Heels need a go-to guy

CHAPEL HILL -- Inevitably, maybe as soon as tonight, it's going to happen. North Carolina is going to find itself tied, or trailing by a bucket, with the final seconds ticking down - desperate for a game-winning shot.

Which Tar Heel wants to take it?

"I do," senior guard Marcus Ginyard said.

"Me, definitely," senior forward Deon Thompson said.

"I'm not bashful - I want that shot," junior wing Will Graves said.

But the real question is: Which Tar Heel is going to make it?

Last season, Carolina (3-0) had three players - Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington -- who had converted winners. But entering tonight's game against No. 15 Ohio State (2-0) in the 2K Sports Classic at Madison Square Garden, no player on the current roster has done that in a college contest.

Thompson, Graves, point guard Larry Drew II, forward Ed Davis and reserve forward Tyler Zeller are among the Tar Heels who say they beat the buzzer in high school or AAU competition.

But even coach Roy Williams, who lost four starters from last year's national championship team, doesn't know yet who will be "the guy" this season in that stomach-stirring situation.

"You're going to have the ball in the hands of the guy who handles it most of the time, which is your point guard," he said. "And what decisions, options are you going to give him? An option for the last four years was throw the ball to Hansbrough. An option for the last three years was, if you can't throw the ball to Tyler and you can't penetrate, you have Wayne or Danny [Green] on the wing.

"So we don't have any of those proven scorers, but that's what we said in the preseason - that it's going to be interesting to see who can do it when the defense is aimed to stop you. ... And we haven't had those scenarios yet."

They could come soon, though. Five of the sixth-ranked Tar Heels' next eight games are against foes ranked in the top 25 of at least one of the two major polls. Then comes the always-tough ACC schedule, littered with opposing players who have converted winners, such as Boston College's Rakim Sanders, Wake Forest's Ishmael Smith, N.C. State's Julius Mays and Georgia Tech's Iman Shumpert.

Of course, every team wants to blow out every opponent by double-digits. But for the Heels - who are still trying to find their offensive stroke, defensive footing, and signature playing style - being in a position to have a guy try a winner early on could help in the long run.

"It just gets back to the confidence thing, just knowing that there's someone on the team willing to take that shot, and wanting to take that shot - sometimes, that says more than even making the shot," Ginyard said. "It just gives your team that sense of [having] that guy that wants the ball, that wants to win for his team. People that are in those positions are just the natural leaders of the team."

That's what happened for the Tar Heels in 2005-06, the season following Williams' first national title. After losing their top seven scorers from that squad - including anyone who had ever made a winning shot for UNC - senior David Noel opened the season by burying a winning 3-pointer against Gardner-Webb.

Ultimately, Hansbrough, then a freshman, became Carolina's No. 1 option, and others such as Wes Miller (six 3-pointers at Florida State that season) and Reyshawn Terry (25 points at Kentucky) became late-game offensive weapons, as well.

But, "there's no doubt that those kids got a lot of strength from David Noel, and that shot was part of it," Williams said.

Added Ginyard: "His willingness to take that shot, his ability to knock it in, just set the tone throughout the whole year that this was the guy that we were going to be following."

Who, then, will "the guy" be this season, when the time comes?

Williams has been impressed by Thompson's offense (17.7 ppg), and likes the way Zeller (12 ppg) has a knack for getting to the free-throw line. "Everyone on this team is going to be willing to take that shot," Thompson said. "In the end, whoever it might be - we just all want it to go in."

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