University of North Carolina Athletics
Georgia Tech Game Guide
January 16, 2008 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2008
By Lauren Brownlow
The Basics
No. 1/1 Carolina (17-0, 2-0) will travel to Georgia Tech (7-8, 0-2) in its second ACC road game. The Yellow Jackets are returning home for the first time since January 6th; they lost their last two games, both on the road, to Georgia and Miami. They lost at Miami, 78-68, in their last contest. At 17-0, Carolina has tied its best start since 1998 when the future Final Four team began the year 17-0. The next-best start belonged to both the 1983-84 and 1985-86 teams, which both began the season 21-0. The Tar Heels are in their 11th straight week at No. 1 in the AP poll, its longest such streak since the 1985-96 season (13 weeks). The longest ever stretch was in 1983-84, when the Tar Heels topped the poll for 15 weeks. Carolina is coming off of a 93-62 win over NC State in the Smith Center on Saturday. Carolina holds a 58-20 edge in the all-time series. Georgia Tech has faced a No. 1-ranked Carolina team 12 times in the series and is 3-9 in such games. Since he returned to Carolina, Roy Williams is 0-4 against Georgia Tech outside of the Smith Center and is 4-0 against the Yellow Jackets at home.
Game Time: North Carolina at Georgia Tech, 9:00 PM.
Last Time: Georgia Tech defeated Carolina, 84-77, on March 1, 2007 in Alexander Memorial Coliseum. Carolina trailed 49-42 at halftime despite shooting 56%. Georgia Tech shot 61.8% in the first half and 39.3% in the second half. Georgia Tech out-rebounded Carolina, 35-29. The Yellow Jackets led 73-59 with 8:07 to go, but Carolina managed to get as close as 77-73 with 1:55 remaining. The Tar Heels would get no closer. Brandan Wright led Carolina with 22 points on 8-of-10 shooting. Tyler Hansbrough added 16 points and a team-high 10 rebounds. Wayne Ellington had 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting. Thaddeus Young led Georgia Tech with a career-high 25 points. Anthony Morrow added 18 points and Javaris Crittenton had 13 points and 11 assists.
Radio Coverage: Tar Heel Sports Network coverage begins at 8:00 PM.
Injury Report: Bobby Frasor tore his left ACL and is out for the season. He had surgery to repair the torn ACL on Monday.
Storylines
Playing together on both ends: Carolina looked like more of a team on both ends of the court against NC State than perhaps it has all season long. It all starts on the defensive end of the floor. Even if Carolina had the best shut-down defender in the country, it would not matter one bit if the team could not play defense. That was not happening consistently enough for Coach Williams. So Carolina took a visit to "The Pit" last Thursday after allowing UNC-Asheville to shoot over 53 percent. The team enjoyed it so much - no, seriously - that they were back in there on Monday for a return trip, just to keep fresh on their defensive principles. The result was holding NC State to 17.6% shooting in the first half and just 13 points, including a 25-0 run. "If we play defense like we did in the first half and again, our defense didn't cause all that 18%. State just missed some shots that they normally make. But I was real pleased with how we swarmed the ball and we had eight blocks at the half. We had one in the second half," Williams said. "I don't know how many steals we had, but most of those were in the first half. We caught a couple of wayward passes in the second half. When we play defense and we're really swarming and doing what we're supposed to do and listening to the scouting report, use those clues that we give them, I think we are pretty doggone good."
Yes, NC State missed some shots that it would normally make (the Wolfpack shot 3-for-21 in the paint in the first half). But throughout the game, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson took it upon themselves to initiate the defense from the beginning of possessions, pressing NC State's guards and not letting them do what they wanted to do. That is how team defense is played and when it starts on the perimeter, it makes it that much easier for everyone else on the team to do what they need to do defensively.
"When you get teams on their heels, they start backing up instead of attacking. That's what they did. We had them at one point running their half-court set from all the way almost at halfcourt," Ellington said. "We were pressuring their guards. They couldn't really get open looks and they couldn't really get open looks to throw it in to their post players. So I think it all started with our perimeter defense, just pressuring their guards and not allowing them to have open looks and do what they want to do. That's the way we want to play all the time and for all teams to not be able to get around us easily. We've been emphasizing it a lot more, just how much pressure we're going to put on the ball and being able to defend the ball better."
