April 6, 2009: This was a very important date for UNC Tar Heel fans. It was on that date UNC beat Michigan State to win the NCAA Final Four and become national champions. The game was never really close. Michigan State scored first, but from there on it was all Tar Heels. UNC built an early 34-11 lead in the first half; Michigan State never got within 12 points in the second half. The Tar Heels won 89-72, reversing the frustration that had built up since last years disappointing loss in the tournament. April 6, 2009 was a good day for UNC fans.
It was also the last time I enjoyed watching UNC play basketball.
I grew up in a UNC family. Tar Heels hoops were a sacred thing in our household, not to be taken lightly. Woe onto anyone who dared called during a Tar Heel game, and had to endure my father's wrath. I remember painfully well the loss to Marquette in 1977 for the National Championship; it is my earliest and most painful childhood memory. In 1981 we lost to Indiana, and for the first time, I see my dad cry, something I would not see again until my sister graduated from college and when Walter Cronkite made his last appearance anchoring the evening news (don't ask). In 1982, I finally got to see Dean Smith and the Tar Heels win a National Championship, after some freshman named "Mike Jordan" hit a clutch jumper. It was a great time to be a UNC fan, but there was trouble brewing. Trouble brewing just eight miles down the road at a school we didn't like and with a coach whose name we couldn't pronounce.
In 1980 Duke hires Mike Krzyzewski, a previously unknown assistant at Indiana and former head coach at Army. He wants to rebuild the Duke program back to greatness. He does. And then some. He has become the winningest men's basketball coach in NCAA Division 1, he has won four National Championships, and most frighteningly, he has a winning record of 31-29 vs. UNC. No one has a winning record against UNC.
Or rather, no one used to.
Tonight UNC plays Duke for the 237th time, and if I had my way, I would avoid watching it. Scratch that, I am trying to avoid it, but I feel the universe is forcing me to watch it.
The game was supposed to be played last Wednesday night. Conveniently, I had a soccer game that night, which was a perfect excuse not to watch the game. My soccer teammates were surprised that I was going to show up and miss the hoops game. They thought for sure I would want to watch UNC and they gave me an out. Plus, its not like my "skills" would be missed that much anyway. But as luck would have it, the game was postponed to tonight. I need a new excuse, but none is coming. Currently, it is snowing where I live, and we are expecting 12" or more of snow tonight. Stay inside is the message - don't go out. Stay at home and watch TV. Watch, oh, say the UNC-Duke game that's on at 8pm Eastern.
It sounds like a good plan, only there is one problem. I don't want to.
As I mentioned, April 6, 2009 was the last time I enjoyed Carolina Hoops and here is why. Not only did we win a National Championship, we also played like a team that wanted to win. It was a very good college team but not the best ever by any means; the 1981-2 team with Jordan, Worthy, Perkins, Black and Doherty was much better. What the 2009 team had going for it was it had heart and played with a ruthless desire to win. Jay Bilas, ESPN commentator, former Duke player, and the bane of all UNC fans, actually described the 2009 team best: they were vicious. They stomped on you. They beat you up, both emotionally and physically. The beat you down and kept you down. If you fought back, they would step on your throat (not literally) until you gave up. That team had a will to win.
It was the last team I remember that played its best every game, and it is the reason why I don't like watching the Tar Heels now. Every team since then has lacked the cohesion and teamwork needed for a championship team. We have had good players since 2009, some very talented ones. Kendall Marshall was a great player, smart, hard working and a team player. But for every Kendall Marshall we had a Harrison Barnes, selfish and gutless to the core. But even good players like Kendall succumbed to the biggest problem in college hoops: jumping to the pros early.
Back in the 1980s players stayed at a college for four years. Rare was it that a player left early, or didn't go to college at all. Jordan and Worthy left after three years, but both were National Players of the Year and top 3 draft picks. Today, well, it is rare for a player to stay, and it is almost seen as a knock for those who do, as if there was something wrong with their skills and they aren't good enough for the pros.
When players stayed four years, you got to know them. You knew where they were from, how they played, who they played with, and who they played against. You also got to know the opponents very well, too, including how they played and the mistakes they were prone to make. Duke players like Mike Gminski, Danny Ferry, and Johnny Dawkins you grew to know and hate well. Even lesser players, like Tommy Amaker, Quin Snyder and (of course) Alla Abdelnaby you learned to follow and loathe. You knew your opponent's team as well as your own. Sometimes better.
Successive years on a team, or in a system, builds cohesion, standards and a culture of winning. Nowadays, the priorities have change to stat stuffing and highlight real shots, to move you up on draft day for the pros. The only program that seems to be the exception, is our neighboring school, eight miles down the road. Even with the pressure of the pros, and the one-and-done mentality, Duke seems to be the lone exception where players play with heart and play as a team every game, every year, and they produce winners. Playing against them is a painful reminder of this fact.
That is why I don't want to watch Carolina vs. Duke.
