An ailing point guard is a familiar problem for top-seeded North Carolina.
Once again, Tar Heels are dealing with injuries at most critical juncture
GLENDALE, Ariz. — North Carolina’s Joel Berry II jogged around the court in the middle of a cavernous stadium Friday, casually lofting shots and playfully jousting in the post with teammate Theo Pinson.
There were no obvious signs of distress — neither awkward gait nor grimace of pain after landing after a jumper — from the ankle injuries plaguing him as the Tar Heels prepare to face Oregon in the Final Four.
Familiar spot
Sure, Berry looks set for Saturday’s national semifinals. But it’s unclear how much those injuries will affect his play, and that has the Tar Heels in the awfully familiar position of dealing with injury drama surrounding their floor leader at the season’s most critical time.
“I don’t think there was ever a thought in our mind that he wasn’t going to play, just the type of guy he is,” Associated Press All-American Justin Jackson said. “But it does give us more confidence knowing that he’ll be out there with us.”
This is the third time in nine seasons that North Carolina (31-7) has prepared to play NCAA Tournament games with questions about the status of a top-flight point guard on a No. 1-seeded team.
In 2009, speedy junior Ty Lawson — that year’s Cousy Award winner as the nation’s top point guard — was dealing with a jammed toe from a practice before a game against rival Duke. That sidelined him for the Atlantic Coast Conference Tournament and the NCAA opener, but he returned through pain in a tough second-round win against LSU that helped propel UNC to Roy Williams’ second national championship.
The results weren’t so positive in 2012. The Tar Heels had already lost ballhandler Dexter Strickland in January when Kendall Marshall — a Cousy winner, too — suffered a broken wrist when he took a hard foul during a second-round win against Creighton, UNC then going on to lose in a regional final to Kansas.
Now Berry — himself a Cousy finalist — is dealing with drama, too, though Williams dismissed any notion of déjà vu.
“No,” Williams said this week. “Can’t worry about all that junk.”
Playing for team
Berry, meanwhile, could only chuckle and shrug when asked in the locker room here about the parallels between Lawson, Marshall and his injuries.
“Sometimes you can be selfish and just think about yourself and your well-being,” Berry said. “That’s the one great thing about this program: you’re such a family to where sometimes you put yourself aside to where you start thinking about other guys.
“And I think that’s just why people were motivated to play through the injuries. I’m the same way. Even though I’m hurting I just want to do whatever it takes to be able to help my team out.”
For the record, Berry pronounced himself “85 percent” after a workout Friday.
“That’s one of our leaders, one of our best players ,” Jackson said. “Not having that type of guy out there, it can hurt a little bit.
“But Coach always says the Tar Heels are playing, not Joel Berry or Justin Jackson or whoever. So whoever’s out there has got to be able to play.”