Carolina is also playing much better team basketball on the offensive end. Just because field goals are unassisted does not mean that it is a case of one-on-one basketball or selfish play. But it is a very good sign that Carolina had 27 assists on 36 field goals against NC State, a season-high 75 percent. Carolina began the season with 50% or less assisted field goals in seven of its first nine games and over 60% in just one game (Iona). But in the last eight games, Carolina has had over 50% assisted field goals in every game and has gone over 60% in five of the last eight games. In the last three games, Carolina has dished out 65 assists on 99 field goals, or 65.6 percent. "Just everybody working together, everybody knowing that we need to get the best shot for the team first. When we come out and we're playing that unselfish and we're pushing the ball up the court, finding the open man, it's fun for this team to play like that. Everybody enjoys it and we're playing great basketball. Nobody wants to stop playing like that so that's why the assists just continue to rack up," Marcus Ginyard said.
The name on the front of the jersey is always a bulls-eye for opposing teams. But when the team is ranked No. 1, the stakes get raised even higher. Carolina needs to play with the same intensity and the same focus, regardless of its opponent, especially on the road. Georgia Tech is a 7-8 team that has lost two straight road games and is very hungry for a win. Carolina has not beaten Georgia Tech in Atlanta since Roy Williams' return to Carolina in 2004. The Yellow Jackets are a good shooting team at 47.4%, third in the league, and they have shot 45% or better from the floor in 10 of 15 games.
"They've been very successful against us down there. They've been very physical with us. As far as knowing how to play us, they play with us. They don't try to slow it down themselves. They just make hard cuts, set great screens and really get after the ball. I look for them to be the same way," assistant coach Joe Holladay said.
The Tar Heel bench: Last season, the players on Carolina's long bench contributed just 11 double-digit scoring games all season long in 38 games. This season, the bench already has 15 (Danny Green has 12 and Alex Stepheson, Will Graves and Wayne Ellington have one each). Carolina's bench has scored 437 points this season and 214 of those have come from Danny Green (49%). In 17 games this season, Green has scored over half of the team's bench points in 12 of them. Carolina's bench scored a season-low seven points against Ohio State and Green scored all seven. Carolina's second-lowest output from its bench was 11 points against Clemson and Green scored nine of those 11 points. To be fair, Carolina essentially had four bench players in that game (Green, Copeland, Graves and Thomas). Green has scored 2/3rds or more of Carolina's bench points in five games this season, including two of the last three. But the NC State game saw Carolina's bench contribute 30 points, the most since the bench scored 39 points against Valparaiso.
Carolina has a bench that includes three key contributors - Danny Green (21.2 minutes per game), Alex Stepheson (13.9 minutes per game), and Quentin Thomas (101. minutes per game). Will Graves (4.2 minutes per game) and Mike Copeland (3.9 minutes per game) have seen spot duty and could become parts of the rotation, but as of right now, Carolina is working with an eight-man group. Green averages 12.7 points per game and 5.2 rebounds and the next-highest scoring bench contributor is Alex Stepheson at 3.7 points per game. But each member of the Carolina bench has a role to play. Danny Green's is the most important, as he is someone that can come in as the team's "sixth starter", provide a spark off the bench and generally be a stat stuffer. Against NC State, he had 13 points, a career-high 14 rebounds, six assists, one steal and four blocks.
"Danny Green gets the most attention because he's so active and does so many things. If you look at a stat sheet, he'll have something in every box - scoring, rebounding, blocking shots, assists. Danny is a tremendous lift for us when he comes in the game," Holladay said. "Our kids even get excited because they know he's going to do some things. They're not always the right moves, but Danny has a way of making things happen."
But this team is at its best when the other bench members are coming in and contributing as well, even if it's just in small ways. Alex Stepheson is great when he can make a few shots, pull down rebounds, block shots and just play solid interior defense. He certainly did that against NC State, making all four of his field-goal attempts and pulling down six rebounds, his most since pulling down seven against Ohio State on November 28th. He also added an assist (his first since the Rutgers game) and two blocks, the most in a game since the Ohio State game. His 20 minutes were his most since Ohio State as well (21).
Quentin Thomas had a difficult time against Clemson, playing just eight minutes, missing his only shot attempt and committing three turnovers. But in Carolina's last two games, he has shot 3-of-3 from the field, scored six points (3.0 per game), pulled down four rebounds (2.0) and dished out six assists (3.0) to no turnovers in an average of 12.5 minutes per game. In Carolina's first 17 games, he averaged 1.3 points, 0.9 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 1.6 turnovers in 8.5 minutes. "You contrast it with what happened at Clemson because he played very poorly at Clemson and this was much, much better. He looked calmer. He looked more in control. He looked like he wasn't frustrated by anything. That's the Quentin that we need to have out there," Williams said.
