College Basketball
Georgetown Loss Still Haunts Tar Heels As They Prepare for Season
UNC players still replaying their crushing loss to Georgetown in the NCAA Tournament.
Posted — UpdatedBy Dane Huffman
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — The aura in the Smith Center can be imposing, with the blue seats flowing upward toward those rows of championship banners in the ceilings. It’s all intended to give a sense of awe and confidence.
But there’s a different feeling from the North Carolina team as this season opens. On media day, with players spread around the Smith Center floor, one can’t help but get the sense this is a team that was wounded by what happened in that NCAA loss to Georgetown – and is determined to do something about it.
“Our season started,” wing Marcus Ginyard said, “the day after we lost to Georgetown.”
Carolina led by 10 minutes with less than 7 minutes left and lost in overtime, 96-84. It was a stunned, somber Tar Heel team that exited the court that night in East Rutherford, N.J., in the third round of the tournament.
What happened that night has nagged at Carolina in the past months.
“I try not to [look back] but it’s hard,” center Tyler Hansbrough said. “I thought about it a lot over the summer.”
Hansbrough, for one, said he “wasn’t assertive” down the stretch in that contest. He made a layup and hit two free throws in the final seven minutes, but took only two other shots despite finishing with 26 points in the game.
The Tar Heels lost, in part, because they couldn’t work the ball inside to Hansbrough and took too many quick shots, especially from 3-point range.
“I think the biggest thing is the quality of shots was not good,” Carolina coach Roy Williams said Thursday. “If we’d taken the shots that I wanted us to take, and looking back I think the players would probably agree they were not the shots they wanted to take [Carolina might have won].
“So we’ve got to understand that and make sure those kinds of moments don’t come up, because we we’ve seen what happens when that does take over. You want guys to be confident, OK? Reyshawn [Terry] is a good example. Against North Carolina State in the ACC Tournament, he took a horrible shot – but it went in. Against Michigan State, he took a horrible shot – but it went in.
“I don’t care if you’re Houdini or Einstein, it’s like Reyshawn, that’s not a good shot.”
Williams is still miffed at some of the shots down the stretch against Georgetown, calling a 3-point miss by Danny Green “one of the worst shots in the history of mankind.”
Despite the early exit, there’s little question the Tar Heels return remarkable talent this season. Hansbrough averaged 18.4 points last season, and starters Ellington (11.7) and point guard Ty Lawson (10.2) also return. Forwards Deon Thompson (4.7) and Alex Stepheson (2.1) will push for playing time with Brandan Wright in the NBA, and Ginyard (4.1) and Danny Green (5.2) will look for larger roles. Thompson is much slimmer, but Williams was hesitant to call him the starter, saying Stepheson and junior Mike Copeland are also in contention for minutes there.
One player who will be on the court plenty is Lawson, and Carolina players are already raving about how well Lawson played in the summer pickup games.
The Tar Heels are talking about making a dramatic improvement in a defense that allowed 68.6 points per game as foes shot 41.6 percent from the field.
“Being better on the defensive end will be a big emphasis for us,” Williams said.
“We want to get up and down the court,” Ginyard said. “To do that, we’ve got to get stops.”
Carolina could have used some stops down the stretch against Georgetown, but it was still a game the Heels almost won on Ellington’s 3-point shot with two seconds left.
“It was just a play for Ty to get into the lane,” Ellington said. “As he penetrated, as a two guard I came to the top of the key. I was wide open. As it came off my fingertips, I felt it was in. Unfortunately, it was too long.
“I’ve seen it a lot of times. It’s tough. It’s a tough situation. That’s why this season we’re ready to come back and redeem ourselves.”
Late Night with Roy Williams is tonight at the Smith Center, and the Heels are eager to play, and put Georgetown behind them.
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