University of North Carolina Athletics
Brownlow: Tar Heels Willing To Play Tough
December 31, 2007 | Women's Basketball
Dec. 31, 2007
By Lauren Brownlow
Sylvia Hatchell's brand of basketball is generally thought of by pundits as a run-and-gun type of offense with little direction, a finesse offense that thrives in transition and is weak on things like fundamentals or toughness, living on athleticism and quickness. Games like today prove that Coach Hatchell's teams might like to go fast, but they also like to get tough and physical. Any reporter who has covered the Tar Heels knows what one of Hatchell's favorite words is one that she found herself shouting quite a few times on the sideline today - "Rebound!"
On the stat sheet, Carolina was out-rebounded by Liberty for the first time this season and the first time since the Final Four loss to Tennessee last season. Needless to say, Hatchell was not pleased. "This was the first time all year that we've been out-rebounded and I'm not happy about that, so we'll take care of that this week," Hatchell said.
The head coach of Liberty, Carey Green, stared at the stat sheet for a good 30 seconds. "We knew that and we were conscious of it, but boy, it just didn't feel like it. I'm telling you that. It just didn't feel like it. It felt like they were getting every rebound there was," Green said.
And it didn't, especially in the second half. But part of the reason for that is that the Tar Heels were on the floor scrapping for every loose ball, battling hard with the Flames who did not mind some floorburns. Liberty came in 11-1 and had already faced some hostile environments and not only was not intimidated by the Tar Heels, but clearly wanted to take it to them. You rarely see teams that are talented - or gutsy - enough to pick up Carolina defensively full-court, hoping to force them into bad decisions. In those situations, the Tar Heel guards can usually breeze right by defenders and create an easy transition opportunity for a teammate.
But Liberty came ready to play and the Flames did not go away quietly, frustrating Carolina. The Flames were as close as 25-23 but would get no closer than 12 in the second half. They were a tough, physical team that featured 6-foot-3 identical triplets in the post. LaToya Pringle said that the strategy was to look at their numbers and not their faces, which were identical. But more than once, a Tar Heel seemed to confuse No. 40 with No. 41 or No. 42. The trio, two of which started, combined for 20 rebounds, 38 points and 14 fouls.
"I like it. If you're going to play in the NCAA Tournament, you've got to be able to play like that. You've got to be tough and you've got to be able to play because that's the way it is in the NCAA," Hatchell said.
This type of a game is perfect for someone like Heather Claytor, who can scrap and claw and fight for the ball with the best of them. She was tripped from behind on a breakaway and hit the deck hard, right on her back. She got up and laughed with her teammates, shaking her head slowly. But that was one of just six times in the game (four in the second half) that she either hit the floor or a Liberty player hard. She also had five steals, playing tough defense and knocking the ball out of the hands of Liberty forwards and guards for at least three near-steals.
Like Coach Hatchell's teams, LaToya Pringle is often perceived as too thin, too girly, too passive to bang around in the post. But games like this prove that she is certainly tough enough to bang around with the best of them. She had the only blocked shot of the game, pulled down 10 of Carolina's 39 rebounds and had a career high 25 points on 6-of-8 shooting, including 13-of-15 from the foul line. The rest of her teammates made just 15-of-25 combined from the foul line.
Coach Hatchell's style of play was still at work in this game as Carolina scored 40 points off turnovers, 24 in the second half, forcing 35 Liberty turnovers and 21 in the second half. Carolina had 16 steals in the second half after just five in the first half. Cetera DeGraffenreid can convert lay-ups in transition - four, to be exact - with the best of them. And of course, the Tar Heels committed 20 turnovers of their own.
But things like how many times a player hits the deck or how many times a player just rips the ball away from an opponent don't go in the stat sheet. And Hatchell's teams - this one in particular - can do that, too.
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
