University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Teaching Points
March 19, 2011 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
March 19, 2011
By Adam Lucas
CHARLOTTE--Before Kendall Marshall even arrived at the bench, he knew what he was going to hear from his head coach. Carolina held a comfortable 96-81 lead with 2:52 remaining, and the game was all but decided. But from Roy Williams's perspective, that score only required Marshall to be even more attentive to the game situation. So when the freshman tossed one of his patented hit-ahead passes a little wildly, Dexter Strickland replaced Marshall.
When Marshall took a seat on the Tar Heel bench, he first heard from Williams. Then, after the head coach had turned back to the game, where his team was in the process of closing out a 102-87 win, assistant coach Steve Robinson--who works with the guards in Carolina practices--leaned over and had a quieter word with Marshall. The tone might have been a little different, but the message was the same.
"I had a bad turnover," the point guard said. "I threw it upcourt, and they told me I have to know the time and score. For us to win, I have to play smart and be the coach on the floor. They wanted to tell me that as a teaching point. Not for now, but for later. To keep playing, I can't make plays like that down the stretch."
That's essentially what Friday night's game will be remembered as--one long two-hour-and-15-minute teaching point. Even an allegedly pro-Carolina crowd at Time Warner Cable Arena seemed ready for it to be over. The game was not particularly memorable, and it's likely that the next time two Tar Heels score at least 25 points in the same NCAA Tournament game (the last such occurrence was in 1972, when Bob McAdoo scored 30 and Dennis Wuycik added 27 in the Final Four), we'll have to strain to remember that it last happened in...when was it?...2011 against...who was it?...Long Island.
But the game still had value just for the novelty of it. Another lesson was about resiliency. Eight times Carolina pushed its lead to at least 15 points. Seven of those times, the Blackbirds fought back and cut the deficit back under 15. That's what happens in NCAA play, when you're not just trying to beat an opponent--you're trying to end their season. That's why no matter what injuries a team might be facing, no matter what off-court distractions a team might be up against, no matter whether their chemistry feels like a Two and a Half Men cast party, it's not easy to make them vanish.
"In the regular season, you get up by 10 or 15 points and the other team goes away," said Tyler Zeller. "In the NCAA Tournament, they don't go away."
That's wise advice from Carolina's resident bracket sage, the owner of the majority of Carolina's 50 combined Tournament minutes entering the weekend. What he might also tell his teammates is that the NCAA Tournament doesn't officially begin for anyone until they play their first game that at some point feels losable. Even with all the Long Island comebacks and even when the scored was tied at 33, that never really happened on Friday.
Williams talks often of the swiftness and suddenness of the finality of the NCAA Tournament. It wasn't until after the win, as Marshall fielded questions while a couple members of the Blue Steel earnestly worked on their dip snap in the background, that it felt real that this could all be over soon. The incredible length of this season--how long ago does Puerto Rico feel right now?--camouflages the fact that this particular Carolina team, no matter what happens, has very little time left together.
At some point Sunday, when Carolina takes on Washington at 12:15 p.m, the Tar Heels are likely to have to confront the possibility of the end of the season. That moment, when they glance up at the scoreboard, realize it's tight, and decide how to deal with it, will be one of the weekend's ultimate teaching points.
It's a lesson Williams already knows, and it's one he's pleased his team will have the opportunity to experience at some point. By now, as mid-March is on the verge of turning into late March, that's all you can ask. Friday night, he resumed his tradition of reminding his team on the locker room white board how many teams in America still have the chance to win a national championship. As the rounds advance, he'll write that number even bigger, but right now, it's 32.
At first, that feels like a relatively robust figure, until you consider that 346 schools began the year. Over 90 percent of them now have no opportunity to win the national title, no matter how well they shoot the ball or how many turnovers they make. The head coach talks like a man who wants his team to understand that perspective.
"I'm not pleased with the way we played," Williams said, "but I'm pleased we're still playing."
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.
