Not THAT sad of a day

What is the best way to start a blog about one of the saddest days of the year, the day when the Tar Heels stop playing basketball?

It should not be just about one game, the final game of the season, but I suppose one has to start there. Oddly enough, it does not feel that bad, reviewing the loss to Iowa State.  The Heels played well, rebounded much better in the second half, and made shots.

Though it was a tough loss, that game contained many of the things that made this year's squad interesting and fun to watch, and also likeable.  What's not to like about a team that beats Michigan State IN East Lansing, beats the defending national champs, and smites all of our main rivals - Duke, NC State and Kentucky - in one season?

Sunday's game was a microcosm of the entire season.  It had J.P. Tokoto spinning and dunking, with a few steals, mid-range jumpers, even a bad turnover; Kennedy Meeks at his Little Sean May/taking down Louisville AND Michigan State best; Leslie McDonald finally getting to play and contributing - even Jackson Simmons taking a charge.*

It featured James Michael McAdoo keeping his head up, his persistence finally being rewarded as his drives to the basket resulted in points late.  It was JMM displaying the calm and leadership we sometimes take for granted, and then having the toughness to hit 2 big free throws.

And it featured Marcus Paige. There are plenty of adjectives to choose from in describing his play on Sunday and this year.  The best one is Tar Heel.

There are but a handful of Tar Heels who are extra special for their innate toughness, tenacity, brains, leadership - an understanding of the values stamped on Carolina basketball by Dean Smith. It is a short list: Bobby Jones, Phil Ford, Jimmy Black, George Lynch and David Noel.  Many others, like Kendall Marshall and Ademola Okulaja to name a few, come close. But it's a short list.

Marcus Paige is already one of those all time Tar Heels.

One reason so many of us care so much about Carolina basketball is that it ties us to the University we love.  The reason basketball is so central to our connection, again, is Dean.  His humility, wisdom and excellence are what we think of when we think of Carolina.

Not Carolina basketball - Carolina.

For me, Marcus Paige evokes the same thing. He is the personification of all of Dean's Carolina values. At a time when the athletic program is doing all it can to embarrass the University, Paige - an Academic and athletic All-American - restored the values that make Carolina CAROLINA.

He led the comeback, once again, against Iowa State, but his turnover late may have cost Carolina the game (though ISU's incredible shooting, and our spotty transition defense that left too many shooters too open, had more to do with it).

But can we - do we - really blame Paige for not being perfect, after the season he had, after the plays he made, and more importantly the way he carried himself, the way he epitomized why we love Carolina basketball and Carolina?  No.

Marcus Paige, Tar Heel.

GO HEELS!

* The game also did NOT feature Brice Johnson.  More on that next blog.  I will also look at ahead at next year, which looks very bright since Marcus Paige just tweeted that he is returning next year.

More Carolina Basketball, more Dean, and Phil Ford

It was more of the same yesterday as Carolina basketball, the style invented and developed by Dean Smith, triumphed over Kentucky for another marquee win for this year's squad.

It was not the most ascetically pleasing contest but it was a win - which IS Carolina basketball.

So is going inside, something the Heels did repeatedly and effectively; so is going to the free throw line; so is sharing the ball and having multiple players contribute.  

The 'sharing the wealth' is becoming the hallmark of this fun and successful team. This year's Heels, especially Marcus Paige, J.P. Tokoto, Brice Johnson, James Michael McAdoo, Kennedy Meeks, Johnson, are fun to watch.  Last year's team had a disjointed feel, a team that had fans nervous for much of the season. The schedule was an exercise in watching Roy try to find combos that worked despite a flawed lineup with too many shooting guards and not much else. High points such as the win at FSU and the 'run' to the ACC tournament final felt like found money, not expected wins.

I think many Tar Heels fans felt the same way heading into this season, especially with Hairston sidelined indefinitely.  But this team has cured any of those unsettling thoughts and feelings. Led by Marcus Paige this year's team almost reminds me of the early 90s Heels, great teams with some great players - Eric Montross and one of the greatest Heels of all time in George Lynch - but without a dominant superstar (Worthy, Jordan, Jamison, May, Hansbrough, Lawson, etc.).*

That lack of a superstar and the use of a deep bench (Henrik Rodl, Kevin Salvatori, Scott Cherry) led many to dub the '93 Heels the ultimate Dean Smith team, where the whole was greater than the sum of it's parts. Dean's humility and Carolina collective triumphed over our society's obsession with celebrity and ego.

And like the '93 team, or any successful team, these Heels simply make plays. Whether we are talking about drives by Paige or McAdoo or Tokoto or Nate Britt, tip ins by Tokoto, Meeks, Joel James or Desmond Hubert, key boards or baskets by Johnson, great passes by Meeks or Paige, or huge steals by Tokoto, these Heels - every Heels player - make plays when they need to make plays.

As great as the win was over Kentucky, the program that blends the worst of Duke (smug entitlement) and NC State (low-brow anti-intellectualism) the half-time ceremony honoring Dean Smith for receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom was even better.

If you have not seen it yet click here. The speeches by Dean's wife, who talked about his commitment to social change, and from Montross were great.  But I want to focus on Phil Ford.

Dean Smith's relationship with Ford epitomizes why Dean is Dean, the kind of person - not basketball coach - we should all emulate.

Ford was an elite basketball player; he won an Olympic gold medal in 1976 (for Dean - and the U.S.), was the ACC and national player of the year his senior year, and the NBA rookie of the year.  

Seven years later his career was over, derailed by the cocaine culture of the early '80s and alcoholism.  He washed out of the NBA in 1985. 

Carolina and Dean did not turn their back on one of the greatest Tar Heels of all time. Dean hired Ford as an assistant coach in 1988. He prospered, and was such a good recruiter that many assumed that Dean had groomed him as his likely successor.

How cool would that have been? Dean to Guthridge to Ford? That's got to be one of the biggest 'what ifs' in Carolina history!

The plan was derailed for good when Ford's demons reappeared, and he plead guilty to DUI in both 1997 and 1999. The second DUI cost him the JV coaching job and his position as lead recruiter under Bill Guthridge. 

Ford left Chapel Hill when Matt Doherty insisted on bringing in his own staff (sheesh, that guy...) but Dean's Carolina family continued to help Ford as he worked as an NBA assistant for Larry Brown in Detroit and New York before returning to Chapel Hill to work for the Education Foundation.

Dean never made a big deal about helping Ford get his life back together; what could be more un-Deanlike?  

Isn't that what one's life should be about, helping those who need a little help? That's why Dean is Dean, one reason why he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor, and the main reason folks like us love him and Carolina so much.

Go Heels!

A Few More Things

•  How great was it to see McAdoo back on track?  Much has been made of his aggressive play on offense, but he outplayed Randall on both ends of the floor.
• Foul trouble and perhaps some Dean-like insouciance led to Roy playing Jackson Simmons and Desmond Hubert at the same time in the second half yesterday.  Ol' Roy got away with it even though Simmons looked super nervous bricking 4 late free throws.
• A month ago I was afraid that Britt was the second coming of Adam Boone. Man, was I wrong.  Every minute of every game you can see his confidence and game grow.  In the 3 big wins - against the top three teams in the preseason top 25 - he has been fantastic.  His coast to coast drive late was one of the plays of the game, and like Paige he is money at the free throw line.  His play gives the Heels tremendous balance, especially if he and Tokoto can make an occasional three pointer. 

* I know you knew that list; I just liked typing it.