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UNC's Jalen Washington, Jae'Lyn Withers, Elliot Cadeau and RJ Davis after holding off Elon
Nov 5, 2024
UNC's Jalen Washington, Jae'Lyn Withers, Elliot Cadeau and RJ Davis after holding off Elon
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0:00
uh every practice that we had leading up
0:02
until uh to this game how much the big
0:04
guy kind of affect things a little bit
0:06
with the Zone uh there's not a lot of
0:08
seven4 guys on the country so it's a
0:09
little bit different uh going up against
0:11
that guy on offense so uh know it was
0:14
just little adjustments he had to make
0:15
in the middle of the game they had a 14
0:17
nothing run took the lead 7169 what do
0:19
you think happened with you guys during
0:20
that stretch oh man just just little uh
0:23
little lack lack of focus sometimes uh
0:26
you know game game of runs so you know
0:28
sometimes we'll have those little drops
0:30
where we lose focus of what our goal is
0:33
but um I feel like we locked back in and
0:35
to to close the game out is that
0:36
something to take from this that you can
0:38
learn you can see what happens when you
0:39
don't have the full Focus for sure we
0:41
got to just mature each day and uh we
0:44
got to learn from this experience to
0:45
just keep growing and uh moving forward
0:47
Jaylen you were really fired up after uh
0:50
wantan to stick back in the second half
0:51
you're like pounding your chest as you
0:52
go back down the court what was that
0:54
what was that moment like why were you
0:55
so just intense that moment I was just
0:57
playing with passion I wanted to come
0:58
out uh in the first half and do that
1:00
um but I didn't so I feel like that was
1:02
just like kind of pined up energy pined
1:04
up a little bit of anger um just kind of
1:06
took it out on the rim a little bit in
1:08
the second half with Kade did you feel
1:11
like he was sort of in his own in his
1:13
own head a little bit uh this game maybe
1:15
ner man man K is fine um you know this
1:18
his his first official game uh he's a
1:21
great player he was a great player at
1:22
Belmont he going to be a great player
1:23
here where did the anger come from man
1:26
just the fouls uh just you know not
1:28
being able to be on the Court to help my
1:30
teammates when they needed me in the
1:31
first
1:32
half you don't see many S4 just kind of
1:36
defensive match up with this new group
1:37
this year I felt like it wasn't too good
1:39
down the stretch um especially the
1:41
second half we didn't play too good
1:43
defensively but feel like it could be a
1:45
lot better and it will be a
1:46
lot he got tied there I think Elon took
1:49
the lead and then RJ came through
1:50
obviously he's an All-American and and
1:53
your senior and and everything but uh
1:55
what's it like to see him deliver in a
1:56
situation like that when you guys really
1:58
needed him um this is great last seen a
2:00
lot of a lot so it's just cool to see
2:03
again you were able to you know kind of
2:05
control the you know Pace control the
2:07
flow of the game I think you ended up
2:08
with the eight assists uh towards the
2:10
end um obviously you know you've been
2:12
kind of starting at the point guard
2:13
position for a while uh but do you feel
2:15
like you're more I guess decisive out
2:17
there you know just as far as your
2:18
decision making yeah definitely I feel
2:20
like the game has slowed down for me a
2:21
little bit and it's just I'm making the
2:23
re easier I'm I'm pretty I feel like
2:26
everything out there is easier for me
2:27
this year what's the how different does
2:29
it feel that Dynamic where I guess a lot
2:31
of the you know playm you have a lot
2:33
more I guess Playmakers at the guard
2:35
spot you know alongside with you how
2:37
does that kind of impact the I guess the
2:38
way you feel the offense flows this year
2:40
yeah I think it works out perfectly we
2:42
have three guards that can really score
2:44
and can really play make so I think we
2:46
just complim we all compliment each
2:47
other when that first three-pointed tip
2:49
went in you had a big spile and clapping
2:52
I mean how how good did that feel the
2:54
first one go in and obviously you made a
2:55
big one later as well yeah it felt it
2:57
felt very good um just to see my hard
3:00
work is is showing in that first shot it
3:02
me it meant a lot to me to see it going
3:05
yeah they had a 14 nothing run they took
3:07
the lead and then RJ scores 10 the next
3:09
16 like last year's RJ showed up tonight
3:12
yeah that you have someone should can
3:13
rely on to do that
3:15
special special is to have a guy that's
3:18
