March 25--There are times during the NCAA tournament when it seems like the flow of the television commercials gets disrupted by actually basketball.
North Carolina Coach Roy Williams was asked Wednesday about the unhappiness among fans with the lengthy media timeouts.
"You think it's long for fans, it's even longer for coaches," Williams said. "What the heck am I supposed to say for 2 minutes and 25 seconds?"
The real problem, North Carolina guard Marcus Paige said, was when a television timeout follows shortly after a timeout was taken by a coach.
"It stops the flow of play," Paige said. "The only time you really get stuck is like a timeout and the next dead ball is a media timeout. Coach is like, 'Hey, there is only so much I can say to you. Just relax.' "
There is one advantage, Paige said. "I play a lot of minutes, so it's a good rest."
Asked what he does during those lengthy timeouts, Williams said, "I spend the time making television people and officials mad. I send my team back onto the court. They tell me, 'Keep them on the bench, keep them on the bench, it looks bad.' "
