MELVIN SCOTT
IC: It seemed like you got your hands on some loose balls early in the game,
did your confidence grow from that?
Scott: I was just trying to give my team what I can give in energy out
there -- defensively, offensively, hit open shots when I get a look.
IC: Going into this game, did you really think you could just go out and whip
them?
Scott: Man, we just want to go out and play great. Kansas is a good team and
we just wanted to come out and play hard. We didn't say what we were going to
do to this guy, or anything like that, we just wanted to come out to compete
and play hard. I think we all left it out on the court tonight.
IC: It seemed like there were a lot of times where you got a lot of one-on-one
matchups going to the basket, was that an emphasis you talked about before the
game?
Scott: Absolutely, we just wanted to take care of the ball, and get good
shots, drive them, and be aggressive with the ball. We really did that and
that was a key for us tonight.
IC: Talk about the last few minutes of the first half when you were running
the point -- how crucial was that in the game and how comfortable were you in
that role?
Scott: Very comfortable-I played the point last year, out of position. I'm
grateful for that because it prepared me for this year. You can get into
situations that you don't really understand at the time, but down the line
it'll help you. Last year's experience prepared me for this year.
IC: Talk about the defensive effort you guys put out there tonight?
Scott: We just wanted to contest every shot and be aggressive defensively. We
weren't worried about shutting guys down, we just wanted to play hard and keep
our man in front of us.
IC: Carolina seemed like by far the more aggressive team in terms of blocked
shots, getting to loose balls, and things like that:
Scott: Yeah, we just wanted to defend well and let offense take care of
itself.
SEAN MAY
IC: Sean, talk about the challenge you faced coming into this game -- a lot of
people thought Kansas would dominate Carolina inside.
May: A lot of people don't realize we're young but we're a physical team -- we
get after it pretty hard. I think tonight we did a real good job on the boards
and on defense and just executing the game plan, and we came out with the win
tonight.
IC: It seemed like once you got going you started blocking shots, things like
that, Carolina got a lot of the aggression plays.
May: We just let the game come to us. Kansas is a great team and once you
confine them from running I think it gets them out of their comfort zone a
little bit, but they're still a great team. It's going to be hard for us to
come back from this, we have to look at Stanford coming up, we just are very
fortunate to have this win.
IC: Talk about Coach Doherty's role in managing the game tonight -- you got that
17 point lead early in the second half and emotions were at a peak, and yet
you kept it going and didn't let them back in it.
May: Yeah, it's an emotional victory, an emotional game for Coach Doherty
going against Coach Williams. He did a good job of just calming us down -- there
were a couple of times we got out of sync, they got a couple of steals, but we
got back and they turned it over. He just told us don't look at the score, and
don't look at the shot clock, just play every possession one at a time and run
the offense, and we did a good job of that tonight.
IC: It seems like you're pretty fearless about going up to challenge shots and
blocking them and not worrying about foul trouble...
May: I'm not worried about foul trouble, if I get into foul trouble then I can
back off. I don't think I had a foul tonight, so I had to go after every shot
tonight and try to get a lot of rebounds and play really physical tonight.
IC: You had just two points in the first half yet you were pretty active in
the game despite that-
May: You know, everyone's going to have their night. With our game plan
tonight, I wasn't posting, and the offense wasn't keyed around getting the
ball off secondary break. We wanted to drive the wings and try to get a lot of
backdoors. I knew everything I was going to have to get was going to be off
the offensive glass. A couple of times we set up some pick and rolls, and it
worked out for us.
IC: How did you develop the skills you have, people are surprised at the
skills you have as a freshman big man, where did that come from?
May: Just working in the gym with my dad and my high school coaches, and my
little brother, I did a lot of guard drills with him. Luckily it's paid off -- I
can handle the ball a little bit, Coach Doherty thinks so, so all those
drills, all that hard work has paid off.
IC: Are you going to continue to bring the ball up every now and then?
May: I think Coach Doherty has a lot of trust in me with that. Teams with
small guards want to run traps at us -- because Raymond's a little small but he's
real quick once he gets the ball in the middle, he's going to have me bring it
up and try to kick it to Ray or Melvin, or whoever the other wing is.
IC: The offense you ran in the last 10 minutes of the game, is that something
you work on regularly, using the clock, that sort of thing.
May: It was the same offense we'd been running all game but we knew that we
had to be aware of the time and the clock, and the game clock was in our favor.
We didn't want to take dumb shots and let them back into the game.
IC: What does this win do for this team's confidence -- your faith in Coach
Doherty and in each other?
May: We've always had faith in Coach Doherty, but this is a big emotional win
for us. It's the biggest win this team has had together, we've just got to
build on it, take it to Stanford, and try to win the championship.
RASHAD MCCANTS:
IC: It seemed like there was an effort to try to take advantage of some one-on-one matchups, starting with you taking the ball to the basket, was that part
of the game plan?
McCants: It could have been anybody at any given time, it was just the way the
ball rotated around the court, it was like a motion offense but just higher,
where there was no help. I just got my opportunities a little earlier than
everyone else.
IC: How tough was it when you got that big lead early in the second half -- you
could have worn yourself out then emotionally, what did Coach Doherty do to
help you stay settled?
McCants: He kept us poised and calm -- one possession at a time.
IC: You really took it to them in terms of steals, blocked shots -- it seemed
like Carolina came up with everything tonight.
McCants: Definitely. Our main focus was just to play hard, and I think we did
that.
IC: It seems like you've already got a big leadership role on this team,
obviously that was something you anticipated to some degree, but what does
that really mean, to be a leader?
McCants: Basically people look to me for that energy and that leadership. I
feed off of it, and I feed off of them.
IC: You got a steal off of overplaying defense leading to a dunk -- can the
overplay defense be a big part of Carolina basketball that you all can bring
back with your athleticism.
McCants: I mean, definitely, some teams you have to overplay and pressure,
some teams you have to sit back and just play good defense. I think this was a
team where we needed to show them that we weren't scared of them and that we
could pressure them like the best of them.
IC: The average Carolina fan would probably think you'd be jumping up and down
right now, yet you're totally calm and act like you expected this to happen-
McCants: I had no doubt in my mind we could win this game. Right now I'm just
focusing on tomorrow's practice.