The problem, of course, is that the success of Carolina basketball is measured by what the team does at the end, not at the beginning or in the middle. Regular-season championships really don't mean as much when they are not followed with trips to the Final Four and occasional national titles. But to hold Doherty to such rigid standards in 2001 and declare this season inadequate or a failure would be shortsighted. Doherty is the third coach basketball coach at UNC since 1997. After having one coach for 36 seasons, this program, its players and the people around it have undergone tremendous change quickly.
Transitions are never easy.
They can well be disastrous. So far that's not the case for the Tar Heels, even with Sunday's disappointing finish. Someone once asked Jim Valvano if Carolina would be able to keep its high level of performance going when Dean Smith retired. Four years later, the Tar Heels can say that they have managed to uphold those enormous standards. UNC still hasn't finished lower than third in the ACC standings since 1964.