Some Carolina basketball teams, particularly for the last two seasons, have not been especially lovable. We had the “going small” debate in 2013 and the affaire d’PJ last year. The current Tar Heels, despite their obvious foibles, have become solid fan favorites for the first time since the 2011 and 2012 Elite Eight teams.
The two wins over Florida State and Syracuse in three days had the Smith Center filled to near capacity and as loud as it can be if the opponent is not Duke. Despite a failure to blow FSU out when the Seminoles were on the ropes and a mistake-prone first half against Syracuse, the crowd stayed behind the Tar Heels all the way through their sixth straight victory on the way to a 7-1 start in the ACC.
The team keeps fighting, which the fans love, and the players are improving to where they could make some serious noise in the post-season. At 17-4 and climbing in the rankings, making the NCAA Tournament is no longer an issue and will keep the momentum building through the month of February. And different heroes are emerging nightly, which further juices the crowd.
Brice Johnson, who has been Roy Williams’ whipping boy since his arrival for flawed fundamental defense, is improving dramatically on both ends of the floor. Johnson is a scoring machine around the basket, and the Tar Heels’ ability to go to him three straight times to start the second half erased a five-point deficit at a halftime that ended with the most egregious of 13 turnovers in 20 minutes.
Trying to score from right under the Syracuse basket, they turned a poor lob to the rim into a steal, run out and layup for the Orange as the buzzer sounded. Williams stomped through the runway to the locker room, where he probably scorched the wallpaper with his halftime tirade. He told an ESPN reporter that the Tar Heels were, in a word, awful.
But they traded their 13 turnovers for even better shooting in the second half, scored an unheard-of 58 points against the Syracuse zone and finished with 93, which is more than twice what they put up (45) in the Carrier Dome last season. No question that the be-stitched Nate Britt saved their butts with a career-high 17 points by lofting four lovely three-pointers over the active Orange zone to combine with Marcus Paige for 39 points and the perfect balance needed to beat Syracuse. Johnson had his second straight double-double (17 and 11 after 18 and 14 against FSU), and Kennedy Meeks almost matched that with 17 and 9.
The outside-inside production offset mediocre play from wings Justin Jackson and J.P. Tokoto, who was especially schizoid with six assists and six turnovers before fouling out after chasing Orange sharpshooter Trevor Cooney (28 points) around screens all evening. Despite 20 turnovers in the first 31 minutes, the Tar Heels’ abnormally good shooting won this game. They hit 55 percent from the floor and 56 from the arc to finally beat back the ‘Cuse in their first trip ever to Chapel Hill.
Contrast that to the season-low five turnovers Carolina made against FSU, which stayed in the game on the torrid shooting of Xavier Rathan-Mayes. The freshman gunner tied an opponent’s Smith Center record with 35 points, the last three long bombs keeping the crowd around until the very end. The Tar Heels now have six straight wins and, luckily, five days to mend some wounds before going to Louisville Saturday afternoon. Paige will be able to stay off his plantar fasciitis and Britt will get the 15 stitches removed from his mouth (although the ambi-shooter says he may keep them in a jar for more good play ahead).
Williams has done a terrific job coaching this team under the gaze of the academic scandal that fans fret will result in NCAA sanctions for men’s basketball. And the crowds have been great – standing, screaming and imploring their team to come back even after self-inflicted wounds from short-armed shots around the basket and careless passing across the open court.
Former UNC football coach Mack Brown and Tar Heel player Reyshawn Terry, who visited after not being back for years, may have noticed all the changes to game atmosphere in the Dean Dome. It starts with an inspiring Stuart Scott video clip, pumped-up and pumped-in music and the electric voice of PA announcer Tony Gilliam, whose starting lineup calls get the blood flowing before the first shot is taken. Then comes the jump-around prelude to tip-off that has become a staple of the Smith Center.
By the way, UNC has a chance to create another unique element all its own after every made basket and free throw by flashing up a big “BOO-YA!!” graphic on the ribbon boards and having the crowd chant UNC alum Scott’s famous words as the ball goes through the net. If the students got that new tradition going, guaranteed the rest of the arena would be yelling “BOO-YA!!” every time the Tar Heels scored. And because of Scott being one of us, no one else would dare duplicate that cheer. BOO-YA!!! BOO-YA!!! BOO-YA!!
The constant replays, “I’m a Tar Heel” and “THIS is Carolina Basketball” videos have helped take the atmosphere in the 31-year-old building to another level.
The new graphics are, for the most part, great with a few constructive criticisms:
The scoreboards being on both baseline fascias make it inconvenient for fans sitting along the sidelines to quickly find the time and score. They were actually better situated in the four corners like the old outdated scoreboards. That seems like an easy fix on the ribbon boards, or at least put another scoreboard on the sideline fascia behind the benches and maybe a smaller board on the TV table.
And while the scoreboards give us the time, score, team fouls and time-outs, we have to look elsewhere – two of the corner screens – to see who committed the personal foul and how many fouls that player has (along with his points and rebounds). The multi-colored backgrounds on those screens make that important data difficult to read. Larger back type on a white screen or white on black would be far easier to pick up at a quick glance.
Make those fan friendly and fan-interactive changes, and the Smith Center would become what it once was – the best place to watch college basketball in America.
BOO-YA!!!
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