NC State's Quadir Copeland and Paul McNeil, Jr. met with the media following the Wolfpack's 76-62 win over Ole Miss Sunday afternoon.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch the Pack’s press conference.
If he’d always been fiery on the basketball court…
QC: Yeah, 100 percent. I think it has to do with my upbringing and where I'm coming from, just being raised in Philadelphia. The basketball there, always playing street ball and things like that, you've got to protect yourself. You've also got to stand up for yourself in certain moments, especially when you’re out there playing with grown men and things like that. I just think I'm just a product of my environment, and I just bring it to the court every time. I just try to pick up my teammates and get them with the same fire as me. Once we get rolling, we're all together, and we're all on the same page, it's hard to stop.
On what Copeland’s energy does for the team…
PM: It brings us closer together. Q's huge energy is like something you don't get on a daily basis. He brings it every day to practice. It doesn't matter if it's practice, shoot-around, or walk through. He always serious. He always brings energy. He always keeps [his energy up].
On recovering after missing his early shots…
PM: It was really the flow the game. I knew I was coming. I knew, if I got a shot [opportunity when] I was open, I had to shoot it. I was just being confident. Like I said, my teammates instill confidence in me, so even if missed the first three or made the first three, I just keep shooting the ball, pray it goes in, and get back to the next play.
On seeing the baskets finally fall…
PM: It felt great. It's about being consistent. [Will Wade] needs consistent players, and at this level, you've got to be consistent. That's my biggest key, and that's our guys' biggest key: being consistent for whatever Coach wants us to do.
On coexisting with Tre Holloman…
QC: It's amazing just having shooters out there making my game so easy, being a big point guard. People talk so much about my assists, but the end of the day, these guys are the one making the shots. I'm just getting it to them on time and on target. That's my job, and I leave it up to them to make the shots. I see the work that Tre’s put in, even P2 and [Darrion Williams]. I see the work they put in. I don't know if you see me in the court; I'm yelling at them, “Just shoot the ball! Shoot the ball! Shoot those open shots,” even some of them when they couldn't shoot them. I see them work on it every day. Having Tre out there, especially him being a point guard and adapting to shooting, being more aggressive in scoring, and shooting those type of shots, it's amazing, just him adjusting and also just making the game easier for me. I feel like that's what the guys try to do: just try to make the game way easier for me and let me be a big point guard. It’s making my game skyrocket. Without them, it's not so much. The things I can do, it wouldn't be happening.
On retaining consistency after the Texas Southern game…
PM: I'd say keeping my focus, keeping the main thing [as] the main thing. Basketball is the main thing, and I love to do it. It’s just being more dialed in, being calm, being more sit-in, trying not to get so hyped up or get my nerves all hyped up, just everything calm. I just really want to see it go through.
On the buzzer beater against South Carolina in this same building giving him confidence…
PM: It definitely did, though. It definitely gave me some confidence coming back in because I know these rims. A lot of rims are different, but I was comfortable. I think we were comfortable here, so it was just a plus for us.
On Wade’s comments after Wednesday’s game…
QC: I felt like we'd been having those conversations even before Coach went on his spiel. We understand what type of coach we've got. We’ve been with him for months. This isn't anything new to us. We understand what kind of coach we have. We understand he’s going to speak his mind, and we also understand that he's not doing that to put players down. He's doing that to build us up. At the end of the day, he was right on a lot of those comments. We need to get going. We need to have urgency. We need to want to get better. There's no more breaks, no mishaps, or no “My bad’s." We understand the message more than the things he's saying. The message is the biggest thing at the end of the day. I feel like, if you're listening to that, and you see the message, we sat down as a team, and we asked each other, “What did you see that he was wrong or lied about?" I felt like we all had a look in the mirror and just realized that it's certain stuff that we've got to get better. We can't always blame the coaches, blame the refs, and blame stuff on how things go. We understand what players we are, and we understand what type of coach we've got, and we trust him. Like I said, it's more or less listening to the message than the delivery.
On his ability to distribute the ball…
QC: It gets them going, but they know me; it gets me going. I'm a pass-first guard. I love being able to make that pass to them and them hitting big shots. It gets me going. It makes me want to play more. I have trust in my teammates, and also my teammates come up to me, asking questions: “Where you want me at?” They have trust in me with the ball and stuff like that. It makes this so much easier for me. Like I said, having my our coach behind us, letting me be myself every day, letting me show my personality for everyone to see, not holding it back, telling me to calm down sometimes — of course, you've got to control it — but just allowing me to be myself and do the things I can do in the court to help the guys. The guys love me. The guys trust me. That's all I ask for: just trust. I give them the trust, and I already know, like I said, that they put in hours. I see it every day, so they deserve to take those shots, and they earn through shots.
