CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina Coach Roy Williams met with the media Thursday afternoon in advance of Friday’s regular season finale as the Tar Heels host Duke at the Smith Center.
Williams spoke a lot about the Blue Devils, how they’re different with Mark Williams starting in the post, Caleb Love since the first meeting, seniors Andrew Platek and Garrison Brooks playing their final home games, how he’s disciplining the team over its turnover problems, and much more.
The Tar Heels (15-9, 9-6 ACC) and Blue Devils (11-10, 9-8) will tip Saturday at 6 pm. UNC won the first meeting, 91-87, at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Above is Williams’ full Q&A session and below are some notes and pulled quotes from what he had to say:
*Saturday is Senior Day for Andrew Platek, Garrison Brooks, Walker Miller, and K.J. Smith, but unlike in years past, parents will not be allowed on the court with their sons before the game. In addition, there will be no senior speeches, instead videos will run at the conclusion of the game.
*With the NCAA allowing every athlete to get this season back, Williams hasn’t discussed with Platek and Brooks about taking advantage of the rule and returning next season as super seniors.
“(I) have not had a single conversation,” Williams said. “I think the time for that is when the season's over with, but I have not had a single conversation with any of those guys about what their plans are.”
*Brooks has been a regular in the rotation since he arrived, having started 16 games as a freshman and averaging 14.6 minutes per game that season. A 6-foot-9 forward from Lafayette, AL, Brooks has scored 1,242 points as a Tar Heel and grabbed 770 rebounds. His per-game career averages are 10.7 points and 6.0 rebounds. He was second-team All-ACC last season and was voted the Preseason ACC Player of the Year prior to this campaign.
Williams was asked how Brooks has grown the most during his four years at UNC.
“Oh my gosh. First of all, I think he's definitely a frontline player, his second-team All-ACC last year, and he should get a great deal of credit because that was a lot of sweat,” Williams said. “A lot of sweat, a lot of hours in the gym working on his game, a lot hours in the weight room working on his body.
“I think he's been an incredible player for us. The ball hadn't gone into basket as much this year as he wants or I want. But I guess he’s been the defensive player of the year for us twice, All-ACC last year second-team. So, he's really had a big-time career.
“And yet, he's also been a fantastic leader for us. And it's just unfortunate that the ball hadn't rolled over the rim and going in as much this year as it did last year. And I'm hopeful that that'll change in the next five weeks.”
*Platek will also play his final home game. The 6-foot-4 guard from Guilderland, NY, has started 10 games in his UNC career, scored 327 points, grabbed 155 rebounds, handed out 91 assists, and registered 32 steals in 1,288 minutes of action.
“I saw him play down the Peach Jam,” Williams said, referring to when he started gaining interest in Platek as a potential Tar Heel. “And I've always said, you know, nowadays people thought a few moments ago about, ‘Well, you've been able to recruit everybody still recruiting watch kids on tape,’ which is the most ridiculous assumption anybody in basketball could ever make.
“Because if that had been the case, I would never have offered Andrew Platek. What I saw was ability to make shots, and you can see that on tape, but you can't see the toughness, you can't see the other characteristics.
“I like to watch a guy when the coach takes him out and he comes over to the sideline. Does he throw the towel down and kick the chair over? Does he stop and talk to the coach, and does he cheer for other people?
“Andrew fit every category. He had the toughness, he had the ability to make shots, he was a team player, he's a very good student, he wanted to try to play it the highest level that he could. And I've been very happy to say that I was able to coach Andrew and yeah, I want to make more shots and do all those things. But so does he. But he's been a joy to coach, a joy to be around.”
*Turnovers have been a big problem for the Tar Heels for most of the season. In 24 games, the Heels have turned it over at least 18 times in nine contests, and their turnovers have led to 18 or more points for opponents in 11 games.
UNC is averaging 15 turnovers leading to 17 opponents’ points per outing, and in its nine losses, the Heels are turning over the ball 16.2 times leading to 18.6 points for their foes. UNC ranks No. 270 in the nation in turnover percent No. 339 in steals allowed.
The players have spoken about disciplines in practice after heavy turnover games, so what are some of those that Williams might want t share with the media?
