CHARLESTON, S.C. -- During the ACC's weekly teleconference Monday morning, North Carolina coach Roy Williams downplayed the significance of last Thursday's team meeting, saying the team meets all the time.
And maybe there wasn't anything all-to-new to it, after all, considering Monday night's 82-79 overtime loss at College of Charleston, during which the Tar Heels squandered an 11-point lead in the final four minutes of regulation.
“Yeah, we talked,” point guard Larry Drew II said of the meeting. “We always talk. There’s something with this team – we’ve got to stop talking at a point, and start playing. We’ve got to start walking the talk. ... I feel like I’ve heard everything -- from the players, from the coaches. It’s getting to a point where we’ve just got to start doing what we say we’re going to do.”
A QUESTION OF LEADERSHIP: Senior Marcus Ginyard and junior Will Graves were sidelined by right ankle sprains, and senior Deon Thompson was so dejected after the game that he didn't stop in the post-game locker room to answer questions.
So after squandering a lead and losing to a non-conference team not ranked in either poll for the first time since 2006, naturally a question about whether coach Roy Williams was satisfied with his leadership came up. His response: point the blame on himself.
“Not from the head coach, because I’ve got to coach them better,” Williams said. “They’ve got to understand that you’re three points down and [you’ve] got five fouls. We’re screaming and yelling and doing everything, but we didn’t get it done, so we’re not getting the correct coaching.”
Williams was referring to Charleston guard Andrew Goudelock's game-tying 3-pointer with 2.1 seconds left in regulation. Williams was wildly gesturing for the Tar Heels to foul. Instead, Thompson got caught on a switch defending Goudelock, and the shot swished through to force overtime.
INJURY UPDATE: Reserve forward John Henson, who Williams considered starting in place of the injured Graves, sat out most of the second half with a headache. Williams said he is hopeful that one of UNC's injured starters -- Graves or Ginyard, who missed his third straight game with a sprained right ankle -- will be able to play when Carolina opens its ACC season against Virginia Tech on Sunday.
Robbi Pickeral has covered ACC sports for The News & Observer since 2003. She can be reached at 
Comments
tarhole-20
Tue, 01/05/2010 - 18:07 — bluecat69bluecat69thanks for admitting DUKE is the superior team in the acc, u are correct again. go duke!!!!!!!!!!
Roy is playing with a
Tue, 01/05/2010 - 10:27 — unc098Roy is playing with a different deck and the euphoria of last years championship is gone. Its ACC time now and this group is about to find out what it will take to play as a team. I agree with both comments and Dkelly is right anyone who expected more than mid conference is a moron. But such is the nature of the die hard fan. Now that the cast is off Roy's arm I am sure we will win the rest of our games.
unc098
Tue, 01/05/2010 - 22:36 — duke_blueyour comment about Roy's cast coming off is priceless!!!!LOL!!!
Easy there
Tue, 01/05/2010 - 11:15 — Heels20Dook is obviously the favorite for the conference title, but I think we are definitely a top 3 team in the ACC. That's not to say that we are any where near as good as we were last year, but the ACC is on a down year. GT, VT, FSU and Maryland could all give us problems, but they experienced their shares of inconsistencies throughout this season as well. We simply need to stay healthy, narrow the rotation to 9 men, and flat out improve. This team showed flashes of greatness early in the year, so we need to refocus and make every possession count.
Downhill
Tue, 01/05/2010 - 04:13 — trickydickpksDon't get me wrong, I understand that missing Graves and Ginyard is a major setback and that this Carolina team is too talented not to finnish towards the top of the conference, but Tar Heel fans should be feeling anxious after this loss.
All year, Carolina fans have been swamping the N&O blogs saying that this team was going to run away with the conference and that they will only get better as the year goes along. All I have seen is that the team has been playing worse in the last 5-6 games than they were in November. Their defense looks confused, and their offense is inconsistent. Williams is great coach, but he can't improve a team if they don't listen to him.
If the Tar Heels don't get their act together, the Blue Devils will run away with the conference this year. Tyler Hansbrough ain't in Chapel Hill anymore.
agreed 100%
Tue, 01/05/2010 - 10:12 — dkellyuncany unc fan spouting off and saying this team would runaway with the conference is a moron...and anyone that even listened to them is a bigger moron.
i'm a diehard fan but at what point does the talent show up? the all americans on this team play soft.. the defense is way out of whack, the offense is very predictable and the players looked lost.
losing to any SoCon team is unacceptable.
dkellyunc
Tue, 01/05/2010 - 10:55 — gvillegatrfunny, I have not seen you make this post anywhere on here prior to last night.
but that is beside the point.
I'd like for you to point out where someone said UNC was going to "runaway with the conference this year."
we'll all be waiting.