Unfortunately this happened the same day as UNC releasing the notice of allegations concerning the football program so it got put on the back burner.
Roy Williams had his annual summer press conference which also included media availability for the players as well. As expected there was not anything revelatory covered. Inside Carolina has a full transcript. Here are the highlights.
- When Harrison Barnes called Roy Williams the call dropped momentarily just as Barnes was about to reveal his decision. Roy was a little stressed for a few moments. Roy also said Barnes wrote the press release himself. Impressive.
- The expectations question was asked which sounded just like the one that was asked in the summer of 2008. Roy said something many people forget and that is the best teams don’t always win the title. His advice for UNC fans? Enjoy the games and the season. If everything breaks the right way at the end of the season, we can all enjoy it even more.
- Roy talked about Kendall Marshall saying having the roles defined for him and Dexter Strickland will make things easier. He also alluded to the possibility of using Barnes and McDonald with the ball in their hands to create shots. Marshall needs to improve his shot and his defensive quickness. Roy called Strickland’s performance versus Kentucky one of the finest defensive efforts he has seen from a guard. Strickland’s niche is clearly on defense according to Roy but he said they would not prohibit him from shooting.
- On the injury side, Reggie Bullock is running and shooting but not doing any cuts. The progress has been slow but intentionally so just to make sure the knee is fully rehabbed. Strickland did not require surgery for his knee and it was an injury that had occurred before. Strickland toughed it out then as he did last season.
When asked about the football scandal Roy gave an interesting answer on how the basketball team handles social media.
The only way I’ve used the football stuff is because it’s been so pertinent, it’s been here. I haven’t picked on the football team. I tell them all the time, you get your name in the paper easily. I did that 24 years ago too. Now what goes on in college athletics, with the social media, there’s no secrets, you have to be on guard all the time. Several years ago at the Jimmy V classic, I’m doing something for charity and the Hooters girls come over and want me to give an autograph, I do it and it ends up on Facebook. I don’t even know what the crap that was, still don’t. So I’m in a restaurant in Wilmington, and there are three couples there celebrating somebody’s anniversary and the girls want to have their picture made with me – I make them sit their drinks down. I had no idea if it was 7-Up or straight vodka, but you have to do those kinds of things. It’s that part that you have to understand, there’s not much privacy in the world. We talk about that, we talk about Twitter and Facebook, that you have to be concerned with what you say and how it can be represented. Regardless of your inflection or your tone when you say something, it doesn’t come out all the same. But, it’s the day that we’re in. I don’t like it. I used to go into somebody’s home and feel like I made a great presentation and we really connected and it was just me and the family. Now I come home, spoiled rotten on a private plane and Wanda tells me everything that happened in the home visit because it’s already on the internet.
It’s what we live in. Youngsters, it’s their world. It’s not my world and for the most part, looking around, it’s not your world. What they do now is so much different from the rest of what we did. We have to understand that part. But, you have to be careful, there’s that old saying not too many good things happen after 2 a.m. I think there’s not a lot of good things that happen when you get very personal on Twitter or Facebook.
The question about former Wisconsin AD Pat Richter tossing flaming bags of crap in the media came up. Now read this quote and tell me if you think Roy was prepped for it.
Former athletic director? Former athletic directors don’t have enough to do? The fact of the matter is, Wisconsin had home games two-straight years. The fact of the matter is, I’ve been here eight years and we’ve played three true home games, and Illinois in Greensboro and three true games, and Michigan State in Detroit, so you could say four in four. The fact of the matter is in 12 years we’ve had six and six, the fact of the matter is Wisconsin in 12 years has had six and six. The fact of the matter is, I call and say, ‘Who are we going to play?’ I’ve never told them I want to play anybody - never told them I don’t want to play anybody. They have more important things to do than think about what the dickens I want to say anyway. The fact of the matter is that I was on the rules committee and said the style of play in basketball was getting too physical. The fact of the matter is I’m very good friends with Dick Bennett and Tom Izzo. The fact of the matter is, I don’t care what somebody else says
Your money quote from the whole press conference.
Coach, speaking of Duke, how do you see…
I’d rather not…
Inside Carolina also has quotes from the players which can be found here. All of them are good reads.
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Still worried about Dex… Does Roy give him the Ginyard treatment, or does he actually produce at the 2 spot this year.
Dex is a great kid, a spark off the bench, but can he be a consistent 2 at the college level. Dex will start the whole year, its up to him to earn it.
By Ginyard treatment I mean playing him over a kid that produces more.
