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UNC's Ian Jackson, Elliot Cadeau, Jalen Washington and Seth Trimble after win over Cal
Jan 16, 2025
UNC's Ian Jackson, Elliot Cadeau, Jalen Washington and Seth Trimble after win over Cal
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0:04
a lot lot of the games this season you
0:05
guys have had a hard time putting teams
0:07
away what was it about to that tonight's
0:09
game that you were able to do that um I
0:11
think we put a whole 40 together on the
0:13
defensive end you know um that was an
0:14
emphasis when we came lock him at half
0:16
time uh a lot of the year we play one
0:18
half defensively you know so come out
0:20
here and get play two half defensively
0:22
was huge for us sto yovich came into the
0:24
game he hadn't scored he scored in
0:26
double figures in every game this season
0:28
for him he came in scoring 30 24 23 in
0:30
the last three games what was the key to
0:31
keeping him down defensively um just
0:34
defending for real um we
0:36
understood um the assignment and we
0:39
understood what we needed to do to keep
0:41
him from scoring um and that's what we
0:43
did tonight do you feel like you guys
0:45
are kind of finding some consistency now
0:47
to your games and your performance
0:49
absolutely absolutely and that's a part
0:50
of just you know uh just going along
0:52
with the season you know the experience
0:53
is definitely something that helped us
0:56
and is has helping us to keep getting
0:57
better how about you tonight pretty
1:00
quietly get to what over 20 points how
1:02
do how do points just seem to find you
1:04
without you know forcing that at all my
1:06
teammates yeah you know my teammates
1:07
just do a good job of finding me uh I'm
1:10
open and make shots and yeah it's really
1:12
them it's all yeah they help me out for
1:15
sure how do you feel about the four game
1:17
winning streak that y all on it feels
1:19
great man it feels great always great to
1:20
stack wins especially four game winning
1:22
streak um during this time of the year
1:24
so looking to build on that and keep
1:27
going what do you thing you guys talked
1:29
about at half time time after the the
1:30
little little struggles toward the end
1:32
of the first half
1:35
um we just wanted to do a better job
1:37
defense uh on on offensive rebounds we
1:39
gave a lot of Second Chance points in
1:40
the first half uh and that's something
1:41
before the game we talked about not
1:43
doing and we did it so uh he coach kind
1:46
of got out on us about that and then you
1:48
know we went out and then did a better
1:49
job what was the difference in the
1:51
second half allowing you guys to build
1:52
away so much uh we got the stops for
1:57
real um we made a Miss we was in the
1:59
right places defensively we talked uh we
2:01
made second efforts we rebounded and
2:04
yeah we just made a miss a full 40
2:06
minutes together and we're playing good
2:07
the whole time Ian said the same thing
2:09
did you guys talk about that in the
2:11
locker room or is it just kind of
2:12
coincidence yeah that's b a big emphasis
2:14
on it with us um especially at halftime
2:17
coach says that he just pushes us he
2:20
says that
2:21
um like statistically our defense is a
2:23
lot worse in the second half in most of
2:25
our games so he brought that up and it
2:27
just pushed us to go harder in the
2:28
second half you able to attack their
2:30
drop coverage it seemed like you were
2:32
pretty aggressive with that yeah I feel
2:34
like the big was kind of he was really
2:36
low on the drop and I felt like he was
2:38
playing the pass a little bit so I was
2:40
looking for my own shot a lot does that
2:42
that's why you may you more of a scorer
2:44
than a distributor especially early on
2:45
yeah for sure defitely sto yakovich came
2:47
into this game he had scored 30 24 and
2:50
23 in their last three games and he had
2:52
scored in he scored in double figures in
2:53
every game this season you guys holding
2:55
six what was what was the key in that
2:57
match up yeah he was a big emphasis um
2:59
for us to team guard him and yeah we
3:02
just take that as a challenge and just
3:05
trying really hard to shut shut him down
3:07
cuz he's one of the most talented
3:08
scorers in the conference how's your
3:11
confidence right now I feel like you gr
3:12
