ATLANTA — Here is the video and full transcript of North Carolina’s postgame press conference after the No. 12 Tar Heels’ 71-70 victory Saturday at the CBS Sports Classic, featuring Coach Hubert Davis, center Henri Veesaar and forward Caleb Wilson. In addition, below is a transcript of Ohio State coach Jake Diebler’s press conference, and a video from outside the UNC locker room of interviews with Jarin Stevenson and Seth Trimble.
Hubert Davis comments
Q. Talk us through that last time-out and what was going on as Ohio State (indiscernible)?
HUBERT DAVIS: Which possession are you referencing?
Q. The one where you got the put-back.
HUBERT DAVIS: Yeah, we were down by one and we picked up full court and they were told to aggressively try to get a steal in the backcourt.
If you don’t get it and get it to the front court, then we’re going to have to foul, and they knew which guys to try to foul. The hard thing, one of the many hard things with Ohio State is they’re a great free-throw shooting team, so it wasn’t a great choice but we were able to get the steal.
We had a time-out left, and in that situation Seth’s ability to be able to create a shot for himself and for others is the best on the team from the perimeter. Putting the ball in his hands and kind of cleared out that side. They did a good job defensively but he was able to find Henri around the basket and be able to score.
We talked about it in the huddle. Just two and a half hours ago if we say all we need to do is for four seconds play great defense to get a stop and get a win, would you take that, and they said yes. I said, well, that’s the reality. That’s all we have to do. We were fortunate enough to come away with the win.
Q. How important is Jarin’s versatility for you guys? How important is he in his ability to switch and do everything that he can?
HUBERT DAVIS: Absolutely. Just huge. I’ve talked about his versatility. I’ll be honest with you, Devin Royal is real. I mean, just his ability to be able to score. He’s not rushed. He’s strong. Plays off two feet. The only person that could really make him work to get a good shot was Jarin.
And so to have that guy who’s 6’9″, 6’10”, versatility, being able to play in the post and on the outside offensively but from a defensive standpoint to be able to switch and play multiple positions, a huge factor for us.
Q. Hubert, with Seth being back in there, how much does that open up just not only the on-court play but the different lines that you do have, being able to utilize guys in different spots? How much does Seth open things up for you guys?
HUBERT DAVIS: Yeah, it does, it opens things up, gives us versatility to be able to do different things that are specific for each game.
This game it was — I talked about Devin Royal, but there’s really only one guy on our team that had any chance of getting a stop on Bruce Thornton, and that was Seth.
Having him in the lineup was huge. Obviously he’s gifted, being able to — I felt like in transition, it’s the first time that we’ve gotten pitch-ahead dunks and lay-ups in a while. So we’ve got to get back to that because that’s a huge part of our offense, is being able to sprint to the offensive end.
Q. You put Jonathan in for Derek late and you forced that turnover. Is Seth being back allowing you a little bit more flexibility to be able to do things like that situationally and (indiscernible) you got Jarin was three best players out there?
HUBERT DAVIS: 100 percent. Jonathan is a big guard, 6’6″, 6’7″, and his ability to defend is huge for us. But having Seth back and having him be able to, quote-unquote, run the point and even have a bigger lineup is something that we haven’t had since he’s been gone.
So it’s something that we can look at, and to your point, just the versatility of lineups that we can do in just different situations to put ourselves in a position to possibly win.
Q. What were you trying to take away, and what (concerned you on that final play)?
HUBERT DAVIS: Well, first of all, with Bruce taking the ball out, a lot of times the most dangerous person is the person taking the ball out, so just being alert and aware of his ability to be able to score.
Also in four seconds, that’s a lot of time. So their strength not only to score but to get fouled and get to the free-throw line was of concern. We switched everything. We had a lineup in there that we could switch everything and feel good about the one-on-one matchup, and we were able to get it done and get a stop.
Q. Another question was his three-point shooting. He’s been working on that this off-season. What’s it going to open up for your offense if he’s able to add that?
