University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: J.D. Lyon Jr.
Lucas: Show Something
March 23, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
The Carolina coaches challenged the team, and the Tar Heels responded.
By Adam Lucas
COLUMBUS—As Carolina's players finished halftime warmups and walked to the Tar Heel sideline at Nationwide Arena on Friday night, there was one individual who was noticeably more animated than the rest of them.
Looking at most of the team, you couldn't tell that top-seeded Carolina trailed 16th-seeded Iona, 38-33. You probably wouldn't have guessed that the five-point deficit matched the largest deficit the Tar Heels have overcome to win this year. Their faces wouldn't have revealed that the Gaels had tossed in an Arceneaux-esque (if you remember, you know) ten three-point shots in the first half, more than their season average for an entire game.
How ugly was it?
"We were sleepwalking," said Kenny Williams. "There was no passion. There was no emotion. We were just out there playing, and that's why we found ourselves down."
There was one individual whose on-court countenance disclosed the situation as the halftime intermission ended. As each Tar Heel came to the bench after the halftime buzzer had sounded, there was assistant coach Hubert Davis, vigorously clapping his hands and walking up to each player individually.
"Come on!" Davis said, time after time. "Show something!"
The emotional approach was indicative of a coach who has formed a very close bond with the upperclassmen off the court, of someone who has made a major impact in their lives for reasons that go far beyond basketball. But it also revealed a Tar Heel who was so passionate about his playing career that he still watches the tape of his last Carolina game every summer. That defeat was an 80-73 setback to Ohio State in the regional semifinal. Recall that Davis so badly wanted to be a Tar Heel that he matriculated at Chapel Hill even though Dean Smith tried to persuade him to go elsewhere, telling Davis he had a better chance of earning playing time at other schools.
Davis didn't care. He'd dreamed of being a Tar Heel, felt that Carolina was an essential part of his life. The end of his UNC playing career happened in Lexington, 189 miles from where Davis sat on Friday night. Lawrence Funderburke played for Ohio State that night and scored 21 points—Funderburke was also in the building for Carolina-Iona.
But the similarities stopped there. After pointed halftime messages from Davis, an under the weather Roy Williams, and the rest of the Carolina coaches, the Tar Heels blitzed Iona in the second half.
"They played harder than us in the first half," said Garrison Brooks. "They outplayed us in that half. Coach Davis basically told us we had to play or go home. We had to pick our energy up to where he and Coach Williams always are. We had to pick it up to their level."
And they did. Within the first four minutes of the second half, three different Tar Heels—Brooks, Kenny Williams and Luke Maye—had thrown their bodies on the court chasing loose balls. In the first half, Cameron Johnson had earned a rare quick trip to the bench for some pointed Roy Williams instruction after a defensive breakdown. In the second half, there was Johnson ripping away a rebound from an unsuspecting Gael.
The genius of Williams, as his players will consistently tell you, is his frustration with any individual is completely temporary. In the first half, he was frustrated with Johnson. Less than a half hour later, he was calling the first play of the second half—there's a study waiting to be done on Williams' purposeful first play calls of the final 20 minutes—for Johnson.
The graduate student promptly swished a three-pointer, and the game was changing.
"Once Coach calls that play coming out of halftime, you have in your mind that it might be an opportunity," Johnson said. "We had to show a little bit of a sense of urgency and a will to win."
Only twenty minutes of urgency was enough for an 88-73 win over Iona. Only twenty minutes of urgency will get Carolina beaten in any remaining game they might play.
Davis knows that, knows how endless these minutes seem now but how precious they will feel 25 years from now. If his message got through, if the Tar Heels are truly about to show us something over these next three weeks, then perhaps that image of Davis on the sidelines, fists clinched, clapping emotionally, will be a turning point. They showed something against Iona--that when pushed, they can respond to a listless half with a much better effort. Now they have to show that they can summon that same intensity from the very beginning.
