Williams Takes Blame For End-Game Mistake
CHAPEL HILL - With 12 seconds remaining in the second half of Clemson’s 79-76 win over North Carolina on Saturday, UNC Coach Roy Williams called a timeout with his team up 68-67.
Senior guard Brandon Robinson had just been fouled by Tigers guard Clyde Trapp and, after the 30-second timeout, Robinson faced a one-and-one opportunity at the free throw line.
During that timeout, however, with the Tar Heels’ 59-0 record at home versus Clemson on the line, Williams made a mistake that he later said cost his team the game.
“After you make these free throws, we're going to play 22 (defensive set), we’re going to switch any screen on the ball and that was it,” Williams said he told his team during the timeout. “They’re dribbling the ball across the 10-second line and I said, ‘You didn’t remind them to foul.’”
What ensued after Robinson made both free throws was Clemson’s Aamir Simms hitting a 3-pointer over junior forward Garrison Brooks with three seconds on the clock, which tied the game at 70-70 and forced overtime.
Some five minutes of basketball later, Clemson improved to 1-59 all-time against UNC in Chapel Hill while the Tar Heels’ dropped their third straight game, all of which have come at home, and their eighth in the last 11.
For the Hall of Fame head coach, the loss wasn’t because of his team’s three turnovers in the last 1:36 of regulation or their failure to find a way to get over the hump in overtime, it was simply due to him forgetting to tell his players to foul before Clemson ever had a chance to get a shot off.
“I’ve had some great moments as a coach and I’d say, right now, this is my lowest one because losing this game was my fault,” Williams said. “I told them, if I die tomorrow or 20 years from now, that would be my biggest regret I have in 32 years as a coach.”
Still, UNC had plenty of chances to win the game and ultimately never should have been in that situation in the first place. Clemson outscored the Tar Heels 12-2 over the final 1:55 of regulation, and during that stretch, UNC had three costly turnovers and only attempted two shots, both of which missed.
Junior guard Andrew Platek, who finished with eight points, eight rebounds and six assists in his first career start, said the loss was down to the players and not Williams.
“He’s the best coach in America and we love him to death, and we all played our asses off today and we made mistakes that are not his fault,” Platek said. “He’s not out there playing, he’s not scoring the points, he’s not shooting the shots. I was 0-for-6 today from three. If I make two threes, we win the game.”
Robinson, who finished with a career-high 27 points, said he knew the team’s philosophy of fouling in that situation and should have stepped up and let his teammates know after the timeout.
“It falls back on me, too,” Robinson said. “I’ve been here for four years and I know that I’ve got to communicate that to the team. So, that’s why a lot of this is my fault.” In the end, there was plenty of blame to go around, as the players and their head coach acknowledged.