University of North Carolina Athletics
McCants Steps Up Defense To Aid Tar Heels Run
March 27, 2005 | Men's Basketball
March 27, 2005
By DAVID DROSCHAK SYRACUSE, N.Y. - Rashad McCants: defensive hero. Now that's a storyline few would have predicted when basketball practice started for North Carolina in mid-October.
The rub on McCants was pretty simple the past few seasons - all offense, no defense. Fair or not, the junior forward has had a tough time shaking that label.
Not so Sunday as a key blocked shot helped propel the top-seeded Tar Heels to an 88-82 win over Wisconsin in the Syracuse Regional finals and on to the program's first Final Four since 2000.
North Carolina was clinging to a 76-73 lead with 2:25 left when McCants came out of nowhere to block a 3-point attempt by Wisconsin long-range ace Clayton Hanson, who had made five from beyond the arc.
McCants grabbed the ball and the possession led to a pair of free throws by Sean May. The Badgers never got closer than three the rest of the way.
"I thought I had some space but he went under the screen," Hanson said. "A guy with his kind of athleticism closed pretty quickly and I wasn't able to get it off. He did a great job of recovering."
McCants was urged by assistant coach Joe Holladay to pick up his defense in a UNC timeout prior to the blocked shot. He took the message to heart.
"Coach Holladay really looked at me and told me they were going to come right at me," said McCants, who finished with 21 points and no turnovers. "A player can take that as an insult if he thinks he's a pretty good defender, but I took that as a lot of constructive criticism and as a lot of motivation. I went out there and took it as a defensive assignment. And I was at the right place at the right time."
Marvin Williams remembered another part of the timeout discussion.
"Coach Williams told us it had to be our best defensive possession of the year. And Rashad told us that, too," the freshman said. "Rashad said it himself and he got it."
Jackie Manuel said he saw the shot attempt and then turned to the basket for rebounding position. The ball never came.
"I was expecting the rebound and a couple of seconds later I was saying to myself, `Where's the ball,"' Manuel said. "I turned around and Rashad had it in his hands and I said. `Thank you, thank you God.' But you know what, when Rashad puts his mind to it he can do whatever he wants to."
"A lot of people scrutinize Rashad for his defense, but I think that was the biggest play of the game," added Melvin Scott. "You've got to give him credit for that."
McCants also gets kudos for keeping his head in the game after coach Roy Williams yanked him the lineup late in the first half after taking a few ill-advised shots.
Williams had words with McCants on the bench, but started him again in the second half.
"I jumped him a little bit when I took him out in the first half and at one point early in the second half, but he is so much more mature then he even was last year," Williams said of McCants. "What you saw was a mature basketball player who took what I said and started playing."
"Last year Rashad wouldn't have been able to get his head back into the game," added Scott. "He would have still been holding that against coach. I talked to him on the bench and told him we needed him. He was like, `My fault guys' and he put it behind him. He's grown over the years." No more so than on defense.
"Coach has always told me that I needed to pick up my defense, especially when we're playing against great guards," McCants said.
