ROYC75
04-04-2005, 07:33 AM
Williams defends ‘chitchats'
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/11303995.htm
(Tampering ? This is for my beloved Jayhawks buddys that refuse to see the whole picture ......... )
ST. LOUIS — With a victory in tonight's NCAA title game, North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams could end two sorry chapters in his life.
He could lose the title as “the best college basketball coach to never win an NCAA title,” and he could become the coach who restored the Carolina basketball program rather than the coach who bolted Kansas in a whirlwind of controversy and broken hearts.
Yes, in perhaps the most-anticipated NCAA final since Larry Bird and Magic Johnson squared off in 1979, in a game being dubbed as “Talent (North Carolina) vs. Team (Illinois),” in a championship pitting the country's No. 1 and No. 2 teams, Roy Williams has the most riding on the outcome.
“I know this doesn't make good copy, but I don't think about that,” Williams said. “I do think about winning or not winning. And I do think about winning a national championship. But I don't think about how that puts me in the hierarchy.”
Roy needs this victory tonight, much more than Illinois coach Bruce Weber, leader of the nation's top-ranked team. First off, Roy has a roster loaded with future NBA players.
“The perception is, you know, if we win,” Williams explained, “ ‘Gosh, you're supposed to win, Roy. If you can't win with that group, you ain't ever going to win.'
“I really think that's going to happen. I hope it does. They can say anything they want to about me.”
That's not totally true. Roy, as we've established, still cares about what's said about him as it relates to Kansas. He'll never quit caring about that. A victory tonight could help him move beyond all the Kansas talk. A victory tonight would give those of us in the media something to write and talk about more than his career at Kansas and his ugly departure.
On Sunday one question seemed to elicit the most detail and passion from Williams. I asked him about the perception that his communication with his former KU players interfered with Bill Self's ability to connect with the Jayhawks. Williams gave an extensive response. I'm going to share all of it with you because I think it's important that Williams be heard in context.
“I spoke to two different Kansas players (this season),” Williams said. “Wayne Simien, twice in 12 months, and both times he called me. I'm not supposed to take a call when a former player that I'd known for six years — I'm not supposed to take that call? That's the part that I don't understand.
“Secondly, I called him once, knowing that he was being operated on because I'd seen it in the paper and I saw it went across the little bottom line on the ESPN thing. I left a message of: ‘You're tough enough. You've been through a lot. You can get through this. You'll come back even stronger.'
“The other two times he called me, and I did speak to him,” Williams continued. “We never one time talked about basketball. He called on media day, because he had seen it was media day and remembered how much I truly loved media day. He called me in my car. I told him it was a great thrill to be talking to him as opposed to spending nine hours at media day. The other time he called me was on Christmas Day. That was about four, five, six days after his surgery.
“I don't really think that Kansas had any ‘problem' this year. I think they had a great year. But I definitely don't think Wayne Simien was the problem.”
Williams then transitioned into a conversation he had with KU point guard Aaron Miles.
“The other phone call was last year on Christmas Eve,” Williams said. “Aaron Miles called me and wished me merry Christmas. This year I decided to call him and wish him merry Christmas and left a message on his voicemail. He called me back on Christmas Day.
“I don't really think, again, that Kansas had a problem. If Kansas had a problem, I don't think Aaron Miles was that problem. So do I think it was inappropriate? No.”
The skeptical journalist in me believes Williams intentionally referenced Kansas' two best players because he's probably aware that the Kansas coaching staff struggled to reach Keith Langford and J.R. Giddens.
The potential “problem” players did not communicate with Williams.
OK, back to what Williams had to say.
“When I was at Kansas, Larry Brown's staff called the players that I was coaching,” Williams said. “When I was at North Carolina my first year, Matt Doherty — Doug Wojcik was quoted the other day as saying he speaks to the North Carolina players. That doesn't bother me.
“I know that I would never, ever do anything to hurt Kansas, their success and especially those players. So, yes, it does bother me for somebody to say I interfered. I did interfere because I recruited all those kids and I cared about all those kids. But to say that I interfered was far from the truth. …
“USA Today did an article on Wayne Simien, called me and wanted to know what kind of kid he was,” Williams continued. “I said he's a wonderful kid. He called me on Father's Day my first year that I was gone. Every time he would call or every time I would see him or anything, he would always end it by saying, ‘Please tell your wife hello.'
“And then there was another article done, and then there was another article done. They took quotes from that and said that I was bragging about my chitchats. You and I both know that's not fair.”
Well, the last line was a shot at me. I wrote the “bragging chitchat” stuff in my column a couple of days after Kansas lost to Bucknell. Williams read it and was upset. He cares about how he's perceived back here. He doesn't want to be remembered as the guy who hurt the Kansas basketball program.
