University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: The Right Group
March 4, 2012 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
March 4, 2012
By Adam Lucas
DURHAM--I thought there could be tears.
That's the kind of night it had been on Wednesday, Feb. 8. You saw it, you lived it, and you know what it was like. That shot by that guy to give that team a win in our building. I have seen games on television before when the fans of the losing home team stand, stunned, in the stands when it's over. I always wondered, "Why do they do that?"
But on Feb. 8, I learned. You stand there because you simply can't believe what just happened. And you think that if you stand there one more minute, maybe it will turn out to be imaginary, that a referee's whistle will blow and we can do this again.
And after watching Duke win in Chapel Hill, on such an emotional night, I thought the head coach might tear up. His locker room was so silent that rustling a paper was ear-splitting. As Roy Williams sat in front of the media, tasked with the job of explaining what had just happened, he was emotional. His voice did, at times, sound wobbly. But the more he talked, the more resolute he became. And finally, he fired off this, with his voice gaining ferocity with every syllable:
"You ought to be ticked off," he said. "You ought to be flat out ticked off. You're going to become more determined. If you start wallowing in sorrow for yourself or feeling sorry for yourself, you should just go home...We lost a game we could've won. If we don't learn something from that and come back more determined, I've got the wrong group. And I don't think I have the wrong group. We're going to come back and go to work."
Be totally honest: on that night, were you completely sold on the idea that Roy Williams had the right group? Of course not. You wallowed. We all wallowed. It was keep-the-lights-turned-off miserable for at least 24 hours.
Now we know that he was right. His Tar Heels have not lost since that night, and their average margin of victory in the seven games since a stunned sellout crowd stood open-mouthed is 15.1 points per game. They will hang another Smith Center banner, and this one will say 2012 ACC regular season champions. It's a nice reminder of what those banners are worth, that they are usually produced not through sheer domination but by ups and downs and heartache and thrills, and all of that mixes together to make a championship. You're not likely to forget what it felt like to be punched in the stomach on Feb. 8. But you also shouldn't forget what it was like to hear "Tar!-Heels!" echo across Cameron from a small but hearty group of Tar Heel fans celebrating an 88-70 whipping.
This one was secured with another terrific defensive performance. There will be talk about the Blue Devils missing shots, and they did miss some they would ordinarily make. Let's not talk about the misses. Let's talk about the attempts.
The same Duke team that chucked 36 three-pointers in Chapel Hill attempted just 20 in Durham. That's not because they didn't want to take perimeter shots. As Mike Krzyzewski said, "That's who we are." It was that they couldn't find an opening.
This will be remembered as the game when Reggie Bullock limited Austin Rivers to 5-of-12 from the field and just 1-of-6 from the three-point line. But to say that is to shortchange the work of P.J. Hairston in relief of Bullock, and of senior Justin Watts during a key first-half stretch when Bullock was battling foul trouble.
This is what Williams meant about having the right group. For nearly two years, Watts has been told he is a post. Saturday, he turned into a two-guard, and was asked to match up with one of the most infamous Tar Heel villains of recent vintage. That was what was best for the team. Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald were in ties (and bow ties) and the team needed someone to rest Bullock. The right group figures out how to make that work.
"Our guards," said Tyler Zeller, "did a great job on the perimeter."
The result was the best Tar Heel defensive performance against the Blue Devils in the Williams era. The result was also an ACC championship.
Before they walked out of Cameron with a big batch of Duke brownies under their arms, several players paused to consider what had happened--not just on this night, but in the month since Rivers tormented them in Chapel Hill. Zeller fouled out with less than a minute to play, took a quick seat on the bench, and looked around.
"It was actually kind of nice," said the likely ACC Player of the Year. "I relaxed and enjoyed that last minute. I was surprised at how quiet it was. I've never heard it that quiet."
To get to the visiting locker room, you must navigate past several rows of students. This is the location of the infamous Ty Lawson "spirit fingers." This time, there were no spirit fingers.
"I walked out, and I could talk to my teammates," said Kendall Marshall. "I just kept saying, `ACC champs,' as I was walking out, and I could hear myself say it. That's what will stick with me about tonight. As loud as Cameron can get, when I was walking out, I could hear myself talking in a regular voice."
There were louder voices in the Tar Heel locker room, where there was a celebration befitting the league's regular season champions. A few minutes later, senior manager Griffin Pugh walked from player to player, holding his cell phone. A friend had texted him a photo of Franklin Street, where the scene was joyous. This was the very best of 2012. In the locker room, the group knew what it meant to them, to this very small group that as their head coach often says, invests in the wins and losses. This was their chance to see what their hard work meant to everyone else. What does almost every player say after every big win? "I wish I could be on Franklin Street." At this moment, they were as close as they could possibly get.
You celebrated because it was Duke and because it was the end of the regular season and because it was a rout at Cameron and because it was Duke and because it was a fitting ending and because it was Duke. But it seemed fitting to ask these players, who had caused that commotion, what that photo meant to them. All those hours, all those games, all those doubts, and it ends up like this--with wall-to-wall bodies on Franklin Street.
"I look at that picture, and I think, `A lot of hard work went into that,'" Harrison Barnes said. "Everyone looks at the end result. But we went through a lot on this team. It's a testament to us as a team and to individuals for showing perseverance."
That doesn't happen if Roy Williams is wrong, if he has the wrong group. But he knew them. He recruited them, he coached them, and Saturday night, he won with them. What is it he always says? "Do exactly what I say and good things will happen." Saturday, they did.
Walking out of the locker room, John Henson turned to Marshall.
"We going to Franklin?" he asked.
Marshall gave him a look that suggested Henson had just recommended camping out in a tent for seven weeks to watch a loss.
"Are we going?" the point guard said. "Let's goooooo."
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.
