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Depleted Men ; s Hoops Faces Challenges
Forwards Jason Capel and
Kris Lang and the freshmen
look to offset the heavy
losses from last year's team.
By Rachel Carter
Sports Editor
Maybe the media’s preseason dis
missal of the North Carolina’s men’s bas
ketball team is most telling. Maybe it’s
the 107-76 exhibition loss to the EA
Sports All-Stars. Maybe it’s the underdog
feeling that rings in its players’ voices.
Maybe it’s that the Tar Heels lost
their two leading scorers to the NBA.
Maybe it’s that Matt Doherty is destined
for a sophomore slump in his second
year as North Carolina’s head coach.
Maybe it’s that Ronald Curry might not
be back until January, and Julius
Peppers might not be back ever.
Or maybe it’s just that these Tar
Heels aren’t all that good.
Whatever the reason, it figures to be
a wild and potentially disappointing sea
son at the Smith Center for Doherty’s
Tar Heels, who have to cope with the
early departure of Joseph Forte and the
possibility that the steadying force of
JWt UNC Men's Basketball 2001-02
• Key Returnees: G Adam Boone (1.5 ppg, 1.4 apg); F Jason
B Capel (11.4 ppg, 7.3 rpg); F/C Kris Lang (11.3 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
• Key Newcomers: C Neil Fingleton, G Jackie Manuel,
G Melvin Scott, F Jawad Williams
• Key Losses: G Joseph Forte, C Brendan Haywood,
• 2000-01 Record: 26-7,13-3 in the ACC
Head Coach ■
Matt Doherty I • Final Result: Lost in NCAA 2nd Round to Penn State
Trio of Talented Guards Key To Women's Success
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Junior guard Coretta Brown scored 15.9 points per game last season
as the Tar Heels' point guard while chipping in 193 assists.
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Curry and the physical play of Peppers
won’t be there to spark the Tar Heels the
way they did last season.
“I’m sure there’s a point guard ques
tion in there; I’m sure there’s a Julius
Peppers and Ronald Curry question in
there,” said Doherty for his opening
statement at ACC’s Operation
Basketball last month. “I’m sure there’s
a go-to question in there.”
Doherty and his team know ques
tions surround them and will do their
best to start answering them Nov. 16
against Hampton at the Smith Center.
Question 1: Who’s the man?
Forte averaged 20.9 points per game
last year - 23.7 ppg against ACC oppo
nents - while Haywood chipped in 12.3
ppg and was key in the Tar Heels’ defen
sive efforts.
With those guys trying to make their
way in the NBA, the Tar Heels have to
find someone to pick up the scoring
slack.
Or someones.
“I think we have some guys who can
work the system,” said sophomore point
guard Adam Boone. “I think we have a
lot of people that can score on this team.
I think almost everybody that we possi
bly put on the floor can be a threat for us.
“Sometimes that not knowing is a
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Basketball 2001-02
strength in terms of that you’ve got to
have people step up. But I think defi
nitely the seniors will be scoring -
they’re going to be the leaders on and
off the court.”
The seniors in question, Jason Capel
and Kris Lang, both now have to shoul
der their respective burdens that for
merly Forte and Haywood held.
Now Capel is expected to step up
and score many of the points Forte did.
“I’m just in a bigger role now as far as
scoring,” Capel said. “We had the plea
sure of havingjoe, somebody you know
that can get 20 or
30 any night, and
the presence of
Brendan inside.
We don’t have that
this year, but I’m
capable, and we
have guys on this
team that are very
capable of doing
that also.”
“The freshmen are going
to contribute a lot.
Do they have to? Yeah.
Are they going to? Absolutely. ”
Jason Capel
UNC Senior Forward
In the post,
Lang will now be drawing the double
teams that harassed Haywood last year.
In the offseason, Lang lost weight and
worked on his free throws and 18-foot
jumper to supplement his left- and
right-handed hook.
Question 2: Who’s playing the point?
