Roy Williams on Dan Patrick

[dukegirlinsc]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/


My favorite quotes of the interview:
"By the way, Seth Davis is a Duke graduate, he is not intelligent enough to fill out his boxes...you know the whole brackets in 2 minutes, come on now."

"The bottom line is, two years in a row we won the ACC tournament, we won it in '07 and we won it in '08. We lost in '07 and '08, we did not win the national championship. And I have yet to have an alum say 'oh gosh coach I was so happy that you won the ACC tournament if nothing else made a difference.' Now that has not happened"

Dan Patrick goes on to ask what Roy thinks of the conference tournament, and Roy replies:
"I'm very much on the fence and probably over the fence and make all our fans mad. I made 'em all mad a couple of years ago when I said the ACC tournament is the largest cocktail party in the south. Twenty, thirty years ago they were the greatest thing possible, they just don't have the same meaning now."

He goes on to talk more about the tournament, Ty Lawson's health, and Louisville.

[zingit]

I got a little annoyed when I saw the summary of the interview on Dan Patrick's site and it said that Roy Williams didn't think much of the conference tournament, because that is disrespectful to the fans and the opposing teams. But to be fair, in the actual interview, he did say that as long as they're in the tournament, they want to win it. I would have been annoyed if he said he didn't care about it, but what he said wasn't so bad, IMO.

I thought it was funny when he said he has the kids bet on the Superbowl and the winners get to watch the losers scrimmage.

[gotham devil]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/danpatrick/


My favorite quotes of the interview:
"By the way, Seth Davis is a Duke graduate, he is not intelligent enough to fill out his boxes...you know the whole brackets in 2 minutes, come on now."

Dadgummit ,

If Roy was as familiar with CBS programming as he is with Coke products, he'd know that CBS gets the brackets an hour before the broadcast. The on-air talent has to feign surprise.

[moonpie23]

of course roy will say they are "in it to win it"....he doesn't have the option to not show up..

this whole attitude makes me burn...

[killerleft]

of course roy will say they are "in it to win it"....he doesn't have the option to not show up..

this whole attitude makes me burn...

Shhh! Roy is just setting his guys up to lose, so let him be. He really doesn't think so well at times.

[4decadedukie]

I suspect that had UNC won the ACC Championship, as they were generally expected to, the Conference Tournament would be very significant. With Duke's victory, however, it's "incidental" to the season. I’m shocked, shocked . . .

[DukeDevilDeb]

I suspect that had UNC won the ACC Championship, as they were generally expected to, the Conference Tournament would be very significant. With Duke's victory, however, it's "incidental" to the season. I’m shocked, shocked . . .

I have never heard a coach spin BS the way Roy Williams does. His attitudes are frankly ridiculous for someone coaching at a school like UNC. I have all the respect in the world for Dean Smith... great coach, great guy. But I wish Roy would follow his mentor more and realize that everyone knows what he's doing.

BTW, if Roy play Ty Lawson with a cortisone shot to beat Duke on the 8th and didn't have him available for the ACC tournament (or maybe even part of the NCAAs), he is truly a fool. I would MUCH rather have the tournament title than win that one game over UNC. And if anyone thinks that we wouldn't have stood a chance against UNC in the tournament, I disagree. The way we played last weekend was magical and inspired. I think we could have beaten anyone (except maybe the US Olympic team!).

GO DEVILS!!!

[DukieInKansas]

I have never heard a coach spin BS the way Roy Williams does. His attitudes are frankly ridiculous for someone coaching at a school like UNC. I have all the respect in the world for Dean Smith... great coach, great guy. But I wish Roy would follow his mentor more and realize that everyone knows what he's doing.

BTW, if Roy play Ty Lawson with a cortisone shot to beat Duke on the 8th and didn't have him available for the ACC tournament (or maybe even part of the NCAAs), he is truly a fool. I would MUCH rather have the tournament title than win that one game over UNC. And if anyone thinks that we wouldn't have stood a chance against UNC in the tournament, I disagree. The way we played last weekend was magical and inspired. I think we could have beaten anyone (except maybe the US Olympic team!).

GO DEVILS!!!

But if they had lost to Duke in the final home game, they would have shared the regulart season title - so could they have cut down their own nets in that situation?

[elvis14]

This is exactly why UNC and UConn should not have been given a #1 seeds and why Duke and Memphis should have been given #1 seeds. The tournament should mean more and the committee that handed out the seeds did the game a disservice by giving UNC and UConn #1 seeds. Pitt lost but they also beat UConn twice.

