History lesson?
Cavs face No. 3 Heels, who have dropped five straight at U-Hall
By Andrew Joyner / Daily Progress staff writer
January 29, 2005

Virginia has won five straight over North Carolina at University Hall.

Yep. That’s about the lone positive Virginia can cling to entering its noon meeting with the No. 3 Tar Heels.

In a scenario in which nothing seems to be going right for the Cavaliers, a visit from arguably the nation’s best team is hardly the remedy.

Everything from their psyche to apparently their ankles and fingers are bruised for the Cavaliers right now after a 79-73 loss at Virginia Tech on Thursday that dropped them to 10-7 overall and 1-6 in the ACC.

The loss featured all the normal trends of a team in a free-fall situation. There was on-court bickering among the players, additional injuries and body language that signaled defeat.

Freshman guard Sean Singletary suffered a sprained ankle early in the second half and didn’t play for the final 13 minutes of the game. J.R. Reynolds played with a bone chip in his finger. Reserve forward Donte Minter didn’t play at all with a broken finger in his left hand, further depleting a frontcourt that lost Jason Clark recently because of academics.

“I don’t know,” responded Reynolds when asked if anything else could go wrong with this team.

The Cavaliers committed 22 turnovers against the Hokies on Thursday and they sufficiently hampered Virginia’s late rally from a 16-point deficit. Having cut the lead to three in the final minutes, the Cavaliers threw errant pass after errant pass that were eagerly intercepted by the Hokies, who happen to lead the ACC in steals.

“We stressed that like crazy but they stripped the ball from us a lot. We talked about that for three days but we threw it away too often. We had 22 turnovers and that’s too many,” beleaguered Virginia coach Pete Gillen said. “We had chances at the end but we committed too many turnovers.”

Ample time could be spent on the turnovers and poor defense and the like that were the main cogs in the loss at Tech. Those items are troubling enough in themselves but the mere appearance of the Cavaliers throughout the contest overrides them. There was the hanging of heads, the finger pointing and the bickering that are typical for teams in a meltdown phase.

It’s one thing to say the Cavaliers did not do the things - defending, careful ballhandling and proper shot selection -that are needed to win games. It’s completely another to wonder if the Cavaliers even looked like a team that could win.

Senior center Elton Brown, who had 19 points and 15 rebounds against the Hokies, claimed that the bickering and screaming at each other are natural for any team. Brown simply said that was “basketball.”

Perhaps, Brown was right on one account. Bickering and screaming are commonplace on teams that have lost six of their last eight like the Cavaliers.

“We are frustrated. We are a better team than we showed tonight. … The guys were frustrated. That’s going to happen in the heat of the battle but we have to address that,” Gillen said.

Again, given that myriad of issues, No. 3 North Carolina coming to Charlottesville seems only like another symptom and certainly not a cure. The Tar Heels are rested after a week hiatus and they will have little time for sympathy given their recent woes here.

“We have to stay together as a team. We have another game Saturday and we have to get ready for that,” Reynolds said. “We have to stay together and not get down on each other. It gets tough but we have to keep our heads up.”

Dire times for battered Cavaliers
Less than two full days after losing at Tech, Virginia must pull it all together to take on No. 3 North Carolina.
By Doug Doughty
981-3129
The Roanoke Times

BLACKSBURG - Clutching a bag full of ice as he hobbled out of Cassell Coliseum on Thursday night, freshman point guard Sean Singletary could have served as the poster child for the Virginia men's basketball team.

The Cavaliers aren't playing particularly well, they're banged up and they've had little time to rest as third-ranked North Carolina (16-2, 5-1 ACC) invades University Hall for a noon tipoff today. Carolina has not played since last Saturday, when it humbled visiting Miami, 87-67. On the other hand, it has been less than 36 hours since the Cavaliers (10-7, 1-6) arrived home from a bus trip to Blacksburg, where UVa fell to the Hokies 79-73.

