Comments on: Roy On His Decision in 2000

By: heeledsoul

heeledsoul — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:10:23 +0000

Do we know for certain all the motivations behind all that happened? Is there any room for possibility that gut didn’t act entirely out of self interest but what he believed was best solution for the circumstances presented?

I think there is room. As long as there is, I’m not throwing the guy under the bus.

By: scl11

scl11 — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:07:20 +0000

“give the man a break”

Why? As I mentioned in my post all of this has worked out for the best when we look back on it with 20/20 hindsight. But my point was Gut was the main reason for the debacle that became Carolina’s program in the early part of this decade because for some reason (ego, $, etc.) Gut held onto the reigns too long and expected Roy to bail him out in the end. That is why I have always contended that Guthridge not Doherthy was the driving factor of the failures from 2001 to 2003.

I respect Guthridge’s loyalty to Dean Smith and Carolina basketball for his many years as an assistant coach, but he was an absolute failure as a head coach and I just don’t get why it keeps getting shoved on the fan base that we should hold him in the same light as Dean, Roy, and Mcquire. Guthridge choked away a title in 1998 with his “6 starter” rotations, and then he emptied the cupboard with poor recruiting decisions and an inability to lure the elite talent to Chapel Hill do to everyone knowing he was a short-term solution. In the end Guthridge did what was best for him, instead of what was best for the Carolina program and expected Roy to save the day and clean up his mess once he was done playing Head Coach; which is disappointing considering it was out of character when in comparison to his previous tenor as an assistant coach.

By: HeelYeah

HeelYeah — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 13:48:10 +0000

I guess all things happen for a reason. As much as it sucked watching the Heels fall apart during the 8-20 debacle, it did make me appreciate what we have as fans of UNC basketball. It also showed me how it must feel to be a fan of certain other schools, and boy does that suck even more.

By: briarcliff

briarcliff — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:30:36 +0000

This is old news to anyone who read “Blue Blood” back in 2005. Chansky covers Roy’s 2000 decision in great detail.

By: C. Michael

C. Michael — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 12:11:29 +0000

“I don’t even want to think about what could have been if Gut had left after one year and Roy had come back. Wait, I just did. Man that sucks…”

The proper statement should be, “…if Gut had left after one year and IF Roy had come back…”

No matter what is said in the book, no one can take it as a certainty that Roy would have comeback, just as it wasn’t a certainty after the 2000 season.

Maybe Roy doesn’t come back.

Maybe, instead of Doh, who would have been a year younger, UNC went outside of the family and hired Calipari, who had just been fired by the Nets.

Maybe UNC starts a 4-5 year run with great players, only to have the programs reputation destroyed, because, well, that is what Calipari does.

Maybes are worthless. The Doh years happened and quite frankly, I think that is a good thing. The success of the last 5 years has been far more enjoyable with that as a backdrop.

By: AZACCFan

AZACCFan — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:15:41 +0000

Hopefully when Roy Williams retires many years from now, he will do so remembering this sequence of events. But it is bound to be a huge project to find a suitable successor. So enjoy it while you can sportsfans.

By: heeledsoul

heeledsoul — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:27:09 +0000

scl11,
give the man a break. i was in school throughout his tenure and i endured the doh era. i’m still waiting for my refund on my athletics fee i had to pay as part of student fees. but ultimately, gut was done in by the circumstances of everyone knowing that he was just a temp. so many years of loyal service to unc. i give him a pass (i also give doh a pass… A for effort). and that’s much easier done after 2 national championships.

By: Santiago

Santiago — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 20:40:31 +0000

Must…keep…negative…Guthridge…comment…to…myself!

How does that saying go? “We plan. God laughs.” Something like that.

By: scl11

scl11 — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:23:32 +0000

“I don’t even want to think about what could have been if Gut had left after one year and Roy had come back.”

Jason (call me Jay) Williams most likely ends up at Carolina instead of Duke, probably an additional Carolina Natty, and the 8 win season never happens.

But maybe 2005 and 2009, don’t happen either. All in all Carolina Basketball has turned out pretty well, even if Roy showed up in Chapel Hill 5 years after the initial plan.

All this really does is add more fuel to the fire that Gutheridge was the main culprit for running the North Carolina basketball program into the crapper.

By: Ron

Ron — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 18:11:07 +0000

Interesting article, really makes me want to go buy the book now. It also makes things a lot clearer. I, like many, expected Roy to take the reins when Dean retired. Then when Guthridge took over I figured ok, Dean is rewarding him for his many years of service knowing that Gut would never get a head coaching job anywhere. Gut would coach a year, two at the most and retire. Whatever happened during his tenure happens and then we have a hall of fame coach waiting in the wings to take over. When Roy turned us down I was shocked. Hearing all this now it makes perfect sense. It also shows me that we have exactly what we thought we were getting in Roy Williams; one of the greatest coaches of all time that is a man of his word.

Yeah we can look back and say “what if”. But we never know what might have happened along the way either. For all my disappointment in 2000 I wouldn’t change a thing.