University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: MBB Asked & Answered
January 21, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 21, 2003
By Adam Lucas
I was wondering why coach Doherty was on halftime at the ESPN studios in New York during the Duke vs UVA game instead of being at practice. I hope he was recruiting a future Tar Heel.
Jay Layman, Ferrum, VA
And here we have a terrific example of how it's impossible to please everyone all the time. For the record, Carolina didn't practice on Wednesday, due to a little thing called NCAA regulations. The ESPN studios are in Bristol, Connecticut. Whether Doherty used the trip for recruiting or not is irrelevant-it got the University of North Carolina basketball program some terrific free publicity. Incidentally, other coaches must agree, as other guests on the program last week included Arizona's Lute Olson, who last we checked had been pretty successful in Tucson.
Do you know if there is an email address or postal address available for sending mail to Coach Doherty or the team? I'm really proud of them and just wanted to send them some mail saying so, even if they don't even read it.
Gary Harper
The best way to write to the team is as follows:
Carolina Basketball
PO Box 2126
Chapel Hill, NC 27516
I love our team's enthusiasm! Especially Felton's and McCants' when they get the crowd into it. Now I know that some of the alumni will say "I never saw Dean Smith let his players run wild" but I think it adds a lot of energy to what is usually a stale crowd who doesn't get up much to cheer. Do you think Dorhety will be pressured to make them calm down?
Justin Sands '05, Chapel Hill
Great observation, Justin. In fact, after the win over Rutgers there was some sniping that the Tar Heels had been "too excited." Rashad McCants seems to be the sparkplug for this team in terms of emotion, and he loves playing in front of the friendly Smith Center crowd. The positive about his shows of emotion are that unlike some other players around the country who get out of hand with their taunting, McCants hasn't directed his emotion at the opponent or opposing players. As long as it stays that way, it's difficult to find a reason to complain about it.
My question is about Sam Perkins jersey number when he played for the Heels. Didn't he wear #41? And if so wasn't it retired? So why is Byron Sanders wearing that number now?
Bobby, Honolulu, Hawaii
As we've discussed in a previous column, there is a difference between honored jerseys and retired jerseys. There are only seven retired jerseys in Carolina history. The Big Smooth's number 41 is one of the honored jerseys, which means it can still be worn by a current Tar Heel.
Adam, I know broken bones take time to heal. Sean May's return is slated for late Feb. How is Sean May's rehab going and is there any reason to hope for an early return.
Dean Bryant, Greenville, SC
Sean May's recovery is so far going exactly as hoped. Recovery from broken fifth metatarsals is difficult to predict, especially with big men like May. The key will be if Sean can maintain his conditioning during his time off the court.
Incidentally, even though he hasn't been able to wear a uniform, May has still been contributing to this year's Tar Heels. He is Byron Sanders's roommate, and had a chat with the Mississippi freshman a couple of weeks ago.
"I told him not to think so much," May said. "I told him you're going to make mistakes. It's basketball, you can't play and not make mistakes. He just had to learn that he can play with these guys, that they're no different from him."
May isn't the only one who has aided in his roomie's development. "Coach Q and Coach Wojcik have been a big help to me in practice every day," Sanders said.
Sanders still isn't the most polished player offensively, but he deserves some credit for his defense over the past week. The general perception going into the Clemson and UConn games was that Carolina would be dominated by their opponents' superior inside strength. Instead, Sanders helped hold Clemson's Chris Hobbs to ten points and seven rebounds and Connecticut's Emeka Okafor to 13 points and seven rebounds.
My question centers around players on Carolina's team knowing and playing their own "roles" in the Tarheels scheme. To those of us watching each game on TV, with benefit of commentator insight and instant replay, it is obvious that in several Tar Heel losses the difference may have been what players were on the floor and what players were taking the important shots. After 15 games this much is obvious...McCants is the go-to guy, Felton the playmaker, Williams the slasher, Scott the outside threat, and Manuel the defensive stopper...why, then, does it seem that Jackie Manuel or Byron Sanders or David Noel are taking so many "critical" shots at the end of games (and I'm not talking layups, either)? There have been several games in which leading scorer McCants has taken the 3rd or 4th most shots, and that is not acceptable...and in other games it seems as though Doherty has gone with a lineup that doesn't include McCants or Felton for several minutes...every time this happens the Heels lose a lead or get in a bigger hole (if already behind)....when both of these Frosh are out at the same time the team resembles all too much that 8-20 team of a year ago, and that's scary. No knock on Melvin Scott (much improved), Jawad Williams, or Jackie Manuel, but they are not that impressive without McCants in there taking up most of the defense's attention and Raymond Felton giving them easy layups with no-look passes. The days of the "Blue Team" are over, unless only in for 2-3 minutes (not 8-10 minutes). Watching the Clemson game, it was refreshing to see Felton drain some 3's at the start (how come he only does it 1 game out of 15, while every player on Duke does it nightly?), Manuel play defense and only take high percentage shots, and McCants get the critical shots at the end (which he drained). Will players knowing their roles translate into more W's over the course of the year and perhaps be the difference in the NCAA tourney and the NIT? What are your thoughts?
