Tar Heels in the Bahamas

Two easy wins in exhibition games in the Bahamas last weekend capped an early week of work for North Carolina's basketball team, but didn't solve any problems or answer any of Coach Roy Williams' questions.

North Carolina beat Bahamian club teams by margins of 34 points and 21 points. Williams welcomed the games and four practices last week, but said that he saw nothing that he hasn't already anticipated.

The games, permitted under NCAA rules, were little better than pickup games, according to Williams.

"I do think it was beneficial to us," Williams said. "I think it gives the freshmen a little heads-up about what's going to be expected of them later on. The competition was not the greatest in the world by any means but they were teams that tried very hard. It was a pickup game. It wasn't like we were playing Magic and Stockton and people like that out there."

he freshmen were limited because of injuries. Marcus Ginyard, a 6-5 swingman, didn't play in either game because of a broken bone in his left wrist. Danny Green, another 6-5 swingman, suffered a thigh bruise in the first game that limited him to 10 minutes. He was held out of the second game. Bobby Frasor, a 6-3 guard, suffered a shoulder injury and was limited in both games.

Ginyard underwent surgery in Chapel Hill yesterday to repair the break. Trainer Marc Davis said that there were no problems during the surgery and that Ginyard should be ready when practice begins in the middle of October. Ginyard suffered the injury in Chapel Hill in a pickup game in July.

The only freshmen to play normal roles in both games were 6-9 forward Tyler Hansbrough and 6-7 forward Mike Copeland. Copeland, a Reynolds High School product, was a late addition to the program last week after qualifying academically. Copeland practiced Thursday and Friday after finally clearing admissions.

Copeland showed in the games that he should be able to help the Tar Heels rebound, but Williams said that Copeland has much improvement to make before becoming a consistent player. Copeland did extra work in an effort to make up for the practices he missed.

"Defensively, he couldn't guard his lunch," Williams said. "He was bad. He was just awful. But there is hope there. He's a wonderful kid. He's got a marvelous attitude. He looks right down into your soul when he's talking to you. And when you're talking to him, he's listening and trying to do exactly what you want him to do. If he doesn't help us with his rebounding I'll be surprised."

Junior forward Reyshawn Terry, another Reynolds graduate, led the Tar Heels in scoring with 20 points in the first game and 27 points in the second. Terry made 18 of 36 shots but still needs considerable improvement before Williams will put him in the starting lineup.

"If you shoot it 20 times you're going to score," Williams said. "He does have an ability to score. I think the biggest thing is Reyshawn got tired. As soon as he got tired, he got sloppy. You can't do that. And that's the thing he's got to get past. You can't just give in because all of a sudden oxygen is not getting to you as quickly as you want."

-Bill Cole, Journal Reporter