Via UNC press release:
Q: What are your thoughts on the bracket?
Roy Williams: “Well, I was certainly thankful that they told us where we were (seeded) early in a two-hour show. It was exciting. Our guys responded immediately with some very positive feelings and applause and some statements that we really like (being a number one seed). It was a relief to know it that early. It was really a nice feeling because we feel like we accomplished some great things this season, particularly down the stretch, winning at Duke to get the regular-season championship, and to go to Washington, D.C., to win the ACC Tournament. It made me feel like we had a great chance to get a number one seed, so I was very happy with it.”
Q: How excited were the players, especially since for the first time this group of players came into Selection Sunday knowing they were already in the Tournament?
RW: “I thought the players were excited to get a number one seed, they were excited to see their name early. You always wonder. Marcus’s (Paige) sophomore year, I think we were the next to last team put in the brackets. There was a good mix of excitement and not feeling good about what we have already done, but what may be down the road.”
Q: Do you feel any different as a Number One seed?
RW: “There’s no special feeling about being a number one seed because when you get there you’ve got to play. I used to worry more, and say ‘oh gosh, that’s such a tough bracket,’ but I don’t do that anymore because you’ve got to play on game day. When you do a get a number one it means you have already accomplished something to get to this stage but now everybody starts all over again. Build your momentum once we get in the Tournament and play better, play better and play better, and hopefully do it six times.”
Q: Do you have to put the ACC Tournament and regular-season championships behind you or can you draw from them as you move forward?
RW: “Everyone’s emotions have run through such a wide variety (this year). We were picked number one in the preseason, had everyone talking bad about us during the season how we were underachieving and now everybody’s saying great things. I think we are a veteran club and don’t listen to that. As coaches, we want to put the ACC Tournament behind us with a couple of exceptions. We have great confidence about we played defensively and now let’s build on that. And the players, like Joel Berry, how well he played should give him more confidence to take into the (NCAA) Tournament. We’ll try to keep some things and put the rest of it behind us.”
Roy Williams throwing some shade on the new two hour selection show which was as tedious as it could possibly be with the sloth like manner the bracket was revealed.
True to Dean Smith's philosophy Roy Williams says momentum has to be built with each round of the postseason.
