Ticked Off Williams Won't Let Them Forget 14-19
CHAPEL HILL – Roy Williams isn’t one of those coaches who puts bad games and seasons to bed never to be discussed again. Not a chance.
The North Carolina coach wants to squeeze that lemon for every drop, and when it starts drying up, he squeezes harder.
And perhaps at no time in his career has that citrus delight been bigger and oozing with the kind of juice last season’s 14-19 derailment is providing. The Hall of Famer isn’t running from it, he’s using it to make this year’s team better in his very Roy-ish kind of way.
Never forget, right? Or live to repeat past failures.
“Oh yeah, he’s pissed for sure,” said senior guard Andrew Platek. “Whenever he chews us out in practice for making a mistake, he always mentions 14-19 and how it’s not going to happen again, and it’s not. From him, from me, from G (Garrison Brooks), it’s not going to happen again.”
Last season’s 14-19 mark is the second worst in UNC history behind the 8-20 campaign in 2001-02. Not only was it Williams’ first losing season in 32 years as a head coach, but it’s not even close to his next worst season, an injury-plagued 20-17 mark in 2010.
Anyone who knows Williams totally gets it. He’s not letting this one go, and he’s counting that it will provide some fuel for his team.
“We’ll find out,” Williams said. “And I do remind them. You just think, six games we lost where the other team had the last shot, and they made all six. Three games we lost where we didn’t get a box out, and nobody in the history of college basketball has emphasized boxing out more than I do.
“So, when we have two possessions in a row in practice last (week) when we don’t box out, you’re darn right I went absolutely stone-dead crazy and they better expect that until they change their behavior.”
UNC's highly acclaimed six-man freshman class had nothing to do with last season on the court, but when you play at North Carolina, you not only become a part of the culture and standard, but you also inherit its history. That past is almost entirely filled with greatness, but last season’s falling-off-a-cliff season is now a part of whatever this team’s legacy will be.
Brooks lived it. He actually flourished personally, ending up making second-team All-ACC and being named the ACC’s Most Improved Player. Platek played 18.1 minutes a game, starting nine times and getting the opportunity he so badly coveted.
Leaky Black was banged up all season but played 950 minutes, second on the team only to Brooks. And Armando Bacot navigated through an inconsistent freshman season coming away with some perspective that aided his growth during the offseason.
So last year’s mark is everyone’s mark, and Williams is making sure of that. But an important component to the value of this message is how the older guys have responded. Their coach isn’t into any of that mushy stuff right now. Remember, Platek said he’s still “pissed,” and that certainly comes through loud and clear.
"Yeah, but I'm really frankly my dear, I don't care,” Williams responded, when asked how the returning players are handling his message. “It really is. We're the ones that screwed it up. If one of those guys was involved in a no box out and they (opponent) get the ball and score, you ought to remember that the rest of your life. I remember it every day, so I'm not against bringing those things up if it's because of mistakes.
“I don't walk out on practice and say, 'Ok guys, we stunk last year so let's get better today.' That's not what happens. But, if we have the same type of behavior that hurt us last year, you're darn right I'm gonna bring it up to them. And, if I see them when they're 78 years old, I may still remind them of one of those box outs they missed."
And if Williams is still kicking around in 56 years, it’s an absolute guarantee he’ll do just that.
But as for now, the Tar Heels will get a regular and strategic reminder of that cavernous divide between 14-19 and the program’s clear annual standard, and in only the way Williams can deliver it.