NC State's Quadir Copeland and Darrion Williams met with the media following the Wolfpack's 88-68 win over Syracuse Tuesday evening.
NOTE: Click on the video in the player above to watch the players’ press conference.
On scoring 19 points and nine assists against his former team…
QC: The plan to go in there and win. My teammates helped me in every way possible. They knew how important this game was to me. They knew things behind it, so this whole week, they'd just been letting me know they've got my back. Today showed [that] I don't get nine assists without them making shots.
On the second-half adjustments…
DW: Just being more solid on defense. I think they were playing a lot of one-on-one, so we really had to sit down and guard, know who we can and can help off of, and rebound.
QC: And he yelled at us at halftime to get us back going. He got on our butts, but that's what we need, that push, because if we don't you'll see; we'll continue to play lazy. That push got us back on track. We needed that.
On Will Wade’s tough love…
QC: I think today showed my growth, to be honest, because I didn't let this game get to my head. All the stuff I've been working on, my maturity, trying to let things go, just trying to be a better person and basketball player, I think it all showed up today in this moment. I didn't let the emotions get to me and certain things like that. I appreciate Coach. He'll put you through the dirt to see if you’re going to come out and survive, but that's what I grew up off of, and he knew that, so the tough love is nothing at this point. You've just got to know what it's for, and you’ve got to just know it's love at the end of the day.
On having his best ACC home game...
DW: It felt good to finally make some shots in here again. As long as we were winning, I was fine with the result, and I should have made one more to get him his 10 assists, but that was on me. It felt good, and I just want to thank the 15,000 fans that were here tonight. They made a big difference in how we played.
On how Williams’ scoring helps him as a point guard distributing the ball…
QC: It's always easy. It's easy, also, being a point guard, because when he's just good of a player, it takes so much attention away from me. My past years, I wasn't scoring as much as I was, but like having a player next to you that takes the distractions away and everybody has their eyes on him, it doesn't matter if it's a good or bad game; his shots are on. People have their eyes on him, so it makes everything so much easier for all of us. I don't think people realize that and see that. We've got players stepping up, but if you look at shots we're getting and stuff like [that], he causes confusion without even touching the ball. Having those pieces and having those threats like also Paul [McNeil], you can't help off the corner and stuff like that on Paul. Having those threats, it makes the game so much easier, and just being a point guard, they trust me. I trust them, and they trust me. Good and bad games, they never get too much down on me. They tell me what I’ve got to do, but you have a team to trusts you. You've got a coach that trusts you. It makes everything easy.
On the fast start…
DW: A big emphasis this week was just coming out faster because at Pitt, we started off slow. Clemson, we did a good job offensively, but our defense was bad, so we just tried to start games. We’ve got to get better at starting games and starting in the second half off stronger, and that's what we worked on all week. It showed today, and I made my first few shots, so it just got me going a little bit.
On how his assists helped his own scoring…
DW: It’s knowing where my teammates are going to be when I’m on certain spots on the court. I have five turnovers today which was way too much, but that was just a lot of miscommunication, and a couple of times, I just lost the ball. I just try to find Ven[-Allen Lubin] and Musa [Sagnia]; they do a great job of when we're driving, getting to the right spot to dump it off to them, and they're going to finish it. They do a great job. Like he said, you can't really help off Paul, so that opens the gaps. I think Matt [Able] did good, even though he didn't make shots per se, and so did Tre [Holloman]. I think the whole team, we just learning what spots we're going to be in when I'm driving, or he's driving, or if I’m posting up.
On matching up against J.J. Starling…
QC: I called J.J. before the game. I called J.J. last night. That's my guy, though. He's family forever. He knows that. I don't know if you guys see about the love and everything after the game. It’s all love no matter what. We're family, and we’re competitors. I competed with him for 365 days my sophomore year, every day since the summer. When you've already built that bond, and you built that connection, and we haven’t seen each other in two years, the first time we see each other is stepping on the court against each other, we knew the fire was going to come. We were having these conversations since yesterday, like I said, but it was good to see him doing well and also seeing him develop, seeing me develop, and just us getting older. We were sophomores when we were just playing together, not knowing what's going on. Now us being seniors, being like the OGs of it all, and us being in our last year, it was good playing against my old team.
On the pressure to rebound after giving up 51 to Pitt…
QC: Oh, my god, yeah. You all know Coach Wade; I shouldn't have to tell you too much. I know him. You know how he gets. They've got real athletic guys, so he definitely was really on that, and that was an emphasis on this game. We've got to rebound. It wasn't really just rebounding. It was being tougher than the team. You talk about another team; you're not even let them get the ball, so it was just being tougher and things like that.
On getting straight drives to the basket…
QC: Tell the truth. Finding the mismatches.
DW: I think Q just a great job of getting downhill.
QC: Finding the mismatches. That’s what it was: finding the mismatches. We know, when it's a little guard on me, we can set triggers and get the switches, or if it's a too big of a guard on me that I'm quicker than, you don't get to switch on me. We're just playing that two-man game and finding the mismatches every time. That's like what basketball comes down to.
On Sagnia’s development…
QC: This is his freshman, so…
DW: He's just getting more confident and more comfortable. He's in there every day with Coach [Adam] Howard, putting the work in. We worked out together this morning. He’s constantly in the gym, and I think as his confidence grows, it'll help us out a lot as a team.
On Williams’ physicality…
DW: I had a phone call with a family friend yesterday, and they just told me I was playing really soft this whole season. I just try to play harder and be more physical with other guys instead of letting guys bump me off my spot. It’s thanks to him, but I was trying to be more physical with guys, especially when we’ve got mismatches.
