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Tar Heels headed north or south?

Posted on January 27, 2011 by Staff

By Eddy Landreth
Staff Writer

The most effective implement in a coach’s toolbox is often the bench.

In a world of summer club teams; egos overinflated by friends, family and recruiting coverage; and parents blind to their children’s flaws, today’s players can have a sense of entitlement that far exceeds reality.

All the yelling, screaming and cursing in the world can sail over a player’s head when one postgame phone call home can reinforce the idea that the player’s poor play was not his fault, but that of ineffectual teammates and coaches.

The bench often has to be a tool of last resort. As cocky and self-assured as some players appear, they may well be showing such traits to camouflage insecurities. And there are insecurities galore in adolescents who are still trying to discover their true identities and self-worth.

So when UNC Tar Heel coach Roy Williams finally used the bench as a way to jumpstart a team falling well short of its potential, he made a smart move by being as positive as possible with his players, rather than beating them down further by criticizing them publicly or chewing them out in front of the crowd as they came off the floor after making mistakes.

There is no reason to believe this approach won’t continue to be the ideal one for the 2011 Tar Heels, given the talent they possess alongside the inconsistencies in their play.

The fact that this strategy worked with Larry Drew in a victory against Clemson is the best evidence that Williams can continue to squeeze more from all his players using this approach. Tyler Zeller and Drew appeared to be the two biggest enigmas on the roster. Both possess more talent than they have shown, but watching their body language and facial expressions one could not help wondering, at times, whether either one really cared.

After the debacle of a game against Georgia Tech in Atlanta, the time had clearly arrived to find out which players on this team cared enough to play with some passion, to play through their mistakes and perform as if winning mattered.

The fact that this is a young team still learning how to play together and how to play Williams’ system in concert remains as true as it was on the first day of practice. But at some point, a team has to replace worries with pure effort.

If Zeller will run the court the way he can, box out opponents and rebound, the rest of his game will fall in line.

If Drew will play from the depths of his heart on defense, use his athleticism to attack on offense and play the game north-to-south rather than east-to-west, people will begin to see what Williams saw in the young man when he recruited him out of Southern California.

There is a truism about all team sports. No team sits idle. Teams are either progressing, even if at an excruciating rate, or they are slipping. The key is to get as many of the parts working together as possible and keep advancing.

At this point, it would sound crazy to say the 2011 Tar Heels could play in the Final Four in late March, but it is not insanity. College basketball is like a bottle of whiskey that has been watered down so often that little of the flavor remains.

Look at what the 2009 Carolina team did to the tournament on its way to the title. UNC destroyed everything in its path and could easily have done so again last season if the juniors had returned for their senior seasons rather than turning pro.

There are few teams in the country with more raw talent than what Williams has on his team this season. Inexperience and the lack of a strong individual to take charge are Williams’ biggest hurdles to overcome. This team’s ultimate accomplishments in 2011 will be limited only by its capacity for unselfishness and willingness to listen genuinely to Williams, and the effort it can find to give every day in practice and in games.

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