Roy Williams keeps bleeding, North Carolina keeps winning
PHILADELPHIA – North Carolina’s run to Houston may wind up being detrimental to Roy Williams’ well-being.
As the Tar Heels cut down the nets following their 88-74 Elite Eight win over Notre Dame, Williams – who is no stranger to using scissors on a basketball court – sliced open his left pinky finger.
“I was up there cutting the net, I started to step back and the ladder moved a little bit and I grabbed the end of the scissors and started bleeding,” a bandaged, but smiling, Williams said after the game.
“He should be used to cutting nets,” Marcus Paige said. “It’s something he’s done several times in his career.”
Sunday night wasn’t the first injury Williams suffered during North Carolina’s stay in Philadelphia. During the Tar Heels’ 101-86 Sweet 16 win over Indiana, Williams was so excited he bit down too forcefully on his lip and tongue.
“A couple of games ago he came into the huddle and said, ‘I’ll bleed for you guys if you keep playing the way you’re playing,’” Paige said. “It might be good luck. We’ll get him patched up.”
Blood, sweat, and tears – clearly not just an analogy for Williams.
“I told them I’d do it again for them a few times,” Williams said. “I’ve really got very good-looking blood. It’s very bright, very deep colors.”
For a North Carolina team that has won every game in this tournament by double figures, it’s fitting that the only foe that could draw blood, literally or figuratively, was a pair of scissors.
Even after several runs during the game from Notre Dame, the Tar Heels looked nearly invincible on the court.
“I’m proud of my team for not folding,” Williams said. “We made some mistakes. We always try to get them to understand that nothing’s going to change if you’re losing unless you keep playing. If you give in you have no hope.”
For Williams, it’s been a small price to pay while he helps guide North Carolina to its first Final Four since 2009. A minor battle wound as opposed to a gaping hole in his heart if Paige and Brice Johnson ended their stellar Tar Heel careers without, at the very least, a trip to the national semifinal.
“It is really special,” Williams said. “I’ve never wanted anything in my life for someone else as much as I wanted to get this bunch to the Final Four.
“In 2007 I was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame, and the worst feeling I ever had is I started thinking about my ‘97 team at Kansas because I felt like I hadn’t done anything because I didn’t get those guys to the Final Four. This one would have been even tougher.”
After Sunday night, for Williams and the Tar Heels, there won’t be any regrets when this team is remembered. North Carolina will get its chance to capture a national title while Williams hopes to pick up a few more scars along the way.
Thankfully, Brice Johnson isn’t squeamish.
“Keep bleeding, coach.”
