University of North Carolina Athletics
Men's Basketball Season Preview
October 17, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Seniors Jason Capel and Kris Lang lead
leader on the 2001-02 |
Last year, Carolina ran off 18 wins in a row to vault to the No. 1 ranking in the country and tie for the ACC regular-season championship. The Tar Heels may have to replace five of the top seven performers from that team, including the top two scorers, guard Joseph Forte and center Brendan Haywood, starting point guard Ronald Curry and sixth-man Julius Peppers. Forte (20.0 ppg) and Haywood (12.3 ppg) were both selected in the first round of the NBA Draft. Curry and Peppers are two-sport standouts at Carolina and may elect not to play basketball this season to prepare for professional football careers.
Capel and Lang are two of the most experienced players in the country. They were recruited by Dean Smith, played in a Final Four under Bill Guthridge and won an ACC regular-season title with Doherty. Both are members of the 1,000-point club at Carolina, combining to score 2,085 points.
Capel, 6-8, from Fayetteville, N.C., can play any of four positions. He is a preseason candidate for the John Wooden Award as the National Player of the Year. As a junior, Capel averaged 11.4 points and 7.3 rebounds per game. He shared team rebounding honors with Haywood. The honorable mention All-ACC selection also led the Tar Heels in three-point field goals made (56) and three-point percentage (.418) and was second in steals (36).
"Jason Capel does everything well," says Doherty. "I entrust a lot to him, handling the ball and shooting, putting guys in place, plus he's a great rebounder. He's a strong kid, who does all the little things for a team. This year he will probably add a little more scoring responsibility."
Lang, 6-11, can play both
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"Kris Lang is a great talent," says Doherty. "He's one of the best athletes I've coached for a player his size. He can really run and jump and he's the strongest kid on our team. Last year he showed he could score 20 points and get 10 rebounds. This year I hope he does that on a regular basis. The big thing with him is his health. If he is healthy, then that gives him more confidence. He needs to play with confidence. I think he can be as good as any power forward in the country."
Capel and Lang may be the most experienced players on the squad, but they certainly are not the only returning members from last year's team that went 26-7. Fifth-year players Brian Bersticker and Orlando Melendez will challenge for spots in the playing rotation.
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"Brian Bersticker is a great shooter and very good shot blocker," says Doherty. "He can stretch the defense with his shooting range. Brian needs to be stronger to hold his position in and around the basket on both ends of the floor. If he has done his job in the weight room this summer then he has a good chance to help us this year."
Melendez has played in 52 games in four previous seasons. He played in three games as a true freshman in 1997-98 before suffering a season-ending foot injury. The 6-8 native of Juana Diaz, P.R., is an outstanding athlete and good outside shooter. He must show improvement on the defensive end and ball handling to see increased playing time this year at the shooting guard or small forward positions.
"Orlando is a great athlete, but he needs to get stronger, and be a great defender," says Doherty. "I think he has the potential to do that. He needs to take care of the ball and execute on offense."
Will Johnson, a 6-7 junior from Hickory, N.C., has an opportunity to see increased playing time on the perimeter. Johnson is a solid outside shooter and strong
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"Will plays extremely hard, and is a very tough kid," says Doherty. "He spent this summer working for Morgan Stanley in New York as a part of the Morehead program and was exposed to some inner city ball that should help him develop. He has a chance to help us this year at the 3-4 spots. Plus, Will is one of the best shooters on the team."
Jonathan Holmes, a 6-0 junior guard from Bloomington, Ind., is one of at least four players competing for playing time at point guard. Holmes has 28 assists in 39 games as a Tar Heel. He scored nine points and added five assists in Carolina's 91-81 win over Tulsa last November. As a freshman, he had five points and six assists against Florida State when he played in place of Ed Cota, who was out due to illness.
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"Jon really knows how to run a team," says Doherty. "He worked hard this summer on his conditioning. He's lighter than he was last year. I think the point guard spot is wide open. He's prepared to battle for that this year. I know he did a great job every day last year in practice."
Holmes should compete at point guard with sophomores Adam Boone and Brian Morrison and freshman Melvin Scott. That quartet, plus the possible addition of Curry following the football season, should provide plenty of competition in practice and give Doherty a number of options at the position.
Boone, a Minneapolis, Minn., native, started the first seven games last year at the point and appeared in all but one game. He sprained his ankle in a freak accident just before the second Clemson game and was unable to play as the Tigers snapped Carolina's 18-game win streak. Boone had 44 assists and 33 turnovers as a freshman, including a season-high four assists on two occasions.
"Adam was doing a great job for us right up until he got hurt," says Doherty. "That injury set him back and set our team back a bit. We relied on him a great deal. He played well at Duke and against Georgia Tech at home, but then he got hurt and was never right again the rest of the year. We missed him at Clemson, it was a tough adjustment for our team. I expect him to battle for the starting point guard spot this year."
