College Sports
Email
Print
Tar Heels will open season tonight at home
AP Photo
Coach Roy Williams of UNC has a word with his players during an exhibition game against Belmont Abbey.
ADVERTISEMENT
Published: November 9, 2009
CHAPEL HILL - Roy Williams has been here before.
He has an NCAA Tournament championship ring on his right hand from the previous season. Another national championship banner hangs in the Smith Center.
And Williams is rebuilding his North Carolina team, after severe graduation losses and defections from the title team.
It's as if the 2005-06 season were happening all over again. UNC won Williams' first national title in April 2005, then lost seven players from that team. He will use the experience gained then to help him this season.
UNC will open the season at 7 p.m. today against Florida International at the Smith Center.
Williams feels more encouraged about a new season than he did four years ago, but he has questions and concerns that he suspects won't be answered for at least several games.
"There are so many similarities (to 2006), but it's different also," Williams said. "We have a few more people who have had some significant playing time, but it's so similar because nobody on this team has been asked to do it at crunch time. Nobody has ever been asked to do it when the other team's defense is aimed at stopping them." The early start has caused some problems, mixing the returning players from last season's 34-4 team and five prized freshmen.
Some days Williams can see the strain on the players, Practices Tuesday and Wednesday last week lasted longer than Williams likes them to. He apologized to the players but told them there was a lot of work to do with games imminent.
"We're really throwing a lot of things at them," he said. "The freshmen, their heads are just spinning…."
Late last week, Williams was unsure of a starting lineup. Marcus Ginyard and Deon Thompson are probably the only certain starters.
Ginyard, a senior swingman, is back after missing all but three games last season. Thompson, a senior forward, is the only returning starter. Ginyard said that the Tar Heels are anxious to start the season, and that he feels they're ready.
"We've done a lot in the two weeks now that we've been practicing," Ginyard said. "We continue to get better every day, which is what we set out to do. Now we see where we are."
Williams is looking to the season with a mixture of excitement and apprehension. The start of a season is always among the most exhilarating times of the year for him. The apprehension came after a scrimmage at Vanderbilt, that left Williams with a firmer idea that his team isn't close to beginning defense of a national title.
"We just didn't play well at all," he said. "We were just ugly. Since then we've gotten a lot better.
"I think the seriousness (of a game) has hit them, the recognition of how good other people are that they may not even have ever heard of. I think that was a good slap in the face for us, as opposed to waiting until the season has started."
At least two players have health issues. Ed Davis, a 6-10 sophomore center and last season's top frontcourt reserve, slightly injured a shoulder in practice and his contact in drills was limited for at least two days last week.
Will Graves, a 6-6 junior forward, and the expected top 3-point shooter, has a bad back and has needed four injections to relieve the pain. Unable to work out regularly, Graves weighs 259 pounds, 20 more than last season.
Point guard is still unsettled. Larry Drew, a sophomore, is the leading candidate to start and has made progress in practice, according to Williams. Drew is still adjusting to running the offense fulltime, and Williams wants more from him.
Ginyard is confident that Drew can be the consistent point guard UNC needs.
"I don't know if anybody on the team is as worried about it as others," Ginyard said. "I feel very comfortable with our point-guard position. I'm very excited about getting to see Larry out there and him having the chance to prove himself. Everybody's got something to prove this year."
The early games will be more important to Williams than usual. He could be working on lineup and a playing rotation into January. Or maybe he won't be that pressed. He has no way to tell at this point.
"I'm not thinking right now of results when we're practicing," he said. "We're just trying to get better and put people together in different spots and try to make them the best group."
Game night
• Teams: Florida International at UNC
• Time: 7 p.m.
• TV/Radio: ESPNU Ch. 143; WTHZ 94.1
Email
Print
