News
Email
Print
UNC's Williams says favorite's role fits fine
Tyler Hansbrough is in position to become North Carolina’s career leader in points and rebounds this season.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: November 14, 2008
Coach Roy Williams of North Carolina has never minded having a team in the spotlight, especially at the start of a season.
"I like having a target on our back," Williams said. "I think it makes us play to a higher standard each and every day and concentrate to a higher standard. You can't take any days off.
"I've said many times that if everybody's saying you're going to be pretty good, you've probably got a chance to be pretty good. Everybody knows a little. I like the fact we're a big game for people. There's no question about that."
Williams will get his wish this season. With five starters back from a 36-3 team that reached the NCAA Final Four -- including national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough -- and a highly regarded recruiting class, UNC is everyone's team to beat.
UNC was a unanimous choice for No. 1 in The Associated Press' preseason poll, the first unanimous preseason No. 1 since the poll was started 26 years ago. It also was a unanimous pick for the top spot in the USA Today/ESPN and ACC preseason polls.
Williams knows that being No. 1 now and throughout the season means nothing. His 1994-95 Kansas team was ranked No. 1 almost all season and but didn't survive the regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.
More important, UNC already has concerns. Hansbrough has a stress reaction in his right shin and could miss two weeks of practice to recover.
Forward Marcus Ginyard could miss the first three weeks while recovering from surgery for a stress fracture in his left foot.
UNC will again try to use the disappointment of the previous season's end as motivation. For the past three seasons, UNC has advanced farther in the NCAA Tournament than it did the season before. To keep the streak alive, this team will have to reach the title game.
Danny Green, a senior forward, sees no reason why the process can't work again.
"Everybody on the team pretty much knows what it's like to lose in the tournament, except for the four freshmen," Green said. "That pretty much motivates us to do better. I think each year it's worked. Hopefully this year it will work even better."
Hansbrough postponed a pro career to return for his senior season. Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Green also looked into the draft process but decided to return. Hansbrough spent the offseason lifting weights and shooting hundreds of jump shots a day to improve his range.
Hansbrough will most likely become UNC's career scoring leader, if his leg injury poses no further problem, and he can also become the leading rebounder. The last player to hold both marks at once was Lennie Rosenbluth, after the 1957 season.
Hansbrough's main concern, aside from his leg, is strengthening UNC's defense and making up for the absence of Ginyard, the best defender.
"We're all on the same page here," Hansbrough said. "We're all about the team and trying to get better.
"Everybody knows we've got to play defense and not necessarily because Marcus is out. It's one of our focuses this year to get better defensively."
Lawson and Ellington make up one of the ACC's top backcourts. Lawson still drives Williams crazy at times with his antics, but Williams is hoping that Lawson can make UNC's fast break faster and that he can score more in running opponents ragged.
Green, one of the ACC's top sixth men last season, will probably start in Ginyard's place. Power forward Deon Thompson was inconsistent last season, but Williams is hoping that he can be a stronger rebounder and defensive presence.
North Carolina's bench could be the deepest in college basketball.
Taking Green's place as the sixth man, until Ginyard returns, will be Bobby Frasor, a senior guard who did not play after Dec. 27. Frasor tore the anterior-cruciate ligament in his left knee and needed surgery, but he said he's almost back to full strength.
"They say it takes like a full year until you feel normal again, like nothing happened to you," Frasor said.
"I'm sure around December I'll be jumping. Right now there's still a little tendinitis from where they took the tendon out. They said that's common."
Frasor went through UNC's conditioning program and played pickup games all fall with no serious problems.
"Nothing is going to hold me back now," he said.
"I'm itching to get back in competitive games in front of fans and crowds. Practice is going to be great. It's going to be fun to compete against guys in front of coaches. It's been awhile since I've done that."
Will Graves and Mike Copeland will solidify the bench.
Copeland, a senior from Winston-Salem, is coming off knee surgery -- he tore the ACL in his right knee in early June -- and might not be ready for the season opener.
There are two promising big men among the four freshmen -- 7-footer Tyler Zeller was Indiana's Mr. Basketball last season, and 6-10 Ed Davis was a near-dominant rebounder and shot-blocker in high school in Richmond, Va. Both are thin, however.
Some coaches prefer building teams with experienced players. Others have a liking for talent. Williams said he is fortunate to have both this season.
"We were 36-3 last year; there was not a heck of a lot of glaring weaknesses," Williams said. "My bunker game is a glaring weakness. We do have to get better defensively. We did get better defensively last year, but at the end of the year, we were still just a good defensive team.
"I'm hoping we'll be a great defensive team. I've never seen a bad defensive team win the national championship."
Email
Print
