University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: UNC Basketball Mailbag
November 20, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2007
By Adam Lucas
First, a reminder: when you're sending your questions, please include your name and hometown. We'll have more questions in tonight's radio pregame before the South Carolina State game.
There are times when we've considered doing a Ticket Mailbag to handle the frequent ticket-related questions that regularly pour into the Mailbag. With Christmas coming and tickets a frequent gift, the volume of ticket-related questions always seems to be heavier at this time of year. The best page to bookmark if you want to buy tickets through the ticket office is this one. An important note: don't give up if games are initially listed as sold out. As you'll see from the link (as of this morning) tickets are back to being available for tonight's game. That's an important consideration because this is the only game of the season not on television.
Also, if you have tickets you can't use, please familiarize yourself with the Turn `em Back to Turn it Blue program. It's an easy way to get your tickets into the hands of Carolina fans. And if you're a Carolina fan without tickets, it's an easy way to get your hands on tickets that might otherwise be hard to find.
Everyone who visits this site is well aware of the Carolina family. Sometimes, it's just an idea. Other times, it's tangible. That's been the case over the last three years as Reece Holbrook has battled leukemia. If you've spent any time on this site at all, you're familiar with his story. This week, there's exceptionally good news--he had his last chemotherapy treatment this month and is officially off treatment. Many of you have emailed, called, helped with the Reece Holbrook Golf Classic, come to the auction, or just generally sent good thoughts. It's all helped and it's all meant something. His mom, Jennifer Holbrook, prepared this video, which is a startling look at the realities--and the joys--of their lives over the last three years. She said it was OK to share it with the Carolina family, and it seemed like the perfect way to kick off Thanksgiving week.
Could you please update us on the status of the new basketball museum / memorabilia room, i.e.. is it open to the public yet and will it be open weekdays?
Mark Fry
Carthage, NC
How much time do you have, Mark?
This is an issue close to our hearts at Mailbag World Headquarters because we've been closely involved with it for the past couple of years. One of the coolest features of the museum will be a vast database containing stats, bios, and pictures (along with video for an ever-growing portion of the players) of every person who has played for the Tar Heels. Lauren Brownlow is responsible for the majority of those stats and bios, which has been a mammoth project. I've been part of the content development team--which also includes Matt Bowers, Steve Kirschner, Freddie Kiger, Jones Angell, Jerod Haase, and Matt Terrell--that's determined what should be displayed and how to display it.
As a side note, this is why it's impossible for me to complain if I'm really busy. Sample conversation:
Adam: "Yeah, I'm really busy right now. Barely have any time to sleep."
Carolina fan: "Why is that?"
Adam: "Oh, I've been reading Dean Smith's handwritten notes from Carolina's recruiting files looking for suitable display pieces and watching Carolina's best 20 comebacks of all time for one of the Museum video pieces."
Carolina fan: "I hate you."
So it's been a lot of work, sure, but it's also been a lot of fun. We expect that the end product will be the finest museum of its kind anywhere in college sports. At many other schools, museums like this encompass the entire athletic department. That's not the case here. This one will be all basketball, all the time.
It's more than just exhibits (although there are plenty of cool artifacts you'll want to see, like two big boxes of items personally donated by Michael Jordan that include a recruiting letter to Jordan from a certain school eight miles down the road, gameworn jerseys from every era of Tar Heel basketball, and Dean Smith's entire personal memorabilia collection). It's also a treasure trove of video produced by the video partner of the Basketball Hall of Fame, Cortina Productions. Visitors to Late Night got a glimpse of the type of footage you'll see--that's when a sneak peek of the museum's introductory video was debuted. The usually hard-to-impress Deon Thompson and Wayne Ellington saw the first cut of that same video this summer in the Carolina players' lounge. Thompson had been taking a nap; after watching the video, he had one simple thought: "After seeing that, I think I have to go work out."
Sorry Mark, back to your question. The Rams Club and ticket office hope to move into their new offices at the Williamson Building by Christmas. The Museum is a little more complicated, because after construction on the shell is completed, it's turned over to the Museum fabricators for what is expected to be a roughly two-month process of installing all the exhibits. The target opening date is mid-January and once it's fully operation, the Museum will indeed be open on weekdays.
We'll have more on this project as the opening gets closer.
Can you help me settle a bet with a friend? Over the years, I have noticed that the Tar Heels colors have changed slightly. I swear the "Carolina Blue" of my childhood in the 1980's is not the same as it is today. What shade of blue actually constitutes "Carolina" blue? Please tell me I am not crazy and do not need to see an optometrist.
