It may be the biggest day of the season thus far for both the Blue Devils and the Tar Heels, but North Carolina head coach Roy Williams provides us with a bit of comic relief hours before tipoff. WTVD reporter Mark Armstrong gets Williams to reveal in a pre-game press conference that Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith's high shooting percentages are the key for Duke, and that he can't stand scary movies, as noted by ESPN blogger Eamonn Brennan.
After Williams calculated that seniors Kyle Singler and Nolan Smith have taken 666 shots so far this year combined, Armstrong asks the Tar Heels' coach if the number has any significance. What follows defies expectation:
Armstrong: 666 shots? Is there symbolism there?
Williams: Yeah. If you like Highway 6, route No. 6. 666 shots and they make about 45, 46 percent of ‘em and about 36, 37 percent from 3, that usually means you win.
A: You are playing the Devils.
(giggles)
Williams: That’s right.
(more giggles.)
Williams: What?
A: You are playing the Devils. 666? Sign of the beast?
Williams: OK. (laughter) I thought you were talking about the craps table or something. I didn’t know where you were going with that. These press conferences do tend to deteriorate.
A: So you never got into the Omen movies or the Exorcist?
Williams: No, when I see somebody throwing up on the air, I am not watching the dadgum movie, I can tell you that. Give me John Wayne or Clint Eastwood and something to laugh in. I’m 60-years-old. I don’t want to be scared by a dadgum movie.
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