UNC comes home with the W

Before I even begin to talk about the game between the Tar Heels and the Wolfpack let’s be clear about this: a game does not make a season, be it a win or a loss. Having said that North Carolina (13-7 ~ 2-3 in the ACC), in their first game as an unranked squad since January 2006, went into the hostile venue of the RBC Center, played what is a rivalry game as they took on a N.C. State squad (13-8 ~ 2-5 in the ACC) and come out with a good win by the score of 77 to 63. We can sit here and talk about the “what if’s” of this game, but I believe that head coach Roy Williams knew that this game was a must win for his young and talented squad, and had the right game plan for it. He also knew that in order to win this one it had to be a team effort, and having watched the game twice, I think that his team did just that: won as a squad. Coach Williams said this after the game:

“I hope it gives them a little confidence,” UNC coach Roy Williams said.

For the second game in a row the Heels, who have lost as many games this season as they did in the last two combined, did not start out of the gate with a double digit points deficit, and Carolina was up several times by 8 or 9 in the first twenty minutes. What was weird, to me at least, is that they could never get over the hump of getting a double digit lead. Usually what followed that would be a small run by the home squad that would take the lead down to 5 or 4 or 3, and then UNC would once again take control and bring the lead back up. In some weird ways it felt like a kids roller coaster that just goes up and down a little bit.

What all of this meant was that Carolina ended the first half with just three turnovers and lots of positives to show for it. But do not fool yourself, the four point lead, 37 to 33, was nowhere close to being safe, and I think we all knew that. What we didn’t know what would happen next and the way the Heels would react to it.

The Wolfpack came out of the locker room and went on a 10 to 1 run, taking over the lead and reminding most of the fan base about the fact that the Heels have given up a lot of double digit runs this year. More so, for those that follow this team closer, it felt a lot like Madison Square Garden, when the team gave up a 19 to 1 run to Syracuse coming out of the half and losing all hopes of winning the game. Knowing how the games have been going for Carolina some people could have thought this would be the case once again. They were wrong, totally wrong! This team played, well, as a team. This team had a leader in the game, and it was the much critized Deon Thompson, who I said in my preview had to step up in this game. He did, with a 20 points performance, looking like a senior leader in a rivalry game on the road. I truly can not emphasize how much this team’s IQ rose compared to the last couple of games.

Beside Thompson, Ed Davis, who was a game time decision, and the couple of point guards for coach Williams, Larry Drew (18) and Dexter Strickland (14), all scored in double figures. With the two guards having eight assists to three TOs combined, while the power forward had a double double with 12 points and 12 rebounds. While I will repeat what I said to start this post, a game does not make a season, if you look at the numbers of above stated four players you see there is the shell of a starting unit, with a sixth man scorer coming off the bench. If this team can now have Will Graves (as a starter), who contributed with 9 boards and 6 points, and one of the Wear twins, who were so-so in this one, or John Henson (off the bench), who had a good night overall with three nice blocks and seemed comfortable in his role (taking away that bad free throw), contribute some points there is a base to a team that can be good. How good? Time will tell.

As we all knew the sophomore power forward was a game time decision, and this is what the coach said of the decision:

Williams didn’t decide until 13 minutes before tipoff to allow Davis to play, though he noted the sophomore “had already lobbied a great deal for it.”

And Davis said this of the chance to play:

“I knew I was going to play no matter what,” Davis said. “I told the guys before the game, if we lose this game, our season is just about over.”

I have to say that reading that quote sure makes the so called fans that have question the heart and/or desire of this team look pretty ridiculous. It also shows that these young men get it. They know what they are up against and know what they need to do.

Before I go on, let’s talk about the 900 lbs. pink elephant in the room, or better said, on the court, Marcus Ginyard. I have read over and over the theory about putting Strickland ahead of him, and to that I say, think of Strickland as this year’s version of Danny Green two seasons ago. A needed scorer off the bench that can change it up a bit. Green would come in and take a couple of three’s (that most of the time would go in) and give that spark to the rest of the team. Strickland comes in with his speed and changes the look of the game with his quickness, giving the Heels that look that was loved by the fan base with Felton and Lawson running the point. Am I in the corner of the “give more playing time” to the youngster? Sure, but how much? That I do not know and I won’t even try to guess, cause I am not qualified to do so.

As I keep saying, my motto for the season is “it is what it is”. Tonight it was a good game, definitely not a perfect one, but enough to fight it out against the opponent at hand and getting it done. And it’s not by holding their hand that it’s getting it done, at least from what the head coach says:

“We got that (fight) Saturday and Sunday in practice,” Williams said. “I tried to make it as competitive as it can be and I wasn’t very nice to them and they answered. They really did. I got on them a good bit after practice (Monday). But I think the toughness was there.”

Could the switch have turned on for the freshmen, or better said, for the whole team? Could this be the game where this squad turns the corner? I am not sure, this season there is no way I would go out on a limb on a question like that, not with a talented but still young team. But, at least for this game, this team seemed to gel and seemed to work as a team, on both side of the ball. And while talking of both side of the ball, NC State had a pair of juniors do a lot, as forward Tracy Smith score 20 and guard Javier Gonzalez score 19, but what the Wolfpack didn’t have, thanks also to a good D by Carolina, is a role player having a career night and those two players just could not carry the load for their squad.

It feels good right now to know that this team was able to play in a rivalry game and win it on the road. It feels good to know that the Heels have finally a road win. I won’t say it feels good to be a Heel, cause to me wins and losses do not make that. Now we move on to the next game, Sunday at the Dean Dome, against Virginia, where another win would give the Heels a .500 record in the ACC, and that would also feel good!