University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Heels Use Multiple Weapons To Overthrow Monarchs
November 24, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 24, 2002
by Adam Lucas
NORFOLK-The typical North Carolina basketball player packs a pair of shoes, some choice music for the CD player, and a few personal items in his travel bag for road games.
It might behoove them to also add a pair of scissors and some red ribbon.
Playing for the Tar Heels means you're expected to frequently play the role of entertainer, as Carolina did Sunday afternoon in Norfolk as the opening guest at the Constant Convocation Center. A sparkling facility, the building didn't exactly see UNC's most picturesque effort, but a 67-59 victory moved Carolina to an unblemished 3-0 on the season.
"This was a dangerous game," head coach Matt Doherty said. "It scared me to death and I was really proud of the way our guys played and the way they came out of here with a win."
Carolina fans, already spoiled by these young Heels just a week into the season, probably won't have the same reaction. They'll look at the rebounding totals (42 to 35 in favor of Old Dominion, 24 to 10 on the offensive glass), the turnovers (19 for Carolina, just 12 for the Monarchs) and the rough second-half play (37 percent from the field, 25 percent from the three-point line) and wonder what has happened to the team that blew out Penn State.
The answer? They're still out there. It's a little too much to expect every single cylinder to click like it did last Monday against the Nittany Lions. That was a performance that will probably be equaled only three or four times this season, an outlier on the average scale of Carolina performances. This one, on the other hand, might have fallen below the mean. More importantly, however, it was a win, and it showed that while these Heels have a handful of legitimate offensive options, they can win without superhuman efforts from anyone.
"We didn't really have a great game," said freshman point guard Raymond Felton, who struggled early but sank a spinning shot with four seconds on the shot clock that clinched the game with under two minutes to play. "But we won, man. That's what's important."
Another winner was Melvin Scott, who may be clicking into place in his role. Somewhat confused after the first two games about his place on the squad, Scott played 18 solid minutes, including nine in the second half. He coolly drilled the biggest shot of the game, a three-pointer with five minutes to play that boosted a perilous five-point Tar Heel lead back to a more comfortable eight points.
"I'll never lose my confidence," Scott said. "Whether I start or come off the bench, I know I can play."
That confidence will be essential as Carolina begins a murderers' row of Kansas, Stanford or Florida, Illinois, and Kentucky in their next four games. It's a group most coaches wouldn't dream of lining up unless they were in line for substantial hazard pay. Only one of those games will be at the Smith Center, making Sunday's victory valuable for road experience as well.
The Monarchs pulled out all the stops, shooting off fireworks during introductions, utilizing a ribcage-shaking sound system, and generally putting forth their most appealing face for the most marquee opponent that will come to Norfolk all season. That's what these freshmen have to get used to about being a Carolina basketball player. The Tar Heels took the floor to about a 50-50 split of cheers and boos, and while the ODU crowd clearly wanted to hate the visitors, they couldn't help but let slip a few "oohs" when Rashad McCants took the ball three-quarters of the court and finished the drive with a neat spin move in the lane.
Carolina will be the opening act again later this year, when they are likely to be the opening guest at the University of Miami's new arena, assuming it is completed in time. By then, some of the kinks from today's game will be a distant memory. But the scissors and ribbon will still be a necessity.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.
