University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Scrimmage Fun, But Plenty Of Work Left
November 2, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 2, 2003
By Adam Lucas
Eventually, Roy Williams will be able to convey his message to each of Carolina's basketball players with just a simple nod of his head or a point in a certain direction.
The Tar Heels aren't there yet.
It showed on Sunday, as the White team claimed a somewhat halting 77-70 victory over the Blue squad in Carolina's annual intrasquad scrimmage.
Never was the learning process more clear than in the second half, when the Blue team took the ball out of bounds under the basket with just three seconds remaining on the shot clock. Williams pointed to Manuel, thinking he was making his message clear.
But the ball was inbounded to Jawad Williams, who dribbled out the clock at the top of the key before the shot clock buzzer sounded.
"He pointed at me and I thought he was telling me to get into position, but he was actually telling me to look at the shot clock," Manuel said.
The message got lost in translation again later in the half, as Melvin Scott hit a three-pointer that drew the Blue team within a possession with under two minutes to play. But Scott hesitated before calling timeout instead of instantly making the signal, and by that time Raymond Felton had already zipped up the court.
It's those types of communication issues that make the Blue-White game still hold some value, as players and coaches try to get on the same page in front of a crowd. It's one thing to instruct players in practice, but it's quite another to get them to execute in front of thousands of their closest friends.
It's nearly impossible to make any realistic judgments about individual players after what amounts to a glorified scrimmage, since the player who looked great on Sunday might have looked below average on Saturday, when the Tar Heels went through a less-than-stellar practice that had Williams feeling sour by Saturday evening.
With that said, let's get to the rash judgments and outlandish conclusions.
Reyshawn Terry can play. An in-state prospect who went through a disappointing senior year at Reynolds High School, Terry had lost some of his buzz by the time he got to Chapel Hill. But he's got the kind of athletic body that can't be taught, and although he took some ill-advised drives into the lane that probably worked in high school but won't be as successful on the ACC level, he finished with 10 points and turned the ball over just once in extensive action. He's not going to have a Felton-like impact this season, but it's worth remembering that most freshmen don't. Players like Felton, Rashad McCants, and Sean May aren't the baseline for comparison, they're the exception.
Terry's fellow freshman, Justin Bohlander (12 points but just one rebound in 27 minutes), also showed the sound fundamentals and hardworking nature that could make him a contributor by the time he's an upperclassman.
Shot selection has changed dramatically. The two teams combined to hoist just 13 three-pointers, and even that might have been a few more than Williams would have liked. For the sake of comparison, last year's Blue-White game featured an astounding 53 three-point attempts, including 10 by Melvin Scott alone. Williams has been honest with his team during practice, telling them after questionable made perimeter shots that those are good shots because they go in the basket, but that the first time they're missed, the offending player will find a seat on the bench. Jawad Williams, who took over a third of his shots from behind the three-point line last year, took 15 of his 16 shots from two-point range on Saturday.
"The three isn't something we're looking for first," said David Noel, who did not attempt a trifecta after hoisting 57 last year. "We're going to get the ball inside and work it inside out. If you're wide open and the shot clock is winding down, that's the time to take a three-pointer."
The Tar Heels aren't deep. This was especially glaring with Rashad McCants sidelined by a bothersome quadriceps injury that has kept him out of the past four practices. Some fans may think Williams is poor-mouthing his team in the classic Dean Smith style by talking about their lack of depth, but it was obvious during the Blue-White game that this team doesn't yet have the type of depth he wants and needs to play his uptempo style.
"It was hard today because we don't have enough post players to field two teams," Williams said. "Especially if you have to have a substitute, that part was difficult."
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.
