University of North Carolina Athletics
THB Spotlight: Big-Time Players Step Up And Make Big-Time Plays in Big-Time Games
January 14, 2011 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 14, 2011
by Kevin Chandler, UNC Athletic Communications
In last Saturday's 62-56 win against Virginia, North Carolina was down seven points at the end of the first half. With 14:25 left to play in the game, they found themselves down by 11. From there on out, toughness and more intensity on the defensive end got Carolina back in the game, and the Tar Heels escaped Charlottesville, Va., with a 62-56 victory.
Thursday's 64-61 victory over Virginia Tech was eerily similar to the game against Virginia. The Tar Heels were once again down by seven at halftime, and found themselves down by as many as 16 in the first half. But toughness and more intensity on the defensive end of the floor put North Carolina in a good position to escape with a win.
North Carolina head coach Roy Williams has said all along this team will be a work in progress. He firmly believed they would get better as the year went on, and games like this will only help a team's confidence as the ACC regular season schedule continues.
When asked about playing more aggressively down the stretch and experiencing more success in the final 15 minutes of the second half, Williams stated, "You've got to keep playing and you've got to keep plugging along. And you know, it wasn't pretty, but the kids are maturing and I think that's important for us."
Let's be honest, last year, in games like the past two against Virginia and Virginia Tech, the team at times lacked toughness and aggressiveness, resulting in one of the few disappointing seasons in North Carolina's distinguished history. So, as Williams emphasized in his post-game press conference Thursday night, he's not going to talk about last year. He pleaded with everyone to help him out in not bringing up last year, because, as he stated, "last year was so bad for me. The only thing good that happened was my grandson was born."
There is a lot of basketball left to be played, but the reason that many people want to keep bringing up last year may be because the team is clearly making strides to have a better season than last. Not only have the Tar Heels started off conference play with two victories, but the team is clearly showing more toughness and intensity down the stretch, especially on defense.
In Saturday's victory over Virginia, defense turned into offense, and it was the difference in the latter part of the second half. And in the game against Virginia Tech on Thursday night, other than Malcolm Delaney lighting up the Tar Heels like he always seems to do, scoring 28, the defense was solid and again one of the biggest reasons the Tar Heels earned a victory.
It's very clear that if this team is going to continue to have success, it's going to be because of being more aggressive and having more intensity on the defensive end of the floor. And instead of winning games in the 90s like Roy Williams-coached teams are accustomed to, this team could be winning games in the 60s and 70s. As long as his team continues to improve and continues to earn victories by being more aggressive and showing more intensity, Williams won't care too much what the score is.
The play of freshmen Harrison Barnes and Kendall Marshall cannot be ignored. They were both ultimately the difference in the game against Virginia Tech Thursday night. Barnes had 12 points in the game, 10 of those twelve coming in the second half. With less than four minutes to go in the game, Barnes hit three big shots, two of them being clutch three-pointers. The first one put the Tar Heels up three, and the second one put them up four with just 1:32 remaining in the game.
When asked about Williams' comment about his poor play early in the game, Barnes said, "I definitely agree with that. For about 30 to 35 minutes, I was pretty bad. Probably the worst I've ever been. But I came through at the end, and I'm glad we won."
The play of Marshall has many Tar Heel fans excited, as well they should be. He's displaying an unbelievable amount of confidence on the court, and that confidence is paying dividends. In Thursday night's victory over Virginia Tech, Marshall had nine assists and zero turnovers, a mark that is impressive for a freshman point guard. On Marshall's poise throughout the game, Williams stated, "Well, he's a quarterback. I mean, he's a thinking man's point guard and he did some really nice things."
When Marshall was asked what he was thinking before making the final two free throws of the game, Marshall said, "A phrase that I've always lived by, `big time players step up and make big time plays in big time games. I just kept repeating that to myself and I figured that if I wanted our team to win this game that this would definitely help out. I felt no nerves at all."
That's exactly what Barnes and Marshall were. They were big time players that stepped up and made big time plays in a big time game. And as freshmen, this is what they are being asked to be. If the Tar Heels are going to continue to have success, Barnes and Marshall will have to continue to grow toward being big time players. They could easily use being freshman as an excuse to not step up in situations like these. But from the looks of Thursday night's game, it appears as though they're embracing it.