There has been little time for Virginia to lick its wounds, physical and emotional.

In addition to Singletary, sophomore guard J.R. Reynolds was dealing with a chipped bone in the ring finger of his right (shooting) hand and sophomore post man Donte Minter was out of uniform after breaking a finger on his left (shooting) hand.

On top of that, senior post man Jason Clark is academically ineligible, so it wasn't surprising to see the Cavaliers' frustrations bubble over in the first half in Blacksburg.

At one point, Singletary stood at midcourt and screamed at sophomore post man Jason Cain for not paying attention as a Singletary pass went whizzing out of bounds.

When Cain went to the bench after committing four turnovers in six minutes, he immediately kicked a chair and then had a seat for the rest of the night.

As for the yelling, "that's going to happen in the heat of the battle," coach Pete Gillen said. "We're going to address it, but it's going to happen."

By the second half, the Cavaliers had regained their composure, although they trailed by as many as 16 points before mounting a comeback that trimmed the deficit to 75-73 on an Elton Brown stickback with 11 seconds left.

Many coaches call a timeout to set their defense or pick a person to foul in that situation, but Gillen had used the last of his five allotted timeouts with 1:11 remaining.

Instead, Tech took advantage of an unsettled situation to throw a baseball pass to Jamon Gordon, whose dunk with 6.6 seconds left made it a two-possession game at 77-73.

While a timeout might have been handy, just as critical was a 56-second span in which the Cavaliers committed three turnovers, the last by Reynolds with 1:11 left and UVa trailing 74-71.

Reynolds, driving down the right baseline, spotted Devin Smith behind the 3-point arc in the opposing corner, but his pass went flying out of bounds.

Did Reynolds catch Smith by surprise or did he simply throw the ball too hard?

"A little bit of both," said Smith, reduced to whispering by a case of laryngitis.

Overcoming a slow start, Reynolds scored all 10 of his points in the final 13:40, but the frustration was etched on his face.

"My finger is all messed up," he said, peeling a splint off his damaged digit, "but I'm not going to use that as an excuse. It's something I've got to get used to because I've got to play with it like this for a couple more weeks."

Smith, who did not take a shot after completing a rare four-point play with 3:25 left, went 9-for-12 from the field and finished with a game-high 24 points. Fellow senior Elton Brown added 19 points and a career-high 15 rebounds, but he also had five turnovers.

T.J. Bannister, who played 23 minutes in place of an injured Singletary, had five turnovers and missed his only field-goal attempt.

Singletary originally twisted his ankle with 17:46 left. He immediately went to the bench, returning with 13:01 left. He was limping so badly that his last two appearances were for 37 seconds and 1:27.

"I wanted to go back out there," Singletary said. "I will be out there Saturday."

The Cavaliers might be lost without Singletary, but their problems run deeper than that. Although they had lost five of their previous six games, there had not been any signs of infighting until Thursday night.

"That's part of a team," Brown said. "You're going to argue, you're going to talk, you're going to get on each other. I'm sure that other teams yell at each other, not just us. That's basketball.

"Turnovers beat us [and] missed free throws. We lost a game that we should have won."

Tech visitors run the gamut
Cavs haven't given up on Gresham
By Doug Doughty
THE ROANOKE TIMES

A group of 15 players expected to visit Virginia Tech this weekend can be divided into at least four different categories: players committed to Tech, uncommitted players, walk-on candidates and players who are committed to other schools.

Falling in that last category are 6-9, 330-pound Hargrave Military Academy offensive lineman Jared Gaither, and 6-3, 325-pound North Stafford High School defensive lineman Cordarrow Thompson.

Gaither committed to Maryland last year as a senior at Eleanor Roosevelt in Greenbelt, Md., and Thompson, the Washington Post metro defensive player of the year, committed to Syracuse last summer.