He wants to be remembered as the very successful Kansas coach who went on to win a national championship at North Carolina. It could happen tonight
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/sports/11303995.htm
(Tampering ? This is for my beloved Jayhawks buddys that refuse to see the whole picture ......... )
ST. LOUIS — With a victory in tonight's NCAA title game, North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams could end two sorry chapters in his life.
He could lose the title as “the best college basketball coach to never win an NCAA title,” and he could become the coach who restored the Carolina basketball program rather than the coach who bolted Kansas in a whirlwind of controversy and broken hearts.
Yes, in perhaps the most-anticipated NCAA final since Larry Bird and Magic Johnson squared off in 1979, in a game being dubbed as “Talent (North Carolina) vs. Team (Illinois),” in a championship pitting the country's No. 1 and No. 2 teams, Roy Williams has the most riding on the outcome.
“I know this doesn't make good copy, but I don't think about that,” Williams said. “I do think about winning or not winning. And I do think about winning a national championship. But I don't think about how that puts me in the hierarchy.”
Roy needs this victory tonight, much more than Illinois coach Bruce Weber, leader of the nation's top-ranked team. First off, Roy has a roster loaded with future NBA players.
“The perception is, you know, if we win,” Williams explained, “ ‘Gosh, you're supposed to win, Roy. If you can't win with that group, you ain't ever going to win.'
“I really think that's going to happen. I hope it does. They can say anything they want to about me.”
That's not totally true. Roy, as we've established, still cares about what's said about him as it relates to Kansas. He'll never quit caring about that. A victory tonight could help him move beyond all the Kansas talk. A victory tonight would give those of us in the media something to write and talk about more than his career at Kansas and his ugly departure.
On Sunday one question seemed to elicit the most detail and passion from Williams. I asked him about the perception that his communication with his former KU players interfered with Bill Self's ability to connect with the Jayhawks. Williams gave an extensive response. I'm going to share all of it with you because I think it's important that Williams be heard in context.
“I spoke to two different Kansas players (this season),” Williams said. “Wayne Simien, twice in 12 months, and both times he called me. I'm not supposed to take a call when a former player that I'd known for six years — I'm not supposed to take that call? That's the part that I don't understand.
“Secondly, I called him once, knowing that he was being operated on because I'd seen it in the paper and I saw it went across the little bottom line on the ESPN thing. I left a message of: ‘You're tough enough. You've been through a lot. You can get through this. You'll come back even stronger.'
“The other two times he called me, and I did speak to him,” Williams continued. “We never one time talked about basketball. He called on media day, because he had seen it was media day and remembered how much I truly loved media day. He called me in my car. I told him it was a great thrill to be talking to him as opposed to spending nine hours at media day. The other time he called me was on Christmas Day. That was about four, five, six days after his surgery.
“I don't really think that Kansas had any ‘problem' this year. I think they had a great year. But I definitely don't think Wayne Simien was the problem.”
Williams then transitioned into a conversation he had with KU point guard Aaron Miles.
“The other phone call was last year on Christmas Eve,” Williams said. “Aaron Miles called me and wished me merry Christmas. This year I decided to call him and wish him merry Christmas and left a message on his voicemail. He called me back on Christmas Day.
“I don't really think, again, that Kansas had a problem. If Kansas had a problem, I don't think Aaron Miles was that problem. So do I think it was inappropriate? No.”
The skeptical journalist in me believes Williams intentionally referenced Kansas' two best players because he's probably aware that the Kansas coaching staff struggled to reach Keith Langford and J.R. Giddens.
The potential “problem” players did not communicate with Williams.
OK, back to what Williams had to say.
“When I was at Kansas, Larry Brown's staff called the players that I was coaching,” Williams said. “When I was at North Carolina my first year, Matt Doherty — Doug Wojcik was quoted the other day as saying he speaks to the North Carolina players. That doesn't bother me.
“I know that I would never, ever do anything to hurt Kansas, their success and especially those players. So, yes, it does bother me for somebody to say I interfered. I did interfere because I recruited all those kids and I cared about all those kids. But to say that I interfered was far from the truth. …
“USA Today did an article on Wayne Simien, called me and wanted to know what kind of kid he was,” Williams continued. “I said he's a wonderful kid. He called me on Father's Day my first year that I was gone. Every time he would call or every time I would see him or anything, he would always end it by saying, ‘Please tell your wife hello.'
“And then there was another article done, and then there was another article done. They took quotes from that and said that I was bragging about my chitchats. You and I both know that's not fair.”
Well, the last line was a shot at me. I wrote the “bragging chitchat” stuff in my column a couple of days after Kansas lost to Bucknell. Williams read it and was upset. He cares about how he's perceived back here. He doesn't want to be remembered as the guy who hurt the Kansas basketball program.
He wants to be remembered as the very successful Kansas coach who went on to win a national championship at North Carolina. It could happen tonight