Huffman: This Team Could Be Better Than '05

At Carrot-Top Industries in Hillsborough, you can order historic flags, table coverings and even floor mats.

You can also order a banner to celebrate a national basketball championship.
North Carolina did just that in 2005, spending $1,300 for a Smith Center banner after winning the NCAA title.

Carolina may be ordering again.

And this team could be ranked even higher than those 2005 champions.

That 2005 team was gifted. Four players left early for the NBA. Heck, Marvin Williams came off the bench, and he was the second pick in the NBA Draft.

But that team also lost four games, failed to win the ACC Tournament – losing to Georgia Tech in the semifinals – and had three cliff-hangers in the NCAA Tournament. UNC also had difficult games in the regional finals against Villanova (67-66) and Wisconsin (88-82).

The Heels blew out Michigan State 87-71 in the Final Four and beat a tremendous Illinois team 75-70 in the title game.

A great team? Yes.

A team that dwarfs the current one? No.

These Tar Heels have been slowed by injuries, so only now are they rounding into juggernaut form.

Still, their body of work is impressive.

They won the ACC regular season and tournament titles.

They’ve won in the clutch, going 8-1 in games decided in overtime or by 5 points or less.

And they exude the sense of purpose and determination that marks great teams. You can sense that relaxed, confident aura when you’re around them.

They are loose, too – a team that clearly likes each other.

“We have a lot of goofy guys on this team, a lot of jokesters. But not a lot of them are real funny,” Tyler Hansbrough said with a smile. “But when we step on the court, we know what time it is.”

You can break down the teams player vs. player, and the 2005 team probably prevails.

Jawad Williams over Deon Thompson? Sure.

Marvin Williams over Danny Green? Yep.

Raymond Felton over Ty Lawson? OK.

Rashad McCants over Wayne Ellington? Um … perhaps.

But Marcus Ginyard is better than Jackie Manuel, although both fill similar roles

And Hansbrough is superior to Sean May, even though May had a great NCAA run.

Still, games aren’t one-on-one affairs, and the depth and cohesion of this team are remarkable. They certainly pass the ball and play defense better than in 2005.

Comparing the two, coach Roy Williams said, “We’d been a good team all year [in 2005]. We were extremely talented.

“In some ways, we didn’t get the respect for playing as a team. This team doesn’t get the respect for the way they guard, play defense.

“But they are two different teams. That team had a strong, strong will to win the national championship, but it was built in the NCAA Tournament.”

What UNC is building in this tournament is obvious.

Carolina could have two tough games in Charlotte and, of course, the Final Four. Future opponents won’t run with the Heels like Mount St. Mary’s and Arkansas. And given the ACC’s belly-up performance in postseason, it’s fair to wonder how Carolina will fare against the nation’s best as the tournament unfolds.

The gut feeling here is: quite well.

Carolina has 34 wins, tied for the school record. They could reach 38, more than the ACC-record of 37 by Duke in 1986 and 1999.

No one’s arguing this is Carolina’s best team ever. They don’t match the Worthy-Perkins-Jordan team of 1982 or, from a different era, the undefeated 1957 champions.

But they can equal, and surpass, than the 1993 and 2005 champions.

They are on the brink of the extraordinary.

And they could cost the school another $1,300.