STF Fan Rant: Carolina is Winning In Spite of Injury

by Neil Joshi of The Sports Lounge

North Carolina is developing a propensity for finding itself in the middle of a number of close calls, especially in conference play, which can be looked at in one of two ways. First, they play down to their competition and have a tough time exerting their superior talent over teams and winning by comfortable margins. Or, if you're a glass half full sort of person, Carolina's close calls demonstrate their knack for executing late-game situations to a tee, a trait that becomes more and more critical as the season progresses towards March.

Against the ACC's worst team, the Tar Heels escaped from Virginia with a 75-74 win, the sixth time in 10 conference games that North Carolina has won by less than five, or been forced to go to an extra period. They are 5-1 in those games, and have shown time and again that they have the players who can make the plays when they matter most. This time, it was Tyler Hansbrough, who will be asked to hit the game-winning shot on most nights, that made the big play to help clinch North Carolina's eighth win in the ACC. Up 73-71 with less than 40 seconds left, North Carolina needed a score to secure another road win. It was no surprise that the play was diagrammed for Hansbrough, who players say is destined to get the ball at crunch time. The power forward didn't disappoint and hit a nice baby hook that improved his Tar Heels to 23-2.

Tense finishes are becoming a staple of this team; who could forget Wayne Ellington's ridiculous three-pointer that sank Clemson in overtime, or the defensive stand the Heels made to dispose of Georgia Tech in the final seconds. An ability to win games on both the offensive and defensive ends is crucial during the Tournament. Granted, North Carolina has a lot of work to do on the defensive side, and they will be playing better teams in March, but the Heels habitually figure out a way to make enough plays at the end of games to win. Clemson has been dealt the brunt of North Carolina's late game heroics, losing two games to the Heels in overtime. In both games, the Tigers outplayed North Carolina for a majority of the game, but froze during the final seconds. That's when the Heels were at their best, making the plays to walk away victorious.

That North Carolina has been able to win two overtime games, and another by a single point without their star point guard Ty Lawson is a testament to this team's resiliency. Lawson was lost during the team's trip to Tallahassee when they were facing Florida State; in the matchup, the Seminoles came back from the dead to force overtime. Injured and demoralized, it looked like the Tar Heels were ripe for an upset at the hands of Florida State. The Seminoles hit a fluky game-tying three-pointer that looked to be the lift they needed to get a much-needed upset. It wasn't to be as Hansbrough, as usual, took over for his team in tandem with super-sub Danny Green, one of the nation's most underrated shooters. North Carolina outscored the Seminoles 17-6 in overtime, and threw dirt on the Seminoles upset hopes.



Lawson and the Heels will be getting healthy pretty soon, and with a quality seed awaiting them in March, they will hope to be playing late into the Tournament. North Carolina will feel right at home in those situations, and these close calls during the season, both with and without Lawson, will provide valuable experience. With their full complement of players back, its not expected that teams like last-place Virginia, or 11-11 Georgia Tech could be able to challenge Roy Williams' team. However, knowing the Tar Heels, there will be many more close games between now and March, and more importantly, they will find a way to win them.