University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: The Shadow
March 4, 2009 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
March 4, 2009
By Adam Lucas
BLACKSBURG, Va.--This is a story about a high-scoring opposing guard having a notable game against North Carolina.
No, not that kind of story. Not the kind that followed outbursts by Jack McClinton or Toney Douglas or Greivis Vasquez. This one is a little different.
It starts the same way, though. Virginia Tech has an all-conference caliber guard named Malcolm Delaney. Already this season, he has scored 24 points against Virginia, 29 points at Miami, 37 points against Clemson and 25 points against Florida State. He also spends plenty of time with the ball in his hands, so denying him isn't really an option. At some point, somehow, Delaney is going to get the ball. He's a stellar three-point shooter and a capable driver.
Sound good, Wayne Ellington? That's your assignment.
The Tar Heel junior--with spot help from Larry Drew II and Bobby Frasor--played 35 minutes of terrific defense on Delaney Wednesday night. The box score will show that Delaney actually played 38 minutes--he scored 11 of his 19 points in the final 2:41 when he was being guarded by Ty Lawson.
Perhaps that last 2:41 is the most instructive way to evaluate Ellington's performance. Over that span, Lawson fouled Delaney on three of the final four possessions and four of the last six. The reason? Delaney, in case you didn't realize it, is a very good player. It's just that Ellington had made him struggle for the previous two hours.
"Every time Delaney caught the ball, Wayne was there," said Bobby Frasor.
The Hokies were assistant coach C.B. McGrath's scouting responsibility. He delivered these instructions for the Tar Heels assigned to guard Delaney: be there on the catch. The point was simple. If Delaney was allowed to catch the ball unobstructed, he was likely to fire up one of those dangerous three-pointers. And if he fired up one of those dangerous three-pointers, well, this would be a very different kind of story.
At the beginning of this season, Ellington said as long as Marcus Ginyard was out, he wanted the assignment on the other team's best perimeter player. Wednesday night, he got it.
And right from the beginning, Ellington was Delaney's shadow. He forced an errant three-pointer early in the game and then thwarted a drive to the hoop that ended with an off-balance miss. The first Hokie turnover of the game came when Ellington followed Delaney around two very solid screens, including a solid hip check from Hank Thorns, and knocked the ball free on the wing.
He stayed low going around screens, he always had a hand in his man's face, and he gave minimal help in the post to avoid leaving Delaney free for a perimeter jumper.
"I knew I couldn't get behind those screens," Ellington said. "You have to work. You make sure you shadow him."
Ellington went to the bench for the first time at the 12:46 mark, and at that point Delaney was scoreless and Carolina had built a 17-8 lead. He made his first field goal with 2:27 left in the half, but that was his only field goal of the first half. He ended the first 20 minutes 1-of-6 from the field.
In the Carolina locker room at halftime, while a bizarre Simon Says halftime show took place on the court (Including the actual instructions, "Simon says bust a move"), Frasor took Ellington aside. "That," Frasor said, "was a great half."
"I thought I had done a pretty good job," Ellington said. "He didn't get any open looks. I wanted to continue that effort in the second half."
And he did. He got caught in traffic and allowed Delaney to make a layup three minutes into the half, but that was essentially one of just two defensive mistakes he made all game--the other coming when he fell back on his heels and had to swipe and commit a foul as Delaney drove to the hoop.
Ellington's sticky defense was essential, because the Hokies' A.D. Vassallo was having a terrific senior night. He finished with 25 points, enough to keep Virginia Tech close. But he needed one of his teammates to supplement the scoring in order to fuel the upset.
Delaney, who finished 4-of-16, was never able to get enough of an opening to provide that complementary boost.
"We have to win some games ugly," Roy Williams said. "We guarded them."
Ellington wasn't quite ready to pronounce his performance lockdown-worthy.
"I don't know," he said with a grin. "I'll have to look at the tape."
Frasor needed no secondary confirmation. The senior, who has won more coaches' defensive awards than any player on the roster, had a simple assessment:
"Tonight, Wayne did a fantastic job on him."
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of four books on Carolina basketball.