Justin Belch
Austin, TX
I was wondering if the University has ever considered having "Tar Heels" on the front of the home jerseys, and keeping "Carolina" on away jerseys. I know a number of schools currently do this but I really like this idea.
Hollis Duncan
New York, NY
Justin, you're not crazy and you don't need to see an optometrist. Hollis, well, we're not so sure about you.
Justin's question is easy in one sense and difficult in another. From a licensing perspective, the true Carolina blue is Pantone 278 (a very good Pantone chart is available here. As you can see from the link, Butch Davis will be happy to know that Pantone 282 also makes an "official" appearance. And silver is also part of the Carolina color chart.
But that's the "official" color chart. As for what colors the Tar Heels actually wear on the court/field, that's an entirely different matter. Carolina blue has been much more changeable on the football side, including an unfortunate stretch when the jerseys didn't match the helmets. But there's also been a slight change in basketball. It's always hard to tell unless you're comparing jerseys side-by-side, especially if you're comparing game action shots because every arena is lit differently. But consider this shot of Raymond Felton wearing an old Phil Ford jersey (it's from a Tar Heel Monthly cover shoot several years ago) to this 2005 shot of Felton wearing that year's jersey.
As for Hollis's question regarding taking "North Carolina" off the front of the jersey, that's a mistake that has already been made one time. It's pretty common to hear a Carolina opponent or recruit say that there's something special about seeing "North Carolina" on the front of the jersey. Too common, in fact, to risk changing the jerseys.
I've noticed a small black stripe or dash above the players names on both the football and basketball jerseys. I figure it's a Nike thing......but what is it exactly?
Richie Jenkins
The last three questions illustrate one of the fascinating truths of the sports world: by and large, fans care much more about uniforms than players. On last week's Davidson pregame show on the Tar Heel Sports Network, we had a question about the new jerseys this year's team is wearing. To perform some in-depth research, I asked Bobby Frasor about them. His response was representative of how most athletes feel: "I don't honestly worry about them that much. I just wear them. As long as they feel good, I don't mind them."
But fans pay close attention, which is why this exact question has been one of the most frequently received queries early this season. The black stripe (very visible on the back of Quentin Thomas's jersey in photo #2 of this photo gallery) isn't a Nike thing, it's an ACC thing. All schools in the league are wearing them as part of the Virginia Tech tribute relating to the April 16 shootings. The football team wore an identical strip (it's very visible in photo 16 of Saturday's football photo gallery).
I didn't listen to Woody's audio feed, but watched the game on TV Wednesday night. Was it just me or did we not have any dunks in the game? It doesn't bother me too much, other than maybe we weren't as aggressive on the inside. Athletically speaking, I don't see TOO much drop off from last year, but I wondered if anyone else noticed the same thing? Perhaps credit should be given to the Davidson defense? There aren't extra style points when we dunk the ball, but if we have Tyler, Deon and Alex inside, shouldn't that be a by-product?
Scott Sessoms
Fayetteville, NC
Hopefully Scott is feeling somewhat better after Sunday's win over Iona, which included a Tyler Hansbrough dunk that probably moves into consideration for the top ten Carolina dunks of all time.
The Tar Heels didn't have a dunk against Davidson. That's not necessarily cause for concern, however. First, you're right to credit Davidson's defense. The Wildcats did a good job of getting back and preventing easy transition baskets--the box score credited Carolina with just eight fast break points. Davidson's lack of turnovers (just 12) also contributed to the paucity of transition chances.
When the Tar Heels had an easy look at the basket, it was frequently closed with a foul--Carolina shot 28 free throws and followed that up with 46 free throw attempts against Iona.
The dunks are going to come. Perhaps the most athletic play of the year so far was Wayne Ellington's follow dunk against Iona that was wiped out by a foul just before the play. Remember, Ellington is the same guy who almost jumped through the roof last year at Arizona on a particularly nasty one-hand dunk, so keep your eye on him.
My question is regarding defense, and Coach Williams constantly speaking about the importance of defense & getting stops. However, is it just me or does the starting line-up suggest otherwise? Based on my viewing the game against Davidson as well as games last season it seems to me that Alex Stepheson should be starting over Deon Thompson. He seems to have a little better focus on defense & protecting the rim than Deon & doesn't appear to look for his shot as much. Plus he seems to be a better defensive rebounder with fewer minutes than Deon.
Jeffrey L. Pickard
Charlotte, NC
Roy Williams does emphasize the importance of defense. But that doesn't mean he bases the starting lineup exclusively on that aspect of the game. Thompson earned the start in the opener against Davidson because, in theory, he provides another post threat to concern opponents offensively. That, in turn, takes some of the attention away from Tyler Hansbrough. Stepheson's reputation is that he's a more limited offensive player than Thompson (although the gap probably isn't as wide as some might suggest, just as Stepheson isn't as far ahead defensively as most might believe), which leads to more defensive attention on Hansbrough.