a pretty good role ever since the noted
3:14
aim moment obviously had a key moment
3:16
against Tennesse State and then we score
3:18
tonight are do you feeling like
3:19
something's kind of happening slowly for
3:21
you yeah I definitely feel like I'm
3:22
getting back to how I started the season
3:24
off yeah I just feel a lot more
3:27
confident what what's maybe the
3:28
difference from that that that you had
3:30
that the downfall you're talking about
3:32
to now I'm not sure I'm not sure but um
3:37
I feel like starting now starting these
3:39
past couple weeks I feel like myself
3:41
again how's that that how's that feel it
3:43
feels great it feels great there are
3:45
several games where you guys couldn't
3:46
put away an opponent you did that today
3:48
what was the difference being able to do
3:50
that yeah we're just learning from our
3:52
mistakes um I forgot which game it
3:56
was but like the last 8 Minute it was
3:59
here I think it one of the most recent
4:00
games here but the last 8 minutes they
4:02
shot like 80% from the field and we
4:03
watched the whole last 8 minutes on film
4:06
so we kind of had that in the back of
4:07
our heads just not not not having the
4:10
defensive lapses is what you're saying
4:11
yeah yeah especially at the end was that
4:13
the yeah yeah yeah it was that and this
4:16
game was sort of in a similar area but
4:18
you guys instead put the foot on the
4:20
Thro is that another snippet of break
4:23
for you guys yeah for sure I I think we
4:25
learned a lot from that film session and
4:26
yeah we had that in the back of our head
4:28
you had a lot of success driving today
4:30
both sides look like you got your hip on
4:31
the guy you have you surprised there
4:33
wasn't helps side defense you kind of
4:35
had a pretty uncontent I would say
4:37
contested but fairly conted pass to the
4:40
basketball yeah I wasn't really
4:41
surprised um cuz I feel like the Scout
4:44
on me is kind of that I'm I'm a good
4:46
passer so they didn't really help off
4:48
the people on the perimeter and the big
4:51
didn't really help towards me so that
4:53
kind of made
4:54
SC D up crashing to do that as much
4:58
tonight it was that just didn't you said
5:01
the scattering before it looked to me
5:03
like you had your guy beat and it was
5:05
just we understood we understood it was
5:08
it was just thanks to the bigs that were
5:09
sending good screens jayw said por
5:12
mempis lately is shooting the ball great
5:15
jumper remember when heed the guys were
5:17
saying you got to see the mid-range jum
5:19
we saw three night missed a couple how
5:22
important is that to you guys you get
5:24
that mid-range jumper his start to fall
5:26
how much it changes you guys yeah it
5:28
helps it helps us a lot especially um
5:30
when they're icing ball screens it kind
5:33
of leaves it kind of forces us to shoot
5:35
that jumper and if he's making it he's
5:37
pretty much uncontested every time so if
5:39
he's making it opens up a lot what was
5:41
that that first half on the offensive
5:43
glass you guys turn it around really
5:44
dominate them on the glass in the second
5:46
half what changed um you know just being
5:48
tougher being tougher whether you were
5:50
getting the the the rebound or your
5:52
teammate was just taking the other guy
5:54
if they was in a cow Jersey we had to
5:55
take off the glass and and pursue the
5:58
ball this weekend coming in he got a
6:01
pretty good seven-footer right Stanford
6:03
what have you heard about for sure um
6:04
I've seen him I just saw him for the
6:05
first time on film a very talented guy
6:09
um you know take these next days to get
6:10
prepped and get ready for him uh it's
6:12
going to be a great he's going to be a
6:13
great guy to
6:14
play Four game winning streak right now
6:16
how's it feel right now as you all are
6:18
you kind of finding consistency your in
6:21
you all as a group now um I'm I'm I'm
6:23
proud of the improvements that we making
6:24
as a team but we not
6:26
satisfied U I'm s you've been asked
6:28
about this but you mid-range jump that
6:30
you pulled out today it seems like
6:32
you're diversifying your game uh is that
6:35
something the coaches have encouraged
6:36
you to do or just come um organically or
6:39
what I mean uh I feel like it's a
6:40
combination of both I'm I'm playing a
6:42
lot more free playing a lot more
