That was the way I took his response to a question about Ty Lawson's trip to the casino.
"Didn't talk about it before we came. We've had two of our guys go to the casino, Ty Lawson and Marc Campbell. I talked to them before they left. They're both old enough. It is legal. I find it humorous that somebody would want to ask. Not necessarily you or Associated Press, it's strange, if we don't want those kids doing it, don't put the Final Four in a city where the casino is 500 yards from our front door. And they got a great buffet in there. I mean, come on.
"To answer the question, no. I talked to my team. The other thing is, guys, you know when we got here? Wednesday. I mean, I'm not gonna tell my guys they got to stay in the room and watch Bill Cosby reruns for four days, c'mon. Those two kids, talked to them. One of my video coordinators went over there with them, not that he needed to. I would not have any problem. I just told the kids, If you think you're going to do something questionable, talk to me about it first.
"I have zero problems with Ty doing it. I went and gambled myself. The reason I did was not the same reason that Ty did. When I came here this year to play Michigan State, we stayed at MGM. And I went down and shot craps, we lost, and we won the game. I go to Nevada, Reno, to play Nevada Reno, and I stayed in a casino, and I went downstairs and shot craps and we lost, and my team won. So you got to be halfway idiot if you think I'm not going to go gamble and lose money before this game.
"I have gambled and I have lost. I'm doing every dadgum thing I can do to win the game, including give Detroit my money. Please understand, I wasn't aiming any of that personally towards you. I've seen Road House seven times in the last weeks of the NCAA tournament. You know where the coach's headquarters is here? You know where I was supposed to stay if my team hadn't come? Caesar's Palace. The dunk contest last night, three-point shot contest. Who is it sponsored by? A casino. What a great country we live in."
The underlying assumption in all of this was that Roy told the team to be back by 1:30 AM and to go do whatever. Heck, I even saw an argument on Facebook where a non-UNC fan said Lawson was at the casino the night before the game(which clearly is not the case but speaks to the perception.) As it turns out Lawson, Marc Campbell and one of the video coordinators went to the casino. Roy discussed it with them before they left and basically said "don't do anything I wouldn't do and if you are not sure call me." I imagine one part of this that ticks Roy off is it implies he exercised no control over his team. That is not the case since it is clear Roy knew everything that was happening and made as certain as he could no one would get into trouble. And Roy is correct. What else are they supposed to do? They are in Detroit to play the biggest games of their careers so I am thinking locking them up in their hotel rooms is not a great idea.
Also, Roy losing at craps has replaced spitting in the river. Maybe Dick Baddour needs to factor that into the basketball budget but something tells me Roy can afford it.