Really, it’s Roy’s World, everyone else are squirrels just trying to get a nut:
Maybe we should just call it the Decade of Roy Williams. After all, most of Carolina’s success in the 2000s is directly attributable to Ol’ Roy. If you consider his 111 more wins at Kansas, three more trips to the NCAA’s second weekend and two additional F4s in the decade, you’re looking at a coaching juggernaut. But Roy isn’t North Carolina and UNC isn’t Roy – it only feels that way. This is about UNC, and despite a one-season blip in 2002-03 that time has forgotten, mostly accounting for their relatively poor overall winning percentage, the Heels have the goods in almost every other way. Were they as consistent as Duke or Michigan State? Nope. Were they as much of a conference titan as KU or their hated rival in Durham? Nope again. But their numbers stack up very well in all categories across the board, and they’ve utterly dominated the second half of the 2000s in much the same way that Duke/Kentucky lorded over their respective halves of the 90s. From 2005-09, the Heels have won two national championships with completely different casts, went to another F4, lost in OT in an Elite Eight and lost in the second round against the biggest Cinderella of the last quarter-century. Not. Too. Shab.
The fact UNC still made #1 with the Doh Years in the mix is pretty freaking amazing. That, more than anything else, speaks to just how good the Heels have been in the past five years. Stop and think about the world we were living in circa 2001-2003. Duke ticked off another title, won the ACC Tournament almost every year and the Heels posted an 8-20 record in 2002. Quite frankly I am surprised many of us survived. Now the worm has turned and in many respects it happened about as quickly as it possibly could. Kudos to Roy on multiple levels. One for assuming control of a program which just dumped the coach amid an open player rebellion, getting the house in order and producing a title by the end of the second year. Secondly, as an encore , Roy then brought in two full recruiting classes and meshed that group into a unit that won 30-plus games three straight season capped off with the 2009 title.
About the only accomplishment I can think of that would top what Roy has done so far is to repeat as national champions in 2010. Anyone up for that?
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Wow.
Man, 2002 seems like eons ago…wow. I remember being in Philadelphia when there was talk of Carolina’s great recruiting class for 2002-2003. I honestly thought “these guys will stay maybe a year, or some will transfer.” Heck, McCants looked as if he despised his own jersey during Roy’s first year! Dook/UNC March 2005 was the GREAT TURNAROUND. Sure, the change was not instantaneous, but it started there. The Marvin Williams put-back was kind of like (and I know my Boston friends will grill me for this one) the Red Sox finally beating the Yankees in 2004. No, Dook are NOT the “Yankees of College Basketball” and never were. However, the sense of finally sticking it to your rival at such a defining moment is where I seek to make the comparison. After the Heels came back in that game, it was like, “Okay, now we can DO THIS!” Funny, now beating Dook just ain’t what it used to be…but it’s still a bag of fun to see the Blue Devils get their butts handed to them on Danny Green Court every year. And yes, someone please scrape Greg Paulus off the floor!
Does anyone see the comparison of Dook this past decade to UNC of the 1980s? I believe that, until this decade, Dean held the record for most wins in a decade (287, I think), which he accomplished from 1980-1989. Yet, Denny Crum’s Louisville program and Bob Knight’s Hoosiers both went to more Final Fours and won two national titles a piece. John Thompson’s powerful Hoyas were perhaps the closest thing to a dynasty, with the three Final Fours and title in four years. Bob Knight also had the 1984 Sweet Sixteen upest win over Dean, while also coaching the gold-winning 1984 Olympic team. In the end, Dean’s consistency was blanketed by impressive runs of other programs. I have long been critical of placing patches of greatness over stretches of excellence.
Now, we have these statistics that tell us Dook now hold the record for most wins in one decade (291); plus, a stunning seven conference tournament titles. Dook have played in two Final Fours in the decade and produced nine All-Americans. That’s all pretty darn good, and I’m sure that Wojo and Collins mention that every time they try and sell a recruit…insert much laughter here.
However, if you look at the two top programs, this list is ultimately Roy Williams knocking everyone else out of the ballpark. As for UNC, it would appear that we have sort of flipped positions with Dook, who did weather the dreaded 1995 season rather well (8-4 NCAAT record from 1996-1999) by finishing the decade as they began-national runner-ups.
Once you get past the “had the down year in there” bit, the comparisons stop. Unlike Dook, who were scaling the heights of becoming a quasi-dynasty in the early 90s, the Tar Heel program was a mess of Dean commits, walk-ons, and really good athletes (who were much better at playing other sports) at the onset of this decade. Unlike Dook, who in the early 90s were doing a great job of making UNC an afterthought, the Heels only seemed to help Dook’s standing as a dominant player by getting beaten by twenty-plus in every non-thriller. Unlike Dook, who had a coaching icon, and everybody’s “Coach K”, UNC couldn’t find a Doherty replacement quick enough and had no real stability (from the top) until Roy’s second year.
So, Krzyzewski now knows what it is like to be the aging icon, and you can no longer claim superiority in your own back yard. At least when Dook were at the top of their game, Dean was still beating Coach K. Krzyzewski has not the talent nor the assistants to deal with that powder blue beast down the road…and he knows it. Yes, you got your 291 wins, but everyone wants the other guy’s autograph. Dean seemed to rise like the pheonix in the wake of Dook’s 2nd title in 1992. From what I have seen and read of Krzyzewski, it would appear this US Olympic gig is going to be his blanket over whatever shortcomings his Dook program may endure over the final years of his tenure.
