Roy faced the media yesterday and among the usual discussion of the upcoming season was the revelation that Roy was suffering from a bout of vertigo(i.e. dizziness.) Apparently it has been an issue for a few years and the last attack in 2005. On actual basketball issues, Roy has stated the primary focus for the Heels coming back in October will be defense.
But improved defense -- Carolina allowed opponents to shoot 41.6 percent -- also could help the Tar Heels avoid close endings in the first place.
"Everybody's got be a better defender," Williams said. "On my desk, under the glass top, I put notes down, and I've already got two or three cards full of notes, and probably about 90 percent of the things are on the defensive end of the floor.
"And we were OK defensively, but we were not where I want us to be defensively."
In one respect the defense was not horrible last season and in fact statistically it was very good. The issue UNC had was being able to lock down on individual players at key moments. Some of that came from general lapses in focus and some of it was inexperience. The focus on individual defense should be the key to making the whole defense better.
Concerning personnel, Williams highlighted the loss of Wright who he said was important defensively for his shot blocking which he referred to as "erasing mistakes." That might be true, but I also think that if the Heels can hone their individual defensive skills as Roy wants the absence of Wright's shot blocking might be less of an issue. As for what the players have been doing this summer, Deon Thompson is playing USA basketball, Wayne Ellington is doing the same for the Pan Am games, Ty Lawson worked as a counselor at LeBron James' camp and the trio of Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, and Marcus Ginyard have been working out on campus.
The tone and motivation for the upcoming season is a fairly obvious one: Georgetown.
Driving them is the chance to spit out the bitter taste left by the loss to the Hoyas -- a defeat Williams called one of the three most disappointing of his coaching career.
"The Georgetown game was the first game I felt like our freshmen and sophomores, [in] the last eight minutes of the game, acted like freshmen and sophomores," he said. "For that part, it was discouraging, but again, we tie for the conference regular-season championship, win the conference tournament and go to the final eight and lose in overtime.
The Georgetown Game is not only going to be a point of motivation but also as a teaching game. They way UNC executed on both ends and the general loss of composure are issues I am sure Roy will point to and give them something to improve upon.
Also from the press conference, Roy stated how little he actually avails himself of text messaging.
I probably text fewer prospects than any coach in the country,'' Williams said Wednesday. "The football coach at Florida, Urban Meyer, [I] was just reading an article about him. What he did in one day was more than I have [text messaged] in my entire life.
"It’s not a big deal with me, but it’s really bad that we won’t have that option. We’re all our own worst enemy because everything is better in moderation and those that don’t hurt it for everybody.
Roy and technology apparently do not mix, which means he probably does not read THF. Not that he is missing much. At any rate I hope his vertigo passes, watching Ty Lawson run the offense has to be dizzying enough without an inner ear problem.