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The Daily Tar Heel

Saturday afternoon should be the last time anyone at North Carolina utters P.J. Hairston’s name.

He’s not an excuse. He’s not a scapegoat. He certainly shouldn’t be the reason for the team’s 0-3 ACC start. It’s time to shake the Hairston hangover.

A few weeks shy of an entire year on the Hairston roller coaster — beginning Jan. 29, 2013 with 14 points in 12 minutes against Boston College and finishing when he signed with NBA D-League team the Texas Legends on Tuesday — North Carolina can finally step off the ride.

The Tar Heels will suit up in their home white jerseys Saturday, ready to face Boston College. Hairston will be 1,182 miles away, donning a new dark blue jersey, stitched with No. 19, his new number.

He’s off the bench. Gone from Chapel Hill. Out of sight, out of mind.

But it’s not quite that simple.

Like exiting a roller coaster, the first few steps are wobbly. There’s some bobbing and weaving, even a quick trip to the trashcan to hurl out the contents of a churning stomach.

A minute of regaining balance before another dizzy spell. A few shaky steps to a bench to sit down. And finally, after a few moments and a cautious rise, enough regained composure to get up and leave.

Sound familiar?

This year’s Tar Heels are in the throes of post-traumatic Hairston disorder — an affliction that produces stumbling losses followed by stretches of maturity and brilliance.

If you’re looking for a past year to compare this year’s comedy of errors to, there’s not one.

But an 0-3 start to the ACC isn’t unprecedented for a North Carolina team.

In 1996-97, the Tar Heels dropped three games straight, only to earn Dean Smith’s 13th ACC tournament title and a Final Four berth in Smith’s final season.

But that isn’t this team.

The 1997 squad was a goldmine of NBA talent led by Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. That team had all the tools, sharpened, ready to be used — and with a little bit of coaxing, Smith and his team turned the season around.

But that was supposed to happen. The team was stacked, filled to the brim with NBA-ready players.

This team is full of young, raw players.

Joel James didn’t start playing organized basketball until his sophomore year in high school. Marcus Paige is 20 years old and playing 35.4 minutes a game— averaging the most playing time of any player in Williams’ era.

This year’s squad is most similar to the 1989-90 team.

No, I wasn’t alive for that season. I barely even remember the 1996-97 team. But after consulting with Bill Cole, a longtime Winston-Salem Journal columnist who covered the team, I was pointed in the direction of the 1990 team and did my homework.

The 1990 team lost 13 games — including three in a row to less-than-stellar ACC teams — but also twice upset a top-10 Duke team .

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The team began 1989 ranked No. 7 in the preseason polls but finished the season unranked and nearly halted Dean Smith’s 20-win season streak.

Wins in the NCAA tournament, including an upset of No. 1 Midwest seed Oklahoma, saved the streak and pushed the team to a 21-13 finish.

But there weren’t any external, off-the-court problems complicating a team devoid of future NBA all stars.

Right now, the near future of North Carolina basketball looks bleak — the star player banished to Texas, the head coach growing more and more haggard as the losses and scandals mount, the shoulders of the players slumping more after each turnover.

But this season is not a waste, not one to be written off as the season marred in disgrace.

There’s still time to turn it around. Attitudes have to change, and as Williams has recently lamented, intensity needs to be renewed.

No, the Tar Heels are no longer playing in hope of Hairston’s return. They can’t scrape by, hoping for the prodigal son to return and rescue a floundering team.

He’s gone.

There are 15 games left.

The ride is over.

Either stay on that bench, head in lap, unable to overcome the waves of nausea or stand up and move on.

sports@dailytarheel.com