GREENSBORO, N.C. — The North Carolina coach says he's not going to jump off a bridge if UNC doesn't win a national championship this season but, judging from player comments, maybe the Tar Heels should purchase wet suits.
After losing to Georgetown last year in an NCAA Tournament game they felt they should have won, the Tar Heels are determined to win a national championship and aren't shy about saying so.
Starting point guard Ty Lawson said recently that anything short of a Final Four title would be "a wasted season" and one reporter told Coach Roy Williams that Tyler Hansbrough basically said it was San Antonio (site of the Final Four) or bust.
At the ACC Operation Basketball media day in Greensboro Sunday, Williams said such pronouncements were "asinine."
But, with preseason All-ACC picks Hansbrough and Lawson back, and with experienced depth at each position, expectations for Carolina fans are extremely high, especially after ACC media voted unanimously for the Tar Heels in the annual ACC preseason poll.
Williams said if the Tar Heels have an identical year to last season – a 31-7 record with a conference title and a trip to the final eight, he's not going to quit.
"There are a lot of guys that would love to go 31-7 and win the conference," he said. "I don't look at it like that – I've never looked at it like that.
"It's like saying if I don't make a hole in one today, I'm going to quit playing golf. That's not the way Roy Williams looks at it and if Carolina fans look at it that way they're stupid."
Williams said he wants Carolina basketball to be one of those teams that every year has a chance to win the whole thing.
"Let's do the best we can and at the end of the year let's be one of those teams that can get on a roll and win it," he said. "But this [the NCAA Tournament] is one and done."
No one will work harder to win a national championship than Williams, he said, but he believes that if everything is wrapped up into winning an NCAA championship you ought to do something else.
"When I retire, it won't be because we lost a national championship game, but will be because I'm tired," he said.
Williams said that the Tar Heels "have a dream to win the national championship and we have a hope to win a national championship but we don't have expectations," he said.
"Expectations come from those people who aren't even involved in the quest to begin with."
Williams said he talks passionately with his team about winning the whole thing but "I'm not going to jump off a bridge if we don't." He added that Ty Lawson isn't going to quit basketball and take up wrestling instead if the Tar Heels don't win the national championship. "I don't give a darn what our players say, that's not the way they're thinking," he said.
Marcus Ginyard, who says he intends to be more of a vocal leader this year, says he understands Lawson's comments about a "wasted" season. "Everybody on this team knows we are capable and one of the top contenders for the national championship," he said. "It's the highest goal everybody on this team has and if you don't reach your goal, it is a disappointment so I have to agree."
Hansbrough told the media Sunday, "Our goal is to win a national championship… But we're going to take it one day at a time."
Ginyard said that while the goal is to win that final game, the Tar Heels can't look to the national championship game all year.
"You've got to take it one practice at a time and one game at a time," he said. "When it comes down to the end, we feel like we'll be in a position to win the national championship. Right now, we just want to work hard every day and get better every day."
Ginyard, a solid defender, said his shot has gotten better since last year after coaches tweaked his form (he was leaning back to shoot) and after taking 600-700 practice shots a day in the gym.
Meanwhile, Williams said that Hansbrough has gotten a lot better at shooting the 10-12 foot jump shot rather than solely relying on driving to the basket.
Others who will look to improve include streaky shooting guard Wayne Ellington, who the coach expects to have a better field goal percentage (just 43 percent from the floor a year ago), and Deon Thompson, who has lost between 20-30 pounds but by all accounts is stronger, more mobile and more confident after playing for Team USA this past summer in the Under-19 World Championships.
Thompson and Alex Stepheson, less of an offensive threat but more of a shot blocker and rebounder, will need to step up to take the place of Brandan Wright, who left the Tar Heels after just one season to go to the NBA.
"Those two have really worked hard so I feel comfortable with either one of them," Ginyard said. For his part, Williams said that most projected starting lineups have Thompson listed but that he hasn't made that decision yet between the two.
With depth that includes Danny Green, who averaged 5.2 points per game last year; Bobby Frasor, who averaged 10 minutes per game despite nagging injuries; and Quentin Thomas, a senior guard, playing time could vary … especially early in the season.
Williams said he breaks the season into three parts – pre-conference, conference and tournament. The conference schedule starts in January. In November and December, he said he wants the Tar Heels to be challenged, especially as a visiting team against strong opponents, and to build good habits. In the conference, the goal is simply to win and be in position to be chosen for the NCAA Tournament. Then it's win one game at a time.
The tape of last year's season-ending Georgetown game has largely gone unwatched.
"Life's tough enough without going through that sorrow again," he said with a laugh. But he remembers well the breakdowns at the end of that game – including bad shots, quick shots and a general lack of focus.
Williams said he wrote notes on 5x7 cards after that game that are on his desk, and that he and his players will use that loss as motivation this year not to make the same mistakes.
"It's definitely a motivation for everybody to keep pushing and getting better," Ginyard said. "It all comes down to team. We felt like individuals were trying to do too much in that game."
The experience of losing to George Mason (two seasons ago) and Georgetown (last season) has taught the Carolina players the swiftness with which the season can end, Williams said.
"There are no do-overs; there are no mulligans," he said. "It's over with."
The Georgetown loss stings more than the George Mason loss, Hansbrough said.
"We were a lot closer to the Final Four," he said. "Plus, we just let it slip away."
To a man, the Tar Heels are focused on not letting that happen again. But with N.C. State now rivaling Duke and Carolina for Triangle-area supremacy, and with every team gunning for the Heels, it won't be easy.
Heel Prints
• The Tar Heels have no true freshmen this season. "Having no freshmen that you have to drag along enables you to go a little faster," Williams said. "The challenge is to go faster and still build a strong foundation."
• In light of Wake Forest coach Skip Prosser's death, Williams said he had made changes in travel plans so as not to push too hard. He said he is having no major problems with his back or vertigo, which still comes on him when he turns too quickly.
• Tyler Hansbrough was selected on 60 of 64 media ballots for preseason ACC player of the year.
• Ginyard said that he believes Alex Stepheson will be the big surprise this season. "I just feel like he's got it and it's a matter of when he's going to show it," he said.
• Ginyard said he hopes he's not sticking his foot in his mouth but the Tar Heels have a strong will to win every single game this year. No pressure.