6:43
comfortably they're encouraging me to
6:44
just play my game a lot more so you know
6:46
I've always been a guy that can shoot
6:48
the ball um and you know they're just
6:50
allowing me to to use that as a weapon
6:52
are you do you think the Three poter is
6:54
coming for you for sure for sure is just
6:56
just haven't been open yeah I mean uh
6:58
it's I miss couple opportunities to get
7:00
it up but uh you know it's all right
7:02
it's all good next couple games uh I get
7:04
an opportunity I'm shoot it and then the
7:06
defensive board seem to be important in
7:08
the second half they didn't have as many
7:09
Second Chances was that one of the
7:11
emphases definitely definitely uh just
7:13
finishing games taking these guys off
7:14
the boards they one of the best
7:15
offensive uh rebounded teams I think in
7:17
the country um uh so really that was
7:21
like one of the biggest keys that we had
7:22
to be dialed in on for 40 minutes you
7:25
mentioned principles earlier I'm
7:27
wondering specifically on the defensive
7:29
side of the
7:30
what the emphasis has been in practice
7:32
and the conversations you had to improve
7:34
defensively both individually but then
7:36
tonight as a team throwing different
7:38
looks at one of the leading scores in
7:40
the ACC to holding the only six points
7:42
yeah I feel like no matter what our game
7:44
plan is from uh from game to game um our
7:47
our principles are the same you know we
7:49
got to communicate we got to talk and
7:50
trust each other we got to play with a
7:52
sense of passion a sense of urgency we
7:54
got to finish every single possession
7:56
with a box on rebound so I feel like um
7:59
you know as many mistakes as we make um
8:01
we we stay dialed in and we bounce back
8:03
we always bounce back and we've been
8:05
doing a better job at bouncing back and
8:07
um sticking to those principles how have
8:08
yall seen how have you seen the
8:10
progression for yall as a team
8:12
defensively from the non-conference to
8:14
now in the ACC have you seen Improvement
8:16
there and you all feeling more
8:17
comfortable as a group defending
8:19
definitely um like I said our
8:20
communication has been a lot better our
8:22
on ball defense has been a lot better
8:24
guys being in the Gap low guys being
8:26
pulled in uh just being impactful having
8:28
hands getting hands deflections uh
8:31
steals
8:34
everything everything I mean honestly
8:37
he's kind of a guy that can do it all
8:39
he's an incredible offensive player and
8:42
uh you know it really excites me when I
8:44
get to play guys like stoit uh you know
8:47
I got to play Don connect last year he
8:48
had 37 but I tried to
8:50
take uh I mean just when I get to play
8:53
Elite offensive guys it really excites
8:55
me uh but with st yakovich you got you
8:59
just got to take away everything you
9:00
know he can kind of do it all so it's
9:02
very hard to contain him and I was
9:04
talking to jayl Wasington a second ago
9:05
he said that you're very hard on
9:07
yourself I guess in your I guess self-
9:08
critique of yourself I know you've been
9:10
trying to get back into Rhythm these
9:12
last few games what are some of the
9:13
things you've been I guess telling
9:14
yourself mentally you were very active
9:16
today as far as Steals and rebounds just
9:17
what were you telling yourself going
9:18
into today just to do the little things
9:20
uh continue to the little things that
9:21
I've been doing all year and then that's
9:23
when you know the big names are going to
9:24
come that's when I'll start putting up
9:26
the numbers I want to put up again
9:28
that's when I start getting the rebounds
9:29
uh start making threes again so just
9:32
focus on the little things I think big
9:34
May was huge with that uh he would just
9:35
constantly kept reminding me that just
9:37
do the little things and continue to be
9:39
that player I'll be and then eventually
9:41
he's going to build up and build up and
9:42
build up and I'll get back to me so that
9:44
was really it I think that show today
9:45
you know I tried to be that energy spark
9:47
today like I usually am and it was good
9:50
feel like the rush was totally off in
9:52
this game you seems like you were still
9:54
finding a rhythm at state is that what
9:56
you saw yeah yeah yeah the r felt
10:00
