UNC Basketball: Clemson Tigers Game Will Mean A Lot To Tar Heels Tonight

While they defeated Georgia Tech by 25 points, few believe that the Clemson Tigers will beat the UNC Tar Heel basketball team by 45 points. If you use the logic of past games, you get to that figure by adding the 20-point loss Georgia Tech pinned on the Tar Heels to the 25 point win of the Tigers over GT and you end up with the margin of victory of the Tigers over the Tar Heels.

Will this happen? Of course not.

But while Roy Williams finally came out of the closet and rapped his own coaching performance after the GT game, old Roy also gave his team the worst and most abusive tongue lashing yet after that game.

Paraphrasing his words, his team did not care, did not want to compete and might as well have stayed home.

More abuse from this Hall of Fame coach was wholly inappropriate. More tongue lashing from this well-respected coach was embarrassing. More bad-mouthing from someone previously largely unknown for trash-talking about anyone, much less his own team, was simply awful to read and hear. Especially when he seemed largely to blame for his team's disorganization and the margin of the loss, if not the loss itself.

As Williams collects a quickly deteriorating reputation, one is left to wonder what he will say when the near historic record North Carolina's men have over Clemson in games played under a Carolina basketball court roof ends.

Will he, like so many other immature men, share the blame again to some degree? Or will he admit that he needs to regroup?

One thing is certain, the fact that basketball players are not giving their best usually speaks volumes about the head coach. And if Tyler Zeller's apparent dislike for his elevator-like replacement on Monday night when it was not evident what was happening to him or why is not cured tonight, Clemson will walk all over the Heels.

It was the middle where it all caved in for the Heels, despite their rotten shooting and failure to shoot when open. And Zeller is Carolina's middle, a middle weakened considerably when Williams lost the California twins this past summer. Yet the failure here was not, as the News and Observer incorrectly claimed, Zeller's fault. He did not get his points because of the elevator ride Williams imposed on him during the GT game.

There are those who claim Williams has the talent. Others claim that he has failed to get a decent point guard for two years. Both affect their judgment of Williams as a coach.

Yet, the fact is that Williams deserves the blame for the absence of plays and the woeful defense shown by Carolina's pathetic man-to-man. And he needs to accept the blame, stop his offensive and abusive behavior and words, and get to work.

Williams and the Tar Heels need a zone that keeps teams from shooting threes. The Tar Heels need more shots by those who used to be able to make them on their own, including his top recruit Harrison Barnes.

Barnes needs to be shooting, moving and playing without the ball, and the rest working hard inside with proper spacing for everyone on the court. Spacing was absolutely horrible during the GT game and cost the Heels turnover after turnover.

Even if they do this, Clemson's likely win will be devastating to the Tar Heels if Williams makes any comments about lack of effort. It is insulting and plainly wrong that the Tar Heels were not trying. College players simply do not fail to try, unless they give up. And they do not give up at the beginning of the game.

Indeed, the Heels seemed to try hard all Monday night. Perhaps they were trying too hard, worried about the next time they would get pulled.

Carolina faces a 2-2 record in the ACC with Duke on the horizon if it loses tonight. What this young team needs is confidence during the game and afterward win or lose, not another now-standard Williams tongue lashing. The Tar Heels need hope, not the fear of immediate replacement during the game and blame afterward. And love, not Williams' hate-filled rants.

In short, we need a very different Williams. One who is compassionate and friendly. One who shows up open and warm.

Is Roy Williams capable of this?

Tune in for tonight's installment and find out.