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Making amends Tar Heels' run shakes bad memories
Posted: Friday March 24, 2000 01:19 AM
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- North Carolina practiced Thursday on an orange-painted court surrounded by 16,000 orange seats. All around town, the team has seen signs rooting for UT. The colors and letters actually represent South regional host Texas, not No. 4 seed Tennessee. But for the eighth-seeded Tar Heels, the atmosphere is another reminder that they are the underdogs in Friday night's regional semifinal. "I don't like the color of the arena," North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge said. "That's Tennessee's color." Truth is, the Tar Heels (20-13) are so elated to be here that they wouldn't be any happier if the place was painted powder blue. After closing the regular season 7-8 and losing to Wake Forest in the first round of the ACC tournament, North Carolina's run of consecutive NCAA appearances was in jeopardy. The Tar Heels got in for a record-extending 26th straight time, but were stuck with their lowest seed in 10 years. Yet North Carolina knew to view the tournament as a fresh start. The team learned the hard way last year when a more consistent regular season and a No. 3 seed were wasted in a first-round loss to 14th-seeded Weber State. "We knew that we could make a statement and kind of make amends for some of the mistakes we made during the course of the season," center Brendan Haywood said. Somewhere between Chapel Hill and Birmingham, Ala., everything clicked for the Tar Heels. They froze Missouri's outside shooters in the first round, then stunned top-seeded Stanford in the second round by shutting down its powerful inside game. "I think our confidence factor is a lot better than it was a week ago at this time and probably the high for the season," Guthridge said. "I've been asked if I like being an underdog. It's not bad once in awhile, but I don't want to be an underdog very often because that means we're not doing as well." The Volunteers (26-6) have shed that status by making the tournament three straight years. However, the men's hoop program is still No. 3 on campus behind football and women's basketball. This could be the guys' big breakthrough. They've already shattered the school record for victories and have gone farther in the tournament than any Tennessee men's team since 1981. A victory over a program as storied as North Carolina would be another huge boost, even though the Volunteers -- the highest seed remaining in the region -- are expected to win. "We are trying to build up the tradition of our program and any time we go up against a North Carolina, that is a step in the right direction," sophomore Vincent Yarbrough said. The men's team has gotten support from its campus "rivals." Football coach Phillip Fulmer spoke to them recently and got them to start carrying around a "synergy hat." The gray fedora is part motivational tool and part good-luck charm, much like the "synergy stick" Fulmer's team had during its national championship season. Another recent speaker was women's coach Pat Summit. "She came out to practice yesterday and said, 'When you get out there, don't feel like you're lucky to be there. You belong there. You've earned the right to be there. Now play like it and make me proud,'" coach Jerry Green said. The Volunteers averaged 81.5 points coming into the tournament, but got by Louisiana-Lafayette and defending national champion Connecticut while scoring 63 and 65. Their top priority will be to start running and gunning again. The Tar Heels, though, will be doing their best to keep things at a slower pace that's more to their liking. "Their overall basketball abilities are scary," said Guthridge, whose mother died Wednesday at age 96 following a long illness. "They are the type of team that has bothered us this year." Despite the natural link of UTs, the Tar Heels drew more support from fans during practice Thursday. North Carolina's popularity was aided by the courtside appearance of Longhorns football coach Mack Brown, who previously coached the Tar Heels. Still, the Volunteers feel right at home in Texas. "It's not the same UT, but that's OK," Tennessee's Ron Slay said. "It's still going to be a sea of orange."
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