What’s Up With the Recent Run of Bad Luck for UNC Coach Roy Williams?
By Matt Hamm
I feel bad for North Carolina coach Roy Williams right now. Luck has not been on the man’s side whatsoever. This season he had things all set up to make a 2009 like run through the NCAA Tournament. Roy gathered his troops and marched on despite many bumps along the road. But the bad luck just keeps on coming for Ol’ Roy.
#1 Early in the season injuries to Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland leaving the team thin on the perimeter and even thinner at the point. Roy dealt with it in Carolina like fashion as the Heels dusted themselves off, won the ACC regular season title and finished the season ranked #4 in the nation.
#2 As the number one seed in the conference tournament Carolina had a chance to knock off Florida State in the championship game. Only an injury to junior forward John Henson proved too much for Carolina who couldn’t get by without him for a second straight game as they dropped a close one heading into the big dance. Henson’s status at the time, undetermined, the Heels mood going into the tournament went from great to cautious immediately. Still the Heels are given a #1 seed and hopes are if Henson can play by the second or even third game of the tourney, UNC will be okay.
#3 Awful things always come in threes don’t they! As Carolina separated from Creighton in the second round of the tournament. Point guard Kendall Marshall checked out of the game and no one noticed. As UNC fans celebrated Roy looked like he had been in a car accident in an interview after and stated that Henson was fine but he was unsure about Marshall who was unable to return to the game with an injury to his own wrist. Marshall would then miss the rest of the tournament and leave everyone to wonder what could have been this season as they lost to Roy’s old team Kansas in the Elite 8.
#4 Already dealing with the fact that he is losing ACC Player of the Year Tyler Zeller who is graduating. Underclassmen Kendall Marshall, Harrison Barnes and John Henson all inform the world of their decision to enter the NBA Draft. Leaving Carolina without it’s top four players, almost their entire offensive and rebounding production gutted in one instant.
#5 Almost the ultimate backlash is when one thing that you really hate, like John Hensons injury, creates another problem down the road. Freshman James Michael McAdoo was called upon to replace Henson in the lineup and did a nice job. McAdoo blossomed and had many highlight reel moments in the postseason. Offering a nice glimpse of the future for Carolina. McAdoo stated after the loss to Kansas that he intended to return to Chapel Hill for his sophomore season. Later his father echoed his words and stated he would talk things over with them at home over the weekend. Now, on top of losing the big four, it become a very real possibility that Roy would lose McAdoo. This would be very similar to losing Marvin Williams after the 2005 championship, Roy said he was devastated and really thought Marvin was coming back. Williams also had broke out during the tournament and ended up being drafted #2 overall.
Want another example? We heard all season long about Roy encouraging Marshall to become more assertive offensively and try to become more of a scoring threat. He did just that in the month of March averaging nearly 15 points per game on 50% three point shooting. And you know where that got him? Off Roy’s team and into the NBA. So much for player development, or counting on a little luck these days in Carolina. McAdoo came to his senses and is coming back next year.
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