UNC's easy win comes with a big loss
Posted: Friday, December 28, 2007 12:11 AM
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ACC
No. 1 North Carolina had little trouble with Nevada on Thursday. Tyler Hansbrough was his usual dominant self (26 points, 8 rebounds, 1.35 PPWS), Wayne Ellington continued to show improvement as a perimeter threat (23 points, 1.78 PPWS, boosted by 5-of-8 from three-point land) and Ty Lawson scored 16 and had a career high 10 assists.
But when reserve guard Bobby Frasor went down clutching his knee midway through the second half, all that was forgotten. Ol’ Roy did his best to lighten the mood, but to no avail. He knows this’ll be big.
North Carolina won’t feel Frasor’s loss much during the next few games, and maybe not significantly until it plays Duke on Feb. 6 (Clemson on Jan. 8 will be the first test). But make no mistake, losing Frasor for the season (torn ACL) impacts the Heels’ chances for a national title.
In fact, this sums it up nicely.
Frasor, simply put, is a glue guy. He plays solid defense, is a great teammate and provides offense when provided. Maybe just as important is Frasor was Lawson’s backup. That’ll affect the Heels’ during games and – this is what Heels’ fans are dreading – if Lawson is injured. (He’s missed one game this season due to an ankle injury.)
A Lawson injury is worst-case scenario for UNC, who, quite frankly, has plenty of talent to offset Frasor’s loss. I know, I’ve just spent the last few grafs fretting about not having Frasor, but this is where that depth comes into play. No Frasor means senior Quentin Thomas having an increased role, but the Heels can handle this for the rest of the regular-season.
When the loss of a key defensive player will matter most is in March. A team can never have enough guards in the NCAA Tournament. (Williams knows this, too. He still wishes he had a healthy Jarod Hasse in 1997.)
Take Memphis, for instance. The Tigers’ impressive win against Georgetown could be summed up as such: “Memphis’ defense stole the show, and Derrick Rose just keeps getting better.”
Not having Frasor to use against a player like Rose – one of the game’s fastest freshmen and pretty much a nightmare to guard off the dribble – hurts UNC immensely (consider how useful a guy like Jackie Manuel would be). Neither Ellington or Lawson can guard Rose and Marcus Ginyard may be a step too slow.
Now, the odds UNC playing Memphis in the Big Dance are slim. But stopping guys like Rose in March is one piece to a championship puzzle, which is the defensive metaphor I’m sticking with and it’s where Frasor would be incredibly helpful for the Heels.
And without that piece, it’ll be just a little bit harder for UNC. Impossible? No way. But the rest of the country just caught a bit of a break vs. the Heels.
