Lucas: UNC Basketball Mailbag Dec. 12
Dec. 12, 2006
By Adam Lucas What do Carolina fans really want for Christmas? Based on emails in the Mailbag, they want to be able to watch the Tar Heels on television while listening to Woody Durham's Tar Heel Sports Network call--and they want the two to be perfectly synced. In today's digital world, that sounds like a task more daunting that finding PlayStation3 consoles on sale (if you've got one, just let me know). Here's some good news: there are a variety of options available. The Mailbag's old reliable is the Delay Play Radio. Readers have given that device positive reviews so far. There are other alternatives for the techno-savvy. If your television signal is ahead of the radio signal, invest in a DVR or TiVo. Aside from being the 21st century's greatest invention, it's easy to sync the TV and radio. Just pause the television until Woody catches up, press play, and you're all set. It might take a couple of tries, but the reward is well worth it. Credit to reader John Paul Igoe for suggesting that readers with DVR should host a Turn Down the Sound party. Another reader, Tom Ballard, suggested the use of this software to sync the sound. Christmas shopping also means a change in transportation plans for this Saturday's game against UNC-Asheville. For this game only, the Tar Heel Express stop at University Mall will be relocated to the Highway 54 Park and Ride lot. There will be no University Mall shuttle service for this one game only. Don't forget that if you're looking for a unique Christmas gift, Chapel Hill Sportswear has the limited-edition shirts the players wore Saturday night to honor Roy Williams's 500th victory. They should be arriving in the store today and are expected to sell out by the end of the week, so get them quickly if you want them. And if you've got to have a gift that no one on the block has, check out the TarHeelBlue.com auctions ending this week. Bidding for a signed Butch Davis helmet ends today, and a jersey signed by three greats from the 2005 title team ends later this week. Winning bidders for both items should receive them in time for Christmas. With the vagaries of the US Postal Service and a dwindling supply, today is the last day we can guarantee any Carolina book orders or Tar Heel Monthly subscriptions for Christmas delivery. A couple preemptive Mailbag answers: for the answer to the disappearing headbands, read this story. And the latest Quentin Thomas update is that he had his cast removed last Thursday and hopes to work back into playing shape in the next 3-4 weeks. A few games back I recall some of the Tar Heel guards talking about Coach Williams' defensive philosophy on fighting through screens, going under instead of over, etc. Can you please boil that down to some practical pointers for all of us little guys out there running into double and triple screens in their regular pickup games? If there's room, would also be interested in how the UNC system approaches screening on the offensive end. If you're running into moving screens in your pickup games, you probably need to start playing pickup somewhere other than Champaign, Illinois. Sorry, couldn't resist. This is an interesting question because it highlights one of the primary differences in basketball philosophy between Dean Smith and Roy Williams. Smith believed defenders should go under the screen--in other words, dart behind the screener and emerge on the other side to stop the dribble. That makes it tougher for the player with the ball to cut to the basket. Williams ordinarily wants his players to fight over the top of the screen. Since it's usually a big man setting the screen and a guard being screened for, Carolina usually has a big man and guard in the area. It's the big man's responsibility to "show" over the top of the screen to cause a moment's hesitation by the guard. By the time the Tar Heel originally responsible for the guard recovers, the theory is that the big man has thwarted an open three-pointer and prevented dribble penetration. Like every other aspect of defense, the play only works with good communication. Against Ohio State, a Carolina big man was showing against a screen--and suddenly gave up a layup when his original man (the Buckeye power forward) darted to the basket unimpeded and received a well-timed pass. Offensively, there's no quicker way for a Carolina player to earn Williams's wrath than to stand around the perimeter without setting a screen. In general, setting a screen is one of the first options after throwing a pass--either screening away or setting a screen for the teammate who received the pass. The Tar Heels also run a couple variations of screen-the-screener plays. Go to any Carolina practice, and at some point you're likely to hear Williams bark, "Screen somebody!" at his offense. Several permutations of the secondary break depend on how, when, and where players choose to set screens. Despite the fact that I'm sure he's been scouted quite well, it seems some opposing players are still unprepared for when Brandan Wright launches a left-handed shot. That got me thinking that off the bat I couldn't name another prominent left-handed Tar Heel basketball player. I'm sure there's got to be some, but none come to mind. Can you shed some light on this topic? Wright's hook shot--and he's shown equal proficiency with his left and right hand--is virtually unblockable because of his wingspan and the way he releases it at the top of his jump. It's easy to take it for granted because he makes it look so simple, but it's an exceedingly difficult shot.
