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UNC's Williams wants to see smarter play
Tar Heels, 0-2 in ACC, will hit the road tonight against Cavaliers
AP Photo
UNC’s Wayne Ellington is fouled from behind by Chas McFarland.
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Published: January 15, 2009
Coach Roy Williams knows that North Carolina has significant work ahead to get back into contention in the ACC, and knows that the comeback has to start with today's 9 p.m. game at Virginia.
UNC (14-2, 0-2) has shot 36 percent from the field in its first two ACC games, losses to Boston College and Wake Forest, and has 24 assists and 33 turnovers in ACC play.
That, Williams said, won't get the job done anywhere.
"We can shoot it a heck of a lot better," he said. "We can take care of it a lot better. We can defend a lot better. We haven't done a thing offensively or defensively in two conference games."
UNC started to struggle after breaks for first-semester finals and the Christmas holiday and has been out of rhythm in almost every aspect since the last break ended.
Williams won't accept the possibility that the Tar Heels hit a lull after winning their first 14 games.
"I think that's just accepting poor play," he said. "The bottom line is that we haven't played worth a darn. And the other teams have had a great deal to do with that.
"I'm not one of those guys who thinks it's just how we play. The other teams have guarded us better than we've guarded them. The other teams have shot better than we've shot against them. The other teams have handled the ball better than we have."
Williams can't fault the effort. He said that UNC could not have played harder at the finish of an 85-78 loss to Boston College and that it fought to the finish in a 92-89 loss to Wake Forest.
Williams thinks that the missing ingredient is smart play from a team that starts two seniors and three juniors.
"A guy that tries hard in a math test and adds two plus two and gets five, he's still made a mistake," Williams said. "We've got to add our brains to that part. I think that's more of a problem than our effort."
Tonight's game will be Ed Davis' first college game in Virginia. Davis, a freshman from Richmond, also was a top recruiting target for Virginia. Now he's UNC's leading rebounder and shot-blocker. He came off the bench Sunday at Wake Forest and helped UNC rally from a nine-point deficit to a 44-44 halftime tie.
"I liked his ability to block shots; I liked his ability to rebound," said Williams, who said he first noticed Davis when he was a high-school sophomore. "I liked his demeanor on the court. He didn't get caught up in a lot of theatrics. The more I watched him, I got to like those things about him even better.
"It was a great match for us. He's done a nice job for us. He's been asked to step up and play a lot of minutes as a freshman."
Virginia (7-6, 1-1) usually has three freshmen and a sophomore in its starting lineup and has been inconsistent in its fourth season under Coach Dave Leitao.
Sylven Landesberg, one of the ACC's top freshmen, is tied for No. 4 in the ACC in scoring (18.5 ppg), and Assane Sene, a 7-foot freshman, has blocked four shots in two games.
Mamadi Diane, a senior forward, is trying to work out of a shooting slump. He missed 19 straight 3-point shots in one stretch, and his scoring output is down almost seven points a game from last season. Calvin Baker, Jamil Tucker, Jeff Jones and Mustapha Farrakhan have been unpredictable in the first 13 games.
Leitao said that two things are critical to success for the Cavaliers -- pushing the ball past the free-throw line and executing plays.
"It continues to be a day-by-day challenge for me in getting everybody to understand when to push and when to pull," Leitao said.
■ Bill Cole can be reached at bcole@wsjournal.com.
Game day
ASU at Chattanooga
• Site, time: McKenzie Arena, Chattanooga, Tenn.; 7 p.m.
• Radio: WKBC 97.3; WBLO 790
• Of note: This will be the first of Appalachian State's two trips to Chattanooga this season -- the second will be for the Southern Conference Tournament (March 6-9). Stephen McDowell of the Mocs has at least one 3-pointer in 37 straight games, the third longest such streak in the nation. He ranks second in the SoCon in scoring (19.4 ppg) behind Davidson's Stephen Curry and leads in 3-point percentage (46 percent). Teammate Nicchaeus Doaks is No. 1 in rebounding (9.6 rpg). ASU leads the SoCon in 3-point defense (32 percent). Each team has had turnover problems, averaging more than 17.5 a game each.
UNC at Virginia
• Site, time: John Paul Jones Arena, Charlottesville, Va.; 9 p.m.
• TV/radio: ESPN Ch. 33; WTHZ 94.1
• Of note: Coach Roy Williams said he never believed the talk that UNC could go through the season undefeated. He also doesn't believe that his team will go winless in the ACC, even though it's an unexpected 0-2 right now. Marcus Ginyard is out indefinitely because of problems recovering from foot surgery, leaving UNC without a defensive stopper, and Deon Thompson has been missing in action in the two ACC games. Virginia, coming off a 78-75 loss to Virginia Tech, features one of the ACC's top freshmen, 6-6 guard Sylven Landesberg.
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