"We know we have to play harder," Coby White said. "You only get one shot at this. It's win or go home, we have to play hard and lock in."
COLUMBUS—As Carolina's players finished halftime warmups and walked to the Tar Heel sideline at Nationwide Arena on Friday night, there was one individual who was noticeably more animated than the rest of them.
Looking at most of the team, you couldn't tell that top-seeded Carolina trailed 16th-seeded Iona, 38-33. You probably wouldn't have guessed that the five-point deficit matched the largest deficit the Tar Heels have overcome to win this year. Their faces wouldn't have revealed that the Gaels had tossed in an Arceneaux-esque (if you remember, you know) ten three-point shots in the first half, more than their season average for an entire game.
How ugly was it?
"We were sleepwalking," said Kenny Williams. "There was no passion. There was no emotion. We were just out there playing, and that's why we found ourselves down."
There was one individual whose on-court countenance disclosed the situation as the halftime intermission ended. As each Tar Heel came to the bench after the halftime buzzer had sounded, there was assistant coach Hubert Davis, vigorously clapping his hands and walking up to each player individually.
"Come on!" Davis said, time after time. "Show something!"
The emotional approach was indicative of a coach who has formed a very close bond with the upperclassmen off the court, of someone who has made a major impact in their lives for reasons that go far beyond basketball. But it also revealed a Tar Heel who was so passionate about his playing career that he still watches the tape of his last Carolina game every summer. That defeat was an 80-73 setback to Ohio State in the regional semifinal. Recall that Davis so badly wanted to be a Tar Heel that he matriculated at Chapel Hill even though Dean Smith tried to persuade him to go elsewhere, telling Davis he had a better chance of earning playing time at other schools.
Davis didn't care. He'd dreamed of being a Tar Heel, felt that Carolina was an essential part of his life. The end of his UNC playing career happened in Lexington, 189 miles from where Davis sat on Friday night. Lawrence Funderburke played for Ohio State that night and scored 21 points—Funderburke was also in the building for Carolina-Iona.
But the similarities stopped there. After pointed halftime messages from Davis, an under the weather Roy Williams, and the rest of the Carolina coaches, the Tar Heels blitzed Iona in the second half.
"They played harder than us in the first half," said Garrison Brooks. "They outplayed us in that half. Coach Davis basically told us we had to play or go home. We had to pick our energy up to where he and Coach Williams always are. We had to pick it up to their level."
And they did. Within the first four minutes of the second half, three different Tar Heels—Brooks, Kenny Williams and Luke Maye—had thrown their bodies on the court chasing loose balls. In the first half, Cameron Johnson had earned a rare quick trip to the bench for some pointed Roy Williams instruction after a defensive breakdown. In the second half, there was Johnson ripping away a rebound from an unsuspecting Gael.
The genius of Williams, as his players will consistently tell you, is his frustration with any individual is completely temporary. In the first half, he was frustrated with Johnson. Less than a half hour later, he was calling the first play of the second half—there's a study waiting to be done on Williams' purposeful first play calls of the final 20 minutes—for Johnson.
The graduate student promptly swished a three-pointer, and the game was changing.
"Once Coach calls that play coming out of halftime, you have in your mind that it might be an opportunity," Johnson said. "We had to show a little bit of a sense of urgency and a will to win."
Only twenty minutes of urgency was enough for an 88-73 win over Iona. Only twenty minutes of urgency will get Carolina beaten in any remaining game they might play.
Davis knows that, knows how endless these minutes seem now but how precious they will feel 25 years from now. If his message got through, if the Tar Heels are truly about to show us something over these next three weeks, then perhaps that image of Davis on the sidelines, fists clinched, clapping emotionally, will be a turning point. They showed something against Iona--that when pushed, they can respond to a listless half with a much better effort. Now they have to show that they can summon that same intensity from the very beginning.
"We know we have to play harder," Coby White said. "You only get one shot at this. It's win or go home, we have to play hard and lock in."
Players Mentioned
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