By Matt Jones, sports editor

At 0-3 in the ACC and winless in the 2012 calendar year, Seth Greenberg and the Hokies are looking to get back to their winning ways Thursday night in Cassell Coliseum.

North Carolina (15-3, 2-1 ACC), is coming off a 33 point loss at the hands of Florida State Saturday, and should have plenty of motivation for a primetime clash with the Hokies.

Here’s what head coach Seth Greenberg had to say about his team’s play 17 games into the season, and plenty of stuff about the No. 8 Tar Heels.

Follow me on Twitter.

—

  • Greenberg, who watched the Florida State-North Carolina game, took that game as more of a hiccup for the Tar Heels. “Despite what happened at Florida State, I think they’re pretty good,” he said. “I think that game was more aberration than reality. The reality is they’ve got the most experienced, deepest, most talented team in the country if you look across the board.”
  • On if he thinks the Hokies will ‘show up’ for a marquee clash with Carolina: “I think we’re going to show up and I think we’re going to play the game. We have an opportunity to have a home game against an elite team. I think we’ve been in this situation maybe before, and we figured out a way. The last time I checked, we’re all going to be here Thursday at 9:00.”
  • The Tar Heels, who score the most points of any team in the country (85.2 per game), have better shooters than last year. “I think (P.J.) Hairston and (Reggie) Bullock stretch the defense. I think they’re posting (Harrison) Barnes more, which makes him a bit more difficult to defend on flex cuts.”
  • On where the team is mentally: “I think our guys are disappointed, and they should be disappointed because they invested a lot in it.”
  • In the three ACC losses the Hokies were just -9 in scoring differential. Greenberg still thinks he has a good team. “We’re a good team. Eight, nine, tens days ago — we thought we were a really good team.”
  • Greenberg on his young team: “I would think they hurt a little bit, but this is a learning process for six of them for sure. Six of them didn’t really play ACC basketball last year; six of them have not been in this situation. This is all new, and this is all part of the learning process.”
  • Keys to playing an elite team like Carolina close, according to Greenberg: “Controlling the tempo of the game, not giving up easy baskets on second shots and transition, taking care of the basketball, scoring some easy baskets, whether those are in transition or off of steals or second shots. Those are the things you need to beat any team, and you got to make shots. The times we’ve played well against Carolina, we’ve made shots.”
  • Greenberg said the Hokies can control the tempo of the game in many different ways, not just slowing the Tar Heels down. “You’ve got to put pressure on your opponent if you want to control tempo. There are a lot of different ways to control tempo.”
  • The Hokies have lacked an energy guy this season, and Greenberg is still looking. “Erick is really working on his leadership, but you don’t have that ‘Energizer Bunny.’ We did, we thought that J.T. Thompson would be that guy for us this year, but he’s not here. I think that’s something that we’re missing a little bit. If you want to call it a role model, that might be it.”
  • Kendall Marshall, a preseason All-ACC selection, could give the Hokies problems is they don’t stay alert. “You’ve really got to be alert defensively, that’s one of the most important things,” he said. “If not, (Marshall) is going to whiz the ball by your head for a layup.”
  • On forward John Henson: “He’s inspector gadget. He runs the floor hard… you can throw it anywhere in the basket area and he’s going to come up to the ball.”
  • What does Greenberg think the UNC practices are like this week? “I don’t think they saw a kinder, gentler Roy Williams this week. They probably saw an angry Roy Williams; he wasn’t Saint Roy, he was probably more of a bulldog this week.”
  • The challenges of a young team were not unexpected for Greenberg and his staff. “I understand we have some challenges in front of us right now. If you look around the country, and excluding Kentucky, there’s a learning curve for new players. That’s just the way it is.”
  • On Barnes: “He’s good, the guy’s really good. He’s posting up more. He can get his shot at any time, he can take over the game at any time, and he’s hard to keep off the glass. There’s a reason he’s a lottery pick.”
  • Finally, Greenberg expects point guard Erick Green to be good to go Thursday night. A sprained knee held him out of the Boston College game. “He was in here shooting this morning, he had treatment. I expect it would be hard for me to keep him out of the game. Especially after last year, cramping up at the end of the game.”

Photos by Austen Meredith and Daniel Lin, SPPS