True Grit

PALO ALTO, CA – Getting to a loose ball is just as important as sinking a wide open 3-pointer or converting a contested floater in the lane to Joel Berry. It’s all about winning to him, and both are integral elements in doing just that.

Berry is a baller, in the literal sense. He can light up a team like he did Stanford for 29 points Monday night, but that performance and the other gritty nuances of his game come from a special place deep within and feed an all-encompassing player who simply finds ways to win.

There’s a burn buried inside the 6-2 senior guard that demands nothing but his best. And when a skill might be off, Berry finds other avenues to achieve success. That’s how you win the Most Outstanding Player of a Final Four when shooting 9-33 from the field and on two bad wheels.

But Berry’s game is about so much more than shooting. For example, defense if how he gets his mojo.

“That’s where I try to start it, it gets my game going,” Berry said.

Diving for loose balls? Yeah, Berry did that Monday night with the Tar Heels leading by 22 points with 9 minutes left to play and five weeks after breaking his hand. That’s Berry being Berry, but it’s also a message to the rest of the Tar Heels.

“Joel Berry is the best player on the team,” fellow senior Theo Pinson said after the 24-point romp over Stanford. “And if our young guys don’t see that we really care, the MVP of the Final Four (last year) and MVP of the ACC Tournament two years ago, I don’t know where you’re going to learn stuff from.”

Berry’s lunch pail approach isn’t void of a high skill level, though. He has that, and it’s his determination to fully master it as a need for his team that is most impressive about the Apopka, FL, native’s disposition.

As an example, Berry arrived to UNC’s shoot around at Maples Pavilion on Monday afternoon about 30 minutes before his teammates so he could get up some extra shots. A 1-11 performance in his debut this season versus Bucknell was gnawing at him, so Berry did something about it.

“He came over early today before the game before our shoot around, and got some extra shots up,” Carolina Coach Roy Williams said following UNC’s win. “He’s one of the hardest workers I’ve ever coached.”

To Berry, it was no big deal. It’s who he is.

“I wanted to bounce back from not shooting the ball as well last game, so I just put up some extra shots,” he said.

But really, it goes deeper than that.

“You don’t have to be in love with working and the work ethic, but whenever you see the results, like tonight, that’s what’s so great about being able to push and do things when people aren’t looking and behind (closed) doors,” said Berry, who was 10-19 from the floor, including 5-11 on 3-pointers.

“That’s why I started smiling, because I expected to hit shots (and) because I work so hard on it and I take passion in that. You know, I’m not the tallest and I’m not the biggest, so I have to out-work anybody I go against.”