going to step up when you got to step up
3:19
I mean that that that's very special
3:21
there's not a lot of I don't think
3:22
there's anybody like RJ in the country I
3:24
feel like he's the best guard in the
3:25
country and just to have him on our side
3:27
very very comforting very good how kind
3:30
of difficult was it going up against
3:32
their Zone seemed like you guys the
3:33
movement wasn't great and was kind of
3:36
disjointed um it was pretty it was
3:37
pretty difficult it it was it was a good
3:39
Zone they had a S5 kid in the middle of
3:41
it so how much did that affect Jay said
3:45
going against S4 guy very often yeah it
3:48
it affect it affected us a lot like cuz
3:51
our main objective was to get the ball
3:52
in the middle and once we got in the
3:53
middle it was a giant right there so he
3:56
he definitely was a presence down there
3:58
think it's pretty good to have that test
4:00
right now right out of the gate yeah for
4:01
sure coach coach was saying that it was
4:03
good for us to be in a close game rather
4:06
than being a blowout one to prepare us
4:08
for our next
4:09
game it seems like you guys have more
4:12
lobs in the half court set now I know
4:14
you said in practice you've been
4:15
throwing a lot more of them but how do
4:16
you feel like that kind of opens things
4:17
up for you guys just being able to kind
4:19
of get more over the top yeah definitely
4:21
I feel like our our team is a lot more
4:23
athletic this year and just to have
4:26
people to throw the ball to in the air
4:28
just opens up a lot for everybody you're
4:29
a fan of those you know kind of live
4:31
plays as well um I guess yeah like you
4:33
know you speaking to the you know
4:34
different athleticism and things like
4:36
that like how much I guess uh
4:37
conversation you had with some of those
4:39
guys of hey I'm going to throw it up to
4:40
you like yeah U me me and my bigs
4:43
basically everybody that can catch a lot
4:45
we talk about it a lot uh me and J was
4:48
the L that I threw that I threw out of
4:49
bounds me and J was literally I told him
4:52
I'm going to throw a lot right on this
4:53
play and I it was it was there but I
4:56
threw a terrible
4:57
pass how how much did you work on
4:59
three-point shot in the offseason how
5:01
how much of a priority was it for you
5:03
every single day I worked on it and it
5:05
was my number one priority when you say
5:07
worked on it how many are probably going
5:08
to be the biggest things we need to fix
5:10
or really take take head
5:12
on did you you think you guys relaxed
5:15
when you got up 16 in the first half cuz
5:18
it kind of felt like you might run him
5:19
out of here and then you didn't
5:22
um I would to say that we relaxed I
5:24
would say it was
5:26
just we we didn't the same attention we
5:30
didn't we didn't uh keep the same
5:33
attention in detail with what we were
5:34
doing to win and get that
5:36
lead and I would say by the same token
5:39
they take the lead in the second half
5:40
you're able to respond so I mean is that
5:42
one of the has to be one of the
5:44
positives I guess coming out of tonight
5:46
for sure I'll say um HD really does a a
5:49
good job with that you know getting
5:51
getting us to respond you know he
5:52
challenges us uh in the midst of you
5:55
know adversity I think that we do a
5:57
really good job uh coming for whenever
6:00
he calls on us you pretty look pretty
6:02
confident with your three-point shot did
6:03
you work on that a lot and tell me about
6:06
that progression for sure um coming off
6:08
the last season I think that was the
6:09
biggest thing for me you know getting
6:11
getting uh the the number of reps that I
6:14
needed in order to be able to just shoot
6:17
that without any second thought or
6:19
issues with me shooting and going up
6:22
against there's what was the problems
6:24
that they gave you with that Center I
6:27
mean you got 74 protecting the room so
6:29
that's that's always going to be a tough
6:31
one but I think um you know with our
6:34
outside shooting you know getting guys
6:36
getting more comfortable with you know
6:37
the games you know uh building up
6:39
throughout the season I think that we'll
6:41
be really good with with the zone
6:43
offense did it mean a lot for you to
6:45
start tonight I think some people
6:48
thought you know Cade would be for sure
6:50
I think that um it's it's up in the air
6:54
daily I think like we compete every day
6:55
and practice to decide that or to give
6:57
Coach a tough decision to decide that
7:00
but I think it might have been more for
7:02
the defensive coverage maybe they had
7:05
two bigger bigger players it's kind of
7:08
like is that a sense of pride thing you
