Coach of the Year...Sort of

Let's be honest.  Coach of the Year is rarely granted to a coach of a transcendantly great team.  In fact, with the constant greatness of programs like Syracuse, UConn, Michigan State, Duke, North Carolina, Gonzaga, you can bet it's a long shot most years for Coach K, Roy, Izzo, Boeheim, Mark Few (who really deserves some votes this year) or Calhoun to take home the hardware anymore.  That honor this year will much more likely be bestowed on the likes of a Tony Bennett, Bruce Pearl, or Jamie Dixon (again).  In short, it goes to the coach whose team most dramatically exceeds expectations.

So let me give you my nomination for Coach of the Year, with a twist.  More specifically Worst Coach of the Year.  Hands down, it's lovable, affable Roy Williams.  It hurts to write.  It's hard to say, which is why very few media outlets will say it, but it is undeniably true.  It's been an abysmally poor coaching job this year in Chapel Hill.

You can make the argument that Carolina lost more in terms of talent than any team in the country heading into this year.  I'd agree with you.  You can also argue that Carolina was drastically overrated to begin the season and they just weren't as talented as advertised.

I'll give you that one too.  Sort of.

Let me give you a recap of Carolina's early exploits.  They hammered Cal, then lost to Syracuse.  The beat Nevada and Michigan State.  The lost by just two at Rupp Arena and were competitive in a road loss to Texas.  They opened conference play with a comfortable double-digit win over Virginia Tech.

This hardly seems like the resume of a team about to be overwhelmed by admittedly mediocre 2010 ACC competition.  In fact, their first few losses were very competitive as well.  They got clipped by a bucket by Georgia Tech at home. Then the wheels completely came off.  In their most recent games they have not just been beaten, they have been uncompetitive.  They have been embarrassed.  The Heels got blasted in their own gym by Wake Forest.  They followed it up by getting blasted again in the Dean Dome, this time by UVA.  Most recently they lost to Maryland by 22 on a less-than-Super Sunday effort.

Coaching accolades are given to teams who show steady progression; growth; an ability to come together and rise above adversity.

So what do you get when your team packs it in and does the exact opposite?

You still want to argue that Carolina's Mickey D's All-American parade is slightly overrated talent?  Fine.  I'll concede reluctantly.  If you want to argue that Wake Forest, Clemson, Maryland and VIRGINIA are MORE talented?  Come on now.

At 13-10, the NCAA Tournament is realistically long gone.  At 2-5 in ACC play with Duke looming tomorrow night it is not unrealistic to think they could miss post-season play all together. Things are truly that dire in Chapel Hill.  And don't just take my word for it.  Tune in to any Roy Williams post-game conference and he'll tell you ad nausem.  It has eclipsed "light a fire pep talk" and drifted into "beats the hell out of me, these guys stink" territory.

When you watch Carolina play of late you see a team with an immense amount of talent that looks lost, searching for direction, completely devoid of leadership.  Ideally you'd love to have a floor leader like Sherron Collins or John Wall.  Most teams don't, and when you don't, then you look to the bench.  You look to Roy.  Instead of looking for fans to eject and explanations you hope for some solutions and resolve.  This season?  It seems he is hoping for the exact same thing.

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