Brent Pasco, Shelby, NC
We broke our ban on answering questions that spell "Tar Heel" as one word to answer this doozy.
Depending on which game you're watching, we'd be wary of "commentator insight." After all, if you believe the commentators, then Dean Smith made a terrible error in the 1993 national championship game when he rested key starters late in the second half. How did that game against Michigan turn out, by the way?
The same people who want Rashad McCants and Raymond Felton to play 40 minutes per game are the ones who wouldn't understand in late February why that twosome's legs for some reason seem to be gone. And although we got this question before the Connecticut game, we certainly hope Brent enjoyed seeing Jawad Williams make the game-winning basket and David Noel drill two absolutely crucial three-pointers that snapped a Husky run.
This team, maybe more than any in the past decade, has a full roster of players who understand their roles and what the coaching staff expects them to do. Sanders, for example, is used primarily as a screener on offense, but you don't hear him complaining that he's not getting enough shots. Williams might be the focal point of an offense elsewhere, but instead of whining about wanting more touches, he's developed his leadership to the point that he might be one of the most irreplaceable Tar Heels. David Noel is paying his own way as a walk-on during his freshman season and said after the UConn game, "I'm having more fun than I ever could have imagined playing college basketball." Seniors Will Johnson and Jonathan Holmes are playing less minutes than they might have expected during their final season in light blue but are usually the first players off the bench to exhort their teammates.
That's not a team with ill-defined roles. That's a team with a high basketball IQ and a willingness to do whatever it takes to get wins.
I know you covered home game ticket availability in a previous column, but I was wondering if it's possible to watch the Heels in person when they go on the road?
Mike Adamson, Raleigh, NC
It's not only possible, you can buy yourself some tickets to at least two of Carolina's remaining ACC road games while you're online. Wake Forest has tickets available for the game in Winston-Salem on March 5. You can buy them online through Ticketmaster here:
Clemson is selling tickets for their February 15 matchup against the Heels at the renovated Littlejohn Coliseum here:
Clemson game tickets
As much as this year's edition of the Heels seem to enjoy playing in front of a pro-Carolina crowd, there's no doubt they'd appreciate a few friendly faces in two traditionally very anti-UNC arenas.
I would like to know if you think that, realistically the Tar Heels can make it through their ACC schedule without May with a good enough record to make the NCAA tournament? Or can the team not survive the ACC regular season without a "real" big man? By the way, I was reading last week's edition of Asked & Answered and a comment was made that Felton went to a 1-A school and because of that the competition level was very low. May I remind the questioner that the 1-A school beat DeMatha High School in a tournament in Myrtle Beach. If that isn't good competition what is?
Garrett Page, Greenville, SC
You may indeed remind the questioner. In fact, you just did.
The NCAA Tournament question is a good one. The Tar Heels currently sit at 11-5 overall, with wins over Kansas (13-3) and Stanford (12-5) at a neutral site, Connecticut (11-2) at home, and St. John's (9-5 with a road win over Georgetown this weekend) on the road. That's four quality wins in an era when most teams feel lucky to have just one.
For that reason, it's not unreasonable to feel that a 7-9 ACC record would get the Heels into the field of 64, and 8-8 would significantly reduce the sweating in Chapel Hill on Selection Sunday.
It's also worth remembering that the NCAA Tournament selection committee does take injuries into consideration, so they'll pay attention to the fact that Carolina has gone 4-2 without Sean May so far. Another important factor for the committee is a squad's performance in the last ten games of the season, when May will hopefully be able to make an impact.
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 other than recruiting specifics. Please send your questions to Adam at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com, and include your first and last names and your hometown.
