University of North Carolina Athletics
Jacobs: A Little Plague
February 9, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Feb. 9, 2010
by Barry Jacobs, TarHeelBlue.com
A handsome turnout of folks clad in light blue shirts filled the bleachers behind the North Carolina bench, among them former UNC basketball great Al Wood and athletics director Dick Baddour. They were supportively vocal, repeatedly drawing the attention of the relatively modest contingent of Duke students in attendance. But Tar Heel fans ultimately had little to cheer in what increasingly seems a season of disappointment for both North Carolina basketball squads.
Sylvia Hatchell's Tar Heels, a preseason top five team favored to win the ACC, fell behind 8-0 at the outset at Cameron Indoor Stadium and never caught the Blue Devils, suffering their most decisive defeat against Duke since 2003.
Matters got worse, not better, as the game wore on. The home team forged a stunning 35-12 rebounding edge in the second half, negating what is usually a Carolina strength. Youthful miscalculations, and a continuation of inconsistent play by starting guards Italee Lucas and Cetera DeGraffenreid, further sidetracked any chance for a comeback, let alone a victory.
If you think this has a certain familiar ring to it, you're not alone.
"It's like we've got a little plague or something over there in Chapel Hill right now," Hatchell lamented after her squad fell to 4-4 in the ACC and 16-6 overall.
Clearly, these are uneasy times for North Carolina basketball, downright disorienting in the context of this week's celebration of 100 years of men's competition in the sport.
As any basketball fan knows, most of those seasons, particularly since World War II, have been characterized by surpassing excellence. The parade of championships, All-Americas and Hall of Famers is almost unparalleled. Men's coach Roy Williams, like Hatchell, is a Hall of Famer, with national titles under his belt and a program that engenders and routinely fulfills expectations of success.
Still, for all the Tar Heels' advantages of tradition and reputation, for all the experience of Williams and staff, for all the well-known attributes of the Carolina Way, there are no guarantees of victory. This season's shocking 13-10 record, with six ACC losses in eight tries pending Duke's visit on Wednesday night, is testament to that truth.
Coaches will tell you their stewardship is overrated -- the name of the game is having talented players in your program. Williams and Hatchell have proven masterful at that part of the job. Then again, talent only takes you so far. This year's Tar Heels, male and female, are testament to that truth, too.
"I think they're really talented, I really do," an ACC coach says of Williams' team. "I think they could beat anybody."
In fact, coaches from three different clubs who've already faced North Carolina's men predict the Heels will become a formidable unit before the 2010 season is done.
Sounds plausible, but time is running out. Surely Carolina's coaches are pulling every lever at their disposal, yet the parade of missed opportunities and missed assignments continues.
A win over Duke, the ACC leader, could freshen the confidence and cohesion that's obviously in short supply. Such a spark might also burn those who've already relegated this year's squad to the NIT, a fate conjured by chanting Maryland fans last weekend and, incongruously, by Duke students at the women's game on Monday.
Identifying UNC's flaws has become the topic of the day around the ACC, rivaling chatter asserting the league's general mediocrity. The impression the ACC is down in turn is strengthened by Carolina's difficulties.
So, what's wrong with the Heels?
Forgotten is the protracted absence of sophomore Tyler Zeller, the team's most complete big man, the only one who can score, rebound, block and defend, including take a charge when appropriate. Injuries have also cost playing time for starters Marcus Ginyard and Ed Davis.
Statistics tell a troubling tale. The free throw shooting, 66.9 percent, is the worst of Williams' tenure, and the team's field goal accuracy (46.9) is the lowest since 2004, the year the coach took over at Chapel Hill. The scoring average (80.0) barely avoids ranking as the worst since Williams returned.
This lack of efficiency reflects a preponderance of young, semi-polished players, some perhaps with mediocre fundamentals, and a failure to properly execute the offense. Another disturbing sign: in eight ACC starts, only at N.C. State did the team have more assists than turnovers. That was a win.
Feeding the post has been sporadic. Opponents obviously seek to deny entry passes to post players Deon Thompson and Ed Davis, but teams have been trying that strategy for years against the Heels' inside-out approach, to modest effect.
Big men must demand the ball, and work to make themselves available in scoring position. Guards must reward that effort and assertiveness. Perhaps there already is a renewed emphasis on feeding the post -- Davis and Thompson took 22 shots last weekend at Maryland, most in any league game except the win over the Wolfpack. In Raleigh, their 22 attempts resulted in 14 field goals, most by the pair in ACC competition as well as the highest percentage of the team's overall shots.
Individuals' limitations also have been exposed. Every team and every player grapples with compensating for weaknesses; hiding those flaws is easier when players execute the game plan.
Which leads to intangibles. It's difficult to identify the Heels' emotional leader on the court. The defensive effort isn't always manifest.
A more basic problem may be revealed by the observations of a coach who's watched tape of the Heels in action. He noted they are less inclined than in the past to point to one another when a good pass leads to a basket, or to hustle to the bench when summoned.
Most blemishes will be forgotten, or at least overlooked by the public, if North Carolina improves in the season's second half. There is recent precedent for such a recovery: last year Maryland started 3-5 in the ACC, attracting fierce criticism of coach Gary Williams, but rallied to earn an NCAA bid with a breakeven stretch drive.
The hallmark of Carolina basketball has been consistent excellence, not late-season comebacks. But successful deviations from that tradition are surely welcome, if only temporarily.