Will Graves missed the NC State game with the flu, but he can score quickly, notching 34 points in just 67 minutes (0.5 points per minute) and shooting 9-of-19 from the three-point line (57.1%). He has also pulled down 21 rebounds in his 67 minutes. Mike Copeland is also capable when needed of coming in and providing a spark off the bench, scoring 18 points in 51 minutes, or 0.4 points per minute. He also has 11 rebounds and five blocks.
In its first game without Bobby Frasor, Carolina's bench (without Danny Green) scored 17 points, 14 of which came from Will Graves. But Carolina's bench also added four rebounds, a steal, a block, no turnovers and just two fouls in 24 minutes. In the win over Kent State, the bench was shortened once again - neither Alex Stepheson nor Quentin Thomas was able to play. So not counting Green, Mike Copeland and Will Graves combined to score 10 points, pull down 11 rebounds, dish out two assists and block a shot in 30 minutes off the bench. Then against Clemson, the bench (without Green) played just 18 minutes, scored just two points on 1-of-6 shooting, added no rebounds, no assists, no steals, no blocks but five turnovers and two fouls. Then after Alex Stepheson got back into game form, the bench (without Will Graves and not counting Green) scored 12 points on a fantastic 6-of-6 shooting and added nine rebounds, five assists, two blocks and no turnovers in 36 minutes.
"Our guys coming off the bench have really contributed lately. They haven't just come in the game and just been a body in there. We were real delighted with Alex's performance against North Carolina State. I think he had 20 minutes and they were very productive minutes," Holladay said. "With Bobby Frasor being out and then we had Will Graves was sick, it was important for those guys because our rotation with the injuries and people being gone has been cut down quite a bit. What used to be a really heavy bench is now a thin bench for us. So it's important for those guys when they do come in the games to contribute."
At The Game
Listening to the Tar Heel Sports Network at the game: The in-stadium feed at Alexander Memorial will be 87.9 FM.
Watching At Home
Turn down the sound: If you're watching at home while listening to the radio or over the computer via Carolina All-Access, there will inevitably be some delay. For the reason - and a possible solution - click here.
A full list of THSN affiliates can be found here.
ESPN coverage: The game will be available on ESPN.
Names To Know
Tyler Hansbrough: To say that Tyler Hansbrough has been "struggling" sounds silly when he has spent the last three games scoring 48 points, pulling down 35 rebounds, dunking on a 7-7 center, dishing out four assists and playing a ridiculous 102 minutes (34.0 per game). However, against NC State Hansbrough shot 3-of-11 from the field (27.3%), his worst shooting performance since making just 2-of-8 field goals (25%) at Kentucky. Against Carolina's first two ACC foes, Hansbrough's scoring outputs - 12 and 13 points - have been his lowest and second-lowest scoring outputs of the season. However, his 14-reboudn game against Clemson and his 13-rebound game against NC State tie his highest and second-highest rebounding outputs of the season. His three assists set a season high. He has ten assists in the last seven games and just five in Carolina's first 10 games.
No one was more concerned about his performance against NC State than Hansbrough himself, however. "Tyler didn't play very well today. He's got to catch the ball and shoot it quicker than he did. But that's a great situation to say the guy didn't play very well and he had 13 points, 13 rebounds and three assists," Williams said. "All these people all the time saying, `Well, he needs to pass it more and he needs to do this and he's walking,' I'd be willing to go tell those people to go take a flying leap. After the game on Saturday, Tyler Hansbrough went in the weight room for 45 minutes to an hour because he was ticked off. So don't anybody come up and tell me bad things about Tyler Hansbrough."
In the last five games, Hansbrough has pulled down 54 rebounds, 19 more than the next-closest Tar Heel (Danny Green with 36). Hansbrough is averaging 17.0 points per game on the road and shooting 45.1% from the field. However, he is averaging 11.8 rebounds in the six road games, including 4.8 offensive rebounds. He is also averaging 10.7 free-throw attempts at home (and 9.0 made free throws) to 8.7 free-throw attempts and 6.3 made free throws on the road. In conference so far, he has shot 33.3% from the field and 72.2% from the foul line, averaging 9.0 attempts and 6.5 made free throws per game. He has also averaged 13.5 rebounds in 36 minutes per game.
In his first game against Georgia Tech, Hansbrough scored 40 points. Since then, he has faced Georgia Tech twice and scored a combined 40 points. He has averaged 15.3 free-throw attempts in all three games, notching a double-double in two of the three games. Georgia Tech is one of the few teams in the conference that has a lot of bodies on the interior to put on Hansbrough and be physical with him, something that has not bothered him enough to keep him from scoring.
