University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Building New Habits
January 24, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 24, 2004
By Adam Lucas
Have you ever tried to break a habit? Ever tried to stop biting your nails, or stop cursing (or in some well-publicized cases, saying "fricking"), or stop eating eight Krispy Kremes in one sitting?
It's tough. You can make progress, think you've turned things around, and then all of a sudden something tough comes up and you realize you're gnawing on those fricking nails again and downing Krispy Kremes by the boxful.
Don't worry, this hasn't turned into Dr. Phil's sports column. But one of the most perplexing things about this team of Tar Heels seems to be the way they can look dominant one minute, clueless the next. Beat Georgia Tech, lose to Maryland. Beat UConn, lose to Florida State.
It happened again Saturday against Virginia. Carolina's first half was dismal, as they stumbled out to a 42-40 lead at the break, due primarily to being more talented than their opponent. Roy Williams ripped off his suit jacket in frustration while on his way to the locker room, doubtless miffed that for the third straight half, an ACC opponent had made 50 percent or better of their field goals.
There's been plenty of talk about this year's team, about how they have to "buy in," about the trust level between player and coach. All that talk, though, may miss one key point--this group of players trusts Roy Williams. They know his career record, understand that he is one of the best college coaches in the game, know that his system will work if they apply it.
But they've only been taught that system since October 17, and most of them spent the 18 years prior to that developing some bad habits. There are going to be times this year that they bite their nails. They know what to do. But sometimes, it's almost impossible not to eat that last Krispy Kreme.
Each game, though, you can start to see a little more of Roy Williams's teaching coming through. It happened in the second half against the Cavaliers, the time period when most every Carolina fan has muttered, "We always lose steam in the second half," over the past couple of days.
Up 55-52 with 15 minutes to play, Williams stood on the Carolina sideline and bent his knees, clenched his fists, and begged for his team to play some defense. "Come on!" he yelled, and then something unexpected happened--they did exactly that.
The Tar Heels forced 12 second-half turnovers, and those Wahoo turnovers turned into Rashad McCants dunks, Jackie Manuel layups, and Melvin Scott jumpers. Carolina turned Virginia into a jump-shooting team, and just as Williams constantly predicts to his team, the jump shots didn't fall.
"Our defense picked up," the head coach said. "We started getting a hand up and creating some turnovers. That got our break going and we showed more enthusiasm during that stretch."
It was the kind of defense Williams loves, the kind that makes him jump out of his seat even after the game is long decided when senior walk-on Jonathan Miller takes a charge. Some Carolina fans might not be able to identify those walk-ons without a program, but their teammates understand their value. After all, it was fellow senior walk-on Phillip McLamb who was the catalyst of a short players-only meeting held Friday after practice.
The tone was simple: just play basketball. More importantly, just play defense. Leave it to Jackie Manuel, the player who Roy Williams has repeatedly said has best understood what he is trying to do, to sum things up. Manuel capped the meeting by telling his teammates that they knew what they had to do, that it was a simple formula.
"We need to come together as a team and play defense," Manuel said. "We have to live off our defense."
If that happens, outcomes like Saturday will be commonplace.
Maybe even a habit.
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.