Note, this doesn't mean that I think Duke is currently better than UNC, they have beaten us twice. I means that I think Duke earned that #1 seed by winning the tournament. If FSU had won the ACC, then UNC would a good choice over Duke, however.

[devildeac]

But if they had lost to Duke in the final home game, they would have shared the regulart season title - so could they have cut down their own nets in that situation?

Maybe they could have cut the nets down on their end of the court and we could have snipped the ones on our end or gone back to CIS and then cut down our own nets.

[DukieInKansas]

Maybe they could have cut the nets down on their end of the court and we could have snipped the ones on our end or gone back to CIS and then cut down our own nets.

Wouldn't that have just frosted them - for us to cut down the nets on our side of the court. In two years, when once again the final game should be on their court, I hope we have won the regular season title and someone brings scissors and a ladder.

[CLT Devil]

I can't disagree with Roy's decision. If Ty plays they have a better chance at beating Duke. Beating Duke means a reg. season title, which will pretty much ensure them a #1 seed in the big dance, regardless of how they perform in the ACC Tourney. Play Ty, win the game and seed, then he's got a long time to rest before the NCAA's. I'd even sit him in the first round if he doesn't practice well. I think it's a pretty smart move, unless of course Ty gets hurt worse during the Duke game.

[arnie]

If Roy continues to denigrate the ACC tournament. maybe it's because his program has risen to heights above that of the conference. He should consider taking UNC out of the conference where it can become the Notre Dame of basketball. Then they will truly be America's team and can enjoy the fruits of independence. Hopefully, he can take Swofford with him - who has been very quiet on this subject.

[Devilsfan]

Maybe he can start a new league with Memphis.

[johnb]

Or a league composed only of UNC schools (Western Carolina, Appalachian State, Winston Salem State, greensboro, Fayetteville State, Charlotte, ECU, etc). Then the conference winner could play the play-in game.

[hedgehog]

Ty Lawson said, "The way the media portrayed us was that we were a giant and we wouldn't lose a game. That's tough to stand up to. We did our best, and we still won the ACC championship."

http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/ncaato...ark&id=3985959

Ignoring the fact that the Holes were embracing the chance to go undefeated, someone needs to tap Lawson on the shoulder and inform him that Duke is the ACC Champion of 2009!

Seriously, though, who can fault Lawson, now that even theACC.com is printing two official T-shirts, the Conference Champion T-shirt for the Holes and the Tournament Champion T-shirt for Duke. I miss the good ole days when a conference champion had to win a tournament.

[billy]

I can't disagree with Roy's decision. If Ty plays they have a better chance at beating Duke. Beating Duke means a reg. season title, which will pretty much ensure them a #1 seed in the big dance, regardless of how they perform in the ACC Tourney. Play Ty, win the game and seed, then he's got a long time to rest before the NCAA's. I'd even sit him in the first round if he doesn't practice well. I think it's a pretty smart move, unless of course Ty gets hurt worse during the Duke game.

What if Roy know's Ty can't play in the ACC and likely won't in the NCAA? Would he hide that by saying Ty's questionable to get the #1 seed? Absolutely speculative, just wondering.

Regarding the "cortisone" injection: it's semantics and nothing more, but, while Ty may have been given cortisone (I doubt it) along with a local anesthetic (like lidocaine, novacaine), it was the local anesthetic that allowed him to play against Duke. You could have numbed his toe and hit it with a hammer with local and he very likely would have been able to play.

[moonpie23]

If Roy continues to denigrate the ACC tournament. maybe it's because his program has risen to heights above that of the conference. He should consider taking UNC out of the conference where it can become the Notre Dame of basketball. Then they will truly be America's team and can enjoy the fruits of independence. Hopefully, he can take Swofford with him - who has been very quiet on this subject.

Ask the Univ of south Carolina how that worked out for them.

[DukeDevilDeb]

Maybe they could have cut the nets down on their end of the court and we could have snipped the ones on our end or gone back to CIS and then cut down our own nets.

At least it would have guaranteed that they would have had nets to cut down this season!!!

[Chitowndevil]

I don't like Roy's attitude but I can't say I'd have played things differently this season. A win against Duke in their final regular season game means they're a lock for a #1 seed. That means almost two full weeks to rest Lawson before the NCAAs begin, and probably almost three weeks until they will need him in a tight game. Also keep in mind Carolina's already short bench (partly due to Ginyard's absence) and that, at that point, there were four other teams making very strong cases for #1 seeds.

I think in that situation, if you think it's an either-or, you can justify playing Lawson against Duke and sitting him in the ACC Tournament--even if you place a LOT of value on the conference title.