7:10
know last year you know what I'm saying
7:12
yeah for sure I definitely think I take
7:13
pride on defense that's sure going on me
7:15
I I sat down I wasn't shooting the ball
7:17
well I'm like bro can I hit a shot so I
7:21
I checked into the score tap I'm like uh
7:23
I just told myself that next one's going
7:24
to go in just keep shooting stay
7:25
confident like don't don't shy away from
7:27
me and um um I was able to my shots were
7:31
all
7:40
good that that was my confidence my
7:43
mindset going to soon as I subed in find
7:45
the right the right tone and uh I didn't
7:48
just rely on my jump shot I was able to
7:50
penetrate get a floater in I found Jay
7:52
was for a layup I found Ellie for a
7:54
corner three so um yeah it seemed like
7:57
there was like a little side relief I
7:58
guess for you on like I think it was
7:59
that last three you made H your arms up
8:02
I was just thanking the Lord because it
8:04
was at 34 yeah 3 for1 so um I was just
8:10
just in relief that it finally went in
8:12
yeah when when it came to Jay was
8:13
obviously you mentioned that you got him
8:15
for dunk earlier he had like a few of
8:16
those I guess dunks in that second half
8:18
seemed like he was you know continuing
8:20
that aggression that he kind of showed a
8:21
little bit at times in that preseason
8:23
how more how much more aggressive does
8:25
he seem I mean seems like he dunks it a
8:27
lot more often yeah I mean coach Davis
8:29
every time we're in practice he's
8:31
telling the bigs and the guards uh to
8:33
dunk it um because we have athletic uh
8:36
players on this team he wants us to use
8:37
those abilities um and capitalize off
8:39
that he doesn't want us to go around the
8:41
rim soft um that's why he's always
8:42
telling Jay was to dunk the ball because
8:44
he has a a huge Wings span um is able to
8:48
uh convert off that so that's why I
8:49
think guys saw those couple of dunks
8:51
back to back he was able to finish when
8:53
you checked in down by two were there
8:54
any conversations with some of the
8:56
players on the court did you say
8:58
anything or did anybody say something
8:59
that kind of spurt the
9:00
team yeah I mean I told them like once
9:03
they I think they got the n one um I
9:05
brought the Huddle in I'm like we're
9:06
good like don't don't put your head down
9:09
like this is good for us we're going to
9:10
score right here we just got to get a
9:11
good shot a good shot uh and then and
9:14
the stop we work on this in practice so
9:16
that was really just the conversation
9:17
that was going on soon as I subed in
9:19
everyone was in good spirits obviously
9:21
basketball happens and the body language
9:23
sometimes just takes over when teams
9:25
come back that's normal uh it was more
9:27
so just remaining positive uh through
9:30
that stretch because Elon was making a
9:31
good stretch so that's what I told him
9:32
what's in your head space when you take
9:34
over a game like that the keep part and
9:37
scoring scoring to be confident I mean
9:40
just do what I do uh like I think one of
9:44
the biggest keys for me is you know
9:46
obviously I would say like early in my
9:48
career I probably would have stopped
9:49
shooting the ball just because of like
9:51
it's not going in so I'm just going to
9:52
shy away from it but uh as I got older
9:56
as I experience it's like trust your
9:57
work and trust your work ethic and
9:59
I put a lot of time and effort into my
10:01
game and um to not sh away from those
10:04
moments and that was really my mindset
10:07
like just to continue to be confident
10:09
continue to trust yourself you're going
10:10
you're going to knock it down so yeah
10:12
Elliot makes that first three the first
10:14
play of the game I know he's worked on
10:16
that a lot in the off season how
10:17
important is his ability to knock down
10:19
outside shots for you guys as an offense
10:21
yeah he played phenomenal today he went
10:23
three for four and that just shows how
10:25
much of you know work he's put into this
10:27
off season on his three-pointer shot on
10:28
his shooting in general um he's always
10:30
been a great shooter I think it was more
10:32
of a confidence thing and I think he got
10:34
showed you guys today uh you guys going
10:35
to have the close on Elliot and once you
10:37
close out it's hard to keep him in front
10:39
so now you got to pick your poison so to
10:41
have Ellie out there knocking down the
10:42
threes and sharing the basketball like
10:44
he usually does uh it's going to be a
10:46
great year for him he said he watched
10:47
that Alabama game over and over and over
10:50
he said it was you know felt it was
10:51
