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A Toehold on the ACC Heels need Lawson-esque performance from Drew in order to stay atop the league
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Larry Drew II averaged 9.6 minutes a game in his freshman season at North Carolina.
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Published: November 6, 2009
The first coming of Larry Drew II hardly stirred any Roman Colosseum dust.
He was a bit player on the largest stage, a point-guard understudy to the maddeningly unique Ty Lawson. If Lawson seemed larger than life -- right down to a sore big toe further inflated by his father's old-time remedy of warm salt water -- Drew seemed smaller than the fine print on North Carolina's NCAA trophy.
No more. When you listen to the drumbeats of a new season, the secret rhythms sound a curious message: Carolina can win a third title in six years if Drew excels as the floor manager.
That's a lot to put on anyone. Coach Roy Williams merely needs Drew II to improve his grip on the traffic flow.
"He's not Ty, and he's not going to be Ty," Williams said.
College basketball waits to see if Carolina can dig a toehold despite losing Lawson, Danny Green, Wayne Ellington and Tyler Hansbrough (merely the most productive player in school history).
The stars from the 2005 champs disappeared overnight, gone in a draft-craze haze, yet veteran David Noel, Hansbrough and some rookie buddies upended conventional wisdom by delivering a 23-8 transition.
The 2010 logic: "If Roy did it once…."
Carolina has potential star Ed Davis, Deon Thompson and Tyler Zeller up front. Still, rosy scenarios assume things that can't necessarily be assumed: leader Marcus Ginyard's ability to make jump shots and dribble well enough to play some point guard; John Henson's capacity to approach Hans-brough's freshman output; Drew's upward learning curve; anyone's deft outside touch.
Pattern of UNC dominance
The fact that Carolina tied Duke for first in the preseason ACC media poll and ranks among the top 10 in several national forecasts illustrates a strange development in recent conference life. The Tar Heels are dominant.
Prattle on about that top-to-bottom nonsense all you want, but the record shows that Carolina has evolved into the ACC's only Final Four horse (or regional finalist) since 2004.
Wake Forest, the prince of January, tasted the No. 1 tea last season but departed via a first-round blowout against Cleveland State and lost two early pros while retaining Al-Farouq Aminu.
For all Duke's success -- and winning 30 games with that mix last season qualifies as intergalactic success -- the Blue Devils haven't gotten past the NCAA third round in five years. Ever since the 2006 team (32-4) faded against LSU, which was the last game for Shelden Williams as well as J.J. Redick, Duke has operated without an inside enforcer.
No clear candidate has announced himself just yet, although freshman Mason Plumlee might have tendencies. Another freshman, 6-10 Ryan Kelly, arrives with a shooter's reputation, and the early enrollment of Andre Dawkins gives Coach Mike Krzyzewski more wing flex.
Kyle Singler can play anywhere, leaving Coach K options.
Another winter means another hybrid point-guard arrangement, with Jon Scheyer directing the offense and getting help from running mate Nolan Smith.
Defenders against rival point guards could include long-armed postman Lance Thomas, believe it or not.
Mess in the middle
The ACC offers a thick middle section with no discernible order: Wake Forest, Clemson, Georgia Tech, Boston College, Maryland, Florida State, Virginia Tech. Maryland has a proven point guard, volatile Greivis Vasquez, and how the others fare hinges on point-guard consistency.
In the back pack: Miami, Virginia (with Coach Tony Bennett) and N.C. State (with the same three point guard choices as last year).
How the scramble sorts itself out depends on several variables, including freshmen Mfon Udofia and Derrick Favors of Georgia Tech, freshmen James Padgett and Jordan Williams of Maryland, soaring Solomon Alabi of Florida State, wily Coach Al Skinner of Boston College, Clemson oxygen depletion in that tongue-dragging defense, Duke physics and Wake Forest chemistry.
And there's always the theory of relativity. The Big Ten suspects it can finally win the ACC challenge series. Other leagues don't buy ACC supremacy beyond the Carolina-Duke axis, and some even sense momentary potholes in the road between the blues.
It's a fluid scene begging for a theme, a spot where Larry Drew II or a reasonable facsimile could make a name, or number, for himself.
lrawlings@wsjournal.com.
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