Offseason Q&A: Danny Green

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. --- North Carolina's Danny Green spoke to the media on Monday afternoon at the Smith Center as part of an offseason interview session.

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Are you surprised at all to be back?

"No, I'm not surprised at all. I had a good experience, it was fun and a good process and now I know what's ahead of me, but I'm back here now and ready to take care of business."

When did you know you were coming back?

"I called Coach right after my last workout -- I think my last workout was San Antonio, that Friday before we had to make our decision Monday -- and I called him on my way back from San Antonio and told him. But I told him before the process that I just wanted to have the learning experience and if things out turned out well for me of course I was going to go, but the whole thing was for me to get the learning experience."

Are there any fences that need to be mended here from the process?

"I wouldn't say so. I don't think there were any fences that were broken. There were some misunderstandings and some things that were put in the papers - I think the media might have blew it out of proportion a little bit. I talked to Coach about it, we had a sitdown, and everything is fine. We're just looking forward to the upcoming season."

What about your individual game did you learn you need to continue to focus on?

"Working on lateral quickness, they said I have a pretty decent IQ of the game - just getting faster and stronger and another year would help me. Right now I'm doing my individual work, but when the season comes around it's about what I can do for the team."

Everyone seems to be enamored with how great this team can be? Did you allow yourself to think about that at all?

"Yeah, I thought about it last year - we were really good last year - and I'm pretty sure we'll be really good this year. But it's not about thinking about how we can be, it's about taking action and doing what we're supposed to do. Last year we let a couple games slip up and most importantly the last game. ... Each year we've learned and gone farther and farther in the tournament."

With so many people back, are you not anticipating not sliding back into that sixth man role?

"I don't know. ... That's coach's decision. It'll most likely stay the same, but I'm not the one to say. ... I have no problem playing anywhere on this team. It's a great group of guys, great coaching staff and we're going to be a good team - we're going to be winning ..."

What did Coach Williams tell you three guys once you told him you were coming back?

"He told us now that we're back, we have work to do. We went through the process, and the weeks we had off traveling, we have to make up that time by getting back here, doing our workouts with the team, getting back on the court with the team stuff here. That's the message he told us - we have to get back to work, we have work to do."

Did you ever feel like you had to prove to your teammates that this is where you want to be?

"No, I don't think so. They welcomed me with open arms. It was like I never left. ... They're glad I'm back and I'm glad I'm back as well. Hopefully we can do some big things together this year."

How is your health?

“I’m not 100 percent, but I’m getting better. I have to get my elbow checked out to see if there is still a hairline fracture in there. I doubt it, though. It’s been fine [and] I’ve been lifting with it. The ankle is about 90 percent. I’m going to start rehabbing that again and get it better. But the hip is fine, and other than that, I’m fine.”