University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: UNC Basketball Mailbag Dec. 5
December 5, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 5, 2006
By Adam Lucas
A quick note for a future column: we'd like to hear from Carolina fans who live out-of-state and aren't able to attend home games. What do you miss most about attending games at the Smith Center? Or, if you've never been to a home game, what would it mean to you to attend your first game? Drop us a line and let us know. And in-staters, we want to hear from you too. You may see your submission in a future column.
Speaking of tickets, Penn returned some and the formerly sold-out game on Jan. 3 is now available again through TarHeelBlue.com. Some other schedule notes: don't forget that Saturday night's game against High Point, which isn't televised, could be Roy Williams's 500th career win. Preparations are underway to make sure that the 500th win, whenever it happens, will be very memorable. And here's an answer to an often-asked Mailbag question: the jerseys of Raymond Felton, Rashad McCants, and Sean May will be officially added to the rafters at halftime of the Dec. 31 game against Dayton. All three players are expected to be in attendance for what should be a very special ceremony.
We start today with an interesting first-hand email from one of the central figures in last week's discussion of the SI jinx.
As Sports Illustrated's college basketball editor in the early '80s, I was the poor wretch who tried and (inevitably) failed to talk Dean Smith into letting Michael Jordan appear on the November 30, 1981 pre-season cover with the coach and the four other starters. The season before, while trying perhaps too hard to hide my Carolina Blue, Class of '69 heritage, I had chosen not to rank the graduation-riddled Tar Heels in the Top 20--and they reached the national championship game. I wasn't about to repeat that mistake in 1981, so they were my easy choice for No. 1. Unfortunately, Dean would not let Michael pose for the cover shot because he insisted that Jordan had not progressed enough defensively, suggesting, as I recall, that Buzz Peterson might start in that spot. I, of course, could not imagine Jordan not starting because he seemed to be ideally suited for the position and, the previous spring, had set the McDonald's All-Star Game scoring record. So Jordan's absence from the SI cover was neither intentional, nor a slight.
Although I have always thought that Dean was merely reminding Jordan of his freshman status, the coach has long insisted that he had good reason to keep Jordan off the historic cover. As your readers well know, Jordan not only started the first game (proving he was a quick study on the defensive end, I guess) but ended the season making the championship-winning shot. The SI story was written by Curry Kirkpatrick, Carolina '65, and edited by me. Jordan went on to become SI's No. 1 all-time cover boy with 49 (instead of the more exalted "50" that it might have been.) By the way, years later, when I retired from SI, Dean inscribed a copy of his Sportsman of the Year cover to me this way: "forgive me for not allowing MJ on the S.I. cover in the Fall of '81!" Thanks, Coach, apology accepted.
Larry Keith '69
Keith, for those who don't know, is a member of N.C. Journalism Hall of Fame. He has an extremely impressive resume, including serving as editor for the Official Olympics Program in 1996 and 2000 and creating Sports Illustrated for Kids. And no, we don't know if he still has a stash of those perforated cards that were in every issue. In 1978, he wrote a profile of then-Indiana State standout Larry Bird that included the following gem of a quote from Bird: "I ain't no genius in school." I'm not sure what is scarier--that quote or the fact that Bird was in college 30 years ago.
With all the speed and bench depth the Tar Heels can bring to the court why do they not trap or full court press more? I just remember as a kid watching games with my Dad and Coach Smith was at the helm they would trap any chance they could. When the Heels were playing Ohio State and the Buckeyes started a little run late in the second half the Tar Heels started to trap high and low in the half court. That looked like it got the Buckeyes off track again and the Heels stayed in control. Do you think Coach Williams will turn up the heat in future games?
Derek Nicholson
Jacksonville, FL
In some games, yes. In others, no. That's not very helpful, is it?
For a more extensive explanation of Carolina's use of trapping defense, especially in combination with full-court pressure, you'll want to read the January issue of Tar Heel Monthly. That issue contains a detailed breakdown of the 44 defense, the Tar Heels' fullcourt trap.
The quick answer is that Williams prefers to use traps as more of a change-of-pace defense rather than a full-time defensive strategy. You'll see the Tar Heels switch to the full-court trap exclusively after dead balls--timeouts, made free throws, etc. They'll stay in it until the opponent breaks it, and then they'll go back to what Williams calls Carolina's "bread and butter"--the halfcourt man-to-man.
