Lucas: The Way It Is

By Adam Lucas

BROOKLYN—This is how it was.

When your parents or your favorite TV analyst tell you about how the Carolina-Duke rivalry was even more intense in the 1980s and 1990s, they're talking about games like Friday.

They're talking about games that had staredowns, like the Joel Berry-Gary Trent Jr. dust-up. And they mean games that had flagrant fouls, like Grayson Allen's hip check on Garrison Brooks. They're talking about games with the head coaches meeting at midcourt to sort through the latest altercation, and a coach stalking the officials at halftime, and dunks you'll never forget and assists delivered while sitting on the floor and sacrificing bodies to take key charges.

And now you've got your game to talk about. You've got Carolina-Duke, the 2018 ACC Tournament edition.

This was the first time the Tar Heels have beaten the Blue Devils in this event since 1998. I was at that game, sitting one row behind Shammond Williams' mother, who disliked Duke in 1998 every bit as much as you did tonight. We exchanged high fives throughout the second half, as Antawn Jamison "put on an absolute clinic," in the legendary words of Woody Durham. Carolina won that game by 15 points but it didn't feel like that big a margin. It was horribly intense and completely agonizing and it probably took years off my life and I smile every single time I think about it and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Not much changes in 20 years, huh? Except the difference is now we get to spend hours after the game scrolling through the funniest memes on the Internet. In 1998, we had Steve Wojciechowski. In 2018, you have Grayson Allen. Somehow, someway, the Blue Devils never stop giving. The faces and names may change, but the loathing, boy, that never changes even a little.

I know you are frustrated about the final five minutes. It wasn't much fun. But don't let those terrible five minutes allow you to forget that for 35 minutes, Carolina completely dominated a very good Duke team. That's the story of this game, not the final five minutes.

The story of the game was that the Tar Heels defended maniacally, including 6-foot-6 Theo Pinson doing a great job on 6-foot-11 Marvin Bagley, and having a direct hand in four Duke turnovers in the paint. Most of the time when we think of great UNC defensive performances we think of a guard shutting down another guard (like the job Kenny Williams did on Tyus Battle two nights ago). This one deserves to be in that category. Twice in the final three minutes Carolina drew very important charges, with Pinson collecting one on Bagley, and Kenny Williams completing yet another underratedly big game by drawing one against Allen.

The story of the game was that Carolina completely carved up the Duke zone, zipping the ball into the soft middle of the defense and then zipping laser-guided passes for easy hoops. Twenty-four of UNC's 28 baskets were assisted, and there may not be a better one all year than Garrison Brooks hustling to save a ball headed out of bounds and somehow tossing it back inbounds to Pinson, who was wide open primarily because he was in a seated position in the lane. Pinson held the ball for less time than it takes to do a head snap, then fired it to Sterling Manley for yet another gorgeous Tar Heel bucket.

The story of the game was that Roy Williams took a team that one alleged expert called the least talented team of his tenure in Chapel Hill and beat a squad that has more legitimate NBA talent than some NBA teams. That's two out of three for that bunch of rag-tag no-talent scrubs this year, so maybe that guy can coach a little. Believe this—considering the personnel and the history and the storylines, that was one of the most satisfying wins of the Williams era.

Of course, we all helped. We all had to go where we go and do what we do. Friday night, I walked off the subway with Eric Hoots two and a half hours before the game. We approached the turnstiles near the Barclays Center. There were at least a dozen of them.

"I go through this one," he said, and he slid over a couple rows just to make sure he went through the right one.

I would've made fun of him, if earlier that day my wife and I hadn't eaten at the exact same restaurant for the third day in a row. We all do what we do. We can't help it. No one is immune. In the second half, Marvin Bagley airballed a free throw. Roy Williams was facing away from the play when it happened, checking on something on the Carolina bench. He heard the loud reaction from the crowd, though.

"What happened?" he asked senior walk-on Aaron Rohlman.

"He airballed it," Rohlman replied.

"Maybe I should turn away from all the free throws," said Roy Williams, the Hall of Fame head coach of one of the nation's best teams, a winner of 841 college basketball games in his life, and still a firm believer in going where he goes, so why shouldn't the rest of do it, too?

There is more to say about this game. You don't mind, do you? Of course you don't. You have watched the YouTube highlights and retweeted the videos and sent your buddies the GIFs. You've got time for a few more words.

Carolina had Duke extremely well scouted, and they also had veterans, which is a terrific combination. On at least two occasions, Pinson and Berry called out the play Duke was running, alerting their teammates to the imminent set and action.

Then, on perhaps the most important play of the game, Luke Maye was switched onto Allen. Carolina led by three and there were a dozen seconds remaining. Allen had the ball and went into his shooting motion. There are seconds left and the other team's best shooter is about to take a game-tying shot. What do you do? Jump at him, right? Contest the shot. Of course you do.

But Maye didn't. He did exactly what the scouting report told him to do and what he's been coached to do—he stayed down. He stayed on his feet, forced Allen, the da Vinci of drawing contact, to make a play, and it disrupted the senior's obvious plan. The shot missed, Pinson drained a pair of free throws, and the game was over.

After the game, all the involved parties said all the right things about their respect and their friendship and just what you'd expect to hear. It was nice. It's what separates Carolina-Duke from some of those other matchups, the ones where staff members bark epithets at fans while running off the court.

But believe this. Pinson and Berry both talked about their respect for the Blue Devils. They're being truthful; this isn't J.R. Reid and Danny Ferry genuinely disliking each other. But Pinson and Berry also remember, in vivid detail, the fact that they went to a camp as high school seniors and sat on the bench so the more highly touted Duke signees could play virtually every minute.

By now, four years later, you know Joel Berry. Do you think he remembers sitting on the bench watching players observers said were better than him? Of course he does. He and Pinson absolutely, completely, totally remember that weekend, no matter if it was four years ago. It didn't win the game for the Tar Heels on Friday. But it didn't hurt, either, not when Pinson was fighting for position in the paint and Berry was wrestling the ball away from Gary Trent Jr. after outjumping all those other tall guys for a rebound.

Berry and Trent ended up eye to eye, or as much as you can when the other guy is six inches taller than you. And despite the height difference, there wasn't one Tar Heel in the world who believed Berry was backing down in any possible way from that situation. It was absolutely perfect. They were bigger and allegedly better and had that pedigree. We were…well, we were Joel Berry, just standing there, ball on our hip, waiting.

This, folks, is how it was. And, at least for Friday night, this is how it is.

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Sterling Manley

Luke Maye

Theo Pinson

Aaron Rohlman

Kenny Williams

Related Videos