Basketball '92-'93The Daily Tar HeelFriday, November 20, 19923
5
1
UNC squad brings frightening talent to hardwood
By Warren Hynes
Sports Editor
The clock was nearing midnight, and
the 5,000 or so blue and white celebra
tors cheered as Henrik Rodl stepped to
the microphone in the middle of the
Smith Center court.
The senior guard looked at the Hal
loween crowd that had gathered for the
inaugural Tar Heel Tipoff . Rodl smiled
and decided that this was as good a time
as any to make his prognosis on the
upcoming season.
"We could be so good this year," he
started, then drew in his breath and
added, "it's scaaaaary."
The seat-fillers roared in approval.
They liked the statement. Rodl's team
mates hollered in happiness. They liked
it too.
But the forecast Mr. Rodl presented
Oct. 3 1 had a lot more to it than a timely
North Carolina
Tar Heels
Head Coach: Dean
Smith (Kansas, 1953).
Smith's Record: 740
219 in 31 seasons.
Smith at UNC: Same.
No. Player Pos.
24 Dante Calabria C
11 ScottCherry G
40 EdGeth
34 George lynch
00- Eric Montcoss
14 Derrick Phelps
31 Brian Reese .
G
F
"F"
C
C
F
Henrik Rodl. "C
Kevin Saivaduri FC
T. Siephenson
Paf Sullivan" "
Matt Wenstrom
D. Williams
45 Serge Zwikker
Ht. Wt
6-4 175
6-4 175
6-1 183
6-8 230
6-8 218
7-0 258. jr.
6-3 184 r.
6-5 215 ,r.
6- 7 196 Sr,
7- 0 220 Jr.
6-6 220 Sr.
6- 8 215 r.
7- 1 250 Sr.
6- 3 183 So.
7- 1 245 Fr.
adjective. The 1992-93 UNC basketball
team has so much talent, yet so much to
prove, that the word "scary" says every
thing about how good and how bad this
group of hoopsters can be.
These frightening prospects face head
coach Dean Smith as he begins his 32nd
season at the head of the North Carolina
bench. If things go really well, perhaps
Smith could lead the Tar Heels deep
into the NCAA Tournament again
entering the Sweet 16 for the 13th
straight time, making the Final Four for
the 11th time, and, well, you never
know.
With 28 more wins, Smith will sur
pass his former Kansas coach, Henry
Iba, for second on the NCAA's all-time
coaching list with 768. Only Adolph
Rupp, the great Kentucky coach, would
stand ahead of Smith.
Those 28 wins would have seemed a
sure thing in a previous decade. From
the 1979-80 season through the 1988
89 campaign, the Tar Heels' average
record was 28-6. In the last three sea
sons, however, UNC has averaged a 24
10 mark.
Granted, most teams would love to
average 24 wins a season. But for a
program that has been dominant for as
long as North Carolina has, 24 wins is
considered falling short.
The 1990-91 season was by any mea
sure a very successful one for North
Carolina, as it tallied a 29-6 record and
advanced to the Final Four. But in the
seasons before and after that campaign,
UNC actually averaged 22 wins. And in
doing so, the Tar Heels lacked a similar
ingredient: outside shooting.
The 1989-90 season was the most
disappointing of the previous three, as
the Tar Heels managed a 21-13 record,
highlighted by a stunning upset of No. 1
Oklahoma in the NCAA Tournament's
second round. During the season,
swingman Rick Fox and forward Pete
Chilcutt were the only wing players to
shoot better than 50 percent from the
floor. Fox was the only player on the
team to hit more than 40 percent of his
3-point shots.
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Special 10 the DTHShea Tisdale
The North Carolina-Duke rivalry tips off Feb. 3 in Durham and March 7 in Chapel Hill
Last year, UNC finished 23-10 and ing guard Hubert Davis and guard
advanced to the Sweet 1 6, a loss to Ohio Henrik Rodl were the only wing players
State ending the season. Senior shoot- to shoot better than 50 percent this time.
And Davis was the sole Tar Heel to hit
more than 40 percent of his 3-pointers.
Squads soon double-teamed Davis and
dared other Tar Heels to shoot. Such
defensive plans worked.
This season brings a similar situation
to North Carolina. Davis is gone, now
shooting jumpers for the New York
Knicks. And if North Carolina is to win
more than 24, or even 22 games this
season, more than one player must step
into Davis' shoes.
It can be argued that an improvement
in outside shooting is the most impor
tant ingredient to a "successful" season
for UNC.
The Tar Heels will play excellent
defense this year, simply because Smith
is there to teach them. UNC will also be
a force underneath the basket, as senior
forward George Lynch and junior cen
ters Eric Montross and Kevin Salvadori
lead the way. Junior point guard Der
rick Phelps will distribute shots and
pester opposing point guards with the
best of them.
But who will drain the long ones?
Who will step in with time running
down and UNC behind by a point, take
the ball and confidently send it through
the net?
"Somebody's going to shoot those
shots," Smith said.
This is where it really starts to get
scary. This is where the talent looms
large, but the question marks loom
larger. You want shooting? There are
plenty of candidates.
Brian Reese: The 6-foot-5 small for
ward scored 9.8 points per game last
year for UNC while shooting 49 percent
from the field. But Reese connected on
just 3 1 percent of his 3-pointers and
that was third-best on the squad. Reese
got better as last season progressed, and
he worked on his stamina again in the
off-season.
Donald Williams: As a sophomore,
Williams may get his chance to step in
See UNC, page 22
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