Marcus Ginyard: Marcus Ginyard has struggled offensively in the last five games, shooting 29.4% from the field (10-of-34), the lowest percentage of anyone in the Tar Heel rotation. But what Ginyard brings - like four straight defensive player of the game awards - makes him invaluable to this team. "I've always felt that your best defensive player should be in the game. Don't just measure Marcus by his field-goal percentage or something like that. If you were to ask our team, I'm not so sure that Marcus wouldn't be mentioned in the top 2-3 players in our starting line-up," Williams said. "A lot of guys just like guys that can score, and that's fine. But for our basketball team to be the best team they can be, Marcus Ginyard has got to be in the starting lineup."
On the road, Ginyard has averaged 6.5 points, 6.5 rebounds (2.8 offensive rebounds), 1.8 assists, 1.2 steals and 29.2 minutes. In Carolina's last five games, Ginyard has committed an uncharacteristic ten fouls (he had just 20 fouls in Carolina's first 12 games). Since moving into the backup point guard role, he has dished out 15 assists in the last five games (3.0), third-best on the team in that span. Ginyard has 23 assists in the first ten games (2.3). His four turnovers against NC State were a season-high; over his career, he has had four or more turnovers only three times. He notched a season-high five assists to help make up for the turnovers. With Quentin Thomas playing better, it's not clear how much Ginyard will play the backup point guard role. But it will be an option.
"He'll be our third point guard. I think you have to have three because something could happen at any time to one of the other two. Ty sprained his ankle the other day in the first half, so we took Marcus out immediately and put Danny in for him so that we could be ready to go in with Marcus when Quentin got tired. So yes, I definitely see Marcus as being involved at the point," Holladay said.
Ginyard has banged up for the past few games, nursing more minor injuries than Raymond Felton - sprained wrist, rolled ankle, bad groin, bad elbow. But he continues to play his heart out night in and night out. He will have a tough defensive assignment in one of Georgia Tech's two guards that are both physical and fantastic shooters. Ginyard has taken up the challenge of being Carolina's most consistent defender since Frasor's absence. "Marcus Ginyard (was the defensive player of the game) for the fourth game in a row, and I can never remember that happening," Williams said.
Wayne Ellington: Already this season, he has made game-winning shots, game-tying shots, and otherwise big shots that keep Carolina in games or help to keep the lead as big as it needs to be. On the Wayne Ellington revenge tour, redemption tour, coming out party, whatever you want to call it, Georgia Tech would be the next logical stop. Last year in the loss in Atlanta, Ellington scored 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting, including 2-of-5 three-pointers. But two of those three misses from three-point land came with inside a minute to go. He missed a three-pointer in the final minute that would have brought Carolina to within four. Instead, he missed and Georgia Tech got the rebound. Mario West converted two free throws to give the Jackets an 80-73 lead with 55.5 seconds left.
Georgia Tech has always had big, physical guards that made life miserable for the then-freshmen Ellington, who not only could not handle the contact as well but also could not defend as well as he has been this season. He is much more aggressive this season, attacking the basket with authority and taking the contact. He is averaging 3.2 free-throw attempts per game and after going 0-of-2 from the line against Kent State, he has made 17 of his last 17 attempts over the last three games (5.7 attempts per game). "Just attack. I'm just attacking more, attacking the basket and getting to the line, creating contact. They just put me on the line, it helps our team and it opens up a lot more for our team offensively as well," Ellington said.
After shooting 2-of-10 from the field against Valparaiso, he has shot 29-of-50 from the field and 10-of-19 from the three-point line. Ellington had just ten assists in Carolina's first nine games (1.1 per game) but has 21 in the last eight games (2.6 per game). Ellington is continuing to diversify his game. He has shot 60% from two-point range in Carolina's last eight games and 41.5% from three-point range. In Carolina's first nine games, Ellington shot 46.4% from two-point range and 45.2% from three-point range.
Ellington's defense has also improved significantly. After the NC State game, it was obvious that both Ellington and Lawson saw what they were capable of if they could get the defense started on the perimeter and make life difficult for the opposing guards. Ellington had 12 steals in Carolina's first 11 games but has six steals in the last four games, including three against NC State. He has at least one steal in each of the last four games and in six of the last eight.
Anthony Morrow: The 6-5 senior guard leads his team and ranks tenth in the ACC in scoring at 15.0 points per game. He is seventh in the ACC in field-goal percentage, shooting 47.5% and ranks fifth in three-pointers made per game (2.4). He also leads his team in three-point percentage (36-of-77, 46.8%). He ranks second on the team in rebounding (5.3 per game) and third in steals (1.2). In the last four games, Morrow has shot 63.6% from the field and made 12-of-19 three-pointers (63.2%), adding 16.0 points per game despite averaging 33.3 minutes per game in that span. On the season, he is averaging a team-high 29.7 minutes per game. In Georgia Tech's first 11 games, Morrow shot 43.3% from the field and 41.4% from behind the arc.