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Morrison, from Kirkland, Wash., showed flashes of outstanding athletic ability last year. Morrison can play either guard position and should see more playing time if he becomes more consistent both handling and shooting the ball. He played in every game last year and averaged 3.0 points per game. He began his collegiate career by scoring 14 points against Winthrop and 13 at Appalachian State. Morrison did an excellent job defending Clemson's Will Solomon in the home win over the Tigers. He also provided a spark as he scored eight points against Duke in Chapel Hill.
"Brian's one of the best athletes on the team," says Doherty. "He has to get stronger, but he couldn't lift weights this summer due to an elbow problem so we'll have to see how he progresses. If he takes care of the ball and is able to read and react on offense he can be a great player. He has to limit his turnovers and make sensible plays on offense. He's a very good defender because he's so quick. Strength will be important to him both offensively and defensively."
Scott, from Southern High School in Baltimore Md., is one of three true freshmen this year.
"Melvin caught my eye the summer before his junior year," says Doherty. "He caught my eye because he can guard the basketball and really shoot the ball. He's a very smart basketball player. He, like Jackie Manuel, always wanted to come to Carolina. They are a great fit. Melvin can play both guard spots."
Manuel, a 6-6 wing, is from Cardinal Newman High School in West Palm Beach, Fla. He was the first player to verbally commit to sign a scholarship to play at Carolina for Doherty. He committed to Carolina just a short time after Doherty was named head coach in July 2000.
"When I became the head coach and saw how good Joseph Forte was, I knew we might not have him for too long, so I wanted to fill that two-guard slot. Jackie Manuel is a very good shooter and basketball player. He understands the game, passing, shooting, angles, little things like that. He has the ability to be a great defender because he is so long and quick."
The third incoming freshman that will have an impact this season is Jawad Williams, a 6-9 native of Cleveland, Ohio, who comes to UNC from St. Edwards High School in Lakewood, Ohio. Williams can play a variety of positions and should primarily play at small and power forward this year.
"Jawad is an athletic, 6-9, wing player, who may have to play some at '4'," says Doherty. "If he's there, he can really stretch the defense. He's a good shooter, and a very good basketball player. He's long and if he's committed to defense, I think he can be a tremendous defensive player. I've said I want to recruit players who can pass, handle and shoot. Jawad certainly fills that bill."
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"If Neil can run the floor, then he can be effective for us," says Doherty. "Like the professional game, the college game is fast so he has to be able to react and change ends. I like how Neil is really committed to becoming a good player. This summer he played for the Great Britain National Team (in the World University Games) and that has to help him and give him some confidence."
Should Curry and Peppers decide to play basketball this season, it would greatly increase the team's depth and level of experience. Curry would be one of five point guard candidates, and Peppers would make a major difference on the Tar Heel frontline.
Peppers averaged 7.2 points and 4.0 rebounds per game last year and led UNC with a field goal percentage of .618. He scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds in the second round NCAA Tournament game against Penn State.
Curry joined the starting lineup in mid-December and was at the controls as Carolina won the next 16 games in a row. He came up big in wins at Maryland and Duke, had eight assists in the home win over the Terps and a career-high 10 assists in the ACC Tournament win over Clemson.
Regardless of Curry's and Peppers' status, Carolina should be more balanced offensively than a year ago.
"We will be a little smaller, but hopefully a little quicker," says Doherty. "I think we can put lineups on the floor so we can potentially have five or six different guys who can score 20 points in a game. Balance will be the key to this team. I hope it will be harder to defend us. Last year teams would double-team Haywood all the time or keep Joe from getting the ball. I hope our balance will make us more difficult to guard because they can't just shut down one guy."
Several players, including Morrison, Scott, Manuel, Capel, Williams, Lang and Bersticker, can play a number of positions, which will allow Doherty to experiment with a number of combinations.
"That gives us some flexibility," Doherty, last year's Associated Press Coach of the Year, says. "I still haven't settled on all of our offensive sets. I know we will move the ball around and I know I have confidence in our shooters. It may be more of an open post offense. I think you will see more guys who should drive to the goal more. And I've encouraged Lang to step out and shoot the jump shot, because he can hit that shot and it will open things up for us around the goal.
"I don't think we'll change a lot defensively," Doherty continues. "I hope we can get after people. We'll miss Ronald Curry on the ball and miss Haywood in the paint. Brendan was a big reason why people shot a low percentage against us. People had one eye on Brendan and one eye on the basket. We don't have a great shot blocker this year. Lang is a great defender, but not a shot blocker. Brendan is one of the best defenders I've ever coached."
Even with the loss of All-Americas Forte and Haywood and the possible loss of Curry and Peppers, Doherty is not one to concede anything to his ACC rivals.
"I like the talk that we won't be in the upper echelon of the league this year," says Doherty. "It adds great bulletin board stuff. We are Carolina. There is a lot of pride in that uniform. Our goals will never change. We want to win the ACC, the ACC Tournament and the national championship. Just because we lost two first round draft choices doesn't mean that is going to change."