Stepheson probably is a more advanced defender than Thompson, although he still needs to improve on playing defense without fouling. The Tar Heel coaches believe Thompson's dramatic weight loss will enable him to play better defense as a sophomore--there were times last season when his conditioning simply didn't allow him to play for long spurts at both ends of the floor.
Interestingly, there's a common theory that Carolina will automatically be weaker in the post defensively this season without Brandan Wright. The long-armed one-year Tar Heel was an effective shot-blocking presence--he blocked 65 shots last season, placing him tied for seventh on Carolina's single-season list. But his lack of strength also meant that he sometimes had trouble pushing bigger opponents off the block. As the season progresses, it will be interesting to see how the Tar Heels progress defensively in the paint as Thompson and Stepheson get more comfortable with their roles.
Brownlow's Down Low
Growing up in Kinston, NC, I've been a UNC fan since essentially birth! So last night was special, since I was able to watch the Davidson game with my son for the first time - he was born October 29th. While watching last night, I noticed what seemed to be an unusual amount of off-the-ball fouls called. Did anyone else notice, or was it just me? Do officials have a new point of emphasis this year to watch more closely what goes on away from the ball?
Kevin Lafone
Mooresville, NC
Lauren writes:
Even when your son is old enough to read and enjoy the Mailbag, it's likely that we will continue to cover the new officiating points of emphasis every year around this time. And so one day, your son will inevitably read the following: "For the 25th consecutive year, rough play is a point of emphasis." As it stands, we're only on Year 11.The entire point of emphasis is "rough physical play and illegal contact"; if that seems ambiguous, that's because it is. The point of emphasis, according to the rulebook, is motivated by the premise that basketball is a game of skill. So the rules committee would like for officials to continue to focus on the low post, off the ball contact, cutting, screening, and hand-checking. This is Year 11 in this process, and perhaps this is the year things start to turn around.
Palming has been a point of emphasis for the last two seasons and continues to be one. But there are two new - and significant - points of emphasis this season. One might address the issue you brought up in terms of off-ball fouls, and it is on charging calls versus blocking calls. The emphasis is actually on plays that occur on scoring attempts. It basically states that if illegal contact occurs, a referee either needs to whistle a charging foul or a blocking foul. Thus calling nothing is incorrect. However, the rules committee allowed for the following two exceptions:
1. The force of the contact by the offensive player is such that it is inconsequential, but the defensive player fakes a foul. (In layman's terms: flopping.)
2. When the defensive player has legally established a position under the basket and contact occurs after the ball passes through the net, unless the defensive player has been placed at a disadvantage.
The rule does clarify at the end, however, that "there are no exceptions to the charge/block rules as to where the illegal contact occurs on the playing court." That might explain the off-the-ball fouls that Carolina fans have seen whistled so often this season.
The most well-known point of emphasis this season, and fittingly saved for last, is the now-infamous "coach decorum" rule. The rules committee refers to it as "Coaching Box Restriction/Coach's Behavior." Coach Williams referred to it simply as a rule analogous to trying to kill a fly with a bazooka. However one terms it, the point of emphasis is concerned with a lack of compliance to the coaching-box restrictions and simply wants to enforce an already-existing rule. By doing so, a coach would receive a technical foul if he leaves the coaching box immediately unless he is inquiring (politely, of course) about a timing error or a "correctable" error, or even to prevent a fight. The "bench decorum" aspect ensures that coaches receive a technical foul for six different examples in particular, but No. 5 has got to be my favorite: "Publicly demonstrating officiating signals such as traveling, holding, blocking, etc. that indicate displeasure with the officiating." Basically, each behavior listed out of the six has become seemingly commonplace in college basketball. It will be interesting to see how the rule is enforced or if it has an impact at all. So far in two games, Coach Williams has not received a technical foul and only one Carolina opponent - Iona - has.
To view the full rule book, including the new points of emphasis, click here. It seems like a laborious read, but the patient basketball fan can find quite a few interesting tidbits in it. Some of the ambiguities and possible interpretations of each rule can also give fans an appreciation of how difficult it can be to be a referee.
Adam Lucas most recently collaborated on a behind-the-scenes look at Carolina Basketball with Wes Miller. The Road To Blue Heaven is available now. Lucas's other books on Carolina basketball include The Best Game Ever, which chronicles the 1957 national championship season, Going Home Again, which focuses 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.
