University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Tar Heels Prepare for Badgers' Bite
March 26, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 26, 2005
By Adam Lucas
It is, perhaps, the lasting image of Roy Williams as a Tar Heel over the past two seasons: the Carolina head coach standing on the sidelines, tie flailing, arms waving as he encourages his team to push the ball up the floor. Made baskets, missed baskets, inbounds plays, it doesn't matter--Williams wants the fastest tempo possible.
So it seems only natural that he might balk at the way Sunday's regional final opponent, Wisconsin, approaches the game of basketball. The Badgers play a deliberate pace that left them 215th in the country in scoring offense with 67.0 points per game (Carolina leads the nation in that category).
But while they won't light up the scoreboard, Wisconsin has two very important characteristics that endear them to Carolina's head coach: "They share the ball and they guard your rear end," Williams said on Saturday afternoon in Syracuse.
That offensive generosity and defensive tenacity are what make the Badgers a tough matchup in March. It's a month when games shorten, when the importance of every possession heightens. For teams unaccustomed to getting minimal scoring chances, it can be extremely uncomfortable, and for a team like Carolina--which had 17 turnovers against Villanova Friday night, many of them of the unforced variety--that has shown a proclivity to be careless with the basketball, it can be very dangerous.
"Wisconsin is known as a great defensive team and (Friday night) they got out and pressured NC State into taking tough shots and limited their offensive rebounds," Rashad McCants said.
Although they're often seen as a bit of a novelty, Wisconsin won't be the first team that has tried to control the tempo against the Tar Heels. Indiana did it, Virginia Tech gave it a halfhearted effort, and so did Virginia and NC State. But none of those teams--even the Wolfpack, which could occasionally break off the Princeton principles and let Julius Hodge operate one-on-one--are as disciplined with the methodical attack as Bo Ryan's 25-8 team.
Ahead, behind, first half, or second half, it really doesn't matter to Wisconsin. They'll stay in their offense no matter what the situation, showing patience and an efficient approach from the three-point stripe. That means a common season-long theme--every time the Tar Heels won a game played primarily in the halfcourt, they said it was good preparation for the NCAA Tournament--will be proven correct. Sunday's opponent will do almost anything to limit transition chances. The Badgers are gritty rather than dynamic on defense; their 5.4 steals per game ranks 300th out of 326 NCAA schools.
On offense, they'll cherish the basketball. Both backcourt starters, Sharif Chambliss and Clayton Hanson, boast assist/turnover ratios of better than 2:1 and in a stark change from Friday night's opponent, prefer to move the ball in the air rather than on the bounce.
"Wisconsin has constant movement," Roy Williams said. "They'll move the ball with the pass much more. They can still hurt you with dribble penetration but that's not the whole game with them. We had to control dribble penetration (Friday) night and the level at which we controlled it was going to determine whether we won or lost the game. But we can control the dribble (Sunday) and they're still going to move the ball."
Notes: Wisconsin has scored more than 77 points just twice this year and has won with a score in the 60s or lower 11 times. Carolina's first win with a score in the 60s came against Villanova on Friday...The teams have five games against common opponents. Wisconsin beat Iowa twice (Carolina beat the Hawkeyes in Maui), split with Indiana (Carolina won in Bloomington in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge), and beat Maryland (Carolina swept the Terps)...Roy Williams paid Raymond Felton a high compliment at Saturday's UNC press conference. Asked about the value of his junior point guard, Williams said, "He's probably the closet thing I've had in 17 years to indispensable."...With Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Illinois in the round of 8 and the Badgers and Spartans having vanquished ACC foes, it was logical to ask Carolina's players how much they valued league pride. Jawad Williams was having none of it. "That conference stuff has nothing to do with the NCAA Tournament," he said. "I could care less about things like winning the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Those wins and losses won't help us now."...
The Tar Heels won't be fan favorites Sunday in the Carrier Dome, where an on-campus regional attendance record was set on Friday night. Miffed Villanova fans will still populate the crowd, and Roy Williams is not a favorite among Badger fans, who perceived a comment he made in 2000--"Are you going to tell me you didn't like this more than 19-17 at halftime?" he asked after Kansas beat UCLA 99-98 on Nov. 9, 2000, making reference to the 19-17 halftime score of Wisconsin's 2000 Final Four game--as a slight to their style of play. Although he and former UW coach Dick Bennett have made it clear they have a very respectful relationship (in fact, Williams said Saturday if he didn't coach his style, his second preference would be to learn how to coach Wisconsin's style), Williams and his Kansas Jayhawks were booed loudly when they played in Madison in the 2002 NCAA Tournament...Four of Wisconsin's eight losses are to teams still alive in the NCAA Tournament (three to Illinois and one to Michigan State).
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.