In Georgia Tech's last game against Miami, Morrow had 17 points on 6-of-10 shooting and added two rebounds, one assist, one turnover, one steal and just one foul in 34 minutes. In the two-point loss to Florida State in Georgia Tech's ACC opener, Morrow had 17 points on 7-of-9 shooting (3-of-4 from three-point range) and added six rebounds, two assists and three steals in 36 minutes. In the last few games, he has not gotten in foul trouble, he has shot the ball very well and the fewest minutes he has played in the last four games is 29 in a win over Presbyterian.
Lewis Clinch: The 6-3 junior guard ranks second on the team and 19th in the ACC in scoring (12.9 points per game). He also ranks ninth in three-pointers made per game (2.13). He has made 32 three-pointers, second behind only Anthony Morrow, and has attempted a team-high 82. A little over half of his field-goal attempts are three-pointers and he is shooting 39% from beyond the arc, third behind Morrow and Matt Causey. He is shooting 36-of-78 (46.2%) from two-point range. Clinch has been a bit inconsistent this season but he has had some huge games, including a 22-point performance in a narrow loss to Kansas at home. Against one of the better defensive teams in the country, Clinch shot 8-of-16 from the field, scored 22 points and added two steals in 37 minutes.
Clinch has a steal in five straight games after going ten games with just five total steals. He also had some turnover issues earlier in the season, turning it over 34 times in the first 11 games this season, including three six-turnover games, averaging 3.1 turnovers a game. In the last four games, he has cut down on the turnovers and has averaged just 2.0. He has made 5-of-11 three-pointers in Georgia Tech's last two games. In the last game against Miami, he had his first foul-free game of the season and scored 13 points on 3-of-10 shooting (2-of-5 from the three-point line) and 5-of-6 from the foul line.
Jeremis Smith: The 6-8 senior forward is one of Georgia Tech's captains and is the team's best rebounder, ranking tenth in the ACC with 7.2 boards a game. He also ranks tenth in the ACC in offensive rebounds at 2.5 a game and tenth in steals at 1.6 a game. He is averaging 9.8 points per game, third on the team. He is shooting 49.5% from the field, third on the team and first among those who have started all 15 games. His 72 free-throw attempts lead the team, but he has made just 45 of them (62.5%), a percentage that ranks eighth among members of the rotation. His 36 assists rank second on the team and his eight blocks are third-best on the team. However, he is tied for second on the team in fouls with 40 and has fouled out a team-high two times.
Smith has six double-figure scoring games this season, but four of those came in the first six games. He notched a season-high 21 points against Miami on 8-of-13 shooting and added 10 rebounds to mark his third double-double of the season and his first in the last eight games. He has seven double-digit rebounding games this season, and three of those have come in Georgia Tech's last four games.
Quotables
"Luck is when preparation meets opportunity. My first year as an assistant coach here, '78, we won five games that year where the other team had the last shot to win the game and they were 0-for-5. I thought, `My golly, Coach Smith can really coach.' In '79, we won five games where the other team had the last shot and missed all five of them. One of them, the score was 0:00 on the clock and a guy who played in the NBA for 12 years went to the free throw line and missed the free throw with the score tied and then we won the game in overtime." -Roy Williams
"He (Tyler Hansbrough) went in there and worked for 45 minutes after the game, and I'm talking Jonas said he went in and worked. It was not go in there and sprinkle a little fu-fu on your underarms or anything like that. He went in there and worked his butt off." -Roy Williams
"He (Roy Williams) said, `Are you just too embarrassed to get up because you fell down or did you hurt yourself?' I said, `Yeah, I hurt myself.'" -Marcus Ginyard on what Coach Williams said to him when he tweaked his ankle against NC State
"He didn't order a meal. But hey, hopefully he eats because he probably needs the food, especially with what happened to his head." -Danny Green about Coach Williams saying he would rather beat NC State than eat
"There was no dain bramage yesterday." -Roy Williams on his head injury
"You guys are going to hear the actual truth before anybody else. I had Danny and Deon in the office and we were going over the tape. I got so mad at them I said I'd fight them. I stood up and I whipped both of them. As one of them was laying on the floor, I started walking out and they tripped me and I fell against the door." -Roy Williams on his head injury
Lauren Brownlow is the managing editor of Tar Heel Monthly.
