McCants has thrived with help from mates
2005 04 02 04:00:00 PDT St. Louis of North Carolina is such a changed man this season that coach has not had to yell at him since, oh, Adidas Nmd Human BB3070 Race Unisex Orange Ireland Online midway through the last game.
"I jumped him a little bit," Williams said Sunday about a discussion during a first half benching of McCants in the Tar Heels' victory over Wisconsin in the Syracuse Regional final. "Then, early in the second half, I jumped him pretty hard again."
Their conversations about shot selection and the team concept apparently were productive. Just as McCants had done in the previous game, against Villanova, he made a crucial defensive play late in the game against Wisconsin. His blocked shot helped secure an 88 82 victory that propelled the Tar Heels (31 4) into the
McCants is a junior, a 6 foot 4, 207 pound swingman who is the team's second leading scorer, averaging 16 points. leads the team with a 17. Air Jordan 1 OG High 555088-103 Men Metallic Red Dublin average. During the tournament, May has averaged 21.5 and McCants 17.8.
Sometimes McCants can be verbose and direct, expansive about his thoughts and feelings. Other times, he guards his words as defensively as he covers a shooter.
Sometimes he lets his tattoos and shoes do the talking. On his right arm are the words "Born to be hated"; on his left, "Dying to be loved." He sometimes prints the letters NPOY on his shoes; it stands for national player of the year.
At practice Friday, his shoes looked Buy Adidas Superstar New Unisex White Red Online, white and without markings. "Thought I'd keep you guys guessing and asking more questions," he told a group of reporters.
For the most part, McCants kept his eyes cast downward and his answers to one sentence, or sometimes to just one word, a shake of the head or a nod.
How has his relationship with his coach improved from last season? McCants sighed. "It was never really bad," he said.
Have May's frequent conversations with him helped improve McCants' approach to team chemistry? "I don't really think so," he said with a shrug. "I never really had problems with that. It was just a maturity thing, learning your place and learning your role."
May is much more verbal, and some of the things he has said in the past about McCants have been blunt, including "He's not your typical all American boy," and "Last year, he was kind of an outcast" and "He's a different breed."
When former coach arranged for McCants to talk to a psychologist when McCants was a freshman, he took offense, and it was one of the reasons Doherty left amid a player rebellion.
In discussing his influence on McCants on Friday, May said: "I just tried to remind him that it's about this team. You can see he really bought into it. Last year, he was our leading scorer, averaging 20 points a game. We were losing games when he scored a lot of points."
May said McCants has become a more vocal leader among his teammates, a leader by example on defense and a good example by sharing the ball on offense. "He doesn't take it upon himself to do all the scoring," May said. "He relies on everyone else. He's just been a great influence on the team."
But the season has not been without harrowing moments. Last fall, McCants got into trouble with his coach by saying in a television interview that playing at North Carolina was like being in jail.
At the end of the regular season, he missed the final four games with an ailment that he said caused him to lose about six pounds. His mother, , said she believed it was because her son worried about her battle with breast cancer.
During a workout on the court Friday, McCants stretched in a corner of the floor alongside May. When they got up and jogged lightly in drills, the scoreboard screen above them showed a few scenes from last week's regional, primarily highlights of May dunking and McCants connecting on long jump shots.
The final scene on the tape showed May and McCants briefly hugging in celebration. Below it, oblivious to it, they went about their business, smiling and chatting.
2005 04 02 04:00:00 PDT St. Louis of North Carolina is such a changed man this season that coach has not had to yell at him since, oh, Adidas Nmd Human BB3070 Race Unisex Orange Ireland Online midway through the last game.
"I jumped him a little bit," Williams said Sunday about a discussion during a first half benching of McCants in the Tar Heels' victory over Wisconsin in the Syracuse Regional final. "Then, early in the second half, I jumped him pretty hard again."
Their conversations about shot selection and the team concept apparently were productive. Just as McCants had done in the previous game, against Villanova, he made a crucial defensive play late in the game against Wisconsin. His blocked shot helped secure an 88 82 victory that propelled the Tar Heels (31 4) into the
McCants is a junior, a 6 foot 4, 207 pound swingman who is the team's second leading scorer, averaging 16 points. leads the team with a 17. Air Jordan 1 OG High 555088-103 Men Metallic Red Dublin average. During the tournament, May has averaged 21.5 and McCants 17.8.
Sometimes McCants can be verbose and direct, expansive about his thoughts and feelings. Other times, he guards his words as defensively as he covers a shooter.
Sometimes he lets his tattoos and shoes do the talking. On his right arm are the words "Born to be hated"; on his left, "Dying to be loved." He sometimes prints the letters NPOY on his shoes; it stands for national player of the year.
At practice Friday, his shoes looked Buy Adidas Superstar New Unisex White Red Online, white and without markings. "Thought I'd keep you guys guessing and asking more questions," he told a group of reporters.
For the most part, McCants kept his eyes cast downward and his answers to one sentence, or sometimes to just one word, a shake of the head or a nod.
How has his relationship with his coach improved from last season? McCants sighed. "It was never really bad," he said.
Have May's frequent conversations with him helped improve McCants' approach to team chemistry? "I don't really think so," he said with a shrug. "I never really had problems with that. It was just a maturity thing, learning your place and learning your role."
May is much more verbal, and some of the things he has said in the past about McCants have been blunt, including "He's not your typical all American boy," and "Last year, he was kind of an outcast" and "He's a different breed."
When former coach arranged for McCants to talk to a psychologist when McCants was a freshman, he took offense, and it was one of the reasons Doherty left amid a player rebellion.
In discussing his influence on McCants on Friday, May said: "I just tried to remind him that it's about this team. You can see he really bought into it. Last year, he was our leading scorer, averaging 20 points a game. We were losing games when he scored a lot of points."
May said McCants has become a more vocal leader among his teammates, a leader by example on defense and a good example by sharing the ball on offense. "He doesn't take it upon himself to do all the scoring," May said. "He relies on everyone else. He's just been a great influence on the team."
But the season has not been without harrowing moments. Last fall, McCants got into trouble with his coach by saying in a television interview that playing at North Carolina was like being in jail.
At the end of the regular season, he missed the final four games with an ailment that he said caused him to lose about six pounds. His mother, , said she believed it was because her son worried about her battle with breast cancer.
During a workout on the court Friday, McCants stretched in a corner of the floor alongside May. When they got up and jogged lightly in drills, the scoreboard screen above them showed a few scenes from last week's regional, primarily highlights of May dunking and McCants connecting on long jump shots.
The final scene on the tape showed May and McCants briefly hugging in celebration. Below it, oblivious to it, they went about their business, smiling and chatting.