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We’ve talked about this a fair amount since it happened Saturday but this is just so strange that we wanted to post it here.
There’s a lot to unpack in this. First, anger. We’ve seen Ol’ Roy angry before but never quite like this. His team has really offended and possibly alienated him. In his Saturday column, Ed Hardin says this, which we did not see: “Williams, who is still tied with Smith for all-time wins at 879, called timeouts, screamed at his players, ignored his players and let his assistants scream, and in one shocking timeout, both of those things happened while players seemed to yell back.“
That’s astounding.
Then despair. We’ve joked at times about Williams’ tendency to make suicidal jokes but really, it’s not that funny. This guy puts enormous pressure on himself to succeed and when he feels like he doesn’t he has suicidal thoughts. It’s really not that funny so we won’t be making those jokes anymore (although we may make note of those sorts of comments) and hope that he doesn’t feel that kind of pressure or sense of failure. Williams is anything but a failure.
It’s an extraordinary scene. It’s a man who has had a brilliant career and suddenly he finds himself with a team he simply doesn't understand and, honestly, doesn’t seem to much like.
And if Harden belief that Williams has lost his team is correct, that feeling may be mutual.
We know it’s just basketball, but for ACC folks, it’s a big part of life, and this is something we’ve never seen before so if you haven’t seen it, you should watch it.