Thomas, FIU face tough opener at UNC
November 8, 2009
MIAMI (AP)—Isiah Thomas was midway through a question-and-answer sessionwith some FIU alumni last month when someone stood up and put the Hall of Fameplayer on the spot.
“So, how will you prepare for an opener against North Carolina?”
FIU’s new coach, to his credit, didn’t hesitate before giving the guy hisanswer.
“Well, Cinderella doesn’t have to come in March. She can come inNovember,” Thomas said.
Everybody laughed.
Thomas laughed.
The event continued.
The reality is, there are long shots, and then there’s whatever FIU will beMonday night when the Golden Panthers open the Thomas era in the 2K SportsClassic at No. 6 North Carolina, the defending national champion and a popularpick to win it all again this season.
Consider this stat: The Tar Heels won 34 games last season alone, while FIUhas won 34 games in the last three seasons combined.
“We like being underdogs,” FIU guard Marvin Roberts said. “We’re going tobe underdogs all year. And we’ll be the real underdogs on Monday, so we’ll justplay like we have nothing to lose.”
Real underdogs, indeed: One Las Vegas line favors Carolina by 30.
The matchup, which seemed to be in jeopardy because FIU officials originallyfelt they agreed to play Ohio State in the opening round of the tournament, istinged with obvious irony.
Thomas’ final college game was in 1981, when he led Indiana past NorthCarolina for the NCAA title.
Which makes it fitting, naturally, that his first college game as a coachcomes against the Tar Heels.
“I don’t know him real well,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “Iwas on the bench when he played his last college game and beat us in thenational championship game in ’81. Followed his career a great deal throughouthis time in the NBA. … I know probably a lot more of his accomplishments thanhe knows of mine, that’s for sure.”
FIU only won 13 games last year, lost 20 for the third time in four seasons,and that’s when the school decided to make a serious splash by hiring Thomas—giving him a chance to revive a coaching career that was slowed to a sputterduring a troubled tenure with the New York Knicks.
“What we’ve said to our guys all along is, it’s about how we play togetheras a team and how to play together as a unit,” Thomas said. “If we can staywithin our game, and if we can do the things we want defensively andoffensively, I think we’ll be able to play with any team in the country thisyear, not just North Carolina.”
The odds are thickly stacked against FIU this season, despite the presenceof a basketball icon on the sideline.
Only one of the Golden Panthers’ top four scorers is back from last season.Combine that with the regime change, and Williams didn’t mind revealing that hehas “no idea” what FIU will try Monday night.
“I’m not trying to put their program down,” Williams said. “Isiah wasn’tthe coach there last year. Doesn’t do us any good to look at the tape from anygames that they had last year.”
Thomas isn’t all that concerned with North Carolina, either.
Let’s clarify that point: He’s absolutely concerned with what the Tar Heelscan, might and likely will do to run his team out of Chapel Hill. But Thomas’focus Monday night will be on watching his program take the first steps on whathe knows will be a long road if it’s to reach college basketball’s top level.
“It’ll be a very teachable moment,” Thomas said. “So many times in life,you run into that immovable object or you get knocked down. When you get knockeddown, you’ve got to find a way to get back up. … The most important part isgetting the kids ready to go in and face something they’ve never faced in theirlife. It’s what they all dream of, but when they walk in, it’ll be a differentstory.”
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