Lucas: Triple Crown

By Adam Lucas

Of course he had to make it a competition. Of course he did.

We should have known Roy Williams would find a way to make Carolina's daunting three games in five days a challenge for his team. While the rest of us were busy lamenting that the Tar Heels hadn't played such a stretch of ACC games since 1991 (only because of a Gulf War rescheduling) and hadn't had this type of schedule as part of the regular slate of games since 1980, Williams was virtually daring his team to succeed.

"No Carolina team has done this in a long time," he told them. That's perfect Williams. He probably groaned a little when the schedule first hit his desk…and then set about figuring out if maybe his team would do something no Carolina team had done before—or, more importantly, that no one thought this group could do.

Now they have. Carolina completed a perfect 3-0 sweep of the five-day gauntlet with Monday night's 83-66 win over Notre Dame. All things considered—opposition, intangibles, makeup of the current team—it's one of the most impressive three-game winning streaks of the Williams era. Keep in mind that the last post-NCAA championship team, the 2010 group, didn't have a three-game ACC winning streak the entire season. This team just did it in less than a week.

"It feels like we're turning the corner," said Kenny Williams, who poured in 14 points to go with his five rebounds, four assists and two steals. "We picked our effort up and we started finding our groove on the offensive end."

With Theo Pinson (16 points, five assists) taking more frequent turns directing the offense, it definitely looks like everyone on the floor feels more comfortable with their role. The Tar Heels can put five players on the court who can score, but more than that, they can also field five players who can score in multiple ways. There's not a pure, standstill-only shooter-only in the bunch, just as there's not a pure, throw-it-into-the-post big man among the first five players in the rotation.

That makes for a very different Williams-coached team. And offensive rhythm is a very delicate thing—miss a few three-pointers in a row, as will happen at some point in the next couple of weeks, and we'll see just how tenuous it can be.

Right now, though, everything is going the right way. When Kenny Williams was whistled for a dubious foul against Notre Dame's John Mooney while Mooney was attempting a three-pointer, Williams watched as Mooney missed the first two free throws. When the second charity toss rolled off the rim, the junior turned to the Tar Heel fans seated along the sideline and grinned. "Ball don't lie!" he told them triumphantly, as though he had just delivered the irrefutable closing argument in a Supreme Court case, clapping his hands to punctuate his point. Mooney, of course, also missed the third free throw.

This giddy feeling is fragile. It was less than two weeks ago that Carolina was losing on the road at Clemson, dropping to .500 in the ACC and sparking chatter about missing the NCAA Tournament. Be honest: at that moment, what was your best case scenario for this stretch? Maybe 2-1?

Carolina pulled off 3-0. The league is good enough that one distracted game can turn into a loss that sparks a quick losing streak. But it feels like the Tar Heels have gained something in this stretch beyond just three valuable wins in the ACC race.

It also gives them something to work with in March. Hopefully, the postseason schedule will require multiple games in multiple days in Brooklyn and in an NCAA Tournament location yet to be determined. No matter what that schedule might be, no problem—Carolina has already done something similar, and against quality teams.

Because of the amount of time spent together in the last 150 hours or so, it's almost been like a mini-preseason road trip. There hasn't been much time to do anything other than go to class, study, go to practice, play in the games, and get treatment to prepare for the next game (the unsung heroes of this stretch are strength and conditioning coach Jonas Sahratian and athletic trainer Doug Halverson, and you should also remember what a luxury it was to have these games with a veteran team on which the regulars understand the importance of taking care of their bodies). The Tar Heels have largely done all of those activities together, and it's translated to the court.

"I think we've gotten a chance to sit in the locker room with each other and bond with one another," said Joel Berry. "The biggest thing is just us spending time together off the court. That's what our others teams have had the past couple of years, where we sat in the locker room two or three hours and we just talked and joked around. And that goes out onto the court. Just being around the guys these last couple of days, I think the bonding and us just spending time with each other really took a role in this little stretch."

Of course, that also means everyone is fair game. So although Cameron Johnson had a highlight baseline drive and dunk in the second half, his teammates weren't quite as quick to nominate him for SportsCenter Top 10.

"A dunk?" Kenny Williams said while raising a skeptical eyebrow. "Let's call that an exaggerated layup. I don't want to give him credit."

There are very, very few teams that could have rolled through this type of stretch unblemished. Take a moment and enjoy it—Tuesday is, mercifully, an off day for the Tar Heels—but then know that attention will turn to making sure this isn't the high point of the season.

And why shouldn't they be successful? After all, they just did something no Carolina team has done in 38 years.

"I'm not tired," Kenny Williams said after the game. Then he paused.

"But if you call me back in the morning, I might have a different answer for you."

Players Mentioned

Cameron Johnson

Theo Pinson

Kenny Williams

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