University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Saturday Carolina Basketball Notebook
March 19, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
March 19, 2011
By Adam Lucas
Saturday afternoon's Carolina and Washington press conferences turned into a comedy hour featuring Roy Williams and Lorenzo Romar. Williams was at the podium first and offered a compliment of UW's head coach. "He's a big time quality coach. He's the kind of person that the NCAA should be really proud of, doing things the right way, caring about the kids."
But then, with a wry smile, Williams also couldn't resist adding a little humor to what can often be dull Q&A sessions. "The last time we were together, I had to buy the daggone ice cream. He didn't bring any money with him.
"Has Lorenzo already had his press conference? No? Good. Ask him where one of his daughters went to school. She went to North Carolina. There's one really smart person in his family."
Apparently, the daughter at Carolina had been brought up before. "He got really mad at me about that," Williams said, "because when we were both recruiting Marvin Williams, I said, "Marvin, ask Lorenzo where his daughter went to school." That sort of ended that recruiting stuff real quickly there."
Less than 20 minutes later, Romar was at the same podium. First, he offered his own version of the ice cream story. "He begged me to walk to the store with him to go get ice cream, first of all. I was minding my own business, `Would you please, I don't have anybody to walk with me? Would you please walk with me to the store so we can get some ice cream. I'll buy.' Okay. All right. I guess I didn't want to be rude to him. So we went, yeah, bought some ice cream.
Romar, showing the same attention to detail Williams would appreciate, recalled that the ice cream incident took place this summer in San Antonio, and the coaches purchased pints of Blue Bell.
Then, with a deadpan expression, he tried to set the record straight on the recruiting story. "I knew he would mess that up (laughter). It was Martell Webster, it wasn't Marvin, it was Martell Webster. And he was talking to Martell Webster about how many people really loved North Carolina and the Carolina blue. He said when he was at Kansas, even his own son went to North Carolina. He said, `You know, Coach Romar's daughter even goes to Carolina.' I thought that was interesting, he brought that out in the home visit."
Romar went on to effusively praise Williams's relentless recruiting, even asking Tar Heel Sports Network color man Eric Montross (the top prospect in the nation as a high school senior) to testify as to Williams's ability.
Washington efficiency stats: There's a significant disparity in the seeding for Carolina and Washington as compared to their KenPom.com ratings--in which 19 of the top 20 teams were still alive entering Saturday's play. The Huskies are rated 20 spots higher than the next-highest seventh seed, Temple at #38.
Washington built that rating with one of the nation's most efficient offenses, a category where they outpace the Tar Heels by more than 30 slots. The numbers are almost perfectly reversed in defensive efficiency, making Sunday's game an interesting clash of styles.
There's no question that it's nice to have the advanced look at statistics. But it's also worth remembering that the actual players involved in the game pay very little attention to them. Even Tyler Zeller, Carolina's Academic All-America, doesn't weigh them too heavily. "Stats are one of those things you want to try and maximize and they're great to look at," he said. "But you have to be able to win. Someone who knows how to win is very valuable."
And what does Zeller look at when he looks at a box score?
"I don't really look at box scores," he said. "But when I do, I'm one of those people who looks at the negatives to see what I can improve. I like to look at turnovers and rebounds to see if I need to improve, and field goal percentage to see how good or bad it was."
Huskies on Tar Heels: Washington players and coaches were very complimentary of both the current Carolina team and the Tar Heel tradition.
The outspoken Isaiah Thomas called Michael Jordan (who was in the building and bumped into the Tar Heels after the day's press conference and practice obligations) "the best player to ever play the game" and then added, "Carolina has a lot of legendary players. It's every kid's dream school to go to North Carolina or play against them. They're legendary."
Head coach Lorenzo Romar got a first-hand look at campus when touring with his daughter, Terra, who attended UNC. "There are not many programs like Carolina," Romar said. "That's something that takes a long time. North Carolina has been successful at a high level for many decades. You don't pop up overnight and establish a tradition like that. I've gone through the Dean Dome and looked at campus. The tradition jumps out at you. It oozes success there."
Briefly: Dexter Strickland reported no pain in his knee the morning after playing 30 minutes against Long Island. The Tar Heel sophomore also played knee brace-free against the Blackbirds. "It feels great and there's no swelling at all," he said. "I'm feeling good. And with me, I think it's a mental thing. If you have a brace on, your mind is telling you you're heart. If I play without the brace on, I feel better about myself."...John Henson's 28 points were the most by a Tar Heel in his NCAA Tournament debut since Lennie Rosenbluth scored 29 against Yale in 1957...Carolina has met Washington only once previously, an 89-72 victory in the 1972 Rainbow Classic. In fact, the Huskies are one of the programs the Tar Heels have the least history against among BCS schools. Baylor is the only BCS school Carolina has never met on the hardwood; the Tar Heels have met five BCS schools other than Washington just once (Arizona State, Nebraska, Oklahoma State, Washington State and Wisconsin).
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.
