University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Being There
December 8, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 8, 2005
By Adam Lucas
Roy Williams was talking about his children, but he might as well have been talking about his basketball team.
As he piloted his car down the interstate about 18 months ago on his way to yet another Rams Club function, he pondered his parenting philosophy.
"To this day, my son and daughter have never seen me lay on the couch and go to sleep, except maybe at the beach," he said. "When I came home, if they were up, I was up. If I was going to be there, I really wanted to be there."
That's the attitude he takes with his team, too. Every second they are together is precious. He abhors wasted opportunities to improve. The competition, it sometimes seems, is at least as important to him as the end result.
So imagine what it must have done to Roy Williams to perch on a black plastic stool and watch his team slog through the first 20 minutes against Saint Louis Wednesday night.
A back injury early Wednesday while reaching for his shoes left him horizontal for most of the day leading up to the game, including almost four hours in the Smith Center training room. When he shuffled out with just minutes before the starting lineups, he handed t-shirts to the students rather than fire them with his usual vigor.
His familiar chair with the tape across it, three down from the end of the scorer's table, was gone. Instead, he alternated between sitting on the stool, which was raised to almost waist level in order to relieve some of the strain on his back, and propping on the edge of the scorer's table. Occasionally, assistant coach Jerod Haase had to reach over to steady Williams, as if helping an elderly person cross the street.
Because of the sheer amount of pain evident in the head coach's countenance, it was uncomfortable to watch. He almost looked like he was sitting along watching the game rather than in the middle of the action. The familiar push with his right hand indicating he wanted his team to race up the court on offense was gone in the first half. It was replaced by a half-wave, almost like someone trying to clear the room of a foul smell. The Tar Heels even inverted their timeout huddle; usually, Williams takes a knee in the center of his team, with the players facing out towards the court. In the first half, he propped on his stool while they huddled, facing the stands, around him.
The Smith Center crowd of 18,215 seemed to sense something was amiss. It's easy to forget how much energy he has brought into the building--the constant pounding of his hands to encourage defensive effort, the clenching of his fists and deep-kneed crouches imploring one big stop--until it's gone. The crowd feeds off his energy, and so does his team. Tar Heel players and fans largely slumbered through the first 20 minutes, with the silence punctuated only occasionally by a groan when Anthony Drejaj hit another three-pointer.
Williams was in no condition to deliver a fire-and-brimstone speech to his team, which trailed 34-31 at the break. But he didn't have to. Instead, he simply turned to the man who has scored, rebounded, and passed at exactly the right time at every opportunity through these first six games.
Now it was time for David Noel to talk.
"There were some heads down at halftime," Wes Miller said. "We were a little bit shocked. Dave told us, `It's OK. Pick your heads up. We're going to come out and play hard and weather the storm and get a win.'
"Dave has been there before. He's been in these situations."
He doesn't just talk. He acts, too. Noel chipped in 9 second-half points and 9 second-half rebounds on the way to propelling his team to a 75-63 win that was much closer than the score indicated. Even the head coach seemed to respond to the energy boost.
Carolina returned to their usual timeout formation, and Williams barely touched the stool in the second half. Instead, he prowled the Carolina sideline, even unleashing one of his trademark foot stomps--which was delivered with considerably less force than usual--to get his team's attention while calling a play. If he was going to be there, he appeared to have decided, he was going to be there.
"You could tell he was struggling," Bobby Frasor said. "But it was great to see him here. Most coaches in that situation would probably stay home or stay in the locker room. And at the 12-minute mark he really got into us and was moving around like the Coach Williams I know. I know his back was hurting him. It just shows his character and toughness."
"As long as he's breathing and his heart is beating, he'll give everything he can," said Wes Miller, a player whose full-court dash for a loose ball in the second half reminded everyone he knows a little something about effort. "Any time he does anything on a basketball court, he gives 100 percent. For him to come out and coach tonight proved a lot to everyone. We know we can rely on our coach. We know that. No matter what the situation, no matter what the circumstances, we rely on him."
In a weak voice that betrayed how much pain he was in, Williams said after the game he "didn't feel like (he) was giving the team very much."
But sometimes you don't have to give anything. You just have to be there.
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.