Is there a video or audio recording of the press conference anywhere? The H.Barnes telephone call story is especially funny when you get to hear Roy tell it (I saw a snippet of it on the evening news).
tarheelblue.com has it
^thanks!
Strickland isn’t Ginyard. He is athletic, fast, can drive to the basket and I think we realized that Ginyard wasn’t the defender people thought he was. Strickland is. Besides that, how you define production? Oh that’s right everyone seems to define production as the two guard drilling threes when UNC is a interior oriented team. Strickland showed he could do a lot of things on both ends near the end of last season. He wasn’t hitting threes but UNC is not going to shoot a ton of threes. Barnes, McDonald, Bullock, Hariston and even Marshall should hit enough threes to keep opposing defenses honest.
Not so much about making 3′s THF as making shots and producing offensively. Dex is a great assets for the heels, but he has to shoot. Too many times last year, the heels were playing 3 on 5 bc Kendale and Dex wouldnt take the open shot.
The 2G is going to get a lot of open shots, due to the doubling of Zeller, and the focus on Barnes. Dex needs to be ready to contribute 10pts min a game. The heels need that production.
If Dex can contribute 10 pts a game, this offense will be scary. If he cant, then someone else needs to get the nod that at spot.
He did that in the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 10.2 ppg and 3 apg in four NCAA games. He also figured out his niche both as a defensive player and as a guard who could penetrate, get transition hoops and hit shots from the 12 foot and in range. If he does that then that is all UNC needs from him and you have enough gunners on the bench to address the perimeter shooting.
What Strickland showed in the last two weeks is enough to convince me that he’s earned his starting job. I agree with THF; he’s not Ginyard. He’s the real deal. He has tremendous speed, the best on the team, and speed will pay off big time the way we’ll be running this year. He’s not as strong as Ginyard but he’s quicker, and as I always say, quickness wins basketball games.
There was increasing evidence as the season wound to a close that Strickland had started to learn the pull-up jumper/floater. That and the occasional drive to the basket, a la’ Lawson, is all we need from him. I’m pretty darn confident we’ll get it.
I’ve always liked his determination, brashness and hustle. I think he’s close to the perfect complement to the other four.
I really can’t wait for the season to start. Just think about where we left off: Zeller playing with great maturity and putting up Hansbrough-like production; Henson being a menace underneath (although he STILL needs to learn to think); Barnes looking like the AA he was pegged to be and with still-unexplored upsides; Marshall as the steady hand (although he, like Henson, needs to hone his judgment); and a Strickland who finally seemed to be comfortable and coming into his own.
I’m just drooling. And that’s not counting a possible one-and-done quality player like McAdoo, a healthy Bullock, a more seasoned McDonald, and maybe spot contributions from Watts and Hairston.
There’s good news wherever you look. November, here we come.
I think, for the most part, Dex earned his playing time last year. I like his style of play and his tough defense. Every team needs a stopper and Dex is the one until proven otherwise.
I am very much looking forward to the upcoming season. We are loaded!! Roy’s biggest problem may be allocating playing time to those that most deserve it. A “problem” most coaches would love to have in any season. It is for certain that they will be a fun team to watch and one that will well represent UNC.
Go Heels!!
Can you imagine how much fun practice could be?
The blue white game may be the best game of the year- tickets?
i love it when you guys prove my points for me. we all LOVE DEX……let me repeat..we LOVE DEX;however, there is tooooo much firepower on this bench for our starting “Shooting Guard” to be clanking shots with a horrible form. if Dex works to correct this this summer then I will love him even more for having an Hansborough work mentality. but if he comes back again with that fade away heave at the backboard, then we know that lmac/pj combo will eat his minutes.
ps Dex’s best approach to a NBA career is point guard……just sayin
On the flip side, given how much firepower there is in the starting lineup with front three how many shots do you think Strickland is going to get or even take outside of transition or penetration looks in the half court? In fact your biggest hangup seems to be that he is called a “shooting guard” but doesn’t shot particularly well. If we call him a wing guard instead would that make it okay?
Besides that there are plenty of other types of production than just shooting threes. Strickland harassing the other team’s best guard into a 4-15 shooting night throwing their whole offense out of whack is extremely valuable. Plus I can point to 2005 with Jackie Manuel and 2008 with Ginyard as examples of Roy putting a defensive stopper on the floor and then getting productions from a sixth man like Marvin Williams and Danny Green.
