.jpg?max_width=200&max_height=200)
• McGrath enters his ninth season on the Carolina bench, and
lucky 13th beside Roy Williams. At UNC, McGrath assists in
recruiting and player development, and is responsible for the team
camp and coach's clinics. He also serves as head coach of the
North Carolina junior varsity team.
• McGrath has helped guide the Tar Heels to two national
championships and three Final Four appearances in his tenure at
UNC.
• During his playing days, McGrath was an integral member of a
Kansas team which won four straight Big 8 or Big 12 titles, two Big
12 Championships and amassed a 123-17 record in four
seasons. McGrath was a two-time Academic All-Big 12
selection.
Taking it in stride
In the world of sports, we are seeing season or career ending injuries too often. I don’t know what has changed over the years to cause this, whether it is concussions or stress fractures or torn ligaments, you don’t wish any these things upon your worst enemies. You want to beat teams at full strength and watch their talents develop as opposed to seeing all their hard work go to rehabilitation.
It is not a great subject to write or think about and most times we try not to, but we lost our starting guard to a torn ACL on January 19th. Dexter Strickland was dribbling down court against Virginia Tech on a fast break and went to euro-step (a new move that you see when attacking the basket to change your path and avoid the defender). He did not finish the move and collapsed to the ground in obvious pain. We knew it wasn’t a good sign because we are starting to see it more and more when you get hurt trying to jump and there is no contact, it usually ends up with a torn ligament.
We were supposed to have a smooth season with so many capable players returning and new freshmen coming in. We lost Leslie McDonald to a torn ACL when he was injured in July and now another key component is out. Sometimes you have no words to try and console these athletes when they get the news that their season is over. I did not, other than tell Dexter I was truly sorry it happened. He responded, “everything happens for a reason.” He is taking it in stride and not letting it get him down. We are following his lead and have won four straight games without him and have played some of our best defense all season. I hope it continues as the meat of our conference schedule is still to come.
We play Duke for the first time tomorrow, and we will have to
defend like we have during this stretch to compete. The neat
thing that we have always seen that comes from an injury is having
other players step-up and play even better. Reggie Bullock
(left, Jeffrey A. Camarati, UNC Athletic
Communications) has become the starter in Dexter’s
place and has been great on the defensive end of the court.
Stilman White has played some key minutes at the back-up point
guard while giving Kendall Marshall a few breathers.
Shifting back to the injury topic, I don’t know if athletes’ bodies are breaking down easier because they are overusing them from the time they start playing sports. I know that some sports are more susceptible to injury than others. I played college basketball at Kansas in the mid-late 90’s and we had very few players miss games and seasons due to injury. I do think the medical staffs are more informed, research is better and imaging machines are amazing. I also think that pre-hab for the athlete is exponentially better, meaning the athletes efforts to prepare their body to avoid injury. Stretching, hot tub/cold tub contrast, along with all the other bone stimulation devices have helped keep athletes active.
I only think about these things when I have idle time because I am at a loss. Stress fractures end seasons and hardly anybody had those when I played. I think it is really good to give athletes time off both during the season and in the off-season. Fresher legs and minds might be a possible answer to avoiding injuries. I hope that some answers and solutions will be found. Tiger Woods has not been the same since his torn ACL a few years ago, Sidney Crosby hasn’t played in a couple of years and Peyton Manning may never play again. All three athletes were in the prime of their careers before injury. It is sad to see for a sports fan.
It also pains me to talk about something else that happened to our team since my last entry. We lost on the road to Florida State by 33 points. That is a rare defeat at the University of North Carolina, not the loss but the margin. Florida State was very good that day and we did not compete on either end like we should. Our staff and players were embarrassed but we got back and started working on things both mentally and physically so that will not happen again. We all watched the film together so it was clear that we saw where the breakdowns happened. We had great practices after that with better intensity and concentration.
Sorry for this entry being a downer... but it's meant to offer some insight to the everyday life and issues effecting college basketball programs. On a positive note, the biggest game in sports the week after the Super Bowl is Carolina vs. Duke; part I for 2012.
Go Heels!
* * *
