It took 364 days, more than 100 practices, and
40 games, but this past Monday night, when the University of North Carolina
Men’s Basketball Team emerged from the University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale,
Arizona, they emerged with a record of 33-7, and having been crowned the 2017 NCAA National
Champions. A year ago, on the Wednesday following the first Monday in April,
the annual day of the Men’s National Final, I published a post entitled, “One
For The Ages: Hail To The Cats” (https://thesphinxofcharlotte.com/2016/04/06/one-for-the-ages-hail-to-the-cats/). At that time I summarized what was one of the most dramatic and
exhilarating, while simultaneously crushing and dispiriting (depending upon for which team one was
rooting), abrupt endings in the history of NCAA Basketball Title Games.
As the title suggests, the Cats (Villanova) won
(and my beloved Tar Heels left, having had the chance to chase victory in
overtime unceremoniously snatched away in the very last second, literally. For Tar Heel hoops
fans everywhere it was perhaps the most sudden and devastating of losses. To
make matters extraordinarily worse, The coup de grace was executed on the biggest of all stages in the sport.
It is a game whose results are validated, with great fanfare by a poignantly
edited video accompaniment of Luther Vandross singing One Shining Moment. The
best players in college basketball routinely dream of hearing that song,
punctuated by a sea of confetti, falling on both the victors and the
vanquished.
The story has been dispersed widely by now. The
CliffNotes summation is, over the summer, in preparation for the coming season,
the Tar Heels adopted “Redemption” as the season’s overarching theme. In doing
so, they dedicated themselves to returning to the Final Four and winning the
prize they were denied in such an abrupt and disheartening manner during the
2016 Title Game. By approximately 11:35 EDT Monday night, the Heels had accomplished their
mission.
To be clear, under no scenario is UNC equated with the Sisters of the Poor of college basketball. However, in the current era
when many of the most high profile Division-1 colleges and universities target
and successfully recruit what are know as one-and-done prospects to augment
their quest to attain a Title. The University of Kentucky, Duke University, and
Kansas University are among the most successful at adhering to this strategy. it’s worth noting the
Carolina has not attracted a player who spent only one year in college since
2007, or a decade ago. In a sport such as basketball, in which only 5 players per
team are permitted in the game at one time, and in a sport in which any and all
players are subject to be disqualified as a result of drawing 5 fouls, or two
technical fouls, a one-and done-player or two…or more can go a long way in
elevating a team’s prospects of “winning it all.”
This year for instance, Duke had several
players projected to be one-and–done, as well as a host of McDonald’s
All-Americans (10 in all). They were expected to win the Atlantic Coast
Conference (the Conference in which Carolina plays), and they were the odds on favorite
to win the National Title. During the course of the Regular Season and
Conference Tournament, Duke did defeat the Tar Heels twice, splitting a pair of
games during the season (both teams won on their home court), and besting
the Heels during the ACC Tournament.
As it turns out, that was as good as it would
get for the Blue Devils. The Tar Heels finished two games ahead of the field in
the ACC; duke was seeded 5th. As a result, when the seeding was
announced for the NCAA Tournament, a single elimination competition composed of
68 teams from conferences all across the country, Carolina earned one of 4
Number 1 seeds, while Duke garnered a 2 seed. The Blue Devils won once, losing
their second game during the first weekend of the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile
Carolina went on to win twice the first weekend, then repeated that feat again
the second weekend, then three-peated it during the third weekend, securing the
National Title in the process, two nights ago.
