Conference tournaments are about basketball but also so much more: the fans, bands, cheerleaders, etc. The CAA Tournament is taking place in Washington, DC this weekend and we could not be more excited to be there in person! HoopsHD will be covering all of the angles so you can look forward to a cascade of coverage in the days ahead. Jon Teitel continues our series with UNC Wilmington assistant coach Jackie Manuel as he talked about winning an NCAA title with North Carolina in 2005 and surviving a mid-season coaching change in January.
In the 2005 NCAA title game as a tri-captain at UNC you had 3 REB in a 5-PT win over Illinois: what did it mean to you to win a title, and what was the reaction like when you got back to campus? It was 1 of those moments where you remember how you started (going 8-20): it was priceless to win it all. We wanted to get back to campus that night but when we headed back the next day it turned out to be a celebration for the rest of the semester.
Your coach on that team was Roy Williams: what makes him such a great coach, and how do you think he is dealing with the worst season of his life this year (13-17 entering tomorrow night’s regular season finale at Duke)? He knows himself and what he is good at. He has been doing it for so long that he knows what works and sticks with it. I think this year has been challenging for a competitor like him but it has been a great opportunity to evolve. There is so much you can learn from when you go through failures: you can see the team getting better every game and they are starting to play well. It is the same process I went through as a freshman: by the time I was a senior my maturity level was very high. You would think there is nothing to learn after 30 years but there is always something.
You were a 2-time member of the All-ACC Defensive Team: what is the key to playing good defense? Just a passion to want to do it. You have to learn the personnel as well.
After graduating you spent a few years in the D-League/Japan: what is the biggest difference between college basketball and pro basketball? The poise of a pro player: they did not get riled up over much. It is a long game and people make mistakes but you just continue to do what you have worked on and everything will be all right. In college everything goes 100 miles/hour.
Your non-conference schedule this season included a home game vs. your alma mater and a road game at Stanford: what was it like to have the Tar Heels visit Trask Coliseum, and how good is Cardinal big man Oscar da Silva (who had 26 PTS/11-14 FG against your team)? This is my 4th or 5th time playing against the Tar Heels…and I hate it every time! It is wonderful to see everybody but as a competitor someone has to win and someone has to lose, and I have been on the losing side way too often. If we could end the game in a tie it would be the best thing to ever happen. Every time I see Coach Williams I try to pick his brain. What made da Silva good is that he just plays hard/consistent.
After starting the season 5-3 you had a 12-game losing streak that saw your boss (and former assistant on your 2005 title team at UNC) CB McGrath fired: were you surprised to learn of his firing, and how was Coach Rob Burke able to step in and stop the losing streak? I think that it was a shock to everybody, but when you are not playing well then anything can happen. Coach Burke has done a great job of getting the team to rally around an unfortunate situation since they all came here to play for Coach McGrath. We have tried to make the best of the situation: it has not been easy but it has shown the character of our program.
You have 1 of the youngest teams in the country: how difficult is it to have a 10-man rotation that does not include a single senior? It depends on how you look at it. It would be nice to have more experience now, but in 2 years we will give people a lot of hell. These guys will go through some growing pains and learn a lot about themselves, but it could give them a chance to win the league in the future. You need those kinds of moments to understand how important it is to play together/compete/play hard. Once you go through some adversity you will learn that you cannot do it by yourself, and now they understand that if everyone does their job then we will be all right.
Earlier today FR PG Shykeim Phillips was named to the conference All-Rookie team: how has he been able to come in and contribute right from the start? It has been a process for him. Shy was our #3 guard to start the year but an injury to another guy gave him some more playing time, and after another guy left the team Shy realized that there was nobody else. He made some mistakes and played through them. The 1 thing he does really well is play toward his strengths all of the time.
You have a birthday coming up later this month: any plans for the big day? I really do not know: last year it was the same week as the Final 4 but this year I will leave it up to my wife to plan something for me.
You begin postseason play Saturday afternoon with a 1st round game vs. Drexel (who you just beat by double-digits last week): any predictions? We have to come out and play. The previous week does not matter: it is about who has the best enthusiasm and does all of the little things. I have been watching some other conference tourneys the past few days and have noticed the sense of urgency in the teams who win. Drexel will be ready to play after losing to us: I think they will be super-focused and ready to remove the bad taste from their mouths. You just never know who will go on a run but you hope you get all of the good bounces/calls.