Wednesday, December 2, 2009

UNC notes: Crowd key to win over MSU

CHAPEL HILL -- After berating UNC fans on Sunday for not showing up for the game against Nevada, coach Roy Williams complimented them for being so loud and boisterous during the Tar Heels' 89-82 victory on Tuesday against Michigan State.

" I've been chastising our crowd, and rightfully so because they've been sorry,'' Williams said. "But God Almighty, they were good tonight. There with six people that asked me for tickets, and I said no to six different people because they didn't come to watch Valpo or Gardner-Webb, so I wasn't going to give their butts tickets to come and watch a big game. But the crowd was important to us tonight. We've got to have that kind of participation from the student body and the alums and everybody."

TALKING DELVON: Williams called MSU forward Delvon Roe a "great kid, a wonderful kid that we tried very, very hard to recruit."

Asked if he was worried that there was any controversy about mentioning Roe in his autobiography, Williams said, "No. I've got some people that I said a heck of a lot [more] bad things about; I didn't say anything bad about Delvon. I said that we thought we were going to get him, and we didn't get him. I said he's a great player. If there's any fallout from that, then people are looking for it."

Roe, who had eight points and 10 rebounds before fouling out Tuesday, was not named specifically in the book. But Williams did refer to a player who told him he was coming to UNC before ultimately choosing Michigan State, instead.

"He told me he was coming,'' Williams said Tuesday. "He didn't come. I've looked every day at practice, and I haven't seen him yet."

OBSERVATIONS: Williams recently added a new title to his resume: bestselling author. His autobiography, "Hard Work," written with Tim Crothers, has climbed to No. 15 on the the New York Times Hardback Nonfiction bestseller list, marking the third week in a row it has made the list. ... UNC's coaching staff was wearing red ribbons for awareness of World AIDS Day, which was Tuesday. ... It was bad enough that UNC quarterback T.J. Yates was pinged in the helmet while walking off his home field earlier this season. But what happened during Tuesday's basketball game was worse. When his image flashed on the video boards as part of the "I'm a Tar Heel" montage, the boos from the crowd were audible. Really, Tar Heel fans?

-- Robbi Pickeral

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Yes, really. Have you seen Yates play? He's had one good game and we lost that one. The only Carolina QB that's played worse is Cajun.

Anonymous said...

I thought I would NEVER say this but I am getting tired of the coach and his comments. Coach the fricking team and leave everyting else alone!

Andrew said...

In response to that last one, it's not the student's fault. Student's get a minute fraction of the seats in the Smith Center and a majority of those are the last few rows of the upper deck. It's hard to make noise without the support of the older people with life-time seats in the lower levels.

Believe me, it's frustrating. Add to that the odd ticket policy that was initiated this year: only one ticket per person, designed to increase attendance. Instead it has decreased attendance because with only one ticket (they go in phases, so you can't just grab someone you know and bring them) you can't bring a friend.

Anonymous said...

Yea Roy was mad because "only" 17,000 showed up for a Sunday night game with Nevada and "only" 17,000 more for GW. The same night UNC was playing Nevada, State pulled in a whopping 11,000 fans to see their game at the RBC. Against Ga State they pulled in 9,000. The Michigan State game had a Final Four atmosphere, but you State fans would not know what that is like.

Anonymous said...

It should also be noted that the cheapest ticket to a Carolina game is $50 and that is for any game including Gardner Webb.You can go to the State-Georgia Southern game for $10. Of course with the sorry team the Wolfpeckers have, I don't think they could get a full house even if they gave tickets away. And all you jealous haters, come by and admire our new National Championship trophy when you get off work from the Kmart.