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UNC Notes

Posted on January 29, 2009January 29, 2009 by Staff

By Frank Heath

Every college basketball season is an adventure, and this one is certainly no exception.

Following its sobering 0-2 conference start, the UNC men’s basketball team picked up consecutive wins against Virginia, Miami and Clemson entering Wednesday’s important test at Florida State.

The Tar Heels will learn a lot about themselves over the next two weeks of the schedule, with road games against FSU and N. C. State, followed by home match-ups with Maryland and Virginia.

Without a ranked opponent in the lot, this is not a stretch built to inspire fear — at least not on paper. (In contrast, Duke still plays games against Wake Forest and Clemson before its Feb. 11 appointment with the Tar Heels.)

But when Carolina doesn’t play up to its capabilities — maintaining its focus and patience on both ends of the court, rebounding well and getting the ball quickly into the hands of Ty Lawson in transition — the Tar Heels can become a much more ordinary team, looking slow and tentative on offense and uninspired, or downright porous, on the defensive end.

Luckily, the Heels’ early league losses — combined with unexpectedly strong starts by rivals Wake and Duke — seem to have grabbed some of their attention. Carolina’s complete performance against No. 9 Clemson and in the final 25 minutes of the Miami game reminded fans – and, more than likely, the players themselves – of what this team is capable of doing.

Guard Wayne Ellington shot as well as he ever has, and he also won the team’s defensive award against Clemson. Ellington’s play can be a huge inspiration for his teammates.
UNC’s defensive effort in those games disrupted most of what both of these opponents wanted to do, and Carolina was especially effective containing penetration, resulting in both opponents being forced into frustrating shooting nights. Carolina, meanwhile, returned to its trademark of 50-plus-percent shooting and multiple double-figures scorers.

Attacking with quick, crisp passes and Ty Lawson’s aggressive dribbling against Clemson’s pressure, the Heels were able to get a lot of good shots in transition, and the Tigers wore themselves out by the middle of the second half.
Carolina has never had great luck coming off a week layoff, so this Wednesday’s game against surprising Florida State looks scary. FSU already has two ACC road wins, and the Seminoles played both Pittsburgh and Duke tough in eight-point losses this year. One hopes the Heels are able to knock off the rust and produce a good rebounding effort, which is key to the team’s transition game.

Either way, win or lose against FSU, the Heels will need to come back strong against N.C. State this weekend in Raleigh. Although 2-4 in league play, the Pack has been an improved team with gathering confidence over the past two weeks, and the Wolfpack Nation’s unique hatred of Carolina Blue will no doubt be at its boiling point come Saturday at the RBC Center.

After the tussle with State, home games against early conference stragglers Maryland and Virginia will likely test Carolina’s ability to maintain focus. Given the troubling losses earlier this season, the Tar Heels should be playing their hardest from here on out – so any slippage during the four games prior to UNC’s Feb. 11 match-up with Duke will not be a good sign.

Since that 0-2 league start, the Tar Heels have done what they needed to do: They didn’t panic and they’ve dedicated themselves to playing the type of fundamental basketball that coach Roy Williams wants from them.

With two games yet to be played against current No. 1 Duke, and the ACC and NCAA tournaments after that, it remains within UNC’s reach to fulfill a lot of its aspirations for this season. The Tar Heels are still in the mix for the ACC regular season championship — although they currently sit behind three teams in the standings.

It is yet a long season, and both of the other main threats to win the regular season — Wake Forest and Duke — will have to prove their mettle to earn that title. The Deacons still have three regular season games remaining against opponents currently ranked in the Top 10 and the Devils face a whopping five more Top Ten tilts — not to mention road trips to Virginia Tech, Boston College and Maryland. UNC plays just two more games against Top Ten opposition before the post-season, both versus the Blue Devils. So Carolina is close to controlling its own destiny.

But of course, any lofty talk of championships and seeds is nothing but speculative dribble if the Tar Heels don’t maintain their focus on the task at hand. A pair of wins this week against Florida State and the Pack will indicate that Carolina is moving along the right track.

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