In Wright's case, the first Tar Heel lefty who comes to mind is Sam Perkins, who mastered that same hook shot. Their freshman numbers look very similar so far: Wright: 62.5 FG%, 6.4 RPG, 1.3 BPG, 15.1 PPG Other prominent Tar Heel lefties include Derrick Phelps, Larry Miller, and Ranzino Smith. Has Coach Williams considered playing in Carmichael Auditorium once per year as part of their normal schedule? Perhaps one of the lower visibility games at the beginning of the season. As I watched the women play versus Tennessee last night, I was reminded of the differences in the look of the court itself and the environment in general. It would be extremely fun to see the men play a single game in Carmichael each year, out of respect for history and tradition. I'm sure this question has been asked before, but thought I'd ask just in case. Getting a ticket to the game in Carmichael would prove tough indeed, but it would be an interesting environment to see live. It would be extremely fun. It would also be extremely costly. A typical Carolina basketball ticket costs $40. There are 21,750 seats available in the Smith Center. Let's pretend for just a second that all of those seats are sold at face value: that's $870,000 in revenue. In its current setup, Carmichael seats 8,010 fans. At that same $40 price tag, that's $320,400 in revenue, and we haven't yet factored in lost concessions and parking revenue or addressed the fact that there are only about 36 percent as many seats available. Who would get those seats? It would be a dogfight, and students would almost certainly see their allotment cut. There are also far more than 8,010 fans who are entitled to a full season ticket package by virtue of their donations to the Rams Club. You can't disenfranchise those people just to play at a different venue. Other local teams might tell you they play at their old venues out of respect for history or tradition. The truth is they're playing there because they know they wouldn't draw anywhere close to capacity in their new venue, or because of scheduling conflicts with other events. The Tar Heels don't have that problem. Even for an "off" game, like Saturday night's win over High Point, there were 19,955 fans in attendance. That's more than the capacity of any other ACC arena. In the entire nation, only Carolina, Kentucky, and sometimes Syracuse continuously draw those types of numbers for non-marquee games. It's not unusual to see sellouts reported at other schools--with a gym less than half the size of the Smith Center--even when their head coach notices many empty seats. Keep that in mind the next time there's an argument about where the "best fans" reside. Who has the "best fans" usually depends on which team you prefer. Brownlow's Down Low Lauren writes: Well, this is tough, because as I'm sure you might assume, there are quite a few benchwarmers who went from going 0-for-1 or 0-for-2 to making something like 3-of-5 the next year, which puts them at a 60% increase. So my qualification was that even if the player only made two three-pointers the year before, for the increase to count the player would have to make at least 20 three-pointers the following season. Some of these names may surprise you - like the first one. Biggest increase in percentage points (pp) 1. Jerry Stackhouse (+31.1 pp) 1993-94: 2-20 (10%) 2. Pearce Landry (+28.6 pp) 1993-94: 1-9 (11.1%) 3. Ronald Curry (+20.8 pp) 1998-99: 6-42 (14.3%) 4. Ademola Okulaja (+17.3% pp) 1997-98: 24-93 (25.8%) 5. Dante Calabria (+14.9 pp) 1993-94: 41-118 (34.7%) T6. Raymond Felton (+12.8 pp) 2003-04: 35-112 (31.2%) T6. Wes Miller (+12.8 pp) 2004-05: 5-16 (31.3%) 8. Donald Williams (+12.7 pp) 1991-92: 9-31 (29%) 9. Ed Cota (+10.9 pp) 1997-98: 10-33 (30.3%) 10. Adam Boone (+10.7 pp) 2000-01: 10-31 (32.3) Frasor went 27-of-87 (31%) last year from the three-point line, and his 8-of-18 (44.4%) would put him at an increase of 13.4 percentage points. If Frasor continues at his current pace, he will rank sixth on the all-time list, in between Dante Calabria's 14.9-percentage point increase and Raymond Felton and Wes Miller's 12.8 percentage-point increase. While we're on the subject, let's take a look at the biggest increase in made three-pointers from one season to another. 1. Donald Williams (+74) 2. Wes Miller (+59) 3. Rick Fox (+57) 4. Steve Bucknall (+53) 5. Shammond Williams (+49) 6. Donald Williams (+45) T7. Shammond Williams (+40) T7. Hubert Davis (+40) T9. Raymond Felton (+35) T9. Jerry Stackhouse (+35) It's worth noting that Reyshawn Terry ranks 11th on this list with an increase of 33 three-pointers between his 2004-05 season (12) and 2005-06 (45). David Noel, Dante Calabria and Ed Cota are all tied for 12th on the list with an increase of 32 made three-pointers. David Noel was the only one of the three to have his increase occur in his senior season, when he went from hitting just seven three-pointers in 2005 to 39 in 2006. Both Cota and Calabria's increases occurred in their sophomore seasons. Adam Lucas's third book on Carolina basketball, The Best Game Ever, chronicles the 1957 national championship season and is available now. His previous books include Going Home Again, focusing on Roy Williams's return to Carolina, and Led By Their Dreams, a collaboration with Steve Kirschner and Matt Bowers on the 2005 championship team.To submit a Mailbag question, click here.
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