ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 24, 1997 TAG: 9703250026
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: JACK BOGACZYK
DATELINE: SYRACUSE, N.Y.
SOURCE: JACK BOGACZYK
Nobody is sure of the date, but it's safe to circle mid-January.
On some January day at North Carolina's basketball practice, coach Dean Smith may have put his team on the on-ramp to the Final Four.
It wasn't anything from one of the practice plans he's saved for these thirtysomething years. Smith didn't dwell on the point for more than a sentence.
Louisville coach Denny Crum had turned to a neuroscientist to get into some of his players' heads before the NCAA East Regional at the Carrier Dome. Smith used his own amateur psychology long before that - if anyone dealing with young men for 36 years is an amateur.
``One day,'' UNC guard Vince Carter recalled Sunday, ``Coach Smith came in and was talking and said, `If we don't make the NCAA, we'll just have to learn from it.'
``If we weren't listening, we had to pay attention to that. I don't think Coach Smith ever thought we wouldn't make it. He was just doing something psychological.''
Even when the Tar Heels were 12-6, even when they were 0-3 in the ACC and had been drummed by 24, 10 and 12 points by Wake Forest, Maryland and Virginia, respectively, it seemed they'd go to the NCAA Tournament.
But the Final Four? Could this team have expected to cut down the nets at the ACC tournament and the NCAA East Regional, as it did Sunday after a 97-74 crunching of Louisville?
No.
``I would say that, again, I've been the most surprised man in our locker room after some of the games we won,'' Smith said.
``I tend to see, as a coach, and maybe as a parent you see your kids the same way ... I tend to see all of the weaknesses that we have and then I'm surprised at, hey, we won.
``Maybe some other teams I've had, I've thought, gosh, we're good, and maybe that's because of the defense.''
Smith steadfastly has refused to compare his teams. Although his past 23 teams have reached the NCAA Tournament, he will not say which are his favorites. However, there's no question the team he takes to Indianapolis next weekend has won his respect, as well as his heart.
``I do feel that this team is special,'' said Smith. ``Most of the times, with teams, I'm confident. This one, I was really concerned.
``Here we were, not only 0-3, but 3-5 through the first half of the conference season. Really, we did some good things. Then we have to beat Virginia and Florida State at home, and we do it far easier [by 28 and 24] than I thought.
``So I said to myself, `They have more confidence in themselves than I do' at that time.''
The Tar Heels went to N.C. State and Georgia Tech. Smith, still thinking conservatively, was hoping for a split. The Heels came from 11 and 16 points behind, respectively, to win both.
The next four came against ACC foes ranked in the top 14 - home games with Wake Forest and Duke sandwiching visits to Maryland and Clemson.
``We were underdogs in three of the four,'' Smith recalled. ``Our players were smart enough to take them one at a time. [Winning all four] was just remarkable.''
The Heels since have won a 14th ACC tournament title and four NCAA Tournament games. They've put Smith in his 11th Final Four.
``I just stand in awe of their toughness,'' Smith said. ``We still are making mistakes, but maybe I see too many of the flaws and not enough of the really good things occurring.
``Still, we're winning games, playing hard, and playing smart, most of the time.''
It's a team short on depth and versatility. Of course, Smith should have reached the 1997 Final Four. This is a team on which NBA defectors Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace would have been seniors and Jeff McInnis a junior.
Carter said the Tar Heels' low point was the Jan.11 loss at Virginia. The frustration then, center Serge Zwikker said, wasn't so much ``that we were 0-3 in the ACC. It was that we couldn't do in games what we were doing in practice.''
Sophomore forward Antawn Jamison, who could become Smith's eighth NBA early entrant after the Final Four, said the ``thing that people forget is that we're still a young team. Serge is the only senior. We're still growing, but we've grown up.''
Smith seems relaxed as he heads to the Final Four. Why not? He was uncharacteristically lighthearted with the media throughout what he called ``the Syracuse Invitational.''
The Adolph Rupp chase for the career coaching victories record is behind him, and as much as he won't say so, it's obvious from his personality now that it was important to him. Not only did this team he couldn't figure out give him that mark, it also gave him another unexpected trip to the Final Four.
Only John Wooden has been there more times. Wooden had a dozen Final Four dates.
``Dean has a very good team,'' said Crum, a former Wooden assistant. ``Their balance inside and outside, and their ability to play more than one defense, makes them tough.''
Crum saw the UNC glass as half-full. Smith has been seeing it as half-empty. Smith expected another trip to the Final Four.
But not this year.
LENGTH: Medium: 100 linesby CNB