University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: A Senior to Savor
January 2, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 2, 2005
By Adam Lucas
It's no wonder Jawad Williams hasn't caused much of a stir nationally with his play so far this year. Sure, he's leading the team in scoring, but your average fan across the country would be hard-pressed to pick him out of a lineup. And here's why--he makes plays like this:
With 9:15 left in Sunday's win over William & Mary, Rashad McCants got caught in a switch and found himself trying to guard Nate Loehrke, the Tribe's 6-foot-10, 250-pound center, in the post. Loehrke made good use of those 250 pounds and tried to create some space for himself, knocking McCants back a couple steps.
While McCants stood there, stunned, Loehrke took the opportunity to turn and fire what he thought would be an uncontested shot toward the basket. Except the long right arm of Jawad Williams swooped in and rejected the shot. Then, not content to just block the shot, Williams retrieved the ball before it could roll out of bounds, starting another Tar Heel fast break.
On the offensive end, Williams started at the top of the key against William & Mary's 2-3 zone, headed to the post as the Heels initiated their usual secondary break, and then found a vulnerable spot in the zone about 12 feet from the basket along the baseline, where he swished a soft jumper.
ESPN isn't going to show a midrange jumper in their highlight package. But Williams's play on Sunday--including the way he kept his cool after hitting the floor hard following an attempted alley-oop--showcased just how far he's come during his Carolina career. It's easy to be blown away by Sean May's stellar post moves, Raymond Felton's capable floor generalship, or Rashad McCants's scoring. But at some point over the next three months, take a moment to revel in Jawad Williams having the type of senior season that Carolina seniors are supposed to have.
Phil Ford, Jimmy Black, Rick Fox, Hubert Davis, and a legion of other Tar Heels built their legacy largely on the strength of quality senior seasons. That's what Williams is doing. He's going from a nice player during a difficult era of Tar Heel hoops to one-name-only (J.R., Vince, Hubert, etc.) status, right before our eyes.
The Heels eventually posted a 39-point win behind Williams's quiet 19 points. In a few weeks, after a handful of hair-pulling, blood pressure-testing, stress-inducing ACC games, we'll look back on this stretch of six straight mid-major opponents as the good old days. But right now, with the average margin of victory during that stretch standing at 35.7 points per contest, there's a temptation to wish for a little stiffer competition. The Tribe was a game opponent, but they wilted when Carolina unleashed some three-quarter court trapping that resulted in 19 turnovers and enough easy shots that the Heels made 57.4% of their field goals in the game.
"It's important for us to understand that this stretch we've gone through is not what we'll face down the line," Roy Williams said.
The head Tar Heel went on to call the upcoming week, which includes five straight days with no games and no classes in session, a very important one. His Heels will again be among the top five teams in the nation when Monday's nationwide polls are released, but they've got some areas to improve upon, among them continuing to play 40 minutes of intense defense and continuing to execute offensively while integrating every aspect of the diverse offensive attack. Had he been asked, it's likely Williams could have clicked off at least one aspect of every player on the roster's game that needs to improve before ACC play begins in earnest.
Maybe even Jawad Williams.
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.
