Heels banged up for Deacs

North Carolina basketball is coming off a 2-0 week with victories over Boston College and Virginia Tech added to the win column over the last seven days.

Despite the two victories UNC Head Coach Roy Williams led off his weekly radio show Monday night discussing some negative news about his team: The health of his squad.

It appears that P.J. Hairston will continue to miss game action because of lingering issues from a concussion he suffered in the first half of the Boston College game last Monday. Williams stated that he doesn't see a way in which Hairston takes the court Tuesday night against Wake Forest.

"I really don't see how P.J. can play," said Williams. "The bad thing is, yesterday at practice I got very enthused. He was out early, he was shooting and he went through some shooting drills. He didn't have any headaches. The plan was at that time to give him the last concussion test this afternoon and if it went well, and they thought it would go well, that would release him to practice this afternoon and he would play tomorrow night."

"Well, last night he didn't feel well. He went to bed and he woke up about 2 a.m. and it was not good," Williams continued. "He ended up throwing up about half the morning and went to the hospital and they gave him three units of I.V. to try and get him back to where he could walk around a little. He did come down to practice and sat there and watched us. So now they're going to give him that last concussion test tomorrow. I really don't see how he can play."

"I have a rule that you need to be able to practice the day before in order to play," said Williams. "But I'm the head coach. I can change my rules if I want to."

Hairston is also dealing with an illness, something Williams says isn't concussion related. However, Williams did say that the illness Hairston is suffering from is going through his team.

"We've already had three guys today feel badly now for 24 hours so that kind of thing it's just something that we understand and we've got to go through it," said Williams.

Along with Hairston, UNC has some other injury concerns too worry about on its roster. UNC's leading scorer James Michael McAdoo has an injured back but Williams expects him to play.

"James Michael was able to practice about half a practice today," said Williams. "I would expect him to play."

Williams heaped some praise on UNC point guard Marcus Paige after the freshman point guard set a personal best in scoring with 19 points.

"He's had so many things thrown at him," said Williams. "He's a tough little kid. He's 160 (pounds) with locks in his pockets. But he's about as tough, mentally and physically, as any 160 pound kid I've ever known."

Williams felt that going to overtime against Virginia Tech could pay dividends for his team down the road.

"I told the kids 'I think this will be great for us. We can't do anything about the first 40 minutes but we can do something about the next five minutes,'" said Williams. "It will be good for us. I was really impressed by what we did."

Williams spoke about Reggie Bullock's recent shooting doldrums and what he thinks the likely cause is.

"I think it's a long season," said Williams.

"You can't be at a high, high level every single game. Your play's going to go up and down."

Williams had some interesting comments about the disparity in his team's experience versus the experience levels of other teams, namely the Miami Hurricanes, and how that affects his team on game night.

"You can't make plans," said Williams. "You can't offer more scholarships than you have. When people do leave there is no one left."

"You have to go slower. You can't do everything that you want to do," said Williams. "Last year at the start of practice we're playing five guys that started most of every game the year before. This year, with Joel (James), Brice (Johnson), J.P. (Tokoto) and Marcus (Paige) they're in over their head. We're throwing 100 things at them and I tell them just grab two or three today and tomorrow grab two or three more."

"Miami is really good. They are really good. They've got every part that you want," said Williams. "But you they've got a guy that's a sixth-year senior, two guys that are fifth-year seniors and a fourth-year senior and Brice (Johnson) don't know where Top of the Hill is yet."

Williams wrapped up the show by previewing UNC's upcoming game against Wake Forest.

"They'll (Wake Forest) be fired up after that loss to Maryland," said Williams. "We've got to play well. That's the bottom line with this year's team. If we play well we've got a chance."