June 9, 2004

By Adam Lucas, Tar Heel Monthly

Maybe, it is suggested to him, Raymond Felton was ahead of his time. Maybe if he'd been born just a couple of years later, it would be him signing the big shoe deal right out of high school, him jetting all over the country to work out for NBA teams, him giving only a cursory thought to college before declaring for the professional draft.

That could be you, he is told. And he doesn't seem to care.

"That might be true," he says. "Some people even talked about me being a lottery pick out of high school. But I'm living a dream right now. I always wanted to come to Carolina."

His enthusiasm for Chapel Hill hasn't dimmed despite a somewhat rocky sophomore season. Coming off a sensational conclusion to his freshman year, when he averaged 9.8 assists per game over the last six contests of the season, expectations were high in the fall of 2003. He was selected to the Wooden Award watch list. The media selected him as the ACC preseason player of the year.

Suddenly, the kid from Latta who had always been a natural was feeling some pressure.

"I threw a lot at Raymond and so did every member of the press by voting him player of the year," head coach Roy Williams says. "Raymond cares about what other people think and that develops even more pressure. He had a good year, but everyone expected a great, great, great year."

As a freshman, he seemed to always deliver the ball at the right time to the right person. During his sophomore season, however, his decision-making sometimes lagged. He was, at times, the basketball equivalent of a baseball slugger trying to hit a home run in every at-bat. Rather than make a safe pass, he'd attempt a 50-foot bounce pass. Rather than pull the ball out and set up a play, he'd push the ball into traffic and let the defense pin him in the lane.

Then there was the scoring, or the lack thereof. He averaged 12.9 points per game as a freshman, took nearly 11 shots per game. He often was the first offensive option as a scorer and a creator. Under Williams, the offense still ran through Felton. But it ran in a different way, with him expected to create scoring opportunities for his teammates first, shoot second. His shots per game dipped under nine per contest.

SUMMER FOCUS: "I've got to work on my leadership, my consistency, and making better decisions at the end of games." Raymond Felton

"The way he wants me to control a game is different from how I'm used to," Felton says. "I'm used to controlling from a scoring standpoint and shooting whenever I want or when it's needed. I have to set up the other guys first before I think about myself. I'm cool with that, and I think I'll have a little more freedom to score next year. I hope Coach will turn the team over to me."

Before he gets the keys to the 2004-05 Tar Heels, however, Felton also needs to improve defensively. Carolina was consistently beaten by dribble penetration this season, a problem that begins at the top of the defense with the point guard. A constant practice theme from Roy Williams is, "Never guard someone like you like to be guarded," and it will be up to his point guard to develop a more harassing style this summer. He realizes that although drills are helpful, it's desire that becomes the trademark of most defensive stoppers.

"With defense, it's about heart," Felton says. "You can do slides and things like that, but it's all heart. It's wanting it and being determined."

Adam Lucas is the publisher of Tar Heel Monthly and can be reached at alucas@tarheelmonthly.com. To subscribe to Tar Heel Monthly, click here.