North Carolina's losses are mounting, and so is Roy Williams' frustration.
Sunday's 75-60 loss to Virginia at the Smith Center was at least one more step backward for a struggling team, and put Williams on course for one of the most trying seasons of his 22-year career.
"I'm at wit's end, but at the same time I still have to keep trying to think of something to do," Williams said yesterday. "I have to keep working and make sure that (the players) keep working, because without it we don't have any chance whatsoever."
The loss was UNC's fifth in seven games and dropped its records to 13-8 overall and 2-4 in the ACC.
UNC will play at Virginia Tech on Thursday and at Maryland on Sunday.
Williams said that he and his team have a substantial amount of work ahead to regain confidence. Almost every aspect of play broke down against Virginia, according to Williams.
"I think it's everything," Williams said. "If I could pick out one thing, it would be easier to attack."
UNC played its best in whipping Michigan State 89-82 on Dec. 1 in a rematch of last season's NCAA Tournament championship game. That UNC team hasn't been seen since.
The amount of shortcomings has surpassed Williams' expectations for a team replacing four starters.
"I've coached basically the same way for 21 years, making little changes to fit our personnel, and it seemed to work, but it hasn't worked so far with this group," Williams said. "I've got to find a way to get it to work.
"The changes that we make, whether big or little, have to fit this team. I think the other thing is the care, the attention to detail, how focused they are, and how much it means to them to go from the practice court to games, I've got to figure out a way how to get them to invest more."
Williams was disturbed by what he perceived to be a lack of enthusiasm. UNC never led and managed only three ties, all in the first half.
North Carolina scored the first basket of the second half to cut Virginia's lead to 35-32, but then surrendered an 18-0 scoring run.
"I didn't think that early in the game last night we were really into the game," Williams said.
"It was almost like we were going out and playing because we had to play, as opposed to loving game night and you can't wait for game day to get here because you can't wait to go out and compete. Before (my teams) have been able to have that attitude, but so far with this one I have not."
Yesterday was the players' day off. Williams briefly thought of calling a practice, but decided to give the players time to clear their thoughts.
"We've got some work to do, there's no question about it," Williams said. "I always have hope. It's the only way I know to go about doing it, is to work as hard as we possibly can, and that's the way we'll do it."
bcole@wsjournal.com
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