The head coach is especially fond of using traps at home, when a quick defensive spurt can ignite the crowd. You're likely to see more of it over the next month as the Tar Heels go for the knockout punch against nonconference competition. Opponents attempting to slow the tempo against Carolina are also likely to get a dose of the trap, as it's designed to speed up the game and force an opponent into quick decisions that take them out of a slowdown game. Teams with savvy, experienced guards present the most problems for a trap--if that first trap is broken, it's up to the rest of the Tar Heels to sprint back on defense to compensate for the brief numbers advantage, match up (this is where Carolina's versatility helps, because they have several players who can guard several different positions), and play good defense until the numbers equalize.
I sometimes wonder what a Carolina practice might be like. I'm assuming there is some sort of scrimmaging towards the end during most sessions. There are probably many various teams that go against each other, but mostly the starters vs. reserves. Coach Williams' frequent lineup shifting sparked an interesting question in my mind. Has there been any known pickup and/or practice competition between classes? I think a game between the freshmen and the sophomores would likely be very close. How about Lawson, Ellington, Wright, Stepheson, and Thompson vs. Frasor, Ginyard, Green, Copeland, and Hansbrough? I'd pay good money to see that game.
Jon Peter
Elon, NC
If you're a Rams Club member, you don't have to wonder anymore. This Thursday's practice is open to Rams Club members, so come on out and enjoy one of the preeminent experts in his field in his natural working environment. One word of caution to those who aren't used to watching practice--remember that it's supposed to be a work environment. Roy Williams takes his practices seriously, and while it's fun to watch them, it's also a good idea to be respectful with the noise level.
There's always a competitive aspect to every Carolina practice. But it's not as simple as just dividing up the team into two squads and rolling out the balls. All game simulations are designed with a specific goal in mind--refining the secondary break or transitioning from offense to defense, for example. Score is kept and win/loss records are tracked, with the winners being excused from some post-practice conditioning. There is much, much less "scrimmaging" than most people remember from their high school basketball careers. In a basic 2-hour practice, the Tar Heels usually change activities around 15 times. It's rare for any practice segment to last longer than 10-12 minutes.
On the first couple days of practice this year, all the freshmen were on the Blue team, which created some spirited competition in drills. It also forced the rookies into an even faster learning curve, because they had no one on their team who knew what was going on when the squad broke into drills or installations. But Williams quickly mixed up the rosters--it's unusual for the Blue and White teams to be identical for two or three days in a row.
I know the Tar Heels have a very fast and high scoring offense this year, but on defense, why are they having so much trouble defending the three-point shot? It seems that opponents shoot, lights out, when they face the Heels.
Heath Long
Whiteville, NC
After six November games, UNC is being outscored by 11.5 threes per game to 6. Realizing that past great UNC teams have often lost big games to being outgunned outside (the 1993 Final Four with Donald Williams a
notable exception), what is Coach Williams doing about it?
Steven Smith
Jacksonville, FL
If there was a Snopes.com for Tar Heel basketball, one of the very first entries would focus on the 3-point shot.
Here's the deal: Dean Smith and Roy Williams both believe in the power of high-percentage baskets. That's been a successful strategy for, oh, about 45 years now. If a 6-foot-10 player wants to stand around the perimeter and pretend to be a guard, there are other schools where he can do that. At Carolina, the focus will always be on getting the ball to the big man in the post, where they can rack up points, earn individual and team honors, and then take their game to the NBA and make millions of dollars. It's a formula everyone seems happy with...except Tar Heel fans. One of the textbook examples of the formula at work happened against Winthrop this season. The Eagles shot 8-of-15 from the 3-point line in the first half against Carolina and built a 38-30 lead. The Tar Heels, meanwhile, simply plugged along, shooting 50 percent in the first half and 53.3% in the second half. Winthrop suddenly discovered that outside shots are more difficult to make than layups, and fell to 6-of-23 from the perimeter in the second half. Carolina won the game 73-66.
Made three-pointers do not translate to wins. The current national top five in 3-pointers made are as follows: VMI, Nicholls State, Bradley, Wofford, and Ohio State. Those teams have a combined record of 19-25. The only reason it's even that high is because of the Buckeyes, who currently stand at 7-1...but will have to dramatically change their style of play with the return of center Greg Oden, who you might have heard a little something about when the Tar Heels faced OSU last week. The top two teams in that statistic, VMI and Nicholls State, are a combined 3-16. The all-time leader in 3-pointers attempted by a Carolina team was the 2002-03 squad that hoisted 822 3-point attempts (and it's not all because of Sean May's injury--even before May's foot injury, those Tar Heels were averaging 20 three-point attempts per game, including 30 against Vermont). That team also happens to be one of the most underachieving Tar Heel teams in recent memory.