When Syracuse fired head coach Paul Pasqualoni and the staff that recruited Thompson, he decided to look into other opportunities. I’ve heard conflicting things about Gaither, who remains committed to Maryland, according to Hargrave coach Robert Prunty.

“If he’s going to Tech, he’s not going today,” Prunty said on Friday. “I thought he was going home this weekend.”

Uncommitted players headed to Tech for visits include the Nos. 5 and 10 prospects in South Carolina, according to SuperPrep, defensive end Hivera Green (6-5, 255) from Conway High School and defensive back Jamie Robinson (6-3, 185) from Northwestern High School in Rock Hill.

It will be difficult to keep Green away from Clemson, but some consider Tech the leader for Robinson, who is said by SuperPrep to have a “reputation as one of the best cover corners in the country.” SuperPrep also lists Clemson and Florida State in Robinson’s top three.

Tech is also entertaining two uncommitted in-state players, including All-Group AAA wide receiver Todd Nolen, who already has been to Virginia and North Carolina and plans to visit Penn State next week, according to Hampton coach Mike Smith.

Nolen was to have visited Penn State last weekend but postponed his visit because of bad weather. He also was to have taken the SATs, but those were postponed at his Hampton testing site.

As a result, Nolen will take the SATs for the first time next Saturday in Hampton, then fly to Penn State. That means he will not sign Wednesday, although plans change daily in the Nolen recruiting sweepstakes. There is a 48-hour “quiet” period following the signing day, but, if Nolen does not leave for Penn State until Saturday, the moratorium will have expired.

The other uncommitted in-state player headed to Blacksburg is Richard Graham, a 6-7, 255-pound tight end from St. Christopher’s in Richmond. Graham, a private-schools all-state selection who is rated the No. 66 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times, is projected as an interior lineman by the Hokies and may get an offer if the Hokies like what they see.

Tech already has 21 commitments and it’s unlikely the Hokies will sign more than 25, although Nolen and Thompson are viewed as likely partial- or non-qualifiers who will need to spend a year in prep school in order to improve their academics. However, Nolen has let it known that he will not reopen his recruiting after he signs.

SPEAKING OF PREP school, there is growing concern that Timesland defensive player of the year Darryl Gresham will not qualify academically, although Gresham, like Nolen and Thompson, is expected to sign Wednesday.

There’s little question in my mind that Gresham told Tech’s staff that he was going to Florida, but Virginia is continuing to recruit him and Gresham has indicated he will travel to Charlottesville on Saturday for the UVa men’s basketball game with North Carolina.

And, the plot could be thickening. If what I’m hearing is correct, Gresham’s father, Darryl Sr., is headed to Roanoke this weekend from Atlanta and plans to enroll Darryl Jr. in a Georgia high school for the second semester.

UVa has taken commitments from five SuperPrep All-Americans, but two of them have decommitted and both are linebackers, Lamont Robinson from Salem, N.J., and Gresham. Robinson was projected as an inside linebacker and Gresham as an outside backer.

William Davis, a 6-foot, 220-pound multi-position prospect from Eleanor Roosevelt (there’s that name again) in Greenbelt, Md., took an official visit to UVa at midweek and said he was told to expect an offer -- by mail -- by the start of next week. Since Davis played wideout and defensive end in high school, the Cavaliers are trying to determine whether he can be a college linebacker.

