University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Emphasis on Caretaking for Tar Heels
January 13, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2006
By Adam Lucas
Bobby Frasor's father, Bob, is a successful high school coach in Illinois. He records every Carolina game--sometimes watching as a fan, sometimes as a coach. But after Tuesday night's Tar Heel win over Virginia Tech, he came away with one overwhelming impression no matter how he watched it:
"He couldn't believe we won the game with 25 turnovers," his son said.
That's a common reaction. It was the second time the Heels have reached that mark this year--they weren't as successful against Southern Cal while committing 25--and they've now committed at least 20 turnovers in three of their last five games after doing it only once in the first seven contests.
What's been more frustrating is that many of the turnovers weren't forced. In football, statisticians keep track of giveaways and takeaways. If they were keeping that stat on the hardwood, the giveaways category would be uncomfortably high.
"A lot of the stuff we did as a team against Virginia Tech was just careless and casual play," said sophomore guard Quentin Thomas. "You can't be careless at this point in the season. We just didn't put a lot of emphasis on being strong with the ball."
Thomas had 7 miscues in 9 minutes against the Hokies but says his confidence is restored, aided partly by a Thursday teaching session from Roy Williams during practice. It was the kind of moment when Williams might have raised the volume level last season with a more experienced squad; this season, with a more youthful team, he simply tried to correct the error.
Corrections will have to be made, because everyone in the ACC watched the Tar Heel guards struggle in Blacksburg. The team in the league that's perhaps best equipped to try to exploit the perceived weakness is Miami, which tips it off against the Tar Heels Saturday at noon. The Hurricanes start three very talented guards--Anthony Harris, Robert Hite, and Guillermo Diaz.
But Miami isn't likely to try to turn the game into a frenzied up-and-down contest. They've allowed more than 80 points just once this season and have scored 69 or less in five of their last six games. They'll try to control the tempo, but in a different way than NC State tried to control the tempo last weekend in the Smith Center. More of Miami's offense is based off one-on-one play (they're next-to-last in the ACC in assists).
"I thought we saw the most aggressive guards we've seen against Virginia Tech," Marcus Ginyard said. "That's the kind of teams we'll be facing now that we're in the ACC."
Notes: Miami starting point guard Anthony Harris missed the first seven games of the season with a broken foot. His return creates an added dimension for the Hurricane offense. "I think he's almost back to midseason form," Roy Williams said. "He's been huge for them since he has come back. He gives them more diversity in that backcourt in terms of who to guard and how to guard them and he presents a lot more problems for you."...
The second annual Reece Holbrook Golf Classic auction will be held April 30 at the Hampton Inn & Suites on Farrington Rd. (corner of 54 and 40). Last year's auction (which featured the largest amount of 2005 championship team-signed items available anywhere) was an expectation-smashing success, and this year's event will once again feature high-quality UNC-related sports memorabilia, exclusive vacation packages, and much more. Both a silent auction and live auction will be held.
Golfers (registration information will be released soon for the golf portion of the event, which will be held on May 1) receive admission to the auction as part of their registration package. There is a $25 registration fee for non-golfers to participate in the auction. A complete auction catalog with item descriptions and minimum bids will be sent to all registered bidders and golfers the week before the auction.
For more information, email Stephanie Williams. Bookmark the event web site for continuous updates as it approaches...
If the postgame show doesn't provide enough chatter for you, tune into a variety of stations tomorrow after the Tar Heel Sports Network broadcast concludes. Carolina Call-In, featuring Taylor Zarzour and, uh, some other guy, will air again on 1490 AM, 1090 AM, and 1360 AM following the Miami game. Calls will be taken for 45 minutes and all callers will be registered for Carolina-Duke tickets. You can also listen live online.
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.