The statement, "Past great UNC teams have often lost big games to being outgunned outside" is almost self-explanatory--in many cases, that's the only way those Carolina teams could be beaten. Eighty percent of Tar Heel opponents try the same thing and fail. It's just that, as fans, we're conditioned to remembering the games that turn out poorly for Carolina. Everybody remembers Randolph Childress making 9-of-17 three-pointers in the 1995 ACC Tournament final. No one remembers that he shot 1-of-10 from the three-point stripe a few weeks earlier in a Tar Heel victory.
That also leads to the question about defending the 3-point line. After finishing fourth in the conference in 3-point percentage defense last year (33.1%), the Tar Heels currently stand dead last in the league in that statistic (39.3%). The root of the problem can be traced to basic, on-the-ball man-to-man defense. Carolina players are allowing too much dribble penetration so far this year. That's often leading to drive-and-dish opportunities for open three-pointers as the Tar Heel defense collapses to help against the dribbler.
Brownlow's Down Low
So this is my first ever e-mail to the mailbag and I'm pretty thrilled about it. A lot of people have made some hype surrounding our defeating of another #1, despite OSU's #1 ranking occurring only in the Coaches' Poll. I believe we have the most wins against a #1 team in either poll, with UCLA being 2nd. As a UNC senior, I have been able to witness a few of these games in person and they're always thrilling.
So here are my questions: What is our record all-time against #1 teams (I think it is 12-15 against AP #1's)? How does this record compare against other schools in the ACC? What is our largest margin of victory against a #1 ranked team? I am thinking the answer to the last question was the 97-73 defeat of Duke in 1998, but then again I'm only 20, so what do I know? Also, what is the largest margin of victory against a #1 team ever?
Kevin from UNC
Lauren writes:
See, this is Kevin's first Mailbag question and he got it in here. Any question involving some sort of statistical analysis or history, people, and if I can answer it, I will.Kevin, you should not shortchange yourself - you know quite a bit! Basically all your presumptions in your question were correct. Carolina is indeed 12-15 against the AP No. 1. Seven out of Carolina's 12 victories came against Duke. All but one victory has occurred in 1980 or later (the Tar Heels beat then-No. 1 NC State 72-68 in Raleigh in 1959). The four non-conference victories include Syracuse in 1979, Oklahoma in 1990, Connecticut at home in 2004 and Illinois in 2005. All but one of those victories took place on a neutral court.
Carolina's largest margin in defeating a No.-1 ranked opponent was the 97-73 win over Duke in Chapel Hill on February 5, 1998. But that 24-point margin is tied for third nationally. The largest margin belongs to Kentucky, then No. 2, which beat No.-1 St. John's by 41 points in Lexington on December 17, 1951. Perhaps the strangest part of Carolina's record against the No. 1 teams is that the games were not, on average, very close. Carolina beat the No. 1's by an average margin of victory of 10.1 points. Carolina's lost to No. 1 teams by an average of 12 points, the worst being a 29-point loss to Duke at home on January 31, 2002.
The Tar Heels have played in seven games that faced off the AP No. 1 and No. 2 and are 7-0 in such games, four victories as a No. 1 and three as a No. 2. Two of those victories as a No. 2 include the 1957 national championship and the 2005 national championship.
Maryland has defeated the AP No. 1 nine times and Duke and Georgia Tech have done it eight times. Those three schools plus Carolina make up four of the top five schools on that list. The second-place team is UCLA with 10 victories. NC State is inside the top 20 with five victories, and Wake Forest is close behind with four. Clemson and Florida State have two apiece. Boston College, Virginia and Virginia Tech have one apiece, which leaves Miami as the only team out of 12 in the ACC yet to accomplish that feat.
According to ESPN, Carolina has beaten the No. 1 team in the ESPN Coaches' Poll six times as of the victory over Ohio State on Wednesday, the most of any program.
Adam Lucas's third book on Carolina basketball, The Best Game Ever, chronicles the 1957 national championship season and is available now. His previous books include Going Home Again, focusing on Roy Williams's return to Carolina, and Led By Their Dreams, a collaboration with Steve Kirschner and Matt Bowers on the 2005 championship team.To submit a Mailbag question, click here.
