Gary Williams' Pregame Quotes
1/22/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2005
COLLEGE PARK, Md. - As the snow fell all around Comcast Center on Saturday, Maryland head basketball coach Gary Williams and some of the Terps addressed the media, taking questions on Maryland's matchup with NC State.
The Terrapins and Wolfpack are scheduled to square off Sunday at 6 p.m. Check umterps.com or call the Terrapin ticket office for any schedule changes. As of right now, all weekend events at Maryland will be played as scheduled.
Head Coach Gary Williams
On preparing for NC State:
"They have had to play some tough teams and have been on the road, and they also beat Georgia Tech at home. They've had guys out, [Tony] Bethel and [Levi] Watkins, so it's not like they've been 100 percent. It's tough to get ready to play from that standpoint, not knowing who is going to play a lot of minutes in some cases, because they've played some young guys that have played well. Now, if everybody is healthy, do you bring back those guys or play the young guys that have been playing well?"
On the play of Nik Caner-Medley:
"I have always felt that Nik is a much better player when he goes to the offensive glass, because he is a good offensive rebounder. For the last three games, he's been pretty consistent going to the rim, and that changes how teams can defend you. It makes it easier to get your outside shot off if you are attacking the basket. Offensive rebounding is not a natural thing in basketball - if it was, more guys would be good at it."
On Caner-Medley's attitude:
"I think it's been an all-year thing for Nik, but he's been more aggressive and tougher out there on the court. That's what we need as a team. I think any team that competes in a good league has to be that way."
On the play of Will Bowers:
"I think Will is starting to believe that he could be a good basketball player. That's part of being a good player - to believe in yourself. I think in practice about a month or so ago he started to get the idea that he is as good as anybody else, and he wanted some playing time, so he has worked hard. He has no fear when he gets into the game. He's still working on some things, but he has moved into a pretty good position for being halfway through his sophomore year."
On the courageous effort by Chris McCray vs. Virginia:
"We made the [defensive] switch [on UVa's Devin Smith] at halftime, and Chris did a great job. I think he was loose by then, and feeling a little better than he did at the start of the game. At least he knew he could play - he was going to try to play and see how that would go - but by then he knew he could. He kind of forgot about his injury and just played, which was important."
On the team's reaction to D.J. Strawberry's injury:
"We had a good practice [after the news]. Sometimes that does force people to evaluate their own situation, and they realize, all of a sudden, how important they are to the team. If you are a good team you make up for the injury. In other words, you miss Strawberry's ability, what he gave you 22 minutes per game with his defense and his effort and things like that, but at the same time, if you have a couple of guys on the team you can make that up with two or three guys. We can have it come from different lineups, with Mike Jones playing more minutes, and with Sterling Ledbetter getting in there also. There are ways to do it. So far we have done a good job accepting the responsibility of stepping up."