ODDS ‘N’ ENDS: N.C. State has taken an oral commitment from Alan-Michael Cash, a 6-2, 279-pound defensive lineman from Varina who is rated the No. 30 prospect in Virginia by The Roanoke Times. Cash was a first-team All-Richmond Metro and second-team All-Group AAA selection. . . . William and Mary has taken a commitment from Thomas McCutcheon, a 6-4, 300-pound offensive lineman from Deep Creek High School who was named first-team All-Tidewater by the Virginian Pilot. . . . Richmond has a commitment from Collin McConaughey, a 6-1, 215-pound linebacker from Amherst who was named second-team All-Group AA. . . . Quintrell Thomas, a 6-5, 200-pound defensive end from Western Branch in Chesapeake, is headed to Northeastern. Thomas is the 55th-rated player in the state. . . . Second-team All-Tidewater running back Scotty McGee, the 88th-ranked player on The Roanoke Times list, has committed to James Madison. . . . An overlooked prospect who will be signing with a Division I-A program is Jacob Hardwick, a 6-3, 255-pound defensive end from Ocean Lakes in Virginia Beach. Hardwick is going to Bowling Green. . . . Justin Carrington, a second-team All-Group AA running back from Liberty High School in Bealeton, has recommitted to Indiana and its new head coach, Terry Hoeppner. During the short period when he reopened his recruiting, Carrington took an official visit to South Carolina.

Tar Heels get a shot at revenge at Virginia
By NEIL AMATO : The Herald-Sun
namato@heraldsun.com
Jan 29, 2005 : 12:07 am ET

Sean May gets a disgusted look on his face when asked to recall last year's final seconds at Virginia.

Despite all the drilling, all the practice and two correct defenses the previous two pick-and-rolls, UNC left Todd Billet alone for a 3-pointer, a shot the senior guard swished to give Virginia a 74-72 win.

"We're a much better defensive team, especially our defensive principles," May said. "Last year, we knew what we were doing, but we just weren't willing to do it. This year, I think the whole concept of the team is: Do everything that you're told. I think that's why we're a much better team this year."

North Carolina returns to Charlottesville today, where it likely will face an edgy crowd and a team in dire need of a win. The Tar Heels have been a cure for any Cavalier ailment the past five seasons at University Hall, since Ademola Okulaja's 3-pointer beat Virginia 67-66 in 1999.

Last season, UNC let a nine-point second-half lead evaporate in turnovers and shoddy defense, not just against the pick-and-roll.

Last season, UNC went to UVa with a 16-7 record, including 6-6 in the ACC. This year, the Tar Heels are No. 3 in the country and tied for first in the ACC. A win would give them

17 victories heading into February, the same number of wins they had last season heading into March. The Tar Heels are 16-2, 5-1, with the same conference record as Duke.

"I think we're at a higher point than almost any time last year," UNC coach Roy Williams said.

The Cavaliers beat Arizona by 18 points in November but have had few highlights since, sitting at 10-7, 1-6. It's exactly the kind of desperate opponent Williams would rather not face.

"It always concerns you when a team is going through a difficult time period," he said. "You know that Virginia's a pretty good basketball team."

His Tar Heels have been pretty good in 2004-05, leading the nation in scoring and assists but also ranking in the top 10 nationally in five other statistical categories. UNC's only loss with point guard Raymond Felton in the lineup was Jan. 15 at Wake Forest. Felton was the guy assigned to guarding Billet last season, but he and the rest of the Tar Heels are paying better attention to the minutiae that often makes a difference between winning and losing:

* UNC is shooting free throws better, far better, than last season's 68.8 percent. The Tar Heels lead the ACC in free-throw shooting at 73.1 percent.

* Tar Heel opponents are shooting 39.7 percent, which ranks 35th nationally and third in the ACC in field-goal defense.

"Last year, we were happy in the ACC if they shot less than 50 percent," assistant coach Joe Holladay said.

* UNC leads the ACC in rebound margin. They were plus-21 against Maryland and plus-19 against Georgia Tech.

* The Tar Heels are fourth nationally in steals, helping offset a ranking of 305th of 326 teams in turnovers (18.2 a game).

Getting a hand out on a shooter, correctly guarding a pick-and-roll, limiting the opponent to fewer second shots -- all those have contributed to the Tar Heels feeling good about heading into a place that has been tough on them lately.

Asked what made playing in University Hall difficult, Williams said: "It used to be the players. Ralph Sampson and those guys made it a heckuva lot more difficult."

