UNC Looms as Villain in MSU Fairy Tale

DETROIT -- Maybe it's his folksy arrogance, the Huckleberry Hound-with-an-attitude rub. Maybe it was the way he lectured TV reporter Bonnie Bernstein, saying, "I could give a (bleep) about Carolina right now" when she asked about his future plans after his 2003 national title-game loss. Maybe it was the Kansas button he wore last year, a weird show of allegiance for an ex-employer in the championship game after the Jayhawks had whipped his Tar Heels.

Or maybe America simply is growing weary of North Carolina, the powder bluebloods who dominate April like azaleas at Augusta and fools on the 1st.

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Whatever, Roy Williams never has quite climbed into our hearts. He certainly won't be the popular coach Monday night, a distinction belonging to Tom Izzo, who is trying to win a national championship at Michigan State while bringing joy to an economically ravaged city and state. Williams and his talented monsters are the intruders in this emotional local drama, the only barrier interfering with an epic tale for college basketball history. The Tar Heels will take the court as just that -- heels -- while at least 60,000 green-dreaming fans will scream and stomp for the Spartans in a 72,000-seat configuration. The potential is there for a monumental upset, a David-beats-Goliath twist that the championship game has lacked for years. And Carolina, frankly, is in the way.

Not that Williams is apologizing.

"You know, if we're playing tomorrow against the city of Detroit and the state of Michigan, they outnumber us. We don't have as good a chance at that one," he said Sunday, contemplating the social angle. "But the other thing you have to understand is, we left here last night at 12:45. We went back, we had a nice little snack and some ice cream and the kids went to bed. I saw them this morning at 11:00 for 30 minutes. We haven't exactly exhausted the state of the nation's economy in the last 18 hours.

"So for us, we're playing Michigan State. I do realize they have a cause. Well, we also have a cause. We want to win a national championship, period, the end. And if you'd tell me that if Michigan State wins, it's gonna satisfy the nation's economy, then I'd say, hell, let's stay poor for a little while longer. I don't think that's gonna happen. So if all the workers of America come down and start guarding my butt on the bench, then I'll start being concerned about it."

It's his semi-sarcastic way of defusing the hostile environment that will greet his players at 9:21 p.m. in Ford Field. He respects Izzo's mission for the Michigan people as much as anyone, but with his own pomp and circumstance, Williams is reminding us that this remains a basketball game in the purist sense. His team is hearing the message, smiling as he talked about "the workers of America" guarding him. "Kind of like Coach said, I'm not looking at it as anything else but us playing Michigan State," Tyler Hansbrough said. "All that other stuff is nothing that I'm paying attention to."

"We played in a lot of hostile environments throughout the season," said Ty Lawson, the rambling, gambling point guard. "We went to Nevada. We played Duke. I don't think it's going to be a big issue playing in front of probably most of Michigan State's crowd. I think we're ready for it."

Consider it the latest challenge in the life of America's premier college hoops program. Loaded with a roster that includes four or five future NBA players, Carolina has been earmarked as the impending national champion since early October. Some of us thought an undefeated season was possible, which was silly -- but not as silly as our nitpicking and concern when the Heels lost four games and Lawson injured his toe. Turns out there was nothing to worry about. They are peaking at precisely the right time, and while Michigan State is doing the same, Carolina is more than capable of overcoming the intense parochial spirit and winning. "When we're clicking on all cylinders, it's a sight to see," guard Bobby Frasor said after an 83-69 trouncing of Villanova on Saturday night.

If Carolina wins its second national title in five years, it would validate the prediction of one Barack Obama, who slipped into his Barry from Bethesda talk-show mode to complete his NCAA bracket last month. "Here's what I like about Carolina: experience and balance," Obama said then. "Now, for all the Tar Heels who are watching, I picked you last year -- you let me down. This year, don't embarrass me in front of the nation, all right? I'm counting on you. I still got those sneakers you guys gave me."

My guess is, they won't let him down. They won't in part because Williams has something to prove, which is the story of his career. He thought the burden was off his shoulders in 2005, when he finally won a national title in his second year in Chapel Hill. But last year, when the Heels were primed again, they inexplicably fell behind Kansas 40-12 in the national semifinals. They lost the game after a furious comeback, which led Hansbrough, Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green to bypass the NBA draft and return for another title shot. A lot is riding tonight for Williams and his ultimate legacy. If he wins a second championship, the critics will leave him alone. If he loses in The Izzone, might we call his one championship a fluke?

