University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: A Subdued Celebration
March 16, 2008 | Men's Basketball
March 16, 2008
By Adam Lucas
CHARLOTTE--The shirts said ACC champions. The scoreboard said ACC champions.
But were these calm, cool, and collected young men in the Julian argyles really the ACC champions?
North Carolina has now won 17 of these events, so they know how to celebrate them. There is shouting, there is net-cutting, and there is smiling.
After Sunday's 86-81 win over Clemson, there was celebrating...sort of.
Before the game, Atlantic Coast Conference officials had practiced setting up the postgame celebration floor. They assembled a podium at midcourt on which the victors could bounce around, wave to their families, and smile. They put together a makeshift ladder beneath each basket for the winning team to use when snipping the nets. They put it together, they took it apart, and then they put it back together again--no doubt anticipating that celebrating college kids would storm the court and time would be of the essence.
These Tar Heels did not storm the court. They moseyed the court.
"It was the most subdued celebration I've ever seen," said Marcus Ginyard. "It was interesting, because after the game I don't think anyone felt like we wanted to run out onto the court."
It showed. Sometimes when the final seconds elapse in a tournament championship, players and coaches can barely contain their joy. The ball is fired up in the air, hugs are exchanged, and there is a sense of release. That's why you play in these types of tournaments. To survive, advance, and have that feeling of accomplishment as the last team standing.
Remember last year, when Ginyard climbed the ladder in Tampa and barked, "Woooooooo!" as he took his snip of the net? This time there was no wooing. Even before the teams went through the obligatory handshake seconds after the buzzer, the focus was already shifting to the future.
Wayne Ellington, who played perhaps his best all-around game as a Tar Heel in scoring 24 points on 10-of-13 shooting while handing out four assists, approached the Carolina sideline as the team lined up for the handshake. He held up one finger. "We've got one more championship," he said. "One more."
"This is a great one," Ellington said in the locker room. "This is something we're going to cherish. But we're not satisfied with this. We did this last year. We want the one in San Antonio."
What's most encouraging about the response is that other than Ellington's reminder, it wasn't a choreographed reaction.
"We didn't talk about it beforehand," Deon Thompson said. "But when the game ended, it was obvious everyone felt the same way."
There is a fine balance to be struck between concentrating on the season's ultimate goal and enjoying each piece of the season that leads to that goal. Williams constantly reminds his team to enjoy the journey. There's a danger in taking any difficult accomplishment--like winning the ACC Tournament title--for granted.
Don't misunderstand. The Tar Heels did seem to enjoy the win. But they didn't seem to savor it at all. For just a brief second, it was enough to make you worry. But the man with the best insight into his team's mentality seemed pleased that none of his players seemed fulfilled by the afternoon.
"I'm glad we didn't act that crazy out there," the head coach told his team in the locker room. He understands that delicate equilibrium needed at this time of year, and he was part of a team with a similar mindset. The 1982 team famously left the nets hanging at Raleigh's Reynolds Coliseum after capturing the East Regional championship.
"We want the ones in the Superdome," James Worthy told his teammates. "We don't want these."
Back on the floor of the Charlotte Bobcats Arena, one lonely podium still stood under the basket in front of the visiting bench. The net still hung, perfectly strung, from the rim. Carolina had trimmed the net in front of their bench and then seemed to have enough. After Williams took the penultimate strand, he summoned Quentin Thomas. "Finish it off, Q," he said. "This one's yours."
A couple of snips, a wave to the crowd, and then the Tar Heels were gone. Having finished the job at one end, they never even looked in the direction of the other net.
"To be honest, we didn't really want that one that badly," Danny Green said. "We just wanted to get in, get out of here, and hopefully get somewhere so we can see the NCAA Tournament selection show."
"I hope people don't take it as a cocky thing," Thomas said. "It wasn't cocky. It was more workmanlike. That's where I can see that this team has matured. We're happy we accomplished the ACC Tournament championship, because we set it as a goal before the season. But at the same time we have more goals that we need to accomplish."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
