From the Wednesday press conference and an N&O article on Deon Thompson.
Roy Williams concerning the defense:
“It’s not that far from being a pretty good defensive team – it really isn’t. Coach [Dean] Smith left a message after the Miami game and said, ‘I thought you were a lot better defensively, [but] they just made some shots.’ And when you think about it, the Dews youngster made one from six or seven feet behind the three-point line, and then McClinton made one right in front of their bench, almost out of bounds with Marcus [Ginyard] all over him. We’re going to guard people like that all of the time, but they just made shots. But I do think that we’re getting closer to being a good defensive team.”
Marcus Ginyard on Lawson v Rice:
“It could possibly be the matchup that everybody’s expecting it to be. I just hope that Ty takes it as a personal challenge that these two are going to be going head-to-head a lot in this game. I hope that he doesn’t see it as just another matchup, because it’s a very important matchup. It’s one that he needs to win. So hopefully, coming into this game, if he takes that as a challenge, I think that he’ll be able to respond and perform and have a great game.”
From the Deon Thompson N&O article:
Deon Thompson:
"I'm [not] where I thought I would be. I've helped during parts of the season. I need to start rebounding better and guarding the perimeter. We play a lot of smaller [power forwards] who put the ball on the floor."
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[Tyler] sits in the middle; you can't go running in there. If my guy goes to double him, you hope he can pass it out, which he is getting better at doing."
Roy Williams:
"I think he's still not happy [with his play], and in some ways, that's good. I don't want guys who are fat and happy and think that everything's so smooth when it can be ... a lot better."