UNC basketball what ifs

What if Roy stayed ten more years on that floor,
Still calling secondary break like it was ’04?
What if C-Webb never called that timeout in ’93,
And the championship drought extended for Dean?

What if every five-star said, “I’m here to grow,”
Four winters in Chapel Hill before they go pro?
What if NIL meant “Now It’s Locked,”
And every top recruit chose Carolina stock?

What if every March felt scripted in blue,
One shining moment—yeah, we claiming that too.
What if stacks of rings in the Smith looked like a jewelry store,
And every March ended with confetti on the floor?

What if ’09 ran it back in 2010?
What if Tyler still had eligibility left to win?
What if Psycho T got a COVID year extension,
Came back averaging 25, 12 boards, 3 assists not to mention?

What if the 2012 squad stayed healthy all spring,
Kendall never broke the wrist—y’all know the thing.
What if that run ended cutting down nets again,
And Harrison Barnes turned villain in the end?

What if the 2016 buzzer-beater never fell?
Yeah, I’m talking ‘bout that shot we know too well.
What if Marcus got one more clean look from the wing,
And Carolina left Houston with the ring?

But what if that just made 2017 less sweet?
Redemption don’t hit the same without defeat.
Still—what if we doubled up and went back-to-back,
Left the whole blue nation flat on they back?

What if in 2022 we finished the climb?
After sending Coach K home for the final time.
What if that title game flipped by one more shot,
Sixth banner flying from the rafters on the spot?

What if the rivalry never swung the other way?
What if Tobacco Road stayed sky blue every day?
But what if the heartbreak built the culture and pride,
Made the wins feel bigger on the Chapel Hill side?

What if every March was a Carolina parade?
Franklin Street flooded, victory lemonade.
But here’s the twist, here’s the gist of the plot—
What if the losses made the banners we got?

What if perfection never really existed?
And greatness only shines ’cause adversity twisted?
What if every “almost” made the program legit?
Tar Heel Nation—what if that’s why we it?
 
I think UNC got a blessing in disguise when JR Smith skipped college.

I remember (perhaps errantly) Kobe talking about his college choices at the McD AA game, and it was Duke and someone else.

We were in the hunt for Tim Thomas, who was also at that McD AA game. I believe he chose Nova and we were in second. That's probably where the Kobe->UNC idea came from. I'm not sure we were ever in it for Kobe. We had Vince.
 
superrific said:
I think UNC got a blessing in disguise when JR Smith skipped college.

I remember (perhaps errantly) Kobe talking about his college choices at the McD AA game, and it was Duke and someone else.

We were in the hunt for Tim Thomas, who was also at that McD AA game. I believe he chose Nova and we were in second. That's probably where the Kobe->UNC idea came from. I'm not sure we were ever in it for Kobe. We had Vince.
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Kobe did come out years later and say that if he had gone to college it would have been UNC: Kobe would've picked UNC over Duke.

But a few years later, when asked via twitter, he said Duke, but further explained that it was because Dean Smith stopped recruiting him when it became apparent that he was going straight to the NBA, while K continued to recruit him: Now Kobe Bryant says he'd have picked Duke, not UNC, if he went to college.

So seems like UNC would have been his first choice, with Duke his #2 (how appropriate).
 
heelinhell said:
What if Coach Smith had not been concerned about embarrassing a player by calling a timeout to get a freshman O'Koren back in the game to replace senior "Bruce the blade"
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My EX Father In Law, RIP, had this thought every day for decades
 
superrific said:
Doubtful. Playing at Carolina requires basketball IQ. And a willingness not to second-guess every single thing the coach says or does.
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I never second guessed a thing Dean did. I used his motion offense when I coached. It was the offense I learned when I was playing in middle and high school. Just because you don't agree with the ways I think the game should be played doesn't mean I don't have a high basketball IQ.
 
superrific said:
But this triple negative might. Geez, man.
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StoneColdHeel said:
I never second guessed a thing Dean did. I used his motion offense when I coached. It was the offense I learned when I was playing in middle and high school. Just because you don't agree with the ways I think the game should be played doesn't mean I don't have a high basketball IQ.
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What does basketball have to do with it? The exception that proves the rule?
 
StoneColdHeel said:
That be proper English.
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But seriously, the game has evolved from the days of the motion offense. There's a reason why it's rarely used in the NBA and used much less in college than it used to.

I also liked the motion offense. What I object to is the idea that if coaches aren't using the same system from 30-40 years ago then they are doing something wrong.

For one thing, Dean's motion offense was often designed to get the ball into the post. Post play was efficient back then. Now, it is not, as a general matter. Sometimes it can be, but the corner 3 is almost always a better risk reward bet.

The problem with the motion offense is that it doesn't care that much where shots come from, as long as they are good shots. But in today's game, it absolutely does matter. You do not want to be taking 17 footers. If you look back at classic Dean games like 82 championship, you'll see that virtually all the perimeter players' shots were, by today's standard, bad shots. Of course, they weren't bad back then.
 
So on another thread there was a big What If discussed...What would happen if the 1982 Champs played the 2025 dookie team?

I ran that through ChatGPT to see what it delivered.
 
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