"If you thought it was going to be easy, you don't know what you're talking about," Williams said. "It's college basketball. There hasn't been an undefeated team since 1976, and there have been some really, really good teams. I think this year, there were eight or 10 teams or 12 that could be playing Monday night. I'm extremely proud of my team for being here and handling all the things they did. It's been a very difficult year for me as a coach, no question about that. The injury situation, worrying about hurting Tyler, worrying about hurting Ty, Marcus (Ginyard) coming back and not coming back, Will (Graves') suspension, Tyler Zeller's broken wrist. It's been a hard year for me as a coach.

"There has been a target on our back. But I'd much rather have a target on my back than be the team that nobody thinks is going to be any good, because sometimes (the prognosticators) are right. The best thing about this team is, we have kids with great character. We have some characters, too, but this is a team with great character."


At times during his media session, Williams grumbled. He sounded ticked off when he arrived, perhaps soured by criticism that he allowed Lawson to wander into a downtown Detroit casino the other night and win $250 playing craps. "First of all, we're having a slight disagreement up here, because if I'm doing this now, don't expect me to stay around for 30 minutes after they leave," he said of double-duty interviews. "I have more important things to do than stand around here and make fun. I'll give you 30 minutes. I love doing it, but there's some other things I could be doing."

He ended up staying the extra 30 minutes anyway, complaining about the raised court in Ford Field that can be dangerous when a player chases a loose ball. "I do not like the raised floor as a coach. I do not like it at all. If I ever turn into an architect, I would not build a gym like that," he said. "If I'm a head coach or athletic director, I will never have a building built like that. That is extremely uncomfortable to me personally. I don't like the safety. When we played here before against Michigan State, we had a guy go off the court, one of their players. That scared me. I almost fell off the stupid court. That scared me."

Curiously, he mentioned how the job's demands are starting to weigh on him, becoming the second coach in two nights to invoke the name of former North Carolina coach Dean Smith. The first was Connecticut's Jim Calhoun, who is 66 and engulfed by issues and ready for the retirement chair. Roy is, what, 58? What's he upset about? "There's no question, the demands for your time are more -- and more exhaustive," he said. "The time of the day that I spend on coaching gets less and less and less. The time you spend with alumni, with fund-raising, with the media, with recruiting, with whatever, gets bigger and bigger. That part of it, I think, ran coach Smith out of it. I think if it hadn't been for that, he would have stayed in the game a few years longer. He tried to tell me to not let it run me out. There are so many more demands now than there were, definitely than there were 21 years ago when I became a head coach."

But Williams does have a heart, which has a rope connected to his tear ducts. He is deeply indebted to Hansbrough and the seniors for staying a final season. Sunday, Williams realized he was about to conduct his final practice session with them. "I tell the kids all the time, snap your fingers and that's how quickly your four years will pass," he said. "You know, I'm corny, there's no question about it. I'm emotional. This senior class has been really, really important to me. These guys came in after the championship year. We didn't have a lot coming back. They competed from the first day. You know, you can't say which child you love the best because you don't ever think in those terms. That's the way it is with players. The classes that I've recruited in 21 years, this is one of those that is special. Tyler to keep coming back, his work ethic, focus. Bobby, through the stress fracture, the foot, the ACL. Marcus, the trouble he's had this year. For Danny Green to go through the things that he's done and be a sub, giving us great help, being a starter, doing the things.

"I do realize today is gonna be the final practice. In some ways, that's hard. But I'm gonna remember the great times."

He recalled the time 10 years ago when the Los Angeles Lakers approached him. Imagine Roy Williams, not Phil Jackson, coaching Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal. It could have been his baby. "I almost made a dumb, dumb mistake. I went home one night and told my wife, 'Maybe I've got to try that pro stuff,' " he said. "I've been offered several opportunities with the NBA. I was so discouraged with recruiting that I just said, I can't do this anymore. Then along came Nick Collison, Kirk Hinrich, Drew Gooden (at Kansas) -- three great kids, great players, great families, who showed us you could do it the right way. It was so much fun, it gave me hope. It lasted and it's still lasting."

In a building thick with hope and love, Michigan State won't lose to Carolina by 35 points again, as the Spartans did in December. In some ways, this is the most anticipated title game in years because of Izzo's romance with the people. But Roy Williams looms as the spoiler.

Somehow, it's a role perfectly suited for him.