HUBERT DAVIS: Yeah, not just Seth. I really believe that we can be a really great 3-point shooting team. Thus far, we haven’t been that good, and that’s something that I’m waiting for because I just feel like we have a number of guys that can consistently make shots from the outside, and that’s going to be huge for us. It’s going to be huge for us because of having Henri and Caleb down on the post, they’re going to get even more attention. They were double-teamed pretty much every time we threw the ball into the post.
The only way you can loosen that up is to be able to shoot from the perimeter.
Q. What is it that Seth does to make the transition game so much better? It looked like —
HUBERT DAVIS: He runs faster. He does. The way that he gets out on the break, he can get a defensive stop. He can get a rebound, and within three to four steps, he’s across half court and he’s gone.
Just having one person pulls everybody along, and then when they see Seth getting those pitch-ahead lay-ups, everybody wants to score, so then they start running. It’s contagious, and it was nice to see that back in our offense today.
Comments from Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar
Q. Caleb, over the last 48 hours perspective, winning in front of family and friends. How are you feeling right now?
CALEB WILSON: I feel great. It was definitely a huge win. Of course we all like blowouts, but having a fun close the game like that is definitely fun, especially for the crowd.
Like I said, I’m just glad we got the win and I’m glad we got Seth back. I feel like we’re a much better team.
Q. The last play there, the put-back, is that what happened?
HENRI VEESAAR: Yeah, I got my fingers on it. They tried to get it up and I got my fingers on it and then that was it.
Q. For both of you, you guys were up 11; couldn’t extend the lead. Was there any stress there for you guys that last minute, and how did you pull it out?
HENRI VEESAAR: I feel like as a team as a whole. We had been in those situations so many times in practice. Like down eight, but this time had a lead, so like them just (indiscernible) we just need to win by one, and that’s what we did. Just getting stop by stop, trying to make the game as short as possible, get in position a little longer, and then just win the game play-by-play.
Q. Caleb, any stress in falling behind?
CALEB WILSON: No, it wasn’t no stress. I was getting mad when I let the and-1 three happen, but every second we work on those things in practice. It was just about trusting our process and we can get it done.
Q. Henri, Caleb just touched on it, but obviously having Seth back in that lineup, how much does that open things up for you guys? You had those first couple games with him, but now that he’s back how does that help you guys and open things up for you?
HENRI VEESAAR: I thought definitely having such a big presence on our guards, like we barely have to do anything as bigs on the ball screen and just flies through it. He’s so handsy. He kind of makes those plays, and then on offense he runs like — we have so many more transition points just because of him running and like fast break points, lay-ups. I think he had four points in doubles today, and those are huge for us because they’re huge momentum plays.
Q. Jarin came off the bench but still played 27 minutes. How much versatility does he give you especially as a backup 5 which we haven’t see a ton of before tonight?
CALEB WILSON: He gives us tremendous versatility. He’s a great player, and he came up with that last steal to give us the ball back later in the game. He’s just going to do everything it takes to win. That’s why you love to have a guy like that on your team.
Q. Why is the transition game so much better with Seth out there? What does he do to make that thing go?
HENRI VEESAAR: I think he just plays with effort, but he’s a freak athlete. He’s the fastest guy on the team. He has the biggest vert on the team, so the way he runs the floor, there’s not many guys that keep up with him.
Q. When Ohio State calls timeout with 44 seconds left, what were you guys watching for?
CALEB WILSON: We kind of knew it was going to be — we either thought it was going to Bruce or it was just going to be a tougher shot. We really knew we were going to get hand, a good contest on the shot. It was all about boxing out and making sure you finished the play. It’s no worse than we do in practice all the time and worse than getting a tip up, tip in later in the game where you play defense and then you got to get a second-chance opportunity.
So we just focused on making sure we boxed out and communicated throughout the play.
Q. Caleb, before today (indiscernible) what does he give you as a 5 that you guys need?
CALEB WILSON: He just gives us rebounding with the lineup with me and Jarin, we’re just gunners, like we’re just running as hard as we can. We’re trying to create advantages just knowing we’re quicker than most 5 men that we’ll play against. He just gives us an — well, both of us give us an added sense of versatility, especially in transition.
