University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: UNC Basketball Mailbag
December 31, 2007 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2007
By Adam Lucas
Before we get to the first batch of questions in 2008, a quick announcement: as you might have heard, we're just weeks from the opening of the Carolina Basketball Museum. That facility needs to be accompanied by a first-class website that will provide information for fans. We need someone to design that website. Are you that someone? The bad news is that the pay is nonexistent. The good news is that you'll be working closely with a piece of Carolina hoops history. If you think you can pull it off, email me directly and provide some samples of your previous work. We're working on a fairly tight timeline, so if you don't have some time to devote in the very near future it may not be the right project for you.
Now, on with the questions...
J.R. Inman's unwise trash-talking about Tyler going into the Rutgers game got me wondering about the history of Carolina hoops & "bulletin board material." While the TV announcers said Coach Williams has never been much of a bulletin board guy (and he wondered how you can motivate a guy like Tyler to play harder than he already does), I wondered what is the UNC philosophy on bulletin board material motivation in the locker room? Have there been some famous examples of bulletin board quotes from opposing teams, or provided to the opponent by Tar Heels (Rasheed Wallace comes to mind here) throughout historic games & rivalries? And it trash-talk doesn't make it to the UNC locker room bulletin board, what does?
Chip Rose
altimore
This is a great example of the divide between fans and players. Like most of you, I read the quote from Inman and began pondering how the coaches might use it to whip Hansbrough into a frenzy. Perhaps slip it under his hotel room door? Maybe casually leave it sitting out during pregame meal?
The ultimate answer: none of the above. An hour before the game, most of the Tar Heel coaches hadn't even heard about the quote. That's partially because Hansbrough requires absolutely zero outside motivation to play hard--he's perhaps the best example in Carolina history of a player who goes full-tilt no matter what the opponent, score, or game situation--and partially because under Roy Williams, Carolina simply hasn't been a program that relies on external motivation. His philosophy is simple: focus on his team, get them to play to their capabilities, and the rest will take care of itself.
As for memorable trash talk, my personal favorite is Rasheed Wallace declaring that the Tar Heels wouldn't lose to Duke as long as he was in Chapel Hill (he was right). In the infamous category, Sam Perkins's admission that he didn't know anything about Georgia before a 1983 NCAA Tournament game turned out to be ill-timed (As the article notes, it wasn't arrogance on the part of Perkins. He simply wasn't much of a basketball fan).
It's been well documented that Roy Williams has said he wants a stronger team defensively this year and so far, I think that's exactly what he's gotten. I can't recall a UNC team that played defense as hard and physical as this year's. Seem to be staying out of foul trouble as well. Statistically, how does this year's defense stack up against the past?
Todd Eash
Middlebury, IN
It's difficult to quantify defense, but the best measure is usually defensive field goal percentage. Right now, the Tar Heels are limiting opponents to 41 percent from the field and 33.3% from the three-point line. Both those figures would rank second in the Williams era (the 2005 team held foes to 40.1% from the field and the 2006 team limited three-point shooters to 33.1%).
Of course, with ACC play set to begin this week, the prevailing theory would be that more talented league opponents would have more success than non-conference teams. Will that be true? We'll see. Carolina seems to be putting the pieces together defensively and has limited opponents to 37 percent from the field over the last three games. Not coincidentally, Ty Lawson has 11 steals over that same three-game stretch. That's put him on pace to break into Carolina's single-season top 10 in that category. Last spring, Williams told Lawson his ability to control the game defensively would have a major impact on UNC's 2008 fortunes. Over the next three months, we'll find out if Lawson is in the physical condition to maintain that pressure over the toughest part of the season.
After the game with Colonels, Tyler Hansbrough is now averaging 21.8 points and 9.9 rebounds per game. If he is able to keep his current pace there is a good chance he will average a double-double for the season. What other Tar Heels have averaged a double-double for the season and has anyone ever averaged a double-double for their career?
Chris Campbell
Arlington, VA
Just to update Chris's stats, Hansbrough's season averages now stand at 22.2 points and 9.8 rebounds.
Numerous Tar Heels have averaged a double-double for a complete season; the most recent would be Sean May's 17.5 points and 10.7 rebounds per game during the 2005 national championship season.
