Nov. 18, 2009
By Adam Lucas
As Roy Williams began breaking in the Tar Heels to his brand of basketball during the 2003-04 season, one phrase became a Carolina mantra:
The eye in the sky doesn't lie.
Those words became so familiar to Sean May, especially, that he repeated them constantly, especially when he perceived something had gone poorly. The Bloomington big man quickly learned that any game mistakes would be reviewed on film at the next day's practice. In the postgame locker room, he said, it was easy to dispute the head coach when Williams claimed a lack of effort or a missed assignment. But on film, well, the eye in the sky doesn't lie. It's one thing for a coach to point out a mistake. It's quite another for a player to actually see the mistake on video.
Rick Calloway coined the phrase when he played for Williams's very first Kansas team. The coach has used it almost every year since--often more frequently with a young team than with an experienced team. It became relevant again when this year's Tar Heels turned in a disappointing effort in the win over Valparaiso on Sunday. That performance resulted in an unusually lengthy 90-minute film session plus a 90-minute practice on Tuesday after an off day Monday.
"We watched the film for an hour and a half," Williams said, "and the eye in the sky doesn't lie. It was probably embarrassing to them. You get fat and happy and you don't realize you're doing it. We didn't pay much attention to detail against Valpo."
Those details were numerous. Williams was again unhappy with his team's turnovers (14). Marcus Ginyard fell into the "same number of rebounds as Wanda" category that the head coach uses to point out a zero-rebound performance. And, Williams said, "We didn't have good leadership on Sunday. Everybody was going through the motions."
Compounding Sunday's issues is Carolina's next opponent, 15th-ranked Ohio State. Last year, when the Tar Heels did something wrong, simply correcting it was usually enough to overpower the next opponent. This time, even doing everything right might not be enough to beat the Buckeyes, a squad with a 34-point average margin of victory through two games.
Thad Matta's club presents several unusual matchups, including 6-foot-7 "point forward" Evan Turner, who had a triple-double in the season opener. Ohio State listed four guards and a center in the starting lineup for its first two games, making this the first true test of Carolina's post-heavy rotation against a guard-heavy opponent.
"Their four-man is 6-foot-5, so that's tough for Deon," Williams said. "We do have tough matchups there, and hopefully we'll be able to do some good work on the backboards that will help us out there...Just because Evan plays the point doesn't mean you have to play him with your point guard."
Williams suggested that four different Carolina starters could see time defending Turner.
Briefly: In a bit of a rarity, Williams admitted he might have overscheduled for his young team. The game he expressed the most concern about was the Dec. 19 trip to Dallas to play Texas, a game originally conceived as an attempt to fill the new Cowboys Stadium. Sky-high ticket prices have since torpedoed that idea. "Playing that one with such an inexperienced team was perhaps not the wisest thing to do," Williams said...Sharp-eyed fans might have noticed Ed Davis knocking away a second-half inbounds pass against Valpo, then turning to the bench and holding up one finger. "Coach always says we need to get deflections," Davis said. "He's been emphasizing that a lot in practice. So I wanted him to know that was one for me."...
This should help Madison Square Garden ticket sales: there's an unconfirmed rumor that Carolina fan Brooklyn Decker might be in attendance. If she attends, she'll be part of what's expected to be a very pro-UNC crowd. Carolina sold nearly 1,000 tickets through its ticket office, which doesn't count the New York City residents who traditionally turn out in force when the Tar Heels hit the Big Apple...John Henson played just nine minutes against Valpo. "He's never had to think and play at the same time," Williams said of the talented freshman. Despite the limited minutes, Henson's production has been good--in 34 minutes, he's scored 12 points, grabbed 10 rebounds and blocked four shots...The Columbus media isn't exactly abuzz over Thursday's basketball game. This is Michigan-Ohio State football week, which dominates most of the Buckeye headlines...Some observers might not remember that last year's four New York City participants in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic--which automatically advances the marquee teams to New York in an attempt to guarantee a solid gate and raise money for cancer research--were Duke, Michigan, UCLA and Southern Illinois.
Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly. He is also the author or co-author of five books on Carolina basketball, including the just-released book on the 2009 national title, One Fantastic Ride. Get real-time UNC sports updates from the THM staff on Twitter.
