University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Carolina Basketball Notebook
January 28, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Jan. 28, 2011
By Adam Lucas
There have been times in the Roy Williams era when the intensity of the Carolina-State rivalry has been somewhat shocking, because some out-of-state recruits don't arrive on campus with a pre-existing knowledge of the history between the two programs.
That won't be the case this year, as the freshmen received an early indoctrination during the NC Pro-Am at St. Augustine's. In the head-to-head matchup between the Tar Heel freshmen and Wolfpack freshmen, a sellout crowd packed the gym, and 600 people were turned away.
"It's an extremely big rivalry," said Harrison Barnes. "It's almost the same as the Duke rivalry. It's very important to us and very important to Coach Williams, because when he was here before that was one of the best schools in the ACC at the time."
And exactly how does the freshman know it's "very important" to the head coach?
Barnes just smiled. "He's told us some stories," he said, "but that stays within the team."
Somewhere, Danny Green (who made a habit of broadcasting any supposedly internal team stories) softly weeps.
Injury update: Reggie Bullock and Leslie McDonald practiced yesterday and are expected to play against State. The news is not as good for Justin Watts, who did not practice on Thursday. "My guess is he will not be able to play tomorrow," Williams said.
Miami ramifications: How big was the win at Miami on Wednesday night? "I was almost giddy after that game," Williams said. "I really appreciate the toughness. I want them to see improvement but I want them to succeed too. The toughness and willingness to continue playing is important." Zeller touched on a similar theme when he discussed the importance of coming back from a big deficit against the Hurricanes and then completing the comeback with Barnes's three-pointer. "You get a lot of confidence that we are good enough to make those last-second plays and put everything together at the end," he said. "You don't want to be in that position, but being able to come back is a great asset."
Fundraiser Saturday: Sure, it might be Carolina-State day on Saturday, but it's never too early for a little competition against Duke. The Dance Marathon is asking everyone attending the game to donate $1 to help support the North Carolina Children's Hospital--and topple the Blue Devils in a contest against Duke's Crazies Who Care.
Briefly: All ticketholders for Saturday's game will receive a free poster commemorating the first 25 years in the Smith Center. The posters are complimentary courtesy of the 1986 managing architect of the building, Corley Redfoot Zack. They will be available at the main entrances...The Williams-identified key to tomorrow's game: avoiding foul trouble against State's Tracy Smith. "One of our biggest weaknesses is depth up front," the head coach said, pointing to the likely absence of Watts. Zeller pointed to his early post defense as the key against Smith. "Don't let him get the ball where he wants it," Zeller said. "You want to get him a little uncomfortable and maybe get him frustrated."...
Followers of THM Twitter will remember that Barnes first announced his desire to be called "The Black Falcon" over the summer, even before fall classes started. Friday, he revealed the origin of that nickname, as he visited the ESPN studios with fellow super-freshmen Kyrie Irving and Jared Sullinger. "I said I wanted to be an animal, because Michael Jordan was the Black Cat and Kobe is the Black Mamba," Barnes said. "So they gave me `Black Falcon.'" Carolina alum Stuart Scott, specifically, takes credit for being the originator of that moniker.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of six books on Carolina basketball, including the official chronicle of the first 100 years of Tar Heel hoops, A Century of Excellence, which is available now. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