disrespectful they put a four on him he
10:53
sat under the basket and just left
10:54
Elliot open yeah did you talk to him
10:56
about hey in order for us to be the team
10:58
we want to be you've got to be able to
11:00
knock down that Chef yeah I mean 100% I
11:02
mean I think for him to watch that game
11:04
over and over again is kind of like
11:06
where I was my sophomore year when we
11:08
lost the Kansas game um so just to show
11:11
you that he just wants to improve on it
11:12
and just use that as motivation take the
11:14
disrespect but then also just know who
11:16
are who you are as a player and I think
11:18
Ellie has shown it um not just in the
11:20
game today but he's been shown it all
11:22
off season so he's going to continue to
11:24
take strides and uh be who he is and
11:26
he's going to be able to knock down more
11:27
threes I think he was plus 20 at one
11:29
point late in that game but what does he
11:31
sort of bring by far the best you know
11:33
plus minus out there what does he sort
11:35
of bring for you guys when he's on the
11:36
bo yeah I mean he's a playmaker he's
11:38
able to find his teammates and he's able
11:39
to um just utilize all the the gifts
11:43
that he has um and he's going to get
11:45
after the defensive end I think he had a
11:47
a play where he I don't know where he
11:49
came from but he stole the ball and was
11:50
able to get a flavor one so just like
11:52
little plays like that I mean just shows
11:54
what type of player he is RJ was it just
11:56
one of those nights for you shooting
11:57
wise or was there something that you
11:58
felt was s just off shot n shot n i mean
12:03
I just couldn't shoot in the ocean today
12:05
I don't know what it was um but it's all
12:09
good I mean I just getting back into the
12:11
flow of things and I mean I think all my
12:13
shots were good shots are kept except
12:15
for the couple mides I took in the first
12:17
half um but I mean I know they're going
12:20
to fall only the first game but I mean I
12:22
was like frustrated a little bit cuz
12:24
they weren't going in but I'll be good
12:26
do you feel like it's good to get a game
12:28
sort of
12:30
tougher game like this out of the way
12:31
before you go to Kansas on Friday night
12:33
100% I mean Elon played a really great
12:35
game they're a really good team uh to
12:37
have a game like this I think it it
12:39
shows like where the holes that we have
12:40
to fill in and room to improve um cuz
12:44
there was a couple times where we just
12:45
kind of took the foot off the gas a
12:46
little bit and uh got too complacent and
12:49
thought the game was over and that's
12:50
when they was able to extend the stretch
12:52
out so I think having a game like this
12:54
early uh is good for us and I know it's
12:58
kind of stressful a little bit sometimes
12:59
but um a win's a win so yeah what kind
13:02
of environment you expecting in Lawrence
13:04
uh I know that's going to be crazy um I
13:06
never played in Lawrence but just
13:07
watching on TV you just hear the chance
13:09
through the TV it's going to be crazy um
13:12
they're a really good team so I'm
13:13
expecting a really good environment what
13:15
was it about their Zone that gave you
13:17
guys so much trouble yeah I mean I just
13:19
think we were we were just being too
13:20
stagnant we weren't really moving the
13:22
ball the ball was staying stationary a
13:23
little bit um and you know myself and
13:26
the rest of the guards were just kind of
13:27
stay in one spot passing the ball back
13:28
and fourth so um that just kind of made
13:31
them uh feel comfortable and confident
13:33
within their zone so we didn't really
13:34
give them a chance to make a mistake uh
13:36
so um they did a good job with the two
13:39
guard front and then the guards and the
13:40
wings being active uh but I think once
13:44
we was able to get the ball in the
13:45
middle he was able to execute A lot's
13:47
been made of your guys size this year or
13:49
just being a little bit smaller how do
13:50
you think it kind of played out on the
13:52
court yeah I mean obviously we're
13:54
smaller we don't you know really have
13:56
like a s foot guy 7 big man but it's
14:00
going to be a key for us to be you know
14:02
have a lot of uh players rebound and I
14:04
could get back to my rebound the days um
14:06
but I think this it just shows our
14:09
toughness um I always been when I was a
14:11
little kid we I played with smaller guys
14:13
smaller uh teams uh but we had a heart
14:16
and that's what this team has right here
14:18
but we just got to really show that
14:19
through all 40 minutes of the game how
14:21
about the
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