University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: UNC Basketball Mailbag January 6
March 5, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2004
By Adam Lucas
We almost forgot.
To include a Damion Grant update in this week's mailbag, that is. Since our last update, the Tar Heel big man has been going through limited practices. Last night on his weekly radio show, Roy Williams said that he hopes Grant will be able to go through a complete practice by the end of next week and possibly see action "by the end of the month."
Now, on with the questions.
I was able to see the Heels play Illinois in Greensboro and arrived early enough to watch the first session of warm-ups. I was surprised to see the whole team perform some type of choreographed dance that ended with everyone diving to the floor and even more surprised this subject hasn't shown up in your column. I have had the opportunity to see other games but haven't arrived early enough to see if this is a ritual? Can you shed some light on this for me?
Vince Sumner, Charlotte, NC
It is indeed a ritual, and it's simply a part of Carolina's warmup routine intended to mimic defensive movements that Roy Williams brought with him from Kansas. Incidentally, while the home crowds have loved the drill, it wasn't quite as popular in Lexington this weekend--Kentucky fans gave it a round of lusty boos.
Is there any talk of how Roy Williams intends to make a team player of Rashad?
Briston Blair, Washington, NC
Not surprisingly, Rashad has been the subject of numerous emails this week, and this was one of the more kindly-worded ones. The Tar Heel sophomore is a complex individual. The only way we know to explain it is to suggest that you read this story on him that recently appeared in Tar Heel Monthly. It won't answer every question about him, but it hopefully will provide a little better insight into his personality. One point to consider is that this isn't a situation where McCants and Roy Williams have some kind of vendetta against each other. It seemed to go almost unnoticed, but McCants was not the only starter who drew criticism from his coach after Saturday's effort. It's also not the first time in Carolina basketball history that a coach had to bench a player. It's just that these days, fans have significantly more outlets to discuss it--radio talk shows, the internet, etc. Also keep in mind that while it has been a hot topic of discussion for fans over the past three days, it was a closed issue for the team by the time the sun went down on Sunday. Everyone involved fully expects a stellar effort Wednesday night against Miami.
In the Kentucky game Coach Williams took the starters out for about two minutes. I know he was trying to make a point, and I really like that. How do you feel about the defensive effort that is being made by the starters?
Ronnie Runyans, Clinton, SC
There have been times that the defensive effort has been lacking. There have been times that the defensive effort has been outstanding. If Roy Williams has his way, the latter will surpass the former in frequency very soon.
Carolina has had two main problems defensively. The first, and the one Williams singled out after Saturday's loss, is defending the ball screen that opponents use when they are initiating the pick-and-roll. "We weren't playing well on the defensive end of the floor," Williams said. "I think we've worked on covering the screen on the ball more than anyone in America. We didn't guard it very well. I made some adjustments one time and drew a spot on the clipboard where I wanted somebody to be and it caused a groove in the clipboard. Then we go out and go in the wrong spot."
In most cases, opponents run the play when their big man sets a screen for one of their guards, frequently the point guard. In most cases--although there are exceptions depending on the personnel involved--Williams wants his team to defend the play by Carolina's big man jumping out around the screen to prevent the guard from having an unimpeded path to the basket. On Saturday, both the big man and the defending guard were usually a step late, as was the help defense under the basket, which led to some easy layups for the Wildcats.
The other defensive problem has been stopping dribble penetration. This is something Raymond Felton is going to have to improve on, because opponents have had some success getting by him into the lane, where they either take a pull-up jumper or dish to an open post man for an easy basket. Carolina's coaches have stressed to Felton the importance of keeping his man in front of him, and it's something he'll continue to focus on over the rest of the season.
1.) Did Coach Williams have any input into this season's schedule? I've always heard that college football scheduled are planned way in advance, but am not sure how it is done with basketball.
2.) In the last couple of years I have seen many instances where, after a made basket, a player on the other team grabs the ball, steps out of bounds with ONE foot, while part or all of his body is still over the plane of inbounds and throws an inbounds pass. I always thought you had to have both feet out of bounds before throwing an inbounds pass. Is this a rule change, or are the refs just not paying any attention to it?
