Lucas: The Fifth Stage

By Adam Lucas

SOUTH BEND, Ind.—How does this work, actually?

I think we're supposed to sit in a circle. I'm not sure if we have to join hands or not, but at this point, it probably wouldn't hurt.

I called this meeting, so I'll start: My name is Adam Lucas, and I'm a Carolina basketball fan.

There are five stages of grief. It has been our distinct displeasure to experience every single one of them over the last 38 days. Can you believe that? It has only been 38 days since this saga truly began on January 11 with an improbable 79-76 loss to Clemson in the Smith Center. Starting that afternoon, the Tar Heels have experienced an amazing six one-possession ACC losses. The program had six such regular season ACC losses in the last nine years prior to this season. Think about that--six in the last nine years, followed by six in the last 11 games. You had 2,982 days to process those previous half-dozen one-possession losses. The most recent six have come in 38 days, nearly a decade's worth of close losses packed into a little more than a month. No wonder you wince every time you turn on the TV to watch a game.

It feels like it has been months or perhaps years since Tar Heel basketball has experienced any good fortune at all. A quick reminder: Carolina was a number-one NCAA Tournament seed last season and won the national title in 2017. The vast majority of programs in the country would love to "suffer" like this, which is actually why we have to depend on each other to understand our perspective.

The first stage is denial. Surely that loss to Clemson didn't portend the rest of the season, right? It was just one bad game, one bad finish, one fluky ending. Could happen to anyone. Won't happen again. Don't worry about it.

Stage two: anger. Allow me to introduce you to February 1 against Boston College. The Tar Heels lose, 71-70, as the same play creates an unkind whistle that allows the Eagles to win the game and shelves Brandon Robinson, which would ultimately play a major role in a couple other stages. Why does this have to happen? Remote controls were broken. Bad words were said.

Stage three: bargaining. We have all been there. It's a close game late and the Tar Heels need a little mojo. And that's when you start creating scenarios in your mind. If the outcome could just be favorable, I'll never hurl personal insults at those hardworking referees again. If this one free throw could just miss, I'll take up a new hobby and the garage will be spotless and I'm going to exercise every single day. We all did it on Feb. 8 against Duke. It didn't work.

Step four is depression. That was that gloomy feeling you had on Feb. 15 against Virginia, a 64-62 loss that was the same thing yet again and was so unpredictable that it was predictable. Teams just don't lose this same way this many times…except the 2020 Tar Heels. You probably said you wouldn't watch anymore. But then you did, just in time 48 hours later for…

77-76, Notre Dame, and this time the winner came with 2.4 seconds left.

Let us here acknowledge that we are talking about a basketball game. There are millions of people going through much tougher circumstances than not getting Garrison Brooks enough shots over the final 8:38 of a basketball game or suffering a key defensive breakdown.

But we're all friends here, and we've all agreed to share this same unhealthy passion for Carolina basketball. We'll wake up on Tuesday, and everything will seem fine for half a second, and then you'll see that last three-pointer swish through the net in your mind and you'll remember. That's just what we do. It's not the biggest issue in the world, not even close. But it's the life's work of these Carolina coaches and players we care so much about, and they've practiced nearly 80 times since late September trying to achieve some form of success.

Stage five is acceptance. In the real world, maybe that's healthy. In basketball, it's not. And watching Carolina compete on Monday night, it doesn't appear that anyone has reached the fifth stage.

Roy Williams was very frank with his team after Saturday night's loss to Virginia. He told them their last short-turnaround recovery after a crushing loss had been poor, as Carolina didn't have the requisite intensity at Wake Forest after a disheartening defeat to Duke. In the immediate aftermath of Saturday's loss to the Cavs, Williams was already warning his team not to let it happen again. He wasn't even willing to let the loss marinate until midnight, as he often says. He was already focused on the next one.

His team mostly responded, very nearly stealing a road win that would have made the season feel better for just one night. After the game, both in public with the media and in private with his team, Williams made it clear he intends to continue to fight.

As long as he and his players are doing that, we'll continue to watch. It would almost be easier at this point to get blown out every single game, because at least then you intellectually realize the possibilities aren't there (Most members of the current team have no idea about 8-20). Not this team. They tantalize you almost every single time, and if you're feeling like you've never seen anything like this before, you're probably right: the last season when Carolina lost this many games by three or fewer points was the 1940-41 campaign. Carolina was 19-9 that year and some of the season's opponents included the Greensboro YMCA and Hanes Hosiery (a 33-32 defeat, and if you think losing to Notre Dame is bad, you should have seen how those Hosiery boys handled themselves). Dean Smith was ten years old.

Nearly 80 years later, it's happening again. The next meeting will be Saturday.

Scoreboard Slider

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Brandon Robinson

Related Videos