The present-day Tar Heels won't have to deal with Sampson, but they will have to deal with playing in an unfriendly environment. Junior David Noel believes UNC is ready for the challenge, having been around the ACC block a few times.

"You have to play with poise on the road," he said. "When you have good, veteran players who've done it, who've been in all the arenas, they're not worrying about it."
 

Hurting Virginia worries Williams
1-29-05
By Jeff Carlton Staff Writer
News & Record

North Carolina visits a Virginia team today that is struggling, hurting and, at times, coming unglued by frustration.

That doesn't necessarily brighten UNC coach Roy Williams' outlook as his third-ranked and well-rested Tar Heels try to end a five-year losing streak at University Hall.

"It always concerns you when a team is going through a difficult time period, especially teams in this league," Williams said. "Virginia beat Arizona earlier in the year by 18 (points). You know Virginia is a pretty doggone good basketball team and will get going again, and you just hope it's not against you."

Maryland and Georgia Tech entered the week nearing the make-or-break point and pulled off big victories against Duke and Wake Forest, respectively. So it's not out of the question.

The Cavaliers and their embattled head coach might be past the breaking point, however, after losing 79-73 Thursday night at Virginia Tech.

The Hokies have had plenty of success against Virginia in football through the years. But, basketball has long been the Cavaliers' domain in the Old Dominion. Now, not only is Tech in the ACC, but the Hokies are 31/2 games up on UVa in the standings.

With a new 15,000-seat arena set to open in 2006 -- and another $36 million needed to complete the project -- Virginia's swoon could cost coach Pete Gillen his job, even with six years left on his contract.

"The season will tell the story," Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage said this week.

Virginia fought back from 16 points down against the Hokies and had a couple of late chances to tie Thursday night. But there was also at least one instance of infighting, as point guard Sean Singletary screamed at teammate Jason Cain following one of the team's 22 turnovers.

"We're a little frustrated," said Gillen, whose Cavs have lost five of their last six games. "We're a better team than (how) we played, I think."

Singletary, who as a freshman has been indispensable, sprained his ankle in the loss. But he expects to play today.

Sophomore guard J.R. Reynolds played Thursday with a chipped bone in the ring finger on his shooting hand, while forward Donte Minter is out with a broken finger. The Cavs had already lost post player Jason Clark to academic ineligibility.

And they get only a 36-hour turnaround before hosting the Tar Heels. North Carolina hasn't played since beating Miami a week ago.

The Heels, who lost on a late Todd Billet 3-pointer in their last visit to U-Hall, were able to rest up minor injuries while taking it fairly easy early in the week. Jawad Williams came out of the 87-67 victory against Miami with a sore back, and Rashad McCants' knee had been bothering him.

The Heels are entering a stretch in which four of their next five games are away from home, including trips to Duke and Connecticut.

Roy Williams doesn't expect that stretch to start with an easy victory today.

"It's North Carolina coming to town," he said, "and they can erase some awfully difficult feelings the've had in the last few weeks by playing well against us."

Emotion picture
Surly or not, North Carolina's McCants is in the mood to win
BY BOB LIPPER
TIMES-DISPATCH STAFF WRITER
Jan 29, 2005

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. Rashad McCants grimaces and simmers at midcourt upon being whistled for a foul, and 21,000 pulse-takers in the arena and thousands more in living rooms from College Park to Miami gauge the seismic implications and form a laundry list of possibilities.

Has he reached the cusp of a boiling point? Will he make eye contact with Roy when he hits the bench -- and if he doesn't, what does that imply? Is he a candidate for All-America or Dr. Phil?

Will he spark North Carolina's Tar Heels to a national championship?

Or be the fuse who powder-kegs this enormously-talented squad into oblivion come March?

Roy Williams calls McCants "the most studied and scrutinized player I've ever coached," and No. 2 probably isn't close. Every McCants frown, every gesture, every stare, every facial tic is examined and dissected in arenas and newsprint. He's been portrayed as moody, temperamental, difficult. A newspaper columnist appearing on a radio show once branded him "borderline psychotic."

