After its reputation as one of the nation’s preeminent basketball programs went slip-sliding away in 2010, Carolina once again shows the sticky resistance of tar on its heels.
With this team, it seems the more it loses, the greater its gains are.
“I think team chemistry is at an all-time high,†sophomore guard Dexter Strickland said after UNC defeated Florida State, 89-69, on Sunday to improve to 17-5, 7-1 in its first trip through the conference schedule. “We lost the twins; we lost Larry. For us to play this way, our actions speak [for us]. We’re a team and we love each other. We’re playing like it. We have to continue to play like this.â€
UNC lost 17 games in 2010 and had to play in the postseason NIT, but the losses did not stop with the end of the tournament.
Soon after the season, the Wear twins, David and Travis, left the program and delivered one of the biggest broadside blows to ever strike Coach Roy Williams.
Not long after that, Will Graves, who would have been the lone senior leader on this team, was dismissed for unspecified reasons.
Then on Feb. 4, midway through the conference season, junior point guard Larry Drew II caught the jet stream in reverse and returned home to California, leaving without talking to his teammates or the coaching staff. His father, Larry I, phoned Williams and told him of the decision.
There was no negotiation.
The Tar Heels responded to Drew’s departure with two of their best practices of the year and then dismantled Florida State and its No. 1 field goal-percentage defense.
Carolina shot 64.3 percent in the second half of that game and 55.7 from the field for the game.
Freshman Kendall Marshall, whose replacement of Drew in the starting lineup led to the Californian quitting, responded by setting a school record for the most assists in an ACC game with 16 against FSU.
“The story in this game was our inability to handle Marshall and his ability to create easy opportunities for his teammates,†Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton said. “He seemed to be extremely clever with the ball. He has his head up, which is almost a throwback to those guys who seem to always know where his teammates are. Even when we thought we had him under control, he had an awareness of who the drop-off guy and who the kick-out guy was. He found them with ease.â€
The team as a whole responded in a similar manner.
“I thought that last Friday afternoon and Saturday morning,†Williams said of the days preceding the game against FSU, “we had two really good practices. Everybody emotionally was into it, enthusiastically working as hard as they could work.
“I’m hoping we can maintain that kind of thing. We’ve lost some guys that were surprises to us. At the same time, I loved coaching the guys that we have left.â€
UNC’s next game came on Wednesday at Duke in Durham, but it occurred after the publication deadline for this column. Regardless of that outcome, there is little doubt that injuries appear to be the sole obstacle that could derail this team.
“You have to be healthy,†Williams said. “You have to have the guys that you think are your best players playing their best. They can’t play their best if they’re not healthy.â€
A coach also needs a roster of players who want to be together and on the team. After nearly a year of shifting through possibilities, Williams looks to finally have that.