University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: That Familiar Roar
November 25, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 25, 2004
By Adam Lucas
MAUI--Phil Ford heard it. Kenny Smith heard it. Ed Cota heard it.
Wednesday evening in Maui, Raymond Felton heard it.
It's the roar that builds when a much-loved Carolina point guard exits a signature game. It starts in the front rows when the first fans realize the player is leaving the game for the last time. It swells through the middle rows, builds to a low roar, and then starts bouncing off the upper corners of the arena. Tar Heel fans have a special love affair with their point guards, have a way of knowing when someone at that position has played a stellar game even when they haven't led the team in scoring.
That's what Felton did against Iowa, and that's why he heard a rousing ovation as he left the Lahina Civic Center court for the last time with 2:00 to play. A bandage on his left hand, he allowed himself a brief glimpse at the scoreboard, which showed a 104-87 Carolina lead. He'd handed out nine assists, turned the ball over just once, grabbed four steals, and engineered the Heels' second Maui Invitational championship in the team's history.
As he crossed the midcourt line, he seemed to notice the growing applause. His eyes, which had spent the past two hours constantly looking ahead, were locked on the bench. But then the adoration was washing over him, and he allowed himself a quick glance into the crowd. A point guard and his subjects, reveling in the moment.
This is how it's supposed to have been for Raymond Felton over the past year. This is how it was on the island of Maui. And if this is how it is for the coming four months, it's going to be a very special season.
After a sparkling freshman season, Felton occasionally struggled last year under Roy Williams's tutelage. He didn't score as much as he might have liked, sometimes turned it over more than his coach would have liked, and never seemed to fully kick it into the top gear he'd shown as a rookie.
He had to sit out the season opener, a game he said this week "almost brought me to tears on the bench." He then proceeded to make it clear exactly how much his team had missed him, handing out a tournament-high 25 assists against just eight turnovers.
What he didn't do all that much of was score. With just 28 points in the three Maui games, he was only the fifth-leading scorer of the week for the Heels, trailing Jawad Williams, Rashad McCants, Sean May, and Melvin Scott, while just barely edging Marvin Williams by a deuce.
And yet he completely controlled all three games, including a quality defensive effort on Iowa's Jeff Horner in the first half on Wednesday, and was named the tournament's MVP.
"Horner is the key to their whole team, so whoever is guarding him has to keep him in front of him," Roy Williams said. "He only took four shots in the first half and one of those was on an out of bounds play when Jawad was guarding him, so he only got three shots against Raymond."
Felton seemingly has sometimes been skeptical of the principle that he can earn plenty of accolades without putting the ball in the basket. This week, however, proved it.
In perusing the tournament leaders, it was especially gratifying not to see Felton at the top of one category--minutes played. He averaged just 28 minutes per game in Maui. That figure will go up as the Heels play closer games, but it won't approach the yeoman's work he had to do last season.
That left him plenty of energy to handle one last situation flawlessly. In front of a sparse media crowd, he was asked to describe his two highlight-reel plays--one a crossover-and-dunk piece, one a behind-the-back power move to the basket--that came in quick succession in the second half.
No surprise here: Felton fielded the question with just the proper dash of humility combined with exactly the right amount of apparent self-consciousness.
"Ummm," he said with a laugh, and a quick glance of those eyes downward. "It was just basic instinct. That's about it. I made a move. When I made the crossover I just went up. And then coming in transition I just went behind my back to finish the layup."
So that's all it was.
Felton and his teammates have won three games in a row for the first time in over 11 months, they've made Santa Clara a fleeting memory, and they've beaten Iowa for the first time in Carolina's history.
And Felton has been introduced to a longstanding Carolina tradition. You get the feeling he may experience it a few more times.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. His book on Roy Williams's first season at Carolina, Going Home Again, is now available in bookstores. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly or learn more about the book, click here.
