Chapel Hill, N.C. – From about 10 rows up, behind the student section at the Dean Smith Center, a fan pointed out that North Carolina coach Roy Williams’ demeanor was as cool as the Tar Heels’ light shade of blue.
“I’ve never seen him so calm,” the man said.
This despite Williams’ team being dismantled in a late first-half meltdown that resulted in an ugly loss to Boston College. The situation was ripe for catcalls, sighs and yells for someone, anyone, to play some solid post defense. But at game’s end, the fans simply bit their tongues and headed home.
They’ve seen worse – no one here forgets the 8-20 season of 2001-02. But more important, as the Eagles celebrated a victory on North Carolina’s court – and even though the Tar Heels, who won the national title a year ago, have suffered through other tough losses – what has transpired has exceeded almost everyone’s expectations.
And that the fans and most everyone else here can live with.
North Carolina is 14-5, 5-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and ranked No. 23 heading into tonight’s game against No. 2 Duke. The Tar Heels are one game back in the loss column from second place in the ACC and far ahead of the media’s predicted sixth-place finish.
Quietly, what was “Look forward to next year” – when the Heels bring in one of the nation’s top recruiting classes – has become “Take a second look at this year.”
After losing their top seven players to graduation or the NBA, the Tar Heels are raising eyebrows on Tobacco Road and across the nation.
“When Carolina beat Kentucky early in the season, I think the expectations changed a little bit,” North Carolina radio analyst Jones Angell said. “Because once they lost all of the players, I think a lot of fans kind of said, ‘Hey, you know what, we understand that this might be a rough year.’
“And so, when they played really well in a loss to Illinois and then they beat Kentucky, people started saying, ‘Hey, wait a second, maybe they can still be pretty good, be a Sweet 16 type of team.’ But I still think people are a little bit surprised.”
The keys to North Carolina’s move into the top 25 have been players playing with a chip on their shoulder and a simple “we’ll not be as bad as most everyone thought” attitude.
“I took it as an insult,” said freshman forward Tyler Hansbrough of the preseason doom- and-gloom talk. “They tell us some people didn’t have us in the top 50. I kind of liked having our backs up against the wall, people telling us something we can’t do and we go out there and prove them wrong.”
Williams has been masterful at holding together a North Carolina team void of all of the necessary parts to keep it at a national title-contending level. Among the starters are two true freshmen and a former walk-on. An eye-popping 81.4 percent of the Tar Heels’ scoring had to be replaced. The top returning scorer was David Noel, who averaged 3.9 points last season.
Williams has leaned on a class of freshmen that, minus a star in Hansbrough, was supposed to play support roles. The defections to the NBA decimated the Tar Heels to a level that Williams said he’d never seen. He had no choice but to play his newcomers.
“We’re treading water where nobody has ever been before with the inexperience we have and how much we lost,” Williams said. “There’s no question the weakness is lack of experience.”
There are other weak spots. The inside game begins and ends with Hansbrough, arguably the best freshman in the nation. That is good and bad. Hansbrough can deliver, but the night-in, night-out grind of double and triple teams has taken a toll on the 6-foot-9 forward from Poplar Bluff, Mo.
“It’s stressful,” Hansbrough said. “When they send two people at me, I try to look for my open teammates and try to make a quick move. That’s something I’m still adjusting to. I think I’m getting better every practice and every game.”
North Carolina is also at a disadvantage on the perimeter. Freshman Bobby Frasor and junior Wes Miller handle the bulk of the backcourt duties. Both are threats from 3-point range, and Miller, a former walk-on, worked his way into the starting lineup because of his tireless work on the defensive end.
Forward Reyshawn Terry has started to round into the player the Tar Heels thought they had, giving them the much-needed athleticism that makes Williams’ fast-breaking teams so hard to stop. Freshman Danny Green has become a fairly reliable 3-point shooter as well.
“I’m not surprised we’ve had success this year,” Miller said. “We expect it every time we step on the floor, to compete and win basketball games. That’s what this program is all about and that’s what we try to carry on.”
Yet, unlike the past, Williams keeps expectations within realistic parameters.
“We just don’t talk in those terms,” Williams said. “I knew we were probably going to have some struggles.”
Nevertheless, he is not handling this team with kid gloves. He did not slow his super- charged, push-the-pace style in order to keep games close. And it appears to be paying off as North Carolina pushes toward an NCAA Tournament bid and what could be a good seeding.
“I think we have a great shot at making the tournament,” Noel said.
“All we have to do is bear down and play the caliber of basketball that we know we’re capable of playing. If we can get back to that then things will be good.”
Staff writer Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-920-5455 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