“I brought a shovel into practice one day until I was gonna hit them over hit the shovel, and they didn't laugh, so I took it back and put it back in the car,” Williams joked. “There's only so many things you can do. And I do call it discipline, not punishment. If you turn it over, then you’ve got to pay the consequences, if you don't want to pay the consequences stop turning the dadgum ball over…
“Coach (Dean) Smith used to always say ‘turnovers are a result of selfishness, or carelessness.’ And I can put almost 100 percent of the turnovers into one of those categories. So, you got to take care of that.
“It’s been the most frustrating part of this season with me is not getting a better handle on turnovers and stop turning the ball over. You know, I've had crazy conversations, you know, when you put your hand on the stove, it burns, so stop putting your hand on the stove.
“Well, we've turned it over so many times we've gotten burned but we haven't changed yet. And so whatever I've been doing, it has not been working. So maybe I should have kept the shovel out by the court or something but whatever I'm doing so far is not working.”
To clarify, did he really bring a shovel to practice?
“No, I did not bring a shovel,” Williams responded, wearing a slight grin. “I've told him a lot of other different things that in today's world, you cannot say so you guys don't have to know every damn thing I do.”
*Caleb Love exploded in UNC’s win at Duke last month, scoring 25 points on 11-for-16 shooting, including 4-for-5 from three-point range. Since, Love has scored in double figures once, a 10-point game this past Monday at Syracuse, and has averaged just 7.0 points. He has converted only 14 of 54 shots from the field, including 3-for-22 form three-point range.
In addition, Love has averaged 4.5 assists against 3.2 turnovers per contest, and has registered 12 steals, easily his best stretch of the season in that respect. On the outside looking in, it appears Love is struggling, but what progress has Williams seen that fans and most in the media haven’t?
“You know, he wasn't scoring a great percentage even before that game, so it really hasn't changed except that game,” Williams said. “So, I'd like to have another one of those that-games on Saturday, there's no question about that. I think he was 4-for-5 from three-point line. And that's by far the best percentage that he's had.
“I see things that he's improving on every day in practice, coming down and seeing the court and finding other people. He was a scoring guard, a volume shooter in high school, and he had score a lot of points or they didn't have a chance to win. But if you want to be a point guard, you’ve got to be able to make your own plays and make plays for other people.
“And that's where I've seen him grow the most making bounce pass, feeding the post inside or coming down to court and seeing the whole court and seeing Kerwin’s on the other side and you need to get the ball to him over there. So, I've seen improvement there.
“And I don't have the breakdown in front of me, and some stats I look at, but I would bet that Caleb's stats are probably similar but perhaps a little better in league play than they were prior to that. And that's hard to do because the competition is so much better. So, I see him getting better and but we just got to continue to push those. We need him to get better at a quicker rate.”
*Mark Williams was just a few games into being a part of Duke’s rotation when the 7-foot freshman played 15 minutes in the first meeting between the teams a month ago. He scored two points but did grab eight rebounds. Since, Williams has averaged 26.4 minutes, excluding the Virginia game, in which he played only seven minutes because of matchup issues.
UNC doesn’t present the kind of problems for Duke that Mike Krzyzewski won’t play Williams, so the Heels must deal with his length and activity around the basket. Williams is coming off a 20-point, seven-rebound game at Georgia Tech and last week versus Syracuse, he finished with 18 points and 11 boards. He makes Duke a different team.
“I think it's made them a great deal stronger, because, nothing against the (Jalen) Johnson kid that left by any means, but this kid protects the rim,” UNC’s coach said. “You don't get any easy baskets. And that's where you can get some or could get some earlier against you because you could score in a lane area. And all of a sudden now you don't score and lane area.
“And I watched last night, a little bit of their game against Louisville from last Saturday, and the Williams kid for Louisville, the seven-footer turns and (attempts) a jump hook that nobody's going to get to, and then all of a sudden it was blocked. And so I think that's the first thing is that he just changes their defense immensely.
“And it's when we played them, you know, if it was Johnson was in there, we were going to go strong to the rim and focus on the target and not worry about where he was. With the Williams kid, you’ve got to be concerned about where he is. And in one of the last games, I saw a stat sheet where he was 9-for-9 from the floor. So even though Johnson was a double-figure score for them and a big time player, this kid's doing that and blocking everybody shots on the other end.
“So, I think they they're much stronger as a whole team right now with him playing more minutes.”
