University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: March Begins
March 8, 2004 | Men's Basketball
March 6, 2004
By Adam Lucas
DURHAM -- Somebody help me out here, because something isn't right.
The Heels lost to Duke 70-65 Saturday night, a game replete with more theatrics, from t-shirts to swaying benches, than a Broadway show. That's supposed to make any Carolina fan remote control-breaking angry. Greater remotes have suffered for far less than this.
Maybe it just hasn't sunk in. Maybe it won't be until the morning paper hits the driveway with a gigantic color Blue Devil group hug on the front page. But right now, there's something very strange going on. It's hard to pinpoint, but there's a nagging sensation that it's been this way before.
We'll get back to that. Right now, of much more immediate concern is that Duke won for the 14th time in 16 tries against the Tar Heels. Much of the talk in Chapel Hill tomorrow morning will center on the final few seconds, as J.J. Redick performed a perfect Rickey Henderson-type hook slide while calling the game's most crucial timeout after swiping the ball from Rashad McCants.
McCants said after the game he thought he'd been fouled. Maybe so. But even if Redick had been called for a travel, Carolina still would have had to execute a very difficult play--get an open three-pointer in less than four seconds against the Devils' suffocating defense--just to tie the game and then play five minutes of overtime without defensive stopper and all-around glue Jackie Manuel.
Fact is, the game had slipped away well before McCants lost the handle on Carolina's final possession. At practice Friday afternoon, Roy Williams wouldn't let his team end the session until they got one last stop against the blue team. "We're going to need one big-time stop tomorrow night," he told them.
He was right. And it never came.
Carolina spent the first half with the lead but watched it dissolve almost immediately after halftime. After that, every time the Heels drew close, Duke seemed to make something magical happen. Sean May made a big-time block on Shelden Williams, only to watch the ball squirt out to J.J. Redick, who made a huge three-pointer. If it wasn't a fortuitous bounce, it was freshman Luol Deng looking decidedly NBA-ready with his game-high 25 points and 12-of-15 shooting coming on the heels of his 1-of-14 performance against Georgia Tech Wednesday night.
ut something to consider: Carolina did not play especially well in this game. Sean May had yet another double-double and effectively took Shelden Williams out of the game, and David Noel had five offensive rebounds and some clutch second-half free throws. But beyond those two, it's doubtful anyone wearing light blue will go to bed pleased with their performance tonight. The Heels shot 36.9 percent from the floor, made just 5-of-22 three-pointers, and committed 16 turnovers to Duke's 12.
So what's that feeling, then? That one that can't quite be identified?
It's postseason optimism. For the first time in several years, there is reason to be excited about March. Sure, the Heels will face what would be a conference championship-type game in most other leagues in Friday's ACC quarterfinals against the loser of the Wake Forest-Georgia Tech coin flip. But there's no team out there that makes you wince, no team that makes you say, "I wouldn't want to play them."
That's how it's supposed to be, in case you'd forgotten. Carolina is supposed to stomp into March, not tip-toe into it. You might not remember this, but March is supposed to be an edge-of-the-seat, do-your-lucky-ritual, white-knuckle month. It hurts to lose to Duke, but it sure does feel good to once again play meaningful basketball after the weather turns warm. Waking up hurt over a loss is better than being numb to them, as was in danger of happening before this season.
It began Saturday night, and will get more exciting from here. The wins will be exhilarating and the losses crushing. We'll exchange high-fives with strangers, ponder brackets, and hope for upsets to ruin the seasons of everyone except those fortunate ones wearing light blue argyle uniforms. We will do, well, what we're supposed to do in March. It's just that we're a little out of practice. Roy Williams is used to these games. He's been coaching in them for the past 15 years at Kansas. So he probably won't sleep tonight, will stew over the loss until practice tomorrow afternoon. We'll get used to them again soon. Maybe even this season.
As the 9,314 sweaty fans filed out of Cameron, the Devils' PA announcer signed off for the year with, "See you in San Antonio."
Maybe it'll be sooner than that. Maybe it'll be Greensboro.
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.