Just like during Doherty’s maiden
season at the helm, the identity of
UNC’s point guard is still unknown.
Sophomore Adam Boone has a leg up
on his competition of Jonathan Holmes
and Melvin Scott.
If Curry comes back, he’s welcome,
but Doherty and the Tar Heels aren’t
counting on the quarterback to be their
floor general this year.
Although Curry didn’t spark offen
sively for North Carolina last season
once he joined the team, he provided a
calming influence that UNC needed.
Curry’s first game back on the court
started an 18-game winning streak.
By James Giza
Sport Saturday Editor
Nikki, Nikki, Nikki. All the hype sur
rounding the- return of guard Nikki
Teasley to the North Carolina women’s
basketball team has overshadowed the
arrival of a newcomer who could add a
dynamic dimension to the team.
As if the tandem of Teasley and
Coretta Brown, a junior who thrived at
the point guard spot last season, did not
promise to be formidable enough, fresh
man Leah Metcalf had to come along
and change the Tar Heels’ entire outlook
- for what promises to be the better.
Looking for UNC’s point guard on
the floor this season? Good luck.
Wait, there she is. It’s Teasley, cross
ing up her defender and faking a pass
inside that gives her opponent whiplash.
No, it’s Brown. See, that’s her pene
trating into the lane and kicking the ball
out to a wide-open teammate on the
perimeter.
No, no, that’s not her either. It’s defi
nitely Metcalf, the high school track star.
Only the point
guard would have
a first step that fast.
To avoid any
further confusion,
here’s the final
answer: The point
guard is aU of
them. And none of
them. Still puz
zled? Don’t be.
UNC coach
7 have played
Nikki and Coretta together,
one and two,
and it was pretty devastating. ”
Sylvia Hatchell
UNC Women's Basketball Coach
Sylvia Hatchell has a plan this season,
one that should make the Tar Heels
more explosive and dangerous on both
sides of die ball.
The 6-foot Teasley, 5-8 Brown and
5-7 Metcalf all are capable of taking
their defender off the dribble, shooting
and making the pass.
All have tremendous foot speed,
Boone has spent time with UNC’s
new strength coach Thomas McKinney
and has bulked up in the hopes that he
won’t get knocked around on the court
as much as last year.
Scott, a freshman from Baltimore, has
shown a willingness to take shots,
although he hasn’t had all that much
success in the Tar Heels’ first exhibi
tions.
And Brian Morrison, who split time
at the point with Boone before Curry
return, will see more time at two, taking
advantage of fiis speed.
Question 3: Are
the freshmen good?
They’d better
be.
When Forte led
the Tar Heels in
scoring his fresh
man year, it was
the first time in the
program’s history
that a freshman
had accomplished
that feat.
While it’s doubtful that Scott, Jackie
Manuel or Jawad Williams will make a
Forte-esque impact on the Tar Heels,
they’ll have to produce for the team to
be successful.
“The freshmen are going to con
tribute a lot,” Capel said. “Do they have
to? Yeah. Are they going to?
Absolutely."
Capel knows something about the
position the freshmen are in this year.
When he and Lang were freshmen, they
joined a Tar Heel team that had just lost
Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison to
the NBA and immediately jumped into
starting roles.
Capel and Lang know where the Tar
Heels are and what they have to do to
be successful. And they know how to
handle the naysayers.
“I treat that as fuel, of course, and
motivation, but also it’s disrespect to me
which gives UNC
the ability to press
and trap on
defense.
So, Hatchell has
decided, why not
have her cake and
eat it, too? Heck,
maybe even have
thirds?
“I don’t think
we’re going to
have a point guard
this year on our
team,” Hatchell
said.
UNC guard
Nikki Teasley
averaged 14.6 points
and 4.0 rebounds
in 26 games in the
1999-2000 season.
