University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Evolution
February 13, 2010 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Feb. 13, 2010
By Adam Lucas
On a weekend that celebrates Carolina's past, the Tar Heels might have learned a little something about their future in a 74-61 win over NC State.
It doesn't mean they need to book reservations for Indianapolis just yet, and it doesn't mean the season is saved, but on a day when four rookies had to produce or risk falling into the Atlantic Coast Conference basement, the quartet did exactly what they had to do.
With Travis Wear still out with an ankle injury--Roy Williams said after the game he expects to get Tyler Zeller back into the rotation before Wear--the combination of John Henson, David Wear, Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland produced 34 points (45.9% of Carolina's total) and 15 rebounds (34.1%). Both those figures are up substantially from the season averages, as the quartet entered the game generating 20.35% of UNC's offense and 17.4% of the rebounds.
Other than Henson's emphatic left-handed slam dunk over C.J. Williams, the freshmen weren't particularly flashy. In fact, that might have been the encouraging part. We already knew they could run and dunk. Saturday, they showed they could defend a little and make the occasional good decision.
Henson's progress will be the most obvious. Since he's moved to the power forward spot, a transition he said was a mutual decision with Williams, he's looked much more fluid. His eight rebounds were tied for a game high, as were his three blocks. After earning his first career start, he announced his presence with an emphatic two-handed follow dunk for Carolina's first points.
Because of the depth issues in the post and early foul trouble for Deon Thompson, Henson also sometimes found himself guarding State's Tracy Smith, a burly scorer who would have been an unthinkable matchup just a few weeks ago. Saturday, Smith finished with a game-high 20 points, but he shot just 6-for-11 and was not the dominant force that might have been feared.
"A big part of my game is using length to compensate for a lack of size," Henson said. "I have to use that to my advantage, just like someone else would use their weight to their advantage. You have to fight. You have to work to get in front of them. I have to fight a little harder than most people to get around guys, because I know if I get behind someone, it's going to be easier for them to score than if they're going against Ed and Deon."
That's a fairly astute observation for someone who last year at this time was trying to decide who to take to the prom. David Wear showed a similar grasp of his situation, coming off the bench to score seven points and pick up three offensive rebounds. Two of those boards came off missed free throws, when he showed a Jawad Williams-like knack for slithering inside and saving another possession for the Tar Heels. Both of them resulted in points, including one that turned into a three-pointer for Wear himself.
"When you're a role player coming into the game you have to do the little things," Wear said. "You're not going to be the high scorer or the high rebounder. You have to figure out where you fit in to get minutes on the court. That's where I try to fit in, getting offensive rebounds and little things like that."
It might start with little things, like a tip after a missed free throw, but the confidence gained from those plays frequently turns into something bigger. It's a bit of a circle for the rookies...they have to play to get the confidence, but they can't play without the confidence to make the right decisions.
The victory was nice--and much-needed. After what felt like a month's worth of bad news, from game results to injuries, it was refreshing to finally walk into a happy locker room. Wear, though, had what might be the most encouraging news of the afternoon. So much of this season has been about what Carolina isn't. It was nice to finally hear him talk about what he was.
And what was he?
"I was comfortable out there," he said.
That's progress.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of five books on Carolina basketball, including the just-released book on the 2009 national title, One Fantastic Ride. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
