Clemson vs. North Carolina Coaches’ Quotes

Feb. 15, 2003

Clemson’s Larry Shyatt “I think it is appropriate to say that our fans never allowed us to fall behind my more than six or seven points. They helped us stay in the game and they actually got louder when we fell behind. I hope they do that two more times this season.”

“It is hard to play with energy all of the time. I am really happy for our guys and thankful for our crowd.”

On Clemson’s post players … “I wish I could have played all four of our post players all 20 minutes in the second half. That is how effective I believe they were. To play against that many McDonald’s All-Americans at one time and limit them to just seven rebounds, that shows how effective they were and how hard they work.”

“There was a lot of energy among our guys yesterday and also a lot today.”

On Clemson’s 12 turnovers in the first half … “In the first half, we looked to run too often. We attacked nonetheless; and I think Olu (Babalola) and Chey (Christie) crossing along the baseline opened up some driving lanes for Ed (Scott).”

On Clemson’s guard play…”From the nine-minute mark until the three-minute mark of the second half, Ed Scott owned the court on both ends.”

“Tomas Nagys was definitely the difference in this game. He will be the first one to tell you that he played poorly against Duke, but his 23 minutes today was evidence of how effective he was. His free throw shooting was important to us in the end.”

“Our players have had a very funneled focus for the last three months. They have had some tough luck, but I think they deserve more credit.”

UNC’s Matt Doherty “I’m disappointed that we didn’t perform better. Our defense wasn’t as sharp. They scored 48 points in the second half. We scored 77 points total, and that’s enough to win a basketball game. That’s just the way it goes. When you’re on the road, you need to play great. We definitely have to learn from our mistakes.”

On 3-pt attempts in first half… “We took 22 three-point attempts in the first half, and that’s way too many. We needed to drive the ball more and create better shots and draw fouls.”

On Felton’s last shot… “It wasn’t the best shot we wanted. However, he’s the kid I want with the ball in his hands in that situation. I admire him for wanting to take the shot. He’ll make more of those shots than miss them.”

On North Carolina’s defense… “I felt like our defense broke down. I didn’t think our help defense was good. We weren’t as sharp today as we were on Wednesday (against Virginia). We can’t let them shoot 54%, and we can’t give up 18 offensive rebounds. Also, we fouled too much. They shot 26 foul shots, and that’s too many.”