Rashad McCants is here to tell you he'd as soon be ignored as prompt this sort of attention.

"It's made the last three years probably the worst of my life," he was saying before a recent practice. "The media -- they don't know how powerful their words are. It's pretty much been miserable as far as the public persona, the perception people have."

He's a 6-4 junior and the leading scorer (16.6 average) for a UNC squad that faces Virginia today. He swishes 3-pointers and takes the ball to the rim. He's among the team leaders in steals and blocks. He can thread a pass to the low post. He can muster some mean defense when so moved. He can be an unconstrained cheerleader on the bench.

Oh, and just in case you're wondering, in 83 games and 2,468 minutes of action as a Tar Heel, he hasn't been tagged for a single behavioral technical foul. Lack of forensic evidence notwithstanding, many observers find his demeanor and body language off-putting at best and threatening at worst.

"It's tough," said walk-on guard Wes Miller, who spent two years with McCants at a New Hampshire prep school. "Everybody looks at him differently. People see someone walking down the street and he's not smiling, they don't automatically think, 'Bad person.' With Rashad, they immediately think that. That's not fair to him."

Or, as McCants put it, "I think it's so ridiculously outrageous for people to label somebody for an emotion. I don't think everybody wakes up happy every day. People have moods. I would hope people understand that."

He is not a "Have-a-nice-day" kind of guy. Nor does he lobby for Mr. Congeniality consideration. McCants describes himself as "someone who doesn't like to kiss people's butts, somebody who doesn't like to smile when I'm not happy" and likens himself to edgy nonconformists of the Terrell Owens/Allen Iverson stripe. He thinks people are nosy. He's not inclined to cooperate with soul-bearing testimony.

"I think he's definitely more difficult to reach than the average person," said Tar Heels center and classmate Sean May. "He's not your typical All-American boy. More, it's the perception people have of him. Is it partly his fault? Yes. But it's not all his fault. You can influence people's opinions. He's doing a better job of doing that."

By most accounts ("I see a guy who's making more adjustments than anyone on the team," said Williams, for instance), McCants is less self-absorbed on the court this season and more approachable off it. Those developments have been crucial in one team's transformation from 19-11 underachiever to top-five powerhouse.

"I tried to talk with him and get him to change some things," said May. "He's come forward. It's allowed this team to be a lot closer. Sometimes he probably did feel like an outsider before. There was so much jealousy going on around the team last year. This team is so different. He's a big part of that, 'cause he's allowing so much to come to him."

Not that there aren't still bumps in the road. McCants' occasional tendency to get in foul trouble or drift through large chunks of a game was especially costly at Wake Forest, for example, where he had two points during a decisive first half and 17 after intermission when the game largely was out of reach.

He also prompted a firestorm in November when he compared playing at UNC to being in prison. Williams went ballistic, held McCants from a practice and then staged a press conference with his enigmatic star. McCants softened his stance but didn't back off entirely.

"He is unusual," Williams said. "He's fiercely private. He's fiercely proud. I called him 'Fonz' one day. It was from this episode on 'Happy Days' where everybody was trying to get him to say he was wrong -- and he couldn't say it. He has such pride and such competitiveness."

Van Allen noticed those traits when he first spotted McCants on the playgrounds of Asheville, N.C. Allen later coached him for two years at Erwin High. He thinks "everyone is kind of moody." He doesn't believe McCants is unusual in that regard.

"When he played here, you could see these moods transpire," said Allen. "But anytime you stepped on that floor, he was out there to win. All these people that's trying to figure this out here, they don't know him. He's a great kid."

Nonetheless, it's been a rocky ride. Williams' predecessor, Matt Doherty, felt moved to send a resentful McCants to a sports psychologist. Williams yanked him for lackluster play last year at Kentucky and banished him from bench to locker room against UNC Wilmington for not actively supporting his teammates. McCants was cut from the junior national team last summer, not because he wasn't good enough but because his personality was viewed as a poor fit.

