University of North Carolina Athletics
Ellington Ready For Next Shot
October 23, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Oct. 23, 2007
By Turner Walston
You've probably replayed it in your mind hundreds of times since March 25. With less than seven seconds to play in a tie game against Georgetown, Ty Lawson dishes to Wayne Ellington on the wing for a barely-contested three-point attempt. The shot looks good, but the ball caroms off the back iron, and the Heels lose in overtime.
Ellington knows he could have clinched a Final Four berth. But Roy Williams has made it clear that the shot didn't cost the Tar Heels the game: Carolina blew an 11-point lead in less than 13 minutes. Had it gone in, Ellington's shot would have covered up a lot of second-half mistakes.
"That wasn't what killed us," Williams said in his media day press conference. "We took bad shots for six minutes, and we didn't guard for six minutes. We didn't get the basketball inside for six minutes, but everybody forgets that and they just say, `Oh, Wayne missed the shot that could have won the game, that could have gotten us to the Final Four.'"
The Tar Heels said they know the loss doesn't fall squarely on Ellington's shoulders. "I don't think that shot won or lost the game," said Tyler Hansbrough, who had 26 points and 11 rebounds that day. "You know, you can't ever you know just say if he would have made it that we would have won, but there's a lot of other things that we could have done."
Such is the nature of sports: the last-second plays are the ones you remember. The Tar Heels missed 33 field goal attempts prior to Ellington's shot. Any one of them going in would have sent the Tar Heels to the Final Four in Atlanta. Ellington just missed the 34th.
"You know, you hate it for the kid, because if that shot would have gone in, that would have been Charlie Scott-kind of status," Williams said, referring to Scott's game-winner that sent the Tar Heels to the 1969 Final Four. "They would have been selling posters . . . on Franklin Street for 50 years."
You've replayed it in your mind, but not as often as Ellington has. "That's definitely going to stay with me a while," he said. "I'll just use it as motivation. I practiced it many, many times over again now, so . . . I'll definitely be ready next time it comes my way."
Ellington got off to a hot start from behind the arc in his freshman season, hitting better than 43 percent through his first 12 games, including 5 of 6 against Rutgers. But the shots didn't fall at such a clip as the season progressed, and Ellington finished the season shooting 37 percent. In four NCAA Tournament games, he made four three-point attempts on 16 shots. That can partly be attributed to the adjustment to college basketball, Ellington said. "I did feel worn down at the end of last year," he said. "It was a tough transition from high school basketball to playing at the University of North Carolina. It was a tiring year because we played a lot of games over a tough season."
To prepare for his sophomore season, Ellington added mass that he hopes will make his body more durable. "I gained probably 5 or 6 pounds," he said. "It's a lot of muscle I needed in useful spots to help improve my game." He'll also attack the basket more and attempt to draw fouls. Although Ellington was second on the team at 83.6 percent from the free throw line last year, his 61 free-throw attempts were last among regular starters. "I want to attack the basket more," he said. "I want to get to the free throw line and create more plays for my team."
Ellington also said he hoisted up more shots this off-season than ever before. "I know what it takes now," he said. "I know what I need to improve on from last season, coming in with another year of experience."
Perhaps Ellington will get another chance to be memorialized with a poster. He says he'll be ready if the opportunity arises. "I'm a very confident basketball player," he said, "so I'd always want that shot in that situation."
His teammates are confident in him as well. Hansbrough said Ellington didn't get down on himself. "You miss shots sometimes, and you make them, but it's part of the game and I think you have to keep on going no matter what," he said.
"He's waiting for that shot again," Ty Lawson said. "It's what he's working this whole summer for, a last shot like that."