3.) Last one: I have noticed that there have been several versions of post-game statistics this year following UNC games. For instance today has seven pages worth of play-by-play stats plus the box score. Some times there has been a regular box score, sometimes an abbreviated version. Why not do it the same way every time? What's the reason for the different versions. For what it's worth, my preference is the standard box score with the 10 or so columns of stats.
Jack McKnight, Fairview, NC
Way to get your money's worth, Jack. Coach Williams had minimal input into this year's schedule, because most of the games were already on the slate when he was hired in April. Basketball schedules usually aren't made as far in advance as football schedules, but work on next year's has already begun. Williams, obviously, will have plenty of input on that one.
2. You're correct, but it's something that is frequently overlooked these days. Over the past 10-15 years, we can remember one instance when it was called, and that was against the Tar Heels in a Duke-Carolina game at the Smith Center.
3. The home school is responsible for keeping the statistics, so stats will vary depending on who is keeping them.
Though specifically Tar Heel unrelated, it has been bothering me. Does the three-second lane violation still exist? I can't really pinpoint the last time I've seen that call in a game.
Forrest Mason, Chapel Hill.
Now we see the plan: the readers are trying to get the Mailbag suspended for making critical officiating comments. The three-second violation does indeed still exist, although it's called about as often as palming. If the NCAA goes ahead with widening the lane for next season, it will be interesting to see if the rule is enforced more closely.
As most loyal Tar Heel fans will remember, 1993 was not the year UNC was picked to win a national championship. With all the highly-touted recruits coming the next year, 1994 was supposed to be the championship year. The 1993 squad, not having any superstars, worked hard and bought into "The System" completely which took the all the way to the Final Four. Can you draw any parallels between the 1993 squad and this year's team, ie: Melvin Scott = Donald Williams, Ray Felton = Derrick Phelps, Jawad Williams = George Lynch, Jackie Manuel = Brian Reese, Sean May = Eric Montross (note that I didn't mention Rashad McCants, the 1993 squad didn't have a Rashad McCants) Other than this year's team not having 2 seven footers, I believe we have a similiar team. . . if this year's team buys into the system the way the 1993 team did. ('82-'93-'04. . .11-year cycle? I don't care what Roy says!)
Sam Potts, Highlands, NC
We like the idea of the 11-year cycle, but we're not sure we see the parallels to the 1993 team. That doesn't mean this year's squad isn't capable of being nationally competitive, just that they're made from a different mold than '93. The best thing about that team was that its whole was significantly greater than the parts. If you look at the NBA careers of the Tar Heel roster from 1993 and compare them to the pro careers of the Michigan team they faced in the championship game, there's little doubt about which squad was more individually talented. But Dean Smith's 1993 Heels had a perfect understanding of the team concept, especially once senior George Lynch grasped his role.
Derrick Phelps and Raymond Felton are an ill-suited comparison at this point, because Phelps's best asset was his ability to lock down the opposing offense's point guard. That entirely disrupted the ability of opponents to run their offenses, and it's something that Felton can't do yet. If he does, the comparison may become more apt.
y the way, although the 1993 team might not have had as much raw talent, they were still a highly-regarded team that was in the top 10 the entire season. The Heels began the year ranked seventh , their lowest ranking of the season, and spent a couple of weeks at number-one before losing the ACC championship game to Georgia Tech when playing without Phelps.
As I looked over my Antawn Jamison autograph from the team's 1997 European summer tour, I began to think of that 97-98 Final Four season and it depressed me to think that with all the talent on that team we lost to Utah in the semis. There were 4 future NBAers (Shammond WIlliams, Vince Carter, Antawn Jamison, Brendan Haywood) as well as Ed Cota who I last heard was playing in Europe. However there were also big contributions on this team from lesser-showcased players. I was wondering, do you have any tabs on Makhtar Ndiaye, Ademola Okulaja, Max Owens, or others, from this team?
Andy O'Connor, Dayton, OH
Ndiaye, Okulaja, and Ed Cota are playing pro basketball in Europe, while Owens played last season in the NBDL.
Adam Lucas will answer your questions about the Carolina men's basketball program this season in an exclusive column published each Tuesday on TarHeelBlue.com. Lucas, editor of Tar Heel Monthly, will answer your questions on personnel, strategy, opponents and anything on your mind about the Tar Heels other than recruiting specifics. You can email your questions to Adam--please make sure to include your first and last names and hometown.
