University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: A Taste For Blood
December 4, 2008 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Dec. 4, 2008
By Adam Lucas
DETROIT--Come with me, but watch your step.
Here at Ford Field, the court is treacherous. The site of the 2009 Final Four has an elevated court, which means getting from the playing surface to the Tar Heel bench requires three big steps down.
Sit here, just to the right of the Carolina bench, where the players sprint up the steps to enter the game and trudge down the steps when they're replaced. Roy Williams will be up and down those steps quite often--"I'm not comfortable," he admitted after the game. "It's a different perspective sitting below the court as a coach."
When you sit here, don't watch. Just listen.
"Come on, defense!" That is Williams's raspy shout. He is clinching his fists and clapping his hands and exhorting his team.
It just so happens his team is winning by 30 points in the second half.
"That's too easy, Will!" Williams barks at Will Graves. The sophomore has just committed the egregious error of allowing his man to catch a pass without interference.
Of course, his man is 35 feet from the basket at the time.
With the deficit nearing 35 points, Michigan State inbounds the ball and advances to the frontcourt. Immediately, C.B. McGrath, who had scouting duties on this opponent, bounds off the bench.
"Triple screen!" he shouts, predicting the Spartans' offensive set. Suitably warned, Danny Green shadows his man, reaches in, and gets a deflection.
"That's it, Danny!" McGrath praises.
Williams walks up the sideline to the scorer's table, where Bobby Frasor, Danny Green, Ed Davis, and Larry Drew II are waiting to check into the game. The head coach leans down and says something to his substitutes. With less than nine minutes left, his team has a 29-point lead over one of the top 15 teams in America.
Know what he says?
"I don't want anything sloppy out there."
There have been times over the last two seasons when this group of Tar Heels gets a double-digit lead and coasts to the finish, content simply to win. That counts, too. Wins are wins, of course, and style points are for gymnastics.
But what has become evident over these first eight games is something that should be chilling to the rest of the country: these Tar Heels are developing a taste for blood. There's never been any question that this particular group, most of which has been together for three years, is good enough to beat people. Now it's starting to look like they might be mean enough to demolish people. There is a difference.
"It comes with maturity," said Ty Lawson.
"We're getting the hang of it," Bobby Frasor said. "Let's put our foot on people when they are down. It's fun when you see the lead is at 30 or 35, and we'll say, `Let's get it to 40.' It's the end of the game and you're still excited because you're still trying to reach some goals."
Let's get it to 40. Those are sweet words, indeed.
Of course, Williams teaches his players not to look at the scoreboard. The head coach prides himself on never checking the score in the first half, because he believes it provides him a more accurate impression of how his team is playing, rather than simply basing his thoughts on the numbers on the scoreboard.
But he also realizes there's value to be found up there, too.
"One thing we've been talking about is making statements," Wayne Ellington said. "We've been focusing on that. We're trying to set ourselves apart. We feel like we could be the best team in the country. We've got to keep working to reach our potential."
Notice that? He said the Tar Heels could be the best team in the country. The polls say they are. Michigan State would probably say they are. Notre Dame, too.
None of the Tar Heels have said it. But they're not thinking otherwise, either.
"Did I hear you say earlier you might not be the best team in the country?" a reporter asked Frasor.
Frasor's eyebrows went up as though someone had accused the diehard White Sox fan of favoring Wrigley Field over Comiskey Park.
"Did I say that?" Frasor said. "I don't know if that came out of my mouth."
He didn't say the Tar Heels weren't the best team in the country. He also didn't say they were. Of course he didn't. That would be being satisfied, and that is not allowed. Not yet. Right now there is still defense to be played and rebounds to get and passes to make.
In 40 minutes of a 98-63 victory--the second-worst beating of the Tom Izzo era, one of the nation's great coaches--there was only one very brief moment when anyone on the Carolina bench stepped outside the game for even one second.
Ed Davis was shooting free throws, and the rowdy bunch of white-clad students in the Ford Field end zone organized a cheer. The stadium fell silent, so it was easy to make out what they were saying.
"Roy's been tan-ning!" Clap, clap, clap-clap-clap.
First free throw, good. Still quiet.
Williams took three steps down the sideline. He put his hand to his mouth to block the rest of the crowd, so only the students and his players could hear.
"I just came back from Maui," he shouted. "What do you expect? I've got a grass skirt, too--you want me to put it on?"
He grinned at the students, who laughed appreciatively. Before the laughter had even died down, Williams was back in front of his empty seat. He looked out at the court, where his team held a 35-point lead.
"OK," he barked. "Defense!"
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
