The euphoria lasted just over two weeks.
Just weeks after winning the National Championship and after junior Rashad McCants announced his intentions to enter the NBA draft, Sean May, Raymond Felton and Marvin Williams all joined him.
The North Carolina Tar Heels will looking nothing like they did on the court of the Edwards Jones Dome in St. Louis. Only three of the guys that even played in that National Championship game will be in a Tar Heels uniform next year. Those three are David Noel, Quentin Thomas and Reyshawn Terry.
They scored 1 point between them.
The top SEVEN scores from the 2004-2005 UNC Tar Heels will be gone. Noel’s 3.9 ppg average means he is the leading returning offensive power. The returning roster has a total of ONE GAME STARTED this past season. Freshman Quentin Thomas started the season opener against Santa Clara as Felton sat due to a suspension.
The Tar Heels lost that game.
As a Tar Heel fan....yeah it is sad to see this happen. Heck, as the SPORTZ ASSASSIN, it really sucks. Last year, I watch my beloved Lakers get dismantled after a great 5-year run in almost the same manner. After the Redskins won their Super Bowl in 1992...they "dismantled" a season later and have won just ONE playoff game since. I hate this rebuilding crap!
In a perfect world, everyone would be coming back to try to repeat. Heck, we have one of the top recruiting classes in the country. But this is the way NCAA hoops is now. Of course, in Chapel Hill, this has been the way for over 20 years now. Some guy named Michael Jordan left after his junior season in 1984. JR Reid left early a few years later. Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace left after their sophomore seasons and a Final Four appearance in 1995....and Jeff McInnis left after his junior year a season later. Carolina was back in the Final Four in 1997 and 1998. Juniors Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison left in 1998...and Carolina was back in the Final Four in 2000. Joseph Forte left after his sophomore season in 2001....and the Heels won the title four years later.
Jordan, Stackhouse, Wallace, Carter and Jamison all made wise decisions. Forte didn’t. So, is any of this wrong??
Well, of anyone...Marvin Williams has the best excuse to leave. Heck, we were lucky he even showed up at all. Williams, along with New Orleans Hornets guard JR Smith and Oklahoma State guard JamesOn Curry, were the cornerstones of the future once McCants, Felton and May left [which everyone figured would be now anyway]. Curry had issues....and Smith jumped into the draft. But Williams honored his commitment and went to Chapel Hill. He won his ring and is a top 5 draft pick easily. The only reason to come back would be to (a) be Da Man who needed to score 25 pgg to win or (b) avoid being a member of the Charlotte Bobcats, Atlanta Hawks or New Orleans Hornets.
Raymond Felton has done enough at Carolina as well. He was widely regarded as the best PG talent last year....but had issues with games on the road and his weakness of perimeter shooting. Well, he’s played big in big games....and he developed into one of Carolina’s deadly shooters. His collegiate development is pretty complete.
Almost everyone knew Rashad McCants was gone after this season. He really wasn’t a "college guy" anyway....and of any of these guys had the most polished offensive game. Selfishness, decision making and defensive lapses marred his reputation. This year, however, he tapered his game to benefit the team. He did everything that Coach Williams asked him to do and he really stepped up his defensive play. Like Felton, he got the most out of the Carolina program as he was going to.
The odd one is Sean May. He was the best player the last two months of the season for UNC...and was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four. Despite all of that, he is an iffy pro prospect. Oh, he will go in the first round.....but he is too small to be a center in the NBA and maybe even to be a power forward. There will be probably nine big men picked ahead of him.
Again, all three will be in the top 20 or so picks. Williams and Felton will go very early. May and McCants will go in the second half of the first round. All will get their millions. All will get their chance to shine.
It is doubtful the team will reach the heights they got to this season. But they do have some great talent coming in with four freshmen. They also can search for some answers lying on their bench. Quentin Thomas will be a sophomore and get opportunities to grow next year. Noel and Terry will get some minutes as well. The best scenario would be what happened with this bunch. Felton, McCants and May came into Carolina and were immediate starters. Aside from the Doherty Debacle, the team got itself experienced together and developed under Roy Williams’ coaching. In Year Three, they won a title together. Maybe these freshman will start once they get into the Dean Dome....build off of some growing pains into a top level team.
Then, after the 2008 season....they’ll leave.
No comments:
Post a Comment