two-guard or three-guard type of guys definitely. I went up to all of them, including Justin, too, and just told them that like 'yo we need y'all to step up even more, like y'all should be trying to break the rims off and practice and really bringing that fire. I mean, the opportunity is there. Ant played around like 15 minutes a game, and even in some games, he played even more, so we just need somebody to match his fire and really step up.”
Q: What things can you and the team hang your hat on when things aren't going well?
BACOT: "In the exact moment, there is nothing we can point to. We can look back at things we did, but I feel like we are already in that situation at that point. Really all we can do is speak words and say things, but honestly, that hasn't been working for us. We just gotta find something that will help us."