In all, Carolina played and won 6 games to win
the Championship. During the opening weekend they beat Texas Southern 103-64,
the largest margin in the 2017 Tournament. Their Road To The Final Four
ultimately included the following:
·
Defeated Texas Southern
University 103-64
·
Defeated University of
Arkansas 72-65 (Scored the last 12 points)
·
Defeated Butler 92-80
·
Defeated Kentucky 75-73
(Scored winner with .3 of a second left)
·
Defeated Oregon 77-76 (Didn’t
score a basket in the last 3 minutes)
·
Defeated Gonzaga 71-65
(Scored the last 8 points)
In the aftermath, it must be said, an instant
classic the Title Game was not. It was
however an epic battle between two evenly matched teams armed with a bevy of
traditional post players. Some called it a battle of the Titans. The big men
inside, on both sides, for the most part spent the evening steeped in foul
trouble. As a result, guys on the perimeter became the central players and
playmakers. Often as not, the focus leaned more to playmaking than shot making.
The Heels shot only 14.8% from behind the 3-point line, the lowest percentage
by any winning team in the 2017 Tournament, They went four-for-27 and Joel
Berry made all four. The Tar Heels were out-rebounded, and shot a lower 3-point
percentage, The Heels did shoot a higher percentage overall, though only an
anemic 35.6%. They also had more steals, more assists, more blocks, and fewer
turnovers.
By most media accounts I’ve seen, the referees
were the stars of the game. Most folks with whom I have spoken that are not Tar
Heel partisans seem to think that hurt the Zags more than the Heels. I don’t
claim to be unbiased on the subject, but I do know there were 44 fouls called
and 22 of them were on the Heels, including 4 each on post players Kennedy
Meeks and Isaiah Hicks, and 3 on Luke Maye, with another 3 on Joel Berry who
led the Heels and the game in scoring, and who was named the Most Outstanding
Player of the Final Four. Unless you are partial to alternative facts, that is
not a function of the team I happen to follow and for which I root, but simply
a matter of basic arithmetic. Half the fouls called were on North Carolina.
On a macro level the Title Game was big for the
North Carolina program, and for its coach Roy Williams. This year’s Final Four
run marked North Carolina’s 20th trip, and Coach Williams’ 9th. The win was Carolina’s 6th, and
Coach Williams’ 3rd, half of the total, and one more than his
mentor, Dean Smith, who won twice. On a more personal level, the young men who
play the game, especially those who played in the 2016 Final Four in Houston,
are the real story. Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks are seniors and, as such,
have played their last game for Carolina. In all probability, so has Justin
Jackson, who elevated his game immensely, earning ACC Player of the Year, and 1st
Team All-America honors. There is also a good chance that Joel Berry, who has
said he will test the NBA waters, may not return.
Those stories will play out however they do
over the next several weeks. Every young man on this team has acquitted himself
well, and been a fine representative of the Tar Heel Nation. There is one more
however, that I want to mention. In the post on this topic a year ago, I
mentioned Nate Britt. He is the adopted brother of Kris Jenkins, the young man
from Villanova who hit the shot heard around the basketball universe, sending
the Tar Heels home broken-hearted, and in tears. This year, ‘Nova was
eliminated early, and followed Britt after his own team lost. He could be seen
behind the Tar Heel bench in the last several games, including Monday night.
Last year I wrote the following about these two guys:
“So basically, for the rest of their
natural lives, Kris and his brother Nate, both juniors in their respective programs,
will have the 2016 Title Game as a shared experience…and Kris’ shot as a
reminder of one’s transcendent sports moment and the other’s hoops nadir.”
As a result of a collective indomitable team
spirit, a great deal of talent, skill, and ability, along with a healthy dose
of good old fashioned luck, the Tar Heels not only returned to the Final Four,
they grabbed the proverbial brass ring. That embellishes the program’s hoops
bona fides, elevates Coach Williams’ stock as someone who actually has a clue
about what he’s doing, gave this team “One Shining Moment, and finally, it provides
Nate Britt with a Championship Trophy and Ring. Now he’ll have his own bling to
point to when he and Kris are chilling and reflecting back at the crib.
In conclusion, we can agree, this years Title
game will not be memorable for an abundance of graceful plays and athletic
moves. What it will forever connote is “Redemption– Carolina Style: An Ugly Win…Is Still A Win!”
I’m done; holla
back!
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