University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Some Things Don't Change
February 21, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 21, 2004
By Adam Lucas
Some coaches make grand entrances. Some can't come onto the playing floor unless the crowd falls into complete silence, the band offers a trumpet serenade, and at least three security escorts are nearby.
That is not the way Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge do it. Before Saturday's game against Florida State, the Tar Heels were out on the floor warming up, and then--poof!--there was Guthridge on the Carolina bench, talking to Roy Williams. Then, while part of the student section in the risers was mugging for the television cameras, Dean Smith ambled out of the tunnel. In what was perhaps the only time he has ever been on the Smith Center floor before a game without a tie. Smith, Guthridge, and Williams stood side by side, and for a moment you wanted to look around and find Eddie Fogler to complete the great 1980s coaching staff.
At other schools, the unveiling of the banners for Guthridge and Smith would have been complete with laser lights, fireworks, and perhaps a military flyover. Maybe a red convertible or a roaring Harley-Davidson. That's not the way those two men wanted it, so they conceded to stand uncomfortably with Williams in front of a sizable ovation while the banners were dropped. Then, before anyone could hardly make out the words on the two newest additions to the Smith Center rafters, they snuck off the court before anyone could appreciate them too much.
"It's the first time I've ever gotten Coach Smith to do something he didn't want to do," said Williams.
And then Smith, Guthridge, Williams, and all 21,750 fans got a glimpse of just how much things have changed in college basketball over the past few decades. There was a time when a game against Florida State would have been a "show up" game. Carolina would have had significantly more athletes than the Seminoles, significantly more basketball players, and would have ended the game with significantly more points.
That's not the case anymore, as every team in the ACC has enough players to beat any other team on any other day. Maybe it's not like that in some leagues, maybe somewhere in the PAC-10 or Big East there is still the occasional walkover. But not in the ACC.
Here there are players like Andrew Wilson, who was apparently channeling former Seminole Geoff Brower and took ten three-pointers and made seven. Here there are players like Tim Pickett, who can appear to be completely covered defensively and then lean away for a 22-footer.
"They have the type of guys that when they shoot it, they're fading back," David Noel said. "You can play defense for 25 seconds and they throw one in, and it's like, 'Aw, man.'"
Those aren't exactly the words Carolina fans were saying late in the second half as Florida State closed a 16-point halftime deficit to just one narrow point.
Roy Williams could see the collapse coming. During an early second-half timeout, he vociferously told his lineup that they weren't competing, that they were about to let the same fate that befell them in Tallahassee (a 90-81 comeback defeat) happen again.
Williams stayed on edge for the rest of the half, including a technical assessed by Mike Wood when Wood completely misinterpreted what Williams was angry about. But Carolina has gotten some breaks these past two games. Remember how frustrated you were when Gerald Fitch tossed in a miracle three-pointer at Kentucky, or when Wake Forest banked in a three-pointer in December?
Those things have a way of evening out, and that's why Tim Pickett, an 82 percent foul shooter this season, clanged three straight charity tosses--the front end of a one-and-one and both halves of the technical--after Williams's explosion. That's also why a late fast break that looked botched when the ball bounced off Sean May's hands ended up in a simple three-pointer by Rashad McCants, who caught the ball off a carom and nailed the open jumper for a four-point advantage.
It wasn't exactly easy or artistic. But with this team, you don't expect it to be.
The current roster will mix with over 200 lettermen tonight at a banquet (check back on TarHeelBlue.com late this evening for full banquet coverage), hoopsters young and old talking about how it used to be and how it will be in the future. Noel looked forward to hearing stories from some of the alums and May mentioned that he hoped to meet Lennie Rosenbluth.
A game at Virginia, a potential NCAA-clinching game, is three days away. But for at least one night, it's going to be about the past instead of the future. Two of the coaches who built much of that past, Smith and Guthridge, will be there tonight.
Odds are they'll make a quiet entry.
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.
