Roy Williams addressed injuries and a variety of topics during the ACC teleconference. Full quotes can be found at IC.
UNC Injuries:
- McDonald has not practiced since before the Clemson game. Initially McDonald was thought to simply have a bruised back but was later revealed to have a collapsed lung. Roy indicated McDonald would practice today.
- Bullock, likewise, has been sitting since the Clemson game with additional swelling in his knee. I know there is a clamoring in the fan base for Bullock to see more time on the floor. At this point I think we can assume Bullock’s minutes are being limited somewhat by his sore knee. It would be nice to see him get healthy since he is capable of doing some really good things on the offensive end.
- Justin Watts will likely sit out of practice today. No word on when he might return.
UNC Notes:
- Kendall Marshall will start at point guard versus Miami. Roy addressed how much he dislikes making lineup changes and how difficult it can be as it relates to the players. The move to start Marshall had everything to do with the offense being “stagnant.” Since Roy is so high on Drew’s defense, I would still look for the minutes to be evenly split which Roy alludes to with his references to Marvin Williams and Drew being “important.”
- Roy did not mention the win streak versus Clemson to the team until after the game. Half the players were not aware of it. Probably a smart move. No need to add pressure to a team who just finished up being on the business end of a smackdown in Atlanta.
- Roy likes Harrison Barnes’ progress on defense and rebounding. He says Barnes needs to understand shot selection a little better.
- The Justin Knox for Tyler Zeller lineup change likely will not happen now.
- Roy was asked if UNC would be the UNC that played vs Clemson and Kentucky or the one that showed up at Georgia Tech. He said(obviously) he hopes it is the team that played against Clemson and UK. Roy went on to basically say he thought the 2nd half at Georgia Tech was a bit of a fluke considering they shot 5-25 from the floor. The best thing they can do it “put it away.” Of course something is only a fluke if it is isolated. What UNC does to close out the month will have bearing on how we view the GT game.