The answer about career double-doubles is a great piece of Carolina Basketball trivia. Five players who played more than one season (which excludes Bob McAdoo, who averaged 19.5 points and 10.1 rebounds in his one Carolina campaign) have done it. Any idea who it might be? We'll give you a minute...
The answers: Pete Brennan (16.4 points and 10.5 rebounds over 81 games), Rusty Clark (14.7 points and 10.2 rebounds over 91 games), Billy Cunningham (24.8 points and 15.4 rebounds over 69 games), Doug Moe (16.5 points and 10.6 rebounds over 40 games), and Lennie Rosenbluth (26.9 points and 10.4 rebounds over 76 games).
By the way, no Carolina player has ever averaged double-figure assists for an entire season. The closest was Ed Cota's 8.1 assists per game during the 2000 season. At 7.5 assists per game, Cota also holds the Carolina career assist per game record.
With Carolina starting 13-0, off to its best start since 1998, how have UNC teams historically finished when they have long winning streaks to begin a season versus early losses? I am curious because an early season loss, such as the opening regular season game during the 2004-2005 season to Santa Clara tend to motivate teams to a long post-season run.
Matthew C. VanSandt
Chicago, IL
Carolina has been 13-0 to start a season on eight other occasions:
1923 (finished 15-1)
1924 (finished 26-0, Helms Foundation national champions)
1940 (finished 23-3, Southern Conference champs)
1957 (finished 32-0, national champions)
1982 (finished 32-2, national champions)
1984 (finished 28-3, Sweet 16)
1986 (finished 28-6, Sweet 16)
1998 (finished 34-4, ACC champions, Final Four)
In other words, of the teams with similar starts, three won national championships and one went to the Final Four. Look only at the modern era, and you'd have five teams with similar starts--two national champions and a Final Four participant. Loyal Carolina fans would tell you that the 1984 squad might have been the best of any of them had it not been short-circuited by Kenny Smith's injury.
Do you think it was appropriate for Sean McDonough of ESPN to bring up Danny Green's father's arrest and the fact that he was in jail? I can tell you it really bothered me.
Richard Kushner
New York City
I've debated for a couple weeks whether to include this in the Mailbag, as it's been a popular question recently. Here's the first part of my answer: yes, I think it's appropriate for McDonough to have mentioned it on-air. Do I want that to be the only thing anyone ever says about Danny Green? No, but his relationship with his father is a part of what makes Green's story so compelling. As long as it's presented fairly, it's a worthwhile topic. Add in the fact that Green has never hesitated to talk about it, and it's fair game.
It's also an interesting window into the difference between the local media and the national media. Locally, Green's father has essentially been a non-story other than a piece by the News and Observer's A.J. Carr last season. Nationally, however, Green's rise in prominence has been accompanied by a related increase in stories about his father. This was especially true when Carolina traveled to Rutgers, as many of the New York-area papers covered the story as their angle for Green's return home.
It was before that trip that Green was asked--in front of a sizable crowd of reporters--about his father during Carolina's weekly press conference. When the issue was first broached, there was an air of discomfort in the room. Imagine having to answer similar questions in front of a bevy of tape recorders and television cameras. But--and this is a testament to Green's maturation as a person--he handled it beautifully.
"I put it aside when I'm playing," he said. "It's something I have thought about in the past, when it was fresh, but after a while I put everything behind me and played basketball so I can do what I do best."
Green was courteous and helpful to the reporters following the trail of that story, and the articles that appeared in the wake of the press conference were uniformly complimentary. That's been the story of the season so far for Green, and he's done a little bit of everything as a junior.
Yes, he's scoring at a breakneck clip and improbably ranks as Carolina's third-leading scorer while coming off the bench. But his scoring isn't coming at the expense of the rest of the game. In the past, a hot streak like the one he enjoyed against Valparaiso would have resulted in a couple of forced shots later in the game as he tried to maximize his minutes. Against the Crusaders, however, instead of taking ill-advised shots he passed up one jumper to find Will Graves for an even more wide open three-pointer and later fed Wayne Ellington with a pretty bounce pass on the fast break. Green's assist/turnover ratio is above 1:1 and will continue to climb if he continues to make those types of plays.
