University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: 12 Takes From the Couch
December 22, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2005
By Adam Lucas
COUCH CUSHION #2, Chapel Hill--This seems a little strange.
After traveling from one end of the country to the other over the past five years following the Tar Heels, an ill-timed case of something flulike on Monday morning zapped my trip to Los Angeles. Here were the options: go to LA, make two cross-country flights in 48 hours, and maybe still not be fit for public consumption on Christmas; or sit around doing nothing for a couple days, watch the game on TV, and be in game shape by the time this house's two primary Santa lovers are ready to bust open the presents on Sunday morning. This is the first year our 2-year-old daughter has expressed any interest in Christmas, so of course we think it ranks only slightly behind D-Day in terms of world importance.
Santa won.
At the time, it was an easy decision. It helped that my wife told me it didn't matter if I was still sick at 11:59 p.m. on Christmas Eve, I was doggone sure enough (not exactly those words) still going to stay up and put together all the toys for our daughter and 9-month-old son's Christmas morning enjoyment.
That was a powerful argument. Rest was needed.
So for the first time in several years, I spent game night at home. Some stream-of-consciousness-thoughts:
1. You know that whole radio delay thing you folks have been emailing about by the hundreds for approximately two years? I'm with you. Someone should introduce federal legislation to stop this immediately. I would definitely vote for someone with this as a plank (heck, as the only plank) in the campaign platform.
2. This is a big-time trap game for the Tar Heels. They've been lounging in Southern California since Sunday, went to watch Kobe Bryant score 62 points in three quarters on Tuesday night, and have a very young team on which numerous players are probably eager to see family they haven't seen for an extended period in months.
3. There's no worse pregame description of a player to hear from Woody Durham than, "(Fill in name) always wanted to play for Carolina." I would rather see the Heels play against a 7-foot-2 athletic freak who has never heard of Chapel Hill than a 5-foot-6 plodder who grew up dreaming of playing in the Smith Center. For this reason, I do not feel good about Lodrick Stewart.
4. OK, who introduced Tyler Hansbrough to the barber who used to cut Eric Montross's hair? When he made that little half-turn layup under the basket, he looked like a dead ringer for number double-00 (no, not Brendan Haywood).
5. It must be a gift as a Tar Heel fan to be able to see disaster around even corner, even when leading 35-30 in a true road game four days before Christmas. Sure, the Heels are up, but things just don't feel right. For the sake of perspective, here's a complete list of every true road win collected by ACC teams so far this season: FSU won at Jacksonville, Virginia won at Richmond, Duke won at Indiana, Clemson won at Penn State and Charleston Southern, and Carolina won at Kentucky. Of those six road victims, only four (Richmond, Indiana, Penn State, and Kentucky) currently have winning records. So a win against 7-2 Southern Cal on their home court shouldn't be taken for granted. But it just seems like things have been so herky-jerky for the Heels in the first 20 minutes.
6. In a game when Carolina desperately needs an offensive spark, this might be the perfect place for Danny Green, which is a good thing because Reyshawn Terry just swiped himself onto the bench with two quick fouls for a total of four before the first TV timeout of the second half. The one thing you know about Green is that he will be a presence--one way or the other--on offense.
7. Since knocking in 10 three-pointers at Kentucky, Carolina has attempted 19 three-pointers against Saint Louis, 17 against Santa Clara, and at least 20 (eventually 23) against Southern Cal. This despite not having a single player who ranks in the top 50 in the nation in three-point field goal percentage--but while Tyler Hansbrough ranks 18th in the nation in overall field-goal percentage. Expect Roy Williams to get this point across to his team shortly after Santa Claus makes his final delivery.
8. Remember way back at the beginning of the year when everyone talked about how there would be nights this team looked like a very young team? This--with Bobby Frasor committing an intentional foul, several players in uncharacteristic foul trouble, an inability to get Tyler Hansbrough the ball in scoring position, and failure to see clear passing lanes--is that night. The frustratingly difficult thing about watching on TV is that it's hard to get an overall picture of how the Tar Heels, both players and coaches, are managing the adversity.
9. Much has been said and written about this team's free throw shooting. They're going to get a chance to change that late in this game...or not.
10. The only previous sub-25 point halves in the Roy Williams era at UNC: 23-point first halves against Air Force and UNCW his first season. It's the lowest second-half output of that stretch (75 games) and only the fifth time in that period that the Tar Heels have been held under 30 in the second half. The head coach just said it himself: "I thought this was the first night our young guys really looked like freshmen out there." One thing to remember, though: there are a lot of other coaches who never would have left the friendly confines of their home arena for a nonconference game with a team this young. If this loss teaches the Heels something they can learn to pull out a victory at some hostile ACC arena down the road, it'll be worth it.
11. Here's how you know Woody Durham, Jones Angell, and Eric Montross are true professionals: you couldn't even hear them hailing a taxi as they signed off the air. This despite the fact that they'd already been told if they missed their flight--which left LAX approximately 90 minutes after the conclusion of the broadcast--they'd probably be stuck in Los Angeles for the next three days. This type of news bulletin has a way of speeding along the postgame show. Had I been there I would have suggested something along these lines:
Jones: "Adam Lucas joins us now on the Ford postgame wrapup."
Eric: "How was the mood in the locker room, Adam?"
Adam: "Quiet, Eric."
Jones: "Thanks everybody for joining us, we'll see you on Dec. 28 against UNC-Asheville."
12. Hope everyone has a great Christmas. Thanks for allowing all of us that cover the Heels to do what we love--even when we're not even in the game arena. And now, does anyone have any tips on how to put together this playhouse?
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. He is the coauthor of the official book of the 2005 championship season, Led By Their Dreams, and 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 Going Home Again, click here.
