University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: MBB Asked and Answered
November 15, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 15, 2002
If the first response was any indication, Tar Heel fans have plenty of questions about this year's Carolina basketball team. You flooded our inbox with queries this week, and we've selected some of the most representative to answer in this preseason edition of Asked & Answered. Keep sending in your questions throughout the season, and we'll answer a few here at TarHeelBlue.com every Tuesday.
With a team so young and under-sized, but still so gifted, quick, and athletic, what kind of defenses should we expect to see the Tar Heels play this season? Are we going to see some 1-3-1's, half court traps, and zone full court presses, or should we look for them to go straight up man most of the game?
John-Michael O'Neill, Chapel Hill
We put your question to sophomore guard Melvin Scott, who responded with a curled lip when asked about playing zone defense. "We're quick, we can guard guys," he said. "We just have to beat them down." The Tar Heels will likely beat them down in a half-court man-to-man on most occasions with a little zone and trapping sprinkled in.
Despite the fact that every coach under the age of 50 is assumed to be a fan of full-court pressing, Matt Doherty is not an advocate of that style. "Even historically pressing teams don't press during the NCAA Tournament, because you don't want to open up the court to a talented point guard," Doherty said recently. "But in the half court, I want to create turnovers and pressure the passing lanes."
Tar Heel fans saw some of that half-court trapping action in the first two exhibition games. It wasn't wildly successful, because several of the freshmen looked like they weren't exactly sure of the defensive rotation and positioning involved in that defense. Often the best defensive teams -- like Carolina in 1993 -- are the ones that have predominantly veteran players who understand defensive fundamentals and don't have to be taught from scratch.
I read in a few publications that Will Johnson is the projected starter in the small forward position to start the season this year. From what I've seen, Rashad McCants is clearly the better player and this guy is a scorer. Will Johnson may play hard and I know Doherty likes him, but he can't score and is certainly not the player McCants is. What is the projected line-up and can we see McCants in front of Johnson to start the season?
Dustin Powell, Greensboro, NC
First of all, worrying too much about the starting lineup will give you an incurable headache. The starters will probably change multiple times between now and January. Will Johnson may not get on SportsCenter much this season with one-handed hammer dunks, but he is a valuable -- and increasingly rare -- commodity: he's a senior who understands his role and doesn't try to do more than what he's capable of doing. In preseason individual workouts, which were closely charted by the coaching staff, his three-point percentage was the highest on the team. He's going to see a lot of open looks from the perimeter thanks to Raymond Felton's dribble penetration, and if he knocks a few of them down Johnson would provide an excellent fall-back perimeter threat.
After losing out on a couple of high profile big men recently, will Carolina continue to go after a true center this coming year or will they try to develop the guys they have (Damion, Byron, Sean) and wait another year to go after a top center?
Chip Allred, Burlington, NC
Is Sean May big and good enough to log 30 minutes at center in the ACC?
David Eberly, Cincinnati, OH
The big man question wins the prize for most popular question in this inaugural basketball installment of Asked & Answered. Apparently, the entire Tar Heel fan base is very concerned that Carolina will be fielding a team of midgets this season.
Entire Tar Heel fan base, meet Sean May. Sean will be playing center for your Tar Heels this year. He stands 6-foot-8, 272 pounds and turned in a solid 29-minute effort Wednesday night against Team Nike's relatively tall and beefy front line.
But isn't 6-foot-8, 272 too small to play center regularly in major Division I basketball? Not according to the last three national champions. Maryland won the title last year with 6-foot-8 Lonny Baxter in the middle, Duke claimed the championship in 2001 with 6-foot-9, 270-pound Carlos Boozer at center, and Michigan State won the NCAA Tournament in 2000 with 6-foot-8, 240-pound Andre Hutson as their starter in the paint.
May is extraordinarily talented, and showed Wednesday that he knows how to make himself available and get his shot off in the post even against bigger defenders. The biggest concern might be where he will find rebounding help. The most likely suspect would be 6-foot-9 Jawad Williams, so the sophomore may have to develop more of a taste for banging inside if he is to take some of the load off May.
Please discuss the ruling that allowed Duke to begin practice early this year so they could participate in the overseas tournament. Doesn't that give a tremendous advantage to the team that starts practice early, even if they are only allowed 1 trip every 4 years? I realize that it is legal and that Coach Doherty has considered it, but what when and where was this ruling initiated?
Carol Dixon, Oriental, NC
Duke didn't have to pull a fast one with the NCAA to arrange the trip. The Blue Devils were the beneficiary of a very fortuitous school calendar. By NCAA rules, any team that goes on a foreign exhibition trip is allowed ten days of practice before departure. Usually -- as with preseason number-one Arizona's 23-day trip to Australia this past May -- that trip comes in the summer, so no one notices the extra practice time. Duke's four-day fall break happened to bump up against the date when the rest of the nation's teams were opening practice and fell at a time when the Devils were able to get games in London, so they took the trip (and the valuable extra practice time) in the fall instead of the summer.
Carolina couldn't do something similar because they are already playing in the Preseason NIT, which the NCAA defines as an exempted tournament. Schools can't play in an exempted tournament and take an overseas trip in the same year. Interestingly, the Tar Heels are looking at an overseas trip next summer that would probably include games in Italy and Spain.
Adam Lucas will answer your questions about the Carolina men's basketball program this season in an exclusive column published each Tuesday. Lucas, editor of the Tar Heel Monthly, will answer your questions on personnel, strategy, opponents and anything on your mind about the Tar Heels. Please send your questions to Adam at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com, and include your first and last names and your hometown.