"His facial expressions aren't the best," conceded Williams. "Sometimes his facial expressions aren't the best toward officials. That's just him. He is different. There is a sullenness. I've told him Isiah Thomas has made thousands of dollars just 'cause of his smile. But every kid has to be himself."

For McCants, that means hand-checking the world to a manageable distance. He says he doesn't care what you think about him. The companion tattoos on his arms -- "Born To Be Hated" on one, "Dying To Be Loved" on the other -- suggest he's conflicted about the issue.

"If you don't know me, you're not going to know who I am, you're not going to know I'm a good kid," he said. "People have too much time on their hands -- people who overanalyze somebody who they know nothing about. Like TV announcers who never even shook my hand, they think they have freedom to talk loosely about me. They don't know me, but they want to run their mouth about me."

And you wonder: Can someone who feels so put upon somehow find peace?

"Right now?" McCants replied. "Almost. I think I'll be at peace somewhere around April. 'Cause hopefully, we'll have a national championship."

And maybe because the microscopes under which he functions will fade till another season rolls around.

Manuel plays his role to a 'D'
Tar Heels guard shuts down foes
By ROBBI PICKERAL, Staff Writer

CHAPEL HILL -- Jackie Manuel is an aggravator.

Try to get a shot off, and the long-armed, nimble-footed North Carolina guard will get at least one hand in your face. Try to set a screen to get a shot off, and the sinewy senior will dip low, slither around the pick and still get a hand if not two in your face.

Clink. Clank. Funk.

"I know they're like, 'Oh my goodness, is this guy ever going to stop? Is he ever going to let me get open?' " said a grinning Manuel, a member of last season's ACC All-Defensive team.

NO. 3 NORTH CAROLINA AT VIRGINIA

NOON TODAY; TV: ESPN, RADIO: WCHL-1360, WDUR-1490, WRVA-100.7

CHALK TALK

* North Carolina (16-2, 5-1 ACC) has lost five games in a row at Virginia. Is there something about University Hall that makes it a hard place to play?

"Used to be the players," UNC coach Roy Williams said. "Ralph Sampson and those guys made it a heck of a lot more difficult. ...

"Their fans are very enthusiastic ... and they've had some success against us, so that gives them a little more confidence to do that the next time, so we've got to break that."

* The Cavaliers (10-7, 1-6) have lost four of their past five games.

* After a week without a game, the Tar Heels are feeling much healthier. Williams said that swingman Rashad McCants' sore knee is feeling better, forward Jawad Williams' back isn't aching as much and that point guard Raymond Felton has been cleared to lift weights with the team again. The junior had been doing weight work in the trainer's room because of his injured left wrist.


Manuel's willingness to agitate on defense, rather than get agitated with his lack of offense, is the reason he'll start his 21st consecutive game for the No. 3 Tar Heels at Virginia today.

He's averaging only 6.0 points and 4.7 shots, but points are not what the top-scoring team in the nation needs from him.

"He's starting because of all the little things he does going after loose balls, getting around picks, trying to shut down the other team's best player," center Sean May said. "We have plenty of people on this team who can score ... but not what Jackie can do."

At least, not as well as he can do it.

Carolina has a history of having a Manuel-type laborer on its top teams.

Forward Ademola Okulaja did all of the little things for the 1997 and '98 Final Four teams. The same was true of Derrick Phelps on the 1993 championship team, John Kuester in mid-1970s and Steve Hale in the early '80s, among others.

Coach Roy Williams' former Kansas teams usually had a similar, defense-oriented player, and for good reason.

"I know, coaching at Kansas, the years we didn't have a defensive stopper we were not a good team,'' said assistant coach Joe Holladay. "When we had somebody, a stopper on a team that we knew could shut somebody down, we were good those years."