“We’re going to
have three guards. When they’re out
there on the court together, which could
be a lot - Leah, Coretta and Nikki - I
think whichever one’s got the ball is
going to be the point guard. And that’s
going to be difficult for other teams
because the other two will fill the other
spots.”
The trio could be just what UNC
needs to send it back to the NCAA
Tournament.
North Carolina
finished 15-14
overall and 7-9 in
the ACC last sea
son, missing out
on an NCAA bid
for the first time
since 1996.
Gone are
starters LaQuanda
Barksdale, an
All-American forward who averaged 19
points and 11.5 rebounds per game,
shooting guard Juana Brown, who con
tributed 13.8 points per game, and
guard Leah Sharp.
Gone, too, are guards Cherie Lea and
Joy Hairston, who transferred in the off
season, and center LaShonda Allen,
who remains on scholarship but will not
DTH/GREG LOGAN
North Carolina guard Jason Capel shoots over Orlando Melendez in the
Blue-White Game. Capel was UNC's third leading scorer last year.
as a player and to our program,” Lang
said. “We’re representing the players of
the past. So that’s just something to take
personal. Whenever we’re tired, when
play because of injury problems.
But the Tar Heels developed several
players last season, a couple of whom
will be pushed into more prominent
rotes this year.
Given the daunting task of replacing
Teasley, Brown responded with 15.9
points and 6.7 assists per game.
Six-foot-6 center Candace Sutton,
meanwhile, struggled with foul trouble
at times but still blocked 1.4 shots per
game (second in the ACC) and aver
aged 9.8 points, earning All-ACC fresh
man team honors.
This summer, she passed up the USA
Women’s Basketball junior team to stay
in Chapel Hill and increase her
strength.
“I know one of the things that I’ve
done over the summer is I’ve gotten a
lot stronger,” Sutton said. “I think that’ll
really help out in a lot of aspects of the
game - rebounding, being able to post
up a lot stronger.”
Also in the mix are freshman Nikita
Bell and sophomore Chrystal Baptist,
who should start at small and power for
ward, respectively, and will probably
share time in the Tar Heels’ three-guard
set.
The return of seven players, plus
UNC Women's Basketball 2001-02
• Key Returnees: F Chrystal Baptist (3.0 ppg, 3.2 rpg);
■■■■■■l G Coretta Brown (15.9 ppg, 6.7 apg); C Candace Sutton (9.8
Wr ppg. 5.6 rpg); G Nikki Teasley (14.6 ppg, 6.2 apg in 1999-2000)
ftp - • Key Newcomers: F Nikita Bell, F Jenni Laaksonen,
G Leah Metcalf, F Kenya Mcßee
;ftb- • Key Losses: F LaQuanda Barksdale, G Juana Brown
* 2000-01 Record: 15-14,7-9 in the ACC
Sylvfa d Hatchell I * F ' na * Resu * t: l - ost in A( -C Tournament Quarterfinal to Clemson
Friday, November 9, 2001
we’re sore during practice, we think
about that, and that just really upsets
you even more, and you get another
adrenaline rush, and you go out hard.”
Teasley, and a strong freshman class has
given the Tar Heels substantial depth,
which should allow them to press on
defense and substitute freely, things they
couldn’t do last season.
The interesting part, however, will be
the development of the three-guard
combination.
The three have yet to play on the
same team in practice - Hatchell says
it’s because the other wouldn’t have a
point guard- but Brown and Teasley
have been paired together with promis
ing results.
“I have played Nikki and Coretta
together, one and two, and it was pret
ty devastating,” Hatchell said.
Brown concurred that the on-court
chemistry between her and Teasley has
been good so far.
“She’s a great shooter; she’s a great
driver,” Brown said. “I love to pene
trate. So I think that helps us out.”
Metcalf shouldn’t hurt either.
“It’s going to be hard to keep Leah
and Coretta and Nikki off the court,”
Hatchell said. “Those three can play
point guard, they can play wing, they
can penetrate, they can shoot. Those
three are a tremendous combination of
guards.”
3