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Resourceful Tar Heels open NCAA Tournament in Charlotte

Posted on March 17, 2011March 24, 2011 by Staff



By Eddy Landreth

When Carolina started the basketball season 4-3, probably few people imagined the Tar Heels would earn a No. 2 seed in the 2011 NCAA Tournament.

Just making the tournament seemed somewhat chancy, given that the Tar Heels had followed their 2009 national championship by playing in the 2010 postseason National Invitation Tournament.

Nonetheless, this team has proven to be as resourceful as it is talented. The path that lay ahead will not be easy. Ohio State is the top seed in the East Region, followed by UNC, Syracuse and Kentucky, in that order.

“I have loved this team,” coach Roy Williams said. “I can go back to the first conference game, when we stunk it up against Virginia, but then we did the tough things down the stretch. That is the way this team has fought all year long.”

Carolina, despite significant adversity, has continued to better itself. The Tar Heels defeated Duke in Chapel Hill to finish first in the final regular-season standings. Unfortunately for Carolina, Duke responded by whipping the Tar Heels, 75-58, one week later to win the ACC Tournament. The Blue Devils are seeded No. 1 in the West region, with San Diego State as the No. 2 seed.

Carolina and Duke will open the 2011 NCAA Tournament at the Charlotte Coliseum, same as they did in 2005, when Carolina went on to win Williams’ first national championship.

“I am extremely proud of my team, and I congratulate them on the great run they’ve had since mid-January,” Williams said. “Not many people would have thought that when we left Atlanta [on Jan. 16] after the loss to Georgia Tech [78-58] that we would have won the ACC regular-season championship, played in the ACC Tournament final and earned a number-two seed in the NCAA Tournament.

“Now we have to get back to work and play better than we did this weekend in Greensboro.”
Carolina will open against the 27-5 Long Island Blackbirds (LIU) at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. The Blackbirds landed their berth by finishing ahead of traditional power Quinnipiac in the final Northeast Conference standings and defeating Robert Morris in overtime in the conference tournament.

Losing to Duke in the ACC Tournament final will provide additional motivation for the Tar Heels, freshman point guard Kendall Marshall said.

“The main thing we’re taking away is the feeling we feel right now,” Marshall said. “Everybody is hurting. You don’t want to feel this anymore. We have to be ready every day.”

It is difficult to imagine that the Tar Heels won’t bounce back and clip the Blackbirds’ wings. Versatility has been an ongoing trait of this team. For example, UNC defeated Boston College in the Smith Center 48-46. A couple of weeks earlier, the Tar Heels had beaten the Eagles 106-74.

This has not always been a strong scoring team. Defense has formed the foundation on which Carolina built its 26-7 overall record and 14-2 conference record.

UNC’s frontline of John Henson and Tyler Zeller have enabled the Tar Heels to push opponents’ offenses farther and farther from the basket, turning most teams into jump shooters. Henson was named the ACC defensive player of the year because of his uncanny ability to block shots.

The real question with this Carolina team is whether it can regain the momentum that carried it to first place in the regular season.

The Tar Heels came from behind to defeat Miami and Clemson to make it to the championship game against Duke. This begs the question of whether this team will turn out like the 2006 version, which peaked in the final regular-season game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. That team lost in the ACC Tournament and then was upset by George Mason in the NCAAs.

There is no doubt the 2011 team has the talent. Showing the maturity will be the deciding factor.

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