Who’s to Blame for UNC’s Struggles?
Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
The UNC basketball season has gotten off to an atrocious start. They are 8-6, 1-2 in the ACC, and have some bad losses. And some of their wins have been bad wins. It’s the worst Carolina basketball team I remember in my life, and that includes the 09-10 team. In today’s culture, everyone is so quick to play the blame game when things go wrong, and even though I don’t like it, that’s what I wanted to do today. If we were to put the “blame” tag on someone, who are we pointing the finger at?
I’ve read many comments where people are pointing the finger at Roy Williams. And I want to say that is totally wrong. I’ve got my issues with Roy Williams and his coaching style (which I’ve wrote about before), but you can’t dispute his resume. He is a hall-of-famer who has proven time and time again he’s one of the best coaches in college basketball. He’s been doing it long enough where he knows exactly how to get the best out of his team. So, for people blaming Williams by saying he hasn’t done his job with this team, they should reconsider their stance.
The blame doesn’t fall on injuries, either. Sure, they’ve dealt with several already, including Cole Anthony’s long absence. But any team or fanbase that wants to blame injuries always sound like they’re in denial of other issues. Would Carolina have won a few more games with Anthony healthy? There’s a good possibility. But you have to remember how bad the team looked, even when he was healthy and playing. He tried to do way too much himself and played more of an NBA-style of ball rather than Carolina-ball. So, they weren’t very good with him, just like they aren’t very good without him.
The only ones to blame for this abysmal season are the players themselves. At the end of the day, they are the ones that have to go out there and compete. And that’s what they are not doing. If you watch any of their games, it’s not very difficult to see the consistent lackluster effort (I’m not even talking about performance, which is another thing) they give. They play with zero motivation, energy, and emotion. If you didn’t know any better, you’d think it feels like they are forced to be out there. They are going through the motions, losing game after game, and it doesn’t feel like it bothers them. I really don’t think they realize what it means to put on the Carolina basketball uniform.
Roy Williams and the rest of the coaches can only do so much. Like I’ve already stated, you know they give them a good game plan to go out there and succeed every game. And I’m sure Roy and the other coaches have tried and tried to light a fire under this team because they know all about the Carolina basketball tradition and how important winning is. But when it’s all said and done, it is the players’ responsibility to go out there and execute the game plan and play with passion. Sometimes, and it’s very rare for a program like Carolina, you just have those group of players that, for whatever reason, do not buy into the game plan and are not driven to succeed. And unfortunately, that’s this group of players.
So, you can blame whoever you want because placing blame never solves the problem in the first place. But if you do want to play the blame game, you should blame no one else other than the players. Sure, they aren’t as talented as most Carolina basketball teams, but you can’t tell me they are less talented than teams like Georgia Tech and Wofford. They just get outhustled and outplayed. And Roy Williams, or anyone else within the program aside from the players, aren’t the ones that have to get out there and “hustle” and “play.”
Garett