Cover your own @$$, right Coach K?
Wow Dean, your posts continue to impress me. It’s as if you know what I’m thinking, and articulate it in a much better format than I ever would. Great job!!! Thanks for the time and insight!
Sign me up for the 2010 repeat N. Championship.
Call me crazy, but I’m actually thankful for the Doh-years. Obviously, they led to the hiring of Roy, but, I think they were also good for the fan base in the same way that a forest fire is good for a forest. The Doh years helped rid us of what was a growing number of bandwagon fans* and what was left was a collection of fans who passionately root for the Heels. More importantly, it gave those of us who remained true perspective of what a “bad” season was, which allowed us to truly grasp how special the last five years have been!
* Said bandwagon fans can now be found 8 miles down the road…
Good perspective C. Michael. Every empire has to go through a “cleansing” season. It was really good for us that it was so short-lived, allowing us to continue to be relevent with high schoolers, and aiding in the hiring of what may go down as one of the best, if not the best, basketball coach of all time. Now hold your horses folks, I dare say that right now, but in due time, we very well may hold him in that type regard.
Sorry to storm the thread, but I’ve just been informed that Duke has the best backcourt in the country for this upcoming season.
Here’s the link. http://bleacherreport.com/arti…-in-the-country
somehow, elliot williams has been granted a waiver and can play for Memphis immediately, while Alex Stepheson didnt receive one. arent the situations pretty much the same?
and, not seeing a complete link, JB.
Josh-
Thanks for the props! I’m just glad to share my thoughts with all of ya’s. I didn’t even bother to follow that link about proclaiming Dook’s backcourt as the nation’s best. To enter that covnersation, they need to at least hold the water when compared to the likes of Villanova, Kansas, Michigan State, and now Kentucky. Some may tire of may sarcastic rips on the likes of Andre Dawkins and John Scheyer, but I can’t say how comfortable I am with those two leading the backcourt charge for the Blue Devils. For all we know, we could be talking about a Dawkins transfer this time next year.
It’s almost like you can pick the Dook recruits out a mile away these days. I can’t tell you how frustrating it was back in the dark days, when you would see all of these five-star recruits listing Dook as their first or second choice school. I was never more concerned than when Dook signed that class in 1999, fresh off of one of the most dominant ACC seasons ever. It was like, “do we even have a chance out-recruiting these guys anymore?”
By the way, after having read, and then re-read several books on the history of North Carolina basketball, here is an interesting list of players who at one point looked to be headed to Chapel Hill, only to make late choices (some were rat-bitten) to go elsewhere:
G-Kenny Anderson (didn’t want to be “another horse in Dean Smith’s stable”)
G-Bobby Hurley (grew up a UNC fan, but chose Dook after Dean told him that the guard listed above was the Heels’ #1 choice
G-Jay Williams (would have committed to UNC had Dean been the coach)
G-Mike Dunleavy (his dad wanted him to play for Dean Smith, and the son was an admitted UNC fan)
F-Danny Ferry (the first of many “rat-bitten” Dookies who chose not to sign with UNC because they could not get gauranteed playing time as freshmen…how The Rat has capitalized on being UNC’s neighboor)
F-Grant Hill (and so the story goes that Dean went to the Hills’ posh home for dinner one night, only to be told be GH’s parents that thier son was going to Dook…needless to say, Dean was NOT a happy camper)
F-Tom McMillen (Dean lost this recruiting battle at the very last minute when the player’s parents intervened as essentially chose Maryland for thier son because of the proximity to their house)
C-Shaquille O’Neal (I’m truly surprised that this doesn’t get much run on discussion boards, in that Shaq gave Dean a handshake, “90% sure” commitment, and then daddy stepped in and basically made his son stay closer to home)
F-Danny Manning (thanks a lot Larry Brown)
F-Christian Laettner (yes, it’s true…and legend has it that he changed his mind when he saw a sign on J.R. Reid’s door that said “F— Duke”
F-Earl “J.R.” Smith (of recent folklore, this one still has some buzz to it in that Smith recently had his breakout playoff series; thus, unleashing all the “what if” conversations about a UNC backcourt of Felton, Smith, and McCants)
F-Delvon Roe (retracted late to be closer to home…no worries, you just had to stomach getting crushed by the Heels twice in the same season)
C-Kevin Love (okay, we never really had a great shot at this one, but the fact that he was the only five-star on Roy’s wish list circa 2007 says it all)
That’s the thing Dean. I can’t see how a responsible sports journalist could think that Duke is in the elite category in the backcourt. Good, yes. Elite, no way!
Of course, I’d boast we have nearly the best frontcourt in all of ncaa basketball. So maybe I’m a homer!
Heel to the End,
Alex Stepheson took a lot of time to decide where he was going and even considered schools not as close to his home. It sort of undermined his case that he was transferring due to a family illness. Williams announced his transfer and then decided pretty quickly to attend Memphis which was in his hometown.
so that’s somehow making a judgment on how ill they think your family member is? well. i guess it is, in a way.