Boo yow
Gess my friend
THF -
Nailed it. Change the name from “shooting guard” to “wing guard” and the clouds part, showing Strickland’s ability to contribute. He’s a great complement to a team that already has a bunch of firepower, starting and on the bench. His speed, aggressiveness and defensive intensity add just the right touch to the other four starters.
The name change is even more appropriate when you are talking about Roy Williams’ system, in which there is no difference between the 2 and the 3. They have the same roles, just occupy different sides of the court (same is true of the 4 and 5 position). Roy’s best teams in Kansas also employed the tactic of starting one offensive-minded and one defensive-minded wing (1997: Pierce and Hasse; 2002: Hinrich and Boschee; 2003: Hinrich and Langford)
Somebody has to emerge as a reliable three point threat this year. We saw what happened last year when defenses sagged back and crowded the paint or, even worse, went zone. Conversely, in the first game against Boston College when Reggie went off we saw what happened when our outside shooting prevented the opponent from sagging back or going zone.
Shooting guard, wing guard, 2 or 3, Dexter or LMAC, these are all just details. Both of Roy’s championship teams featured multiple 3 point shooting threats. We’ve got to keep our fingers crossed and hope the 2012 team develops a couple also.
So, I only have two wishes for 2012:
1- Everybody stay healthy
2- Somebody hit threes (if we can make six threes in each game we’ll be unstoppable)
“if we can make six threes in each game we’ll be unstoppable”
This could very well be true. Last year’s team was the first under Roy Williams to go undefeated when they hit 6 or more threes in a game (13 - 0). The best records previously had been 2005 (27-3; 0.900), 2009 (22-2; 0.917) and 2008 (19-1; 0.950). Overall, UNC is 134-29 (0.822) under Roy when they hit 6 or more threes in a game (when they dont: 91-33; 0.733).
However, an even better benchmark is 3P%. Under Roy, when UNC shoots 40% or better from three, they are 106-9 (0.922), which includes undefeated seasons in 2005 (20-0), 2007 (17-0), 2008 (19-0), 2009 (14-0), and 2011 (11-0). When the Heels shoot less than 40%, their record falls to 119-53 (0.673).
I saw Harrison, Lesile and Justin at Crabtree on saturday. They had to leave champs bc the groupies were flocking around them….
makeitWayne22 -
You really know how to make a guy jealous. Here I am stuck inside the Washington beltway.
Any recent word on re-opening the Rat? I’m taking my Dookie nephew, a rising junior at The Other Place, to Pawley’s Island, SC in a month, and would love to stop by — but that will be hard if it’s still closed.
850inExile aka UNC RAJ
June 27, 2011 at 7:48 am
Somebody has to emerge as a reliable three point threat this year. We saw what happened last year when defenses sagged back and crowded the paint or, even worse, went zone. Conversely, in the first game against Boston College when Reggie went off we saw what happened when our outside shooting prevented the opponent from sagging back or going zone.
Shooting guard, wing guard, 2 or 3, Dexter or LMAC, these are all just details. Both of Roy’s championship teams featured multiple 3 point shooting threats. We’ve got to keep our fingers crossed and hope the 2012 team develops a couple also.
So, I only have two wishes for 2012:
1- Everybody stay healthy
2- Somebody hit threes (if we can make six threes in each game we’ll be unstoppable)
boo yow back at ya: how mant times did we see kmarshall penetrate, do his magic and hit an open number 2(aka shooting guard,aka wing guard) for an open shot that said “wing guard” would NOT shoot. I for one am tired of that scenario especially when it is NOT necessary…….alas here we go again with apologist (LDII) for non performance. ENOUGH
IIRC not that often. Besides, are you really comparing Dexter Strickland to SOK? Really? Strickland who played on a bum knee while SOK went crying to mama because he wasn’t the starter anymore? I don’t get the non-performance stuff. Strickland performs. Maybe you missed the stat I posted but in the four NCAA Tournament games Strickland had 10.2 ppg and 3 apg. That is essentially 16-19 points of offensive production not to mention playing killer defense, disrupting opposing offense with his speed in transition and penetration. Plus this is a stupid discussion because (1) we all know what Roy is going to do and (2) for all we know Strickland makes an Felton-like improvement in his shooting from SO to JR season.
How about we wait and see how it shakes out in that respect or seeing how the team offense runs with Strickland at the two before proclaiming in freaking June that Strickland needs to sit in favor of three guys who likely don’t play defense as good as Strickland, one of which rarely hit threes versus good competition last season, one who is coming off major knee surgery and the other who is a freshman with zero experience on the college level.