Lucas: Details

By Adam Lucas

CHARLOTTE—Grab your rabbit's foot. Knock on the nearest wood.

Roy Williams won't like it, but we have to talk about this. With Carolina's win over Lipscomb on Friday afternoon, the Carolina head coach is now 28-0 in first-round NCAA Tournament games.

In an era when every day in March features an upset and every team has multiple players who are capable of carrying a team to a win, that's an incredible statistic.

I know what you're thinking—well, sure, but Williams always has a high seed, so he should win. First, that's not true. At Carolina alone, he's won as an eight, twice as a six and once as a four, in addition to his first-round victories as a top-three seed.

But don't forget about those wins as a one, two or three. Other coaches—including individuals who get much more attention than Roy Williams when the greatest coaches in the game are being discussed—have lost first-round games in those lofty slots. It happens every year.

And still, here goes Williams, just winning. He has won his first 28 opening-round NCAA Tournament games. You know who is in second place in that category? Former Kentucky coach Adolph Rupp…who won his first 13 such games. Williams has more than doubled the legendary Rupp.

"He doesn't let us overlook any opponent," says Kenny Williams, who scored 18 points against the Bisons. "The preparation is the same, we look at everybody the same and we respect everybody. I think that's what it is. He doesn't let his teams overlook anybody. He makes sure we'll be ready every night."

Before the NCAA Tournament selection show had gone off the air on Sunday night, Roy Williams had huddled with his staff in his living room. They discussed the week's practice schedule, they decided how to balance on-court work with off-court weights, conditioning and recovery, and they divided up the scouting responsibilities.

Every year, it's the same. He knows when he wants to leave for the host city. He knows where he wants to eat before the game (Sunday night included an in-depth discussion of a specific steakhouse that was eliminated from consideration because he had eaten there before a defeat, of which there are not many). He knows when his team will practice and what time they will eat before the game and when the bus will leave the hotel.

This should not surprise anyone. Roy Williams is one of the greatest coaches in the history of college basketball, and he is also one of the most detail-oriented. Nothing that has anything at all to do with Carolina basketball escapes his attention. He intently watches the pre-starting lineup hype videos at road venues, because he might spot something he'd like to incorporate at the Smith Center. As has been well documented, he doesn't do social media, but he knows exactly what the UNC basketball social media team is doing for each game. He makes certain his Tar Heels are involved in the community and he considers future scheduling opportunities and he calls former players.

Sometimes we don't understand this. We hear him say he lives and breathes Carolina basketball and we think, "Yeah, us too," because we cheer at the games and read about it on the internet and maybe even think about it while we toss and turn after a loss.

Williams lives Carolina basketball every single second. He sends holiday cards to every former player with a handwritten message. He handles every ticket request and allocates every single ticket on the road. On at least one occasion during his tenure at Carolina, the seating chart provided to the Tar Heels did not match the seats in the road arena. When Williams got to the game and realized the seats weren't how he meant for them to be, he reorganized the tickets on the spot, minutes before tipoff.

When the Tar Heels had an off day during the three games in five days stretch earlier this season, he went recruiting on an off day. When he gave the team Monday off earlier this week after a grueling schedule in Brooklyn, he went recruiting on the off day. At home, he pushes the can to the road on trash day. Wanda Williams handles almost everything else, because he is too absorbed in Tar Heel basketball to be of much assistance.

There are other coaches who might be distracted by the trappings of the NCAA Tournament. Williams is not. Before every NCAA weekend, he is absolutely guaranteed to say, "We're going to play one game, and if we're fortunate enough to play well, they might let us hang around and play another one."

He means it. While you looked at your bracket and considered upset picks and evaluated matchups, Williams thought about Lipscomb. That's it. Just Lipscomb. He's been remarkably successful at getting his teams to prepare the same way, and the results show.

"He prepares us in a great way," said Cameron Johnson. "He does everything he can to put us in a position to win."

Oh, and one other thing—Roy Williams is really good during the game. That's not the cool opinion, of course. We're supposed to believe that somehow he just lucks into all these victories. But he has an uncanny ability to get the absolute best out of his players at the right time. Early in Friday's game, Carolina looked tentative against Lipscomb.

"Don't be afraid," Williams said to Joel Berry in the huddle. The head coach knew exactly how his senior would respond.

"I'm not afraid," Berry said immediately. And then he proceeded to change the game, defending like the love child of Jackie Manuel and Dudley Bradley while dropping in long-distance three-pointers. On one memorable second half play, the Bisons missed a three-pointer and the ball bounced free towards the midcourt stripe. Poor Garrison Mathews thought he was going to get an easy offensive rebound and prepared to gather it in. He didn't account for Berry coming from at least 15 feet away on a dead sprint, scooping up the ball, and sprinting downcourt for a layup. It was one of the most impressive loose-ball rebounds you will ever see purely for the complete ferociousness on Berry's face as he hurtled towards the basketball.

Later in the game, Berry got tangled up in front of the Tar Heel bench with a Lipscomb defender who jumped on him in a scrum for a loose ball. Still amped, Berry bristled. One of the first people to reach him was Roy Williams, who knew exactly the temperature of the fire he'd lit.

It's not just Berry. There have not been many more disparate personalities in Carolina basketball history than Berry and Theo Pinson. Williams has managed them both perfectly, allowing Theo to be Theo and Joel to be Joel while knowing how to get similar results out of starkly different people.

After the game, Berry considered that timeout exachange with his head coach.

"I need to thank him," the point guard said. "That's why I came here."

When the NCAA representative brought the giant bracket into the locker room and had the Tar Heels advance their name to the next round, Williams nominated Berry to do the honors. Berry grabbed the placard with Carolina's name and placed it in the second round. Williams watched from the side, moving on yet again.

Players Mentioned

Cameron Johnson

Theo Pinson

Kenny Williams

Related Videos