felt very much off today I think there
10:01
might be still still a little bit on uh
10:03
uh got to get going from behind the arc
10:05
again just to help the team out but for
10:07
the most part I you know I think I knock
10:09
the rest off back to your aggressive
10:10
driving self all absolutely absolutely
10:13
just needed a couple games C was getting
10:15
some opportunities on the offensive
10:16
glass in the first half but you guys
10:18
flipped the script in the second half
10:20
pretty much all in check and dominated
10:21
the glass what what changed after half
10:23
time uh we said hey I mean well HD said
10:27
it he you know he said we were soft on
10:29
the glass we were soft in the first half
10:31
and we need to step it up if we wanted
10:33
to get the good win that we wanted to
10:34
get so we all took the took the
10:36
challenge took pride and you know
10:38
getting our rebounds in and show it felt
10:39
like then quietly had a pretty solid
10:42
game down there how have you seen him
10:43
grow since he since he came here his
10:46
energy his energy is growing you know
10:47
when then grows as a player his energy
10:50
is growing also you know when he has his
10:52
bad games I think maybe he's lacking
10:54
that energy that he needs but you know
10:56
when he has these Elite performances
10:57
even if it you know even if it's that
10:59
she is and stuff it's when his energy is
11:01
up there so that's just what we continue
11:02
to need from him uh as tell him in the
11:05
locker room you know you ate something
11:06
special today we need you to keep doing
11:08
that but whatever it is you know that
11:10
got then it's R today we just we need
11:12
that for him cuz it's huge Seth how did
11:14
you want that dunk get the end you got
11:16
fouled I think by number
11:17
12 you want that one I definitely wanted
11:20
it it's been a little while well no stay
11:21
game gu it was kind of boring though you
11:23
know stay game that so trying to get a
11:26
little better one but we'll get it we'll
11:27
get it back we'll get it back you think
11:29
was the difference day putting it and
11:32
really finishing seemed like there some
11:34
games espe the past couple weeks you're
11:36
up 9 10 late and kind of let things get
11:38
away I mean what was the difference you
11:40
thought today I think we really
11:41
emphasized it once it came down to you
11:44
know crun time we said hey like let's
11:45
really put this team away uh it'll look
11:48
good for the net we know you know we
11:49
could use it all with the net with
11:51
whatever it is so he said let's
11:53
capitalize on this opportunity really
11:54
put this team away uh I think in the
11:57
past games when when they've kind of
11:59
gotten hot in the second half and they
12:01
made these little runs that we don't
12:03
think is making a difference but it is
12:06
we're not really you know worried about
12:08
anything cuz we're up 30day already but
12:10
today we made sure that you know we
12:12
really finish this game how how much
12:14
attention do you pay to the net I mean a
12:16
lot of guys know say I don't look at
12:18
Advanced metrics and numers like that I
12:19
guess how much of that as a factor
12:21
obviously sounds like you understand the
12:22
point differential point spreads no I
12:25
definitely understand it uh I don't pay
12:27
too much attention to it I know our
12:28
coaches have to uh I don't think us as
12:31
players do but we get reminded cuz you
12:35
know the non-conference the
12:37
non-conference year that we had this
12:38
year wasn't great so we know that we
12:40
kind of need every point every little
12:43
thing everything that we can do to make
12:45
our there we need to do to you know get
12:48
the best we can get in Mark so they
12:49
almost use the net as a way to kind of
12:51
emphasize the urgency you need in games
12:53
the game kind of got a hand there late
12:56
Chang that kind that for you guys big
12:59
may only used it one time big May used
13:01
it one time but I think since then RJ
13:03
and I have you know when we get those
13:06
when we start getting lazy in the second
13:07
half we've kind of reemphasized it yeah
13:09
so nobody emphasizes it too much but I
13:11
think we all have in the back of our
13:12
head that we need to complete these
13:14
games out
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