HENRI VEESAAR: I feel like I can add one thing. I feel like him just being able to switch as well as he can at his size and being able to still rebound and block shots makes a huge difference for us, because I think the floor spacing is great with him when he gets in they’re both together. Because they’re both really good athletes, but the other part is we can switch and give a different look for the opponents.
Q. Henri, I know you said (indiscernible) off the ball screens. Again, leading the team in points from behind the arc. How cool is that?
HENRI VEESAAR: No, for sure to see Seth make those shots means a lot. Just being able to know — because like over the summer we were all the time working in the gym together and shooting, and like just I feel like all of us told him every time, anybody goes under, wherever he is, he’s got to shoot it.
There can’t be any confidence issues or anything. Just every time everybody believes in him to make it, and today he showed his shooting those threes were huge momentum boosts for us any time he made those.
Q. How do you describe what you guys have been able to do on defense? How do you describe the defense as a whole and it coming down to one final stop there?
HENRI VEESAAR: Yeah, I feel like we’re a very connected team on the defensive end. Like we talk, we communicate, everybody does their job. I feel like the best part of it is we still have a whole bunch to improve. I feel like we don’t feel like we’re yet as good a defensive team as maybe the numbers show because I feel like we still make a lot of mistake.
Every game I feel like we can go back and watch and there’s like 16, 18, 20 points that we can easily take away not making mistakes.
Q. In the first half you were making a difference in rebounding and many different areas, but you never had (indiscernible) two quarters. What was the dynamic of — what was going on there?
CALEB WILSON: I had four. I mean, I was just trying to let the game come to me. I knew playing against Ohio State, especially at home, that they were going to be focused on me, so I am not going to try to force shots and not trust my teammates.
I’m just going to get my teammates open, try to get assists, try to affect the game whatever it needs to be done. Whatever it takes to win honestly. I mean, the second half I was able to do more offensively with scoring and stuff like that, but I’m not on a team where it is just me and I know that. Got Henri, got Seth, got a bunch of great players so I’m not going to try to force it for sure.
Comments from Ohio State coach Jake Diebler
JAKE DIEBLER: Big-time game, big-time atmosphere and proud of the way our guys fought back, but disappointed, certainly, in stretches, and then at the end there we just didn’t quite have enough poise to get ourselves to the free-throw line.
Got to give North Carolina a lot of credit. They’re a really good team, but so are we. That was the message to our guys, we’ve got to start playing more consistently like that. I think our guys will. We’ve just got to keep fighting to do it.
Q. Jake, you guys are up one, they’ve got to inbound the ball, and obviously the turnover there. What did you tell your guys? Did you tell your guys get a time-out if you get in a tough spot there?
JAKE DIEBLER: Yeah, we said we had a time-out and we had a possession arrow.
Q. 4.4 seconds left, how did it play out compared to what you drew up?
JAKE DIEBLER: Yeah, we were trying to get the ball to Juni on the run there and thought we did. He had some time maybe to take a dribble, but at that point he got a shot on the rim and then we attacked the glass and had a chance. They did a good job finishing the play.
Q. What did you like about trying to get it in hands?
JAKE DIEBLER: Yeah, I think part of it is getting the ball inbounds, and two, felt like Juni had an advantage on his defender. The matchup the way it was going to play out, just I trust him in those moments.
Q. Did anything that they did in the last possession (indiscernible)?
JAKE DIEBLER: No.
Q. You were able to play your two bigs for a few minutes, trying to combat some of their size. What was the challenge of trying to (indiscernible)?
JAKE DIEBLER: I think we were searching for our front court, who could get it going and really do some good things for us, so we tried Devin at the 4 some and then thought he did a good job guarding in the second half. Then we gave Ivan a chance, and I thought he did a good job. He came in, helped protect the rim, did a good job executing on offense.
We were searching a little bit. In the second half the two-big lineup is something we’ve practiced and feel comfortable doing, so I thought those guys did a good job of it.
Photo by Adam Hagy/Intersport; Transcript by ASAP Sports
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