Lucas: Tropical Depression

Aug. 12, 2010

By Adam Lucas

NASSAU, Bahamas--Sure, Carolina picked up another win in the Bahamas on Thursday night, running past the Bahamas All-Stars, 123-86. And yes, the Tar Heels got to spend the week bonding without Twitter intrusion or cell phones ringing. And sure, Roy Williams called the trip "fantastic" after watching his team's win over Thursday's physical and athletic opponent, a rough approximation of the Bahamian national team.

The head coach is wrong about this one, though. Bahamas trips aren't "fantastic." Bahamas trips stink. You want to know why?

I walked out of Sir Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium on a basketball high Thursday night. Granted, Carolina was more gifted and talented than the opponent. But it still looked like a real Tar Heel basketball team, one that--with a month or so of preseason practice--you'd recognize as the genuine article. They moved the ball, spurred by Kendall Marshall's eight assists, around the Bahamas zone with authority. They called out screens. They hit ahead to the open man on the fast break. They defended (some) and ran the floor and dunked.

It left you walking into the humid Nassau night ready to bottle it up and take it to College Park or Blacksburg or Clemson or, heck, even Chapel Hill and hand a big dose of it to all those opponents who enjoyed themselves too easily last year. Let's do this again real soon. When's the next game?

This is when you realize the Bahamas trip stinks. Right when it feels like it's the heart of basketball season, you remember it's still two months until Late Night and three months until the season opener.

Shouldn't the Bahamas have to return this game sometime soon--like, say, next week on the Granville courts, or maybe at Woollen? After all, the Tar Heels aren't accustomed to playing two straight road games at the same opponent without a home date. Let's set this up for later in August, so that everyone gets a chance to see:

John Henson's litheness around the rim. He's never going to get Bahamian citizenship, because the officials apparently hate him here and nailed him with a handful of dubious fouls and goaltending calls, but unofficial stats credited him with ten blocks in the two games. Add in his official totals of 26 points and 20 rebounds in two games and you've got a continuation of his solid late-freshman year play.

Harrison Barnes's scoring ability. Over the next few months, you'll hear a lot about his work ethic, his demeanor off the court, and his many non-basketball talents. That stuff is nice and his mother should be congratulated. But when you're still disinfecting the taste of an NIT season, the thing you notice immediately about Barnes is his ability to put the ball in the basket. He was effective everywhere from two feet to 21 feet in these two games, and he led his team with an efficient 44 combined points on 28 field goal attempts.

Kendall Marshall's passing. In 44 minutes, he tallied 13 assists and three turnovers. That doesn't mean he's going to unseat Larry Drew II, who sat out the trip with an injured ankle. But it does mean Carolina will have some flexibility at point guard, the most important position in Williams's system.

"Kendall is a great passer," Williams said. "He sees the whole court and is willing to give it up. He is a pass-first point guard. I like those guys who see everyone on the floor and not just one man. With one exception tonight, he usually sees the defense, too."

A team that enjoys playing together. You remember it the same way I do--there were times last season when it looked like the Tar Heels were having even less fun playing basketball than we were having watching it. Maybe it's because they haven't experienced any losses yet, but the early returns on the off-court camaraderie built by this trip are extremely positive.

"We learned a lot from the games," said Will Graves. "But the moment I knew this was a great trip was on the Abyss water slide. Everyone was scared to go down it and a little timid. But we finally did it, and when each guy came through (the slide) we were all hype.

"I don't do roller coasters or water slides but I didn't want to sit out and leave my teammates. It goes to show if we do things together off the court we will come together on the court. This whole trip helped build togetherness."

Kind of gets you ready to watch some Carolina Basketball again, doesn't it? Like, maybe right now? Tomorrow at the latest?

I hate the Bahamas.

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 upcoming official chronicle of the first 100 years of Tar Heel hoops, A Century of Excellence. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.

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Harrison Barnes

Larry Drew II

John Henson

Kendall Marshall

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