Williams said he always wants his best defensive player in the starting lineup to help a team's balance.

"I don't think you can have five or seven guys thinking they're going to get a chance to score 20 every night," Williams said. "I think it's good to have five or seven that can score 20 on some nights, but that they don't have to have that every night to be comfortable."

Manuel's best attribute, according to his teammates, is raw effort. He'll go after loose balls, May said, "that there's no way anybody can get. But he'll do it anyway, because he's Jackie."

Reserve David Noel remembers an incident when they were matched up in practice on each other and both were dog tired.

"But he looked me in the eye, and I knew he wasn't going to give up," Noel said. "The next thing I knew, he was flying out of bounds, trying to save a rebound."

Manuel says defense is as much of an instinct to him as it is an art. Known as a scorer at Cardinal Newman (Fla.) High, he nonetheless took pride in stopping the best players on opposing teams, a determined approach that stemmed from his days as a youth football player.

His athleticism helps, too. Manuel doesn't have the consistent range of an outside shooter. But at 6 feet 5, he has the consistent reach and lift to throw down awing dunks, such as his one last season against N.C. State's Julius Hodge.

But his defense and all-around play are what Carolina covets.

"He does a great job of getting around screens, he does a great job of getting to the offensive backboards, he understands and see the big picture defensively,'' Williams said. "But the most important thing: He helps you win."

Still wonder why Manuel is starting?

"I'm pretty sure every [team] would love to have somebody to aggravate somebody,'' Manuel said. "I tell you, I wouldn't want to be guarded like that. It would get on your nerves; it really would."

Tar Heels to take on struggling Cavaliers
Williams says he would like North Carolina to play better on the road
By Bill Cole
JOURNAL REPORTER

North Carolina will end a week off when it plays at Virginia today at noon, the first game of what should be a demanding two-week stretch.

After a home game against N.C. State on Thursday, North Carolina will hit the road for games at Florida State, Duke and Connecticut in an eight-day stretch.

Coach Roy Williams said that his team played very well early in the season, but has been inconsistent in the past month, despite running its record to 16-2.

The Tar Heels have struggled on the ACC road for three straight seasons, and Williams said they haven't played enough away from home for him to get a feel for what to expect outside the Smith Center.

"I'm hoping again that we'll start playing some of our best basketball," Williams said. "We need to in the next two or three weeks. I can't imagine anybody in the country having a tougher challenge than what we have in these next five games."

The Tar Heels are 5-1 in the ACC. The Cavaliers are struggling. They've fallen to 10-7 and 1-6 and will have had only one day to prepare after losing to Virginia Tech on Thursday.

The week-long break enabled the Tar Heels to work on specific problems and provided rest for several players' nagging injuries, but Williams is wary of the game situation. He said he didn't think that his team has lost its rhythm during the time off, but he also doesn't think that the Tar Heels have any advantage because the Cavaliers played on Thursday.

But the Cavaliers are sinking deeper toward the bottom of the ACC, and questions about Coach Pete Gillen's future are being asked by alumni. Williams said that troubled teams often band together, but to counter any edge the Cavaliers might have, he has reminded the Tar Heels that they have lost their past five games in Charlottesville.

"It used to be the players," Williams said. "Ralph Sampson and those guys made it a heck of a lot more difficult. They've had some success against us and that gives them a little more confidence to do it the next time."

Rashad McCants has supplanted Jawad Williams as the Tar Heels' leading scorer and is averaging 14.3 points, but most of his scoring is coming late in games. McCants scored 17 points after halftime at Clemson, helping North Carolina break a halftime tie, and got all 10 of his points against Miami in the second half.

"I love a lot of things that he's doing now," Williams said. "His assists-to-error ratio is probably the best it's ever been. I like the fact that he's trying each and every day to become a more complete player.

"And yet we do need him to score. In difficult times we're going to need him to score even more. I haven't told him to defer to anybody at any point."