What If: Upperclassman returning

I have been wanting to do this “what if” post for awhile, but just haven’t found or made the time, but now here we go. I remember instantly after North Carolina won the 05 title, I was thinking repeat with all those players coming back and then the incoming freshman class – it was almost guaranteed. But then I remember reading the recap of the championship game on ESPN and there was a link that said “McCants declares for draft.” My world shattered a little bit there, but there was hope because Sean May had said he was coming back and he wanted to repeat, but then he saw his stock go up. But there was Raymond Felton still, who had wanted to leave for awhile, and then he was gone, and then Marvin Williams, but his mom had some medical problems and he was gone. So we were left with a bare cupboard, but it turns out it was ok, but my question is this: what if one or more of the upperclassman had stayed?




It would have been my dream to watch some of these players crush the competition with Tyler Hansbrough and I often imagine that they somehow did, but it will still never become a reality and that’s ok too.

First, we have to think that if one or some of these players stayed, Hansbrough might not have become the force he became. To me, that is reason enough for these players to have left really because Tyler Hansbrough is the model now for being amazing. Those records probably wouldn’t be broken and JJ Redick would still have his ugly mug atop the ACC scoring record and that just wouldn’t be cool with me. Plus, we have won another national title, so that’s perfectly fine with me. I could gladly win a championship every 5 years.

Secondly, if someone had stayed, would it have really mattered? We probably would have been first or second in the ACC, maybe played for the ACC championship and then gotten into at least the Sweet 16, if not farther. What does that matter in the long run? It would be another banner or two, but if it meant that Hansbrough’s numbers have to suffer, then I wouldn’t want it. Plus if you think about team chemistry, I can’t see Rashad McCants getting along with Hansbrough too much. David Noel was the leader of this team and I just can’t see it any other way.

But hypothetically, if someone would have stayed, who would you have wanted? We could have had the potent scorer in McCants; the maestro in Felton; the big man down low with May; or the 6th man, turned superstar with Williams. Oh the possibilities!

If I could have had my pick at the time, I would have wanted Felton because I enjoyed watching him as a point guard, but in all honesty, we needed a big man. The three man rotation that UNC after that year was ok, but it would have been nice to have either May or Williams down low too. Noel, Byron Sanders, and Hansbrough probably doesn’t scare a lot of frontcourts. Ok, Hansbrough probably does, but throw in May or Williams and BOOM! I thought May would have been the most likely to stay and to see him and Hansbrough bump heads in the paint would have gotten old after awhile. Williams would have been interesting to see because we would become the Ed Davis we expect and hope to see. The potential for Marvin during his sophomore year would have been amazing.

So there you have if. Your “what if” scenario that will never happen, but it could have and it would have been ridiculously awesome. But the story still has a happy ending – hoisting another trophy.

What If? J.R. Smith and JamesOn Curry

This will be my first choice for the what-if segments of my blog. I know I hinted at some possible topic choices, mostly positive ones, but this one got me thinking the other day. What if these two guys came to North Carolina?

I don’t watch a lot of NBA games. I will follow the season vaguely because when you play 82 games, one game doesn’t mean very much to me. I do tend to keep tabs on former North Carolina players, just to see how they are doing. I was watching the Nuggets and Mavericks duke it out the other day and I was watching J.R. Smith. Do you remember him? He was a 2004 McDonald’s All-America on his way to North Carolina, along with Marvin Williams, JamesOn Curry, and Quentin Thomas.

J.R. Smith was an incredibly talented guard and I couldn’t wait to see him play. He was a bit short, but athletic and limitless range and could dunk. Well, he had a good showing at the McDonald’s game and his draft stock went up (remember the rule for at least one year of college was not in place yet) and he entered the draft and was taken with a middle draft pick. He has done pretty well for himself, establishing himself as a 6th man. But he has had a few run ins with authority figures as well. When I watch him play, he seems like such a head case. He’s arrogant and proud and quick tempered (Remember he was suspended for a few games because of fighting), but he is athletic and has limitless range.

JamesOn Curry was another guard who was similar to Smith, but probably not the dunking. Well he had some run-ins with the law (similar to John Wall, eh?), mostly because of a drug bust. UNC decided they were better off without him and released him from his Letter of Intent, where he ended up going to Oklahoma State. He later applied for the draft and was taken in the second round and bounced around the D-League for awhile.

What if these two had shown up to campus? At first, when they both said they weren’t coming, I was very disappointed because I thought we were losing some good players (I was young). Well, I’m glad they didn’t because that could really throw off the whole team concept in the 05 season. Remember this group went from all about me to all about we. Both of these players seem selfish to me and they don’t really have their heads on straight sometimes.

I know Coach Williams recruited them and is a firm believer in character and no-nonsense, so I think he would have made an impact on these young men’s lives, but still, you never know. What if J.R. Smith was a shoot-a-holic? What if JamesOn Curry is handing out drugs to Sean May and Marvin Williams? I think both of these guards would have been immensely talented and would have greatly helped out after the mass exodus in 05, but if they had played on that team, it probably wouldn’t be one of the all-time favorite Tar Heel teams. And they would have cut in on #50’s stats, which I’m glad didn’t happen.

Again, I know that Roy would have been laying down the law on these kids, but we were much better off without them. We did win the championship that year and the next year, we brought in the best player to ever play at North Carolina, so I will gladly take it.