THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1997, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, February 21, 1997 TAG: 9702211043
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY FRANK VEHORN, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: CHAPEL HILL, N.C. LENGTH: 91 lines
For 20 minutes Wednesday night Vince Carter put on the greatest show ever by a North Carolina basketball player.
Michael Jordan never had such a spectacular half when he wore the blue and white. Neither did James Worthy, Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Miller or Charlie Scott.
Not only was Carter virtually unstoppable, tossing in 3-pointers and soaring high for alley-oop dunks, but he did it with such flair that North Carolina's normally laid-back fans cheered themselves hoarse.
``This is what we've been waiting two years to see,'' declared one fan after Carter sailed over Wake Forest's Tim Duncan for a swishing dunk.
Carter, in that brilliant 20 minutes, outscored the entire Wake Forest team, 21-18, to lay the groundwork for the Tar Heels' 74-60 victory.
``Vince just took it to them and they didn't have anyone who could stop him,'' North Carolina's Antawn Jamison said.
The Deacons admitted as much themselves.
``He came out hot and just pounded us,'' Jerry Braswell said. ``We couldn't find a way to stop him in that first half.''
Carter made 9 of 10 field-goal attempts, including a trio from 3-point range, and dished out three assists in the opening 20 minutes.
At one point in the first half, the Deacons seemed to be arguing among themselves over who was guarding Carter.
``He (Carter) was moving so well without the ball that Wake never was sure where he was,'' said teammate Ed Cota, whose passes set up most of Carter's jams.
Just like the fan, Carter admitted afterward he had been waiting two years for such a performance.
The 6-foot-6 sophomore from Ormond Beach, Fla., smiled and nodded when asked if that was ``the real'' Vince Carter who showed up for the first half.
``Yeah, that was me and I was just having fun out there,'' Carter replied. ``It was an amazing feeling. I hadn't had a game like that since high school.''
A high school All-American, Carter arrived in Chapel Hill for his freshman season billed as the latest ``next Michael Jordan,'' and a replacement for Stackhouse, who had left for the pros following his sophomore season.
Anyone would have struggled to reach such unrealistic expectations, but it was especially difficult for Carter, who did not have the solid fundamentals to go with his flashy offense.
He had problems with his ball-handling and his defense and spent so much time on the bench during the first half of the season that there was talk he might transfer. He averaged just 7.5 points a game last season.
Carter, though, decided to stay and worked to improve his basic skills during the summer. His scoring average is up to 12.6, and his defense and ball-handling have improved considerably. So has his court maturity.
``Coach (Dean) Smith has been telling me to let the game come to me, and that's what I was doing (Wednesday),'' Carter said. ``I think Wake Forest may have been paying too much attention to Antawn (Jamison) and that helped me to get open shots.''
A sign of Carter's maturity came in the second half when the Deacons shifted their defensive efforts to him. Instead of forcing shots, he gave way to Jamison, whose offense blunted Wake Forest's comeback hopes.
Carter finished with 26 points, a career high, following a 15-point performance in last week's win over Georgia Tech.
Smith jokingly asked Carter after the Tech game if trainer Marc Davis had given him ``some kind of pill'' to spark his offense.
``Obviously, that pill is still working,'' Smith said.
Carter has shot at least 50 percent from the field in eight of the last nine games.
And his overall 50.8 percentage is second on the team behind Jamison's 53.6.
His accelerated play has been a big reason for the Tar Heels' hot streak. They have won won six straight games and 10 of the last 11.
The Tar Heels (18-6, 8-5 ACC) are tied with Clemson for fourth place and still in contention for the regular-season title.
``I don't think anyone except us really believed we could turn things around after we started out 0-3 (in the league),'' Carter said. ``We got together and said we would turn it around and see what happened. And it's happening now.''
The Tar Heels visit Maryland on Saturday, and conclude the regular season next week with a road game at Clemson and at home against Duke. ILLUSTRATION: Color photo
ASSOCIATED PRESS
``This is what we've been waiting two yearsw to see,'' declared one
North Carolina fan after Vince Carter sailed over Wake Forest's Tim
Duncan for a swishing dunk in Wednesday's 74-60 victory over the
Deacons.
AP PHOTO
UNC's Makhtar Ndiaye celebrates Wednesday after his team took apart
Wake Forest, in large part because of the effort to teammate Vince
Carter.