Roy Williams is no Allen Iverson — he wants to talk about practice.

UNC’s starting lineup has been a revolving door of different players in the past few weeks, but he said the decision about who starts and who sits isn’t really up to him.

“I don’t have a plan,” he said. “So many people think coaches make the decision who starts and I think players make the decision how well they play in practice.”

Questions still remain about what Williams will do with the lineup when the Tar Heels take on NC State Wednesday night.

In the past four games, the Tar Heels have used three different starting lineups, featuring eight players.

The most recent change was replacing Kennedy Meeks with Isaiah Hicks in UNC’s blowout victory over Miami on Saturday.

Roy Williams

Roy Williams (Photo by Todd Melet)

“I don’t sit back and say ‘this guy is playing poorly, I’m going to take him out of the lineup for the next 27 days,'” Williams said. “I’m going to play who I think is the best at that specific time and I thought that’s what Isaiah deserved on Saturday.”

Hicks came out strong in his third start of the season, putting up 12 points and five rebounds, but despite that, Williams said he won’t decide anything about the starting lineup until he sees how his team does in practice.

“To be honest with you I haven’t even thought about that part of it,” he said. “I’m trying to worry about having great practices Monday and Tuesday to get ready for NC State.”

When it comes to the debate over who to start and who to sit, Williams makes it seem like it’s much ado about nothing.

He remembers former Tar Heel Marvin Williams, who helped win a championship in 2005 and went on to be the number two overall pick in that year’s NBA Draft.

“Marvin Williams never started a game for us and he was fantastic and we had a pretty doggone good year that year,” he said. “Sometimes starting is overrated. The kids may not feel that way but that’s how they should feel.”

 

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