The North Carolina Tar Heels were able to move to 3-0 on the young season, beating Wyoming at home on Tuesdaynight. After another slow start for the team, they were able to use a big second half to get past the Cowboys.
They were even challenged by head coach Michael Malone at halftime and delivered.
With UNC starting 3-0, it's key to stack some wins this early as the schedule will get tougher. That begins on Friday when they host Georgia in the Dean Dome. But before we get that far, let's read what Malone had to say to the media after Tuesday's win.
All quotes via Inside Carolina.
On the difference on the glass in last 15 minutes
“I challenged our manhood at halftime. We had guys that had just played a whole half of basketball with zero rebounds or one defensive rebound. And I went down the whole roster
and challenged each player and challenged the group collectively to go out there and stop getting punked. Because the streets talk, and right now the streets are talking. ‘Go into the Dean Smith Center and push them boys around.’ And so I challenged them. And to your point, first half 15 offensive rebounds, second half only four, I believe, for two points. So, when you guard, you have to finish the possession off with a defensive rebound, which enables you to run. And we did that for a half tonight, so it allowed us to get the win, but we have to start bringing that from Jump Street, not waiting until the second half.”
On rebounding struggles due to how good Wyoming was in that area?
“It’s twofold. According to the rankings, it’s very early in the season, but they’re the number one offensive rebounding team in the country, getting 19 second-chance points per game. So that’s what they do. But I also think that they’ve looked at us and they look at their three preseason games and our first two regular season games. I think they probably said, ‘Well, we’ve got a chance to really exploit that,’ and they did to their credit. They came in here and had us on our heels. They were hitting us first, and we were reacting. I don’t want to be a counter puncher. You know, that’s not my style. And I thought in the second half we did a much better job of of delivering the contact first."
On how Sayon Keita played
“I thought in the Indiana game he was outstanding. Very similar type game where he impacted the game with his blocked shots, his rebounding, his ability to be a dynamic roller in pick and rolls. But this is the first regular season game where he had the numbers, and obviously, when you couple the six blocks, three steals, six deflections, his defense was felt throughout, and I thought he had some great possessions.”
On emphasis to take fewer three-point attempts?
“I don’t think we go into the game saying we’re going to take a certain percentage of threes. I think we go into the game saying we’re going to read the defense and take what is there, and tonight, obviously, 9-for-20, much lower attempts, and the free throw line. We’ve been living at the free throw line. We didn’t get to the free throw line a lot tonight, which is also part of our offensive struggles. But depending upon the game, depending upon how you’re being guarded, we’ll try to find the best shot, and the best shot is an open shot, whether it’s a three-point shot, attacking the basket, whatever it might be."
On Isaiah Denis' play
“It speaks to his belief in himself. When I met with all the players when I got the job, some decided to stay, some decided to leave. And I didn’t promise any of them anything. I don’t promise players anything. The only thing I’ll promise you is a chance to come in here and earn. And Isaiah Denis has earned this opportunity.”
On defensive rebounding in practice
“Most of our drills are scored on you get rewarded for getting stops, and you get penalized for turning the ball over. You get penalized for giving up offensive rebounds. I think I have to come up with stronger penalties because I don’t know how well those penalties are working. But we’re just trying to get them to understand right now the team that we have. We have to be a team that does not beat themselves offensively, taking care of the ball. Then defensively, we have to be a team that — I think we’re defending really well, but we’re just not finishing the possession well enough.”
On what he was saying in the huddle during the game
“Hit somebody. We were just ball watching, and as we were ball watching, they’re crashing, they push us in the back, they were hitting us first, and I just wanted to kind of turn the tide there and and have a hit first mentality, get in the fight, and it’s amazing what happens when you have that mentality, and hopefully we can, as I mentioned before, find a way for how we were in the second half, for that to be who we are moving forward.”
On would he consider starting Maximo Adams?
“It didn’t even cross my mind to put him in the starting lineup. We won by 40, so I I don’t know how many coaches would change a lineup after winning by 40. Even though Maxi was terrific with his first career college double-double, but Maxi right now off the bench is perfect for us. He gives us a scoring punch. He knocked down a couple of threes right when he got into the game in the first half, and he is relentless on the glass. He’s the one guy that goes every time, and he gets you extra possessions.”“So I love where he’s at right now, and he’s a great kid. You know, I didn’t recruit Maxi Adams, Hubert Davis did. Hubert did a hell of a job recruiting that kid, and when I got the job and I called him trying to get him to honor his commitment, I said, ‘What other schools are we looking at?’ He said, ‘No other. Carolina’s been my dream school forever.’ And I’m thankful that he decided to continue with this journey and to be a part of what we’re building, and he’s going to be a very big part of it.”
On Terrence Brown's energy
“One thing I’ll never worry about with Terrence Brown, that kid plays hard. He is a competitor. That’s what I love about him — the way he’s wired, his DNA — and so he might not have a great scoring night, a great shooting night, but he’s going to find a way to impact the game. This means too much to him.”
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: What Michael Malone said after UNC basketball's win over Wyoming
