University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: No Time To Celebrate
March 24, 2012 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
March 24, 2012
By Adam Lucas
ST. LOUIS--Given how much Roy Williams has talked about the similarities between the basketball programs at Kansas and North Carolina, it shouldn't be too surprising that Jayhawks head coach Bill Self perfectly summed up the attitude at both places in nine words. "At both Kansas and Carolina," Self said during Saturday's media availability in advance of Sunday's regional final, "winning is a relief and losing is a disaster."
That's exactly it. The Tar Heels experienced it first-hand on Friday night, when they escaped with a 73-65 overtime win over Ohio. They got the win! They were one game away from the Final Four! Only eight teams were still playing college basketball! And yet...
"There was no joy in Mudville," Williams said about the postgame mood. "It is a team I wish had been able to celebrate more last night going to the Elite Eight, but we were exhausted, maybe more mentally than physically."
Usually, Tar Heel players and coaches gather in the center of the room to jump around after big wins. Winning in the Sweet 16, certainly, is a big win. But Friday night had no jumping. "It felt like we should just hug a little bit," Williams said.
It made for an unusual scene. Carolina is in the exact same locker room it used for the 2005 national championship game--spacious accommodations uniquely divided by a row of lockers straight down the middle of the room. Earlier in the stay in St. Louis, Jackie Manuel had pointed out to several players the exact locker he used in 2005.
Even now, seven years later, it brought a broad smile to Manuel's face to remember those moments, from the locker he used to the spot where Michael Jordan exchanged hugs with the newly minted national champs to the locker the team left open in memory of beloved academic advisor Burgess McSwain, who had passed away before the season.
But in that same locker room, after an admittedly ugly win--but still a win--there was very little of the same emotion.
"It bothered me to come into the locker room and no one was genuinely happy that we won," said Kendall Marshall. "I felt like we had taken a huge step, but it was like we were upset about it. At all big-time programs you're expected to win, so it's almost taken for granted sometimes. When you lose, it's the end of the world. I've gotten adjusted to that, and I know that as a competitor you want to hate losing more than you like winning. But at the same time, we have to enjoy the process."
Given how much Marshall and Williams seem to have shared the same brain this season, it's not surprising that the point guard would use the same phrase the head coach often preaches--enjoy the process. It's something Williams focused more on after the 1997 season at Kansas, when his Jayhawks went 34-2, but lost in the round of 16 to eventual national champion Arizona. By any measure, it was a tremendous season for a team filled with players with whom Williams is still close.
At the time, though, the coach used the same bar almost everyone else uses: did you win a national championship? He was consumed with it, really, obsessed with the idea of bringing a title to Lawrence.
He remains compulsively competitive, constantly looking for outlets where he can try to win, try to beat someone. But he's a grandfather now, and he's more aware of the path that takes him to the outcome.
He tries to convey that feeling to his players, but there's a reason why Big was just a movie. Twenty-year-olds simply don't have the same perspective as fifty-year-olds. It's part of what makes coaching so unique--the opportunity to come to work every day with people who actually are not your peers.
"I've always heard people say that playing at Carolina is an honor, but winning is a tradition," says James Michael McAdoo, who even as a freshman has expressed a rare cognizance of the terrific opportunities he's had this season (he's a college freshman and played his first game on an aircraft carrier in front of the President, which is hard to beat). "I got that feel on Friday. We were relieved to win. We come into every game thinking we should win. Coach reminds us to take a step back and remember we are in the Elite Eight. It's difficult, but we should be able to celebrate that and still come out hungry in our next game."
It's not wrong to have high expectations. That's part of why the very best players want to play for the very best programs. They thrive on having the opportunity to measure themselves against the best. But they also occasionally have to be reminded that in a very short time, they're going to look back and remember these as the best days of their lives--regardless of whether they captured every trophy they chased.
At least one Tar Heel believes the relieved mood on Friday might translate to better play on Sunday. Carolina didn't look very good against the Bobcats, but that game is over, and they get a chance to start fresh on Sunday at 5:05 p.m. Eastern (the Tar Heel Sports Network is on the air at 4 p.m.).
"Ohio wasn't a year-in, year-out powerhouse, so it was like people felt like we're supposed to beat them," Marshall said. "With a team like Kansas, maybe there's not as much pressure, because they're supposed to be good, too. I can see us playing more freely tomorrow."
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 and Facebook.