Brownlow's Down Low
During tonight's broadcast of the Nevada game, Len Elmore said that UNC only has 12 non-conference, Dean Dome losses. Is this accurate? (It seems like we lost to Illinois two years ago, and I'm sure we lost some during that season that doesn't really exist.) Who are these losses to? What was the opponent's rank/record? Our rank/record? How does this stat match up against other ACC schools?
Jimmy C
Smithfield, NC
Lauren writes:
Going into this season, Carolina was 118-12 against non-conference opponents in the Smith Center and at 6-0 this season, that record now stretches to 124-12. Carolina did lose to Illinois in 2006, and that is Carolina's only loss to a non-conference opponent in the Smith Center since 2003. Since 2004, Carolina is 36-1 at home against non-conference opponents.In 1988, Carolina lost a home game to Temple, which was No. 1 in the country (Carolina was No. 5). In 1989, Carolina lost to unranked Iowa (Adam's note: Of course, that loss was largely due to a botched end-of-game officiating situation that put the wrong Hawkeye free throw shooter on the line) but beat No. 20 UCLA. In 1991, Carolina played three consecutive games against top-25 teams and defeated all three. Carolina was tenth when it faced No. 14 Connecticut and No. 25 Kentucky, defeating both. The Tar Heels were ninth when they faced No. 20 Alabama and defeated them as well. Carolina went on to the Final Four that season.
From 1990 until 1999, Carolina had a 54-0 record at home against non-conference opponents. But in the fall of 1999, that streak ended as Carolina (then No. 2) lost to No. 8 Michigan State, 86-76. Later that season, Carolina lost to UCLA 71-68. From 2000 to 2003, Carolina went 18-8 at home which is where most of the 12 losses came from. The 2001 team lost to Kentucky at home, 93-76. The 2002 team lost three home games to non-conference opponents - Hampton, Davidson, Indiana and Ohio (that stung, didn't it?). The 2003 team beat Penn State and Rutgers but lost to No. 18 Kentucky, 98-81 (Carolina was 12th). The marquee win of 2003 was beating then-No. 6 Connecticut. The 2004 team was the first in this decade to go undefeated at home against non-conference opponents and one of those wins included defeating then-No. 1 Connecticut. Carolina is now 15-0 in the last two seasons against non-conference opponents at home and has a chance to start a new streak.
Carolina's four home games lost to non-conference foes in 2002 has been equaled or passed only by Florida State (who lost four at home in 2001) and Clemson, which went 5-6 at home in 2000, the worst record by an ACC team in the past 20 years. But Clemson has improved quite a bit and is now a combined 20-0 at home against non-conference foes in the last two seasons combined. Florida State is also 19-0 in the last two seasons. Georgia Tech had not lost more than one home game against an out-of-conference opponent since 2002 and this season, the Jackets have gone 2-2.
Duke is the team best known for its home court advantage. The Blue Devils have lost just three non-conference home games since 1986 and they have not lost one since 2000 when St. John's edged out the Blue Devils. Between 1992 and 1994, NC State went 18-5 in out-of-conference games, including a 3-3 season in 1992. NC State has lost one non-conference game each of the last four seasons, including this season (a loss to New Orleans). The last time NC State went undefeated at home to non-conference opponents was 2004. Wake Forest is 7-0 at home against out-of-conference opponents this season and the Deacons have not lost more than one out-of-conference home game in a season since 1998, when they went 7-2. Maryland went undefeated against out-of-conference opponents at home from 1991 until 2002. In 2003, the Terps were 7-1 and then went 18-0 combined in 2004 and 2005. Maryland was 8-1 in 2006 and 11-0 last year against out-of-conference opponents at home. Now, this season the Terps are 7-2.
Virginia moved to the John Paul Jones Arena last season and posted a 16-1 record as of the beginning of this season. But Virginia has already lost an out-of-conference game at home this season to Syracuse, putting them at 8-1 in the JPJ this season against non-conference foes. Since Boston College joined the league in 2006, it went undefeated at home in 20006 and then went 8-2 against out-of-conference opponents in 2007. The Eagles are 7-1 so far this season. Miami is undefeated at home against non-conference opponents for the first time since the Hurricanes joined the ACC. Virginia Tech has a 27-2 record at home against out-of-conference opponents since joining the league in 2005 and is 5-0 this season after going 7-0 last year.
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.
