Heels hang tough in conference

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams never has been one to stress the importance of grabbing an early lead. Instead, he prefers a consistent effort throughout the game.

And after witnessing the Tar Heels overcome early deficits and steal victories from its first two ACC opponents, N.C. State and Virginia Tech, you can't blame him.

In the opening minutes of UNC's conference-opener last Saturday, the Tar Heels gave up an 11-0 run to the Wolfpack and looked outmatched by their higher-ranked in-state rivals.

But Williams, who refused to call timeout, watched his squad catch a spark from David Noel's thunderous windmill jam, prompting a 16-4 Tar Heel run, which gave the team its first lead.

Energized by a raucous crowd, the Hokies used intensity similar to the Wolfpack's to open up a 19-9 lead in the first seven minutes Tuesday night.

This time, however, UNC's sloppy play ate up Williams so much that he called for a timeout. After carefully removing his glasses and crunching his eyebrows into a scowl, he ripped into his players.

But despite the different approach, the outcome of Williams' strategy was the same.

A 16-1 run on the offensive end and a defensive effort that held the Hokies without a field goal for six minutes created a 25-20 lead for the Tar Heels.

"I've never talked about coming out of the gate quickly in the first five minutes or the first eight minutes," Williams said after Tuesday's 64-61 win against Va. Tech.

"You've got to play the whole game. I called timeout this time because I was just so ticked off about our stupid turnovers. I just didn't like our whole attitude at that point."

And as a member of arguably the toughest conference in the land, Williams knows that a focused, aggressive attitude is what it takes to survive against the Tar Heels' tough, scrappy neighbors in the ACC.

Without it, freshman Tyler Hansbrough wouldn't have gotten that game-saving rebound and sunk two free throws with 9.3 seconds remaining in Blacksburg's hostile environment.

Nor would the young Tar Heel rotation have recovered against the Hokies after losing its motivator and high-flying spark plug Noel to foul trouble.

And no way would a starting lineup of three freshmen, one player without a career start before this season and one former walk-on-turned-leader crack the top 20 in the national rankings and win its first two ACC games.

"I definitely think it's key for a young team like us when we can come up with a big win on the road and another big win before that after being down by a lot in both games," Noel said. "That's just a testament to Coach Williams and our resilience as a team."

Sure, 43 turnovers in only two games raises an obvious red flag, and coming from behind isn't always the easiest of tasks, but in the end, tallying another mark in the victory column sometimes is enough to satisfy Williams.

"It can be a heck of a basketball game (when playing in the ACC)," Williams said. "You just want to win and get out of town as fast as you can in this league."

 

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