University of North Carolina Athletics
Heels Ready For Hoops Exam
January 6, 2004 | Lucas
Dec. 12, 2003
By Adam Lucas
If form holds, expect Raymond Felton to score approximately 20 points and hand out around seven assists on Sunday against Akron.
A week of light work for the Tar Heels got even lighter for Carolina's sophomore point guard, as a strained right Achilles tendon suffered in Sunday's game against George Mason kept him out of the Heels' only full workout this week on Wednesday. The injury is not expected to hold him out of Sunday's game, which tips at 1 p.m.
"He didn't do anything in practice on Wednesday and yesterday all he did was shoot free throws," head coach Roy Williams said Friday afternoon. "We've held him out of most everything."
Felton's injury marks the second straight week that the depth-shy Tar Heels have practiced without one of their regulars. Last week, both Jackie Manuel and Jawad Williams missed practice time before the game against Illinois. Felton can only hope to bounce back as well as that duo--both played against the Illini and turned in stellar performances, including a double-double for Williams.
Manuel and Williams have both healed, although Williams's hip remains tender if he takes hard contact directly on the area.
The rest of Carolina's injury report is varied. Sophomore forward David Noel had the cast removed from his hand this week and replaced with a less restrictive splint. He practiced on a very limited basis with the team on Wednesday. "I do not have any idea when they are going to release him to play," Williams said. "My guess, and it's purely a guess, is they will allow him to do this for a couple more weeks before they make a decision."
Sophomore center Damion Grant is also participating on a limited basis. After over a month of observing most of practice from the sidelines, he has joined the team in some light running up and down the court during workouts.
The workouts have been sparse this week as the entire North Carolina campus goes through exams. The Tar Heels played last Sunday and were off on Monday. Tuesday, they lifted weights for 30 minutes before a limited "run-and-shoot" workout, which consists of roughly 45 minutes to an hour of shooting, full-court dribbling, and dummy offense. They practiced Wednesday before going through another pair of run-and-shoot workouts on Thursday and Friday and will return to the practice court on Saturday.
Despite the restricted exam week schedule, Carolina hopes to maintain the impressive offensive efficiency they showed last weekend against George Mason. After a halting first half, the Heels averaged 1.4 points per possession--an offensive efficiency statistic used extensively by Dean Smith--in the second half of that game, their best figure all year. A points per possession figure of .85 is considered superior, and Carolina's nearly 1.3 figure for the entire game last Sunday was easily their best of the season.
Maintaining that pace will be a challenge in the coming weeks as the Tar Heels enter the meat of their schedule. Sunday's game against Akron is the final tuneup before Atlantic Coast Conference play begins next Saturday against Wake Forest. The Deacs are ranked 15th in this week's Associated Press poll, making the two games against Wake two of nine games that Carolina will play this season against top-15 squads (two against Wake, two against Duke, two against Georgia Tech, Illinois, Connecticut, and Kentucky).
Sunday's opponent, Akron, is 3-1 and is shooting over 50 percent from the field this season. The Zips are led in scoring by senior guard Derrick Tarver at 24.8 points per game and are outrebounding their opponents by over ten boards per contest.
"I think it is scary because I have talked about my concern for our rebounding," Williams said. "They have outrebounded all four of their opponents. So when that is a big strength of theirs and it matches up to a big weakness of ours, that bothers me right there. I think this is their first game in six or seven days also, so I assume they are in exams at the same time. Both of us probably have the same problems trying to get the team ready to play and allow the kids to have study time."
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.
