University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: MBB Asked & Answered
December 10, 2002 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 10, 2002
We might have started a bad precedent last week when we filled in readers on the whereabouts of several former Heels. That prompted numerous Tar Heel basketball fans to flood the Asked and Answered inbox with questions about their favorite former players. We're going to save all of those questions for next Tuesday following the off week, so tune in next week for the alum edition of Asked and Answered. In the meantime, here's a few questions about players currently wearing the Julian argyles.
I would like to know if the Carolina Basketball program still allows for fans to deliver items,(basketballs, hats....) to the Dean Dome for the coaches, players, staff to autograph? If so can I do this by mail, of course paying the postage completely?
Tony Serrano, Glendale, Arizona
We put your question to Kay Thomas in the basketball office, who has forgotten more about Carolina basketball this morning alone than most people will know in a lifetime. Her response follows: "People may send posters (not calendars because they are pre-autographed), pennants, banners, pictures and other flat items to be autographed. No clothing, no basketballs. We will, at some time, have autographed basketballs for sale. They are $75.00 and that money goes as a donation to the Needy Scholarship fund on campus. Coaches can autograph balls, but the players may not. We do not have the basketballs yet. They have been shipped, but have not arrived in Chapel Hill yet. The team will then sign them and we will be able to send them out. If someone would like to order one they may call and leave their name and address and we will send them a form to complete. We will send the balls as soon as they arrive and are signed. The form will tell them what they can use the balls for."
If you're mailing items, send them to:
Carolina Basketball Office
PO Box 2126
Chapel Hill, NC 27515
The phone number for the basketball office is 919-962-1154.
My question is how are the Big Ten-ACC Challenge matchups decided? I thought they matched teams based on last year's results but that is obviously not the case. They also do not match teams based upon projections for this season. I really don't mind that we lost to Illinois, in fact it should help us in the long term, but why would UNC face Illinois? They finished tied for 1st last year while we were 7th. This year, both teams were projected to finish about the same as last year. Can you help me understand this? Thanks,
Rich Gleason '90, Rochester, NY
We can try, but we're not sure that we entirely understand it, either. The ACC-Big Ten Challenge matchups are a little more complex than the previous incarnation of this event, the ACC-Big East Challenge. Those games were determined almost entirely by preseason predictions of each conference. With the Big Ten, however, the formula includes preseason predictions, television appeal, and which teams played at home in the previous year. Those ingredients are mixed together by ESPN and the respective conferences to come up with an event with as much national appeal as possible.
I missed the Kentucky game, but it seems we stuck to the man-to-man defense (again) despite foul trouble, and despite playing the second straight team with as much speed and athleticism as the Heels but more size. I felt Coach Doherty should have gone to a zone in the Illinois game to stop the hi-lo success they were having. Virginia's Coach Gillen, after their victory over Kentucky, in effect said that he is a man-to-man coach, but sometimes you have to swallow your pride and go with what works. They went to a zone and had success against Kentucky; why wouldn't we?
Charles Duvall, Raleigh, NC
Against Illinois, although the Illini's high-low game got most of the attention, the main problem was that Carolina turned the ball over 19 times, leading to too many easy baskets. It's hard to play good defense in any set when the other team is fast-breaking three-on-two or two-on-one.
The Heels did play a few possessions of zone against Kentucky, mostly on occasions when they were trying to protect players from further foul trouble. The foul situation may have actually prevented increased use of the zone, since substitutes like Byron Sanders, Damion Grant, and David Noel may not yet be as comfortable with zone principles as they are with the basic tenet of man-to-man defense -- find your man and stay with him. Even without foul problems, however, Doherty wants this to be a man-to-man team. Especially early in the season, he wanted to make his youthful squad concentrate on one thing and do it well. Until Kentucky became the first team in a decade to shoot 60 percent from the field against the Heels, it was working. It's not unreasonable to think that in the 12 days before Carolina next takes the floor, they will have more time to work on varying defenses. Still, don't expect them to get away from the tenacious man-to-man they showed in the opening games of the year.
Were any of the Carolina players affected by the power outages in Chapel Hill during the ice storm?
Mike L., Chapel Hill
Fortunately, the vast majority of Carolina players live on campus. Only two -- seniors Jonathan Holmes and Will Johnson -- were significantly inconvenienced by the widespread power outages. The pair were without electricity for several days, and had to get together to play cards the night before the Kentucky game just to avoid cabin fever. Even as Division I athletes, they still found themselves out of touch with the sports world. "You don't realize how much stuff you miss," Holmes said on Saturday. "Isn't today the Miami-Virginia Tech football game? We have no idea what is going on with that." Holmes eventually took shelter at former teammate Brian Bersticker's house, but said that the worst part of the experience wasn't the lack of food or heat, it was the inability to fire up the Xbox that had become a staple over the past few weeks.
My only concern to the otherwise great start to this season is the heavy minutes logged by the top six players. I understand the rationale of not using Grant given his lack of condition. But do you see players like Noel, Sanders, Johnson and Holmes getting more than the usual 5-6 minutes per contest to help keep the others from wearing down during the year? Or do you think that more playing time from that quartet is asking too much of them.
Will Darity, La Verne, CA
There's a popular perception that this year's Heels are a depth-shy team. While Matt Doherty probably won't be resurrecting the Blue Team anytime soon and might like to add a player or two at key positions, Carolina has more than adequate depth for the current era of official timeouts every four minutes. For the sake of comparison, seven players off last year's national champion Maryland Terrapins averaged double-digit minutes, and the Terps were generally considered a fairly deep team. This year's Heels also have seven players in double-digit minutes -- the five starters plus Melvin Scott and David Noel. Point guard Jonathan Holmes has quietly been one of the best stories of the year. Asked to capably spell Raymond Felton at the key point guard slot, he has committed just one turnover all season while handing out four assists and nailing important three-pointers against both Illinois and Kentucky.
I'm curious about the three junior walk-ons, Jonathan Miller, Phillip McLamb and Damien Price. I don't remember them being recruited four years ago. Were they just on campus as students these past two years and responded to an open try-out call?
Jack White, '76, Statesboro, GA
All three are products of Carolina's junior varsity team, the last such surviving squad in the nation. The Heels hold open tryouts every year in which JV players and aspiring students can attempt to make the varsity team, and Price and McLamb made the cut last year. Miller, who grew up in Burlington as a Carolina fan but was recruited only lightly by Division III schools like Greensboro College, was added to the roster this year after a strong showing with last year's junior varsity squad. One of the sharpshooter's claims to fame is that he holds the unofficial Smith Center record for three-pointers in a game by a Tar Heel after making 10-of-21 trifectas in a JV game last year. (The varsity record is held by Dante Calabria, who hit eight against Florida State in 1995.) "I haven't seen that record documented quite that way, but I could definitely live with it," Miller said with a smile after being informed of the mark.
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.
