The last time UNC coach Roy Williams faced his former employer, the Kansas Jayhawks, he called it "one of the worst nights of my career."
That matchup occurred in the 2008 NCAA Tournament semifinals and when I spoke to him about it more than a year later during the research for Williams' autobiography "Hard Work," he could still recall in detail almost every play from that game.
He said he walked onto the court that night in San Antonio believing his team was going to play great. Before he knew it, the Tar Heels trailed 40-12.
He also admitted that he coached the game feeling so ill that he threw up into a towel and so dizzy that he had to hold onto a chair to keep from falling. At one point he asked his assistant coach Steve Robinson to call a play because he couldn't.
Though the Tar Heels made a run in the second half, UNC lost 84-66.
"It felt like somebody reached in and grabbed my heart and shook it in front of my face," Williams told me. "That Kansas game will eat at me for the rest of my career. Playing so poorly was bad enough, but playing so poorly against the team I coached for 15 years made it even worse. I wanted to win that game more than any game I have ever coached... Watching us play felt like a nightmare. I still to this day have not watched a tape of that Kansas game, and I probably never will."
Think he wants to win this one?
- Tim Crothers
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Crothers: Roy Williams can't forget his last game against Kansas
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9 comments:
I doubt he also will ever watch that duke loss when austin "iceman" rivers nailed that 3 to beat "general george armstrong custer" williams in the dean dome hahaha. Go jayhawks!!
Wow, tha Rivers jumper seems like such a long time ago now. . .hope he enjoys he game from the comfort of his agent's couch.
He probably just has the multiple Duke senior nights he ruined on a loop.
Didn't Duke get beat in the first round by Lehigh? Too bad that they couldn't join the NIT. Maybe they could have won against the likes of South Dakota Polytechnic State. Win or lose today, I think the better team has already proven to be UNC, by any measure. Just accept it and move on.
Yeah 9:44 am, it is too bad Duke never plays in the NIT....
Why is everyone obsessed with talking about Duke? Can we focus on the matter at hand, i.e. how the Preseason #1 is likely going down in the Elite 8 again?
UPDATE:
The last time UNC coach Roy Williams faced his former employer, the Kansas Jayhawks, he called it "one of the *TWO* worst nights of my career."
KU crushes Preseason #1 Tar Heel squad by double digits...
And I ain't talkin' about 2008!!
Last I checked, there's only one team that ends the season as a winner...and Carolina ain't gonna be it.
well I think that Roy Williams should look at his mistakes first and be a little more humble, that is my opinion
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