Jan. 11, 2008

By Bill Hass
theACC.com

GREENSBORO, N.C. - Marcus Ginyard never backs down from a challenge.

Need someone to cool off a hot shooter? He'll do it.

How about guarding someone down in the post? He'll take it on.

Shutting down a quick point guard on the perimeter? He'll go after them.

Need some sandwiches delivered? He can do that, too.

Ginyard is one of the most versatile players on North Carolina's top-ranked basketball team. The 6-5 junior rarely finds the spotlight, which most often goes to players like Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson and others. But he has no complaints about that.

"There are certain things everyone has to do to help the team, and it doesn't matter what attention is given to anyone," Ginyard said. "Everyone has a role, so there was nothing to adjust to.

"I'm concerned about the team winning games. What I do is a combination of a lot of little things - being a leader on the court, a strong defender, a solid rebounder, an energy guy. I try to keep everyone on the same page."

Playing outstanding defense is probably Ginyard's most important contribution. It's reminiscent of coach Roy Williams' NCAA championship team of 2005, where Jackie Manuel filled that role. Ginyard falls in a similar category.

"Jackie Manuel was sensational (at) running and chasing people around screens, like he had to do against (Duke's) J.J. Redick," Williams said. "Marcus is not quite as good chasing around screens but he's a little bit better on the ball."

When the Tar Heels match up against NC State Saturday, Ginyard will likely draw the assignment of 6-8 Gavin Grant, particularly if the Wolfpack's Courtney Fells can't play because of an injury.

"Gavin is an aggressive player who drives well and goes to the board hard," Ginyard said. "We expect a dogfight in this game, just like we do every game in the ACC. You're not fully prepared if you expect any less."

Ginyard enjoys the challenge of guarding players of various sizes and positions.

"A lot of times, I'll be on a point guard and then I might be guarding someone in the post," he said. "It's exciting to go back and forth. I get a little taste of everything, from quick guys on the perimeter to big guys in the post."

Then there are players his own size, like Clemson's 6-5 K.C. Rivers. In the Tar Heels' close call at Clemson. Rivers got off to a sensational start against Ginyard with 16 points by halftime and 24 with 8:06 remaining in the game.

But that was it in the scoring column. In the final 13 minutes (the last eight in regulation plus five in overtime), Rivers was shut out. Now, he wasn't locked down completely - he got to the free throw line twice and missed one-and-ones, he was called for a charge taken by Hansbrough, and he got into the lane for a good pass to Trevor Booker for a potential game-winning shot that Booker missed.

Still, you get the idea.

"K.C. is tough to guard because he can score in so many ways," Ginyard said. "He can hit the three and pull-up jumpers, he can drive, he can post up. I had to rely on help from my teammates, tried to send him to the baseline and make him drive instead of shooting a spot-up three. Tyler took a big charge late in that game, so it was team defense."

But Ginyard also realized what he had to do to turn the defensive screws.

"Every time someone scores on you, you know what you did and didn't do defensively," he said. "With eight or nine minutes to go in the game, you think about what needs to be done the rest of the way."

While his name may not be in the opening paragraphs of many game stories, Ginyard's value to the Tar Heels is recognized around the ACC.

"Ginyard is a heck of a defender, and certainly, I think, their best defender," said Clemson coach Oliver Purnell. "He understands that is his role. That's one of the reasons they're No. 1 in the country, those kids understand their roles."

Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt paid Ginyard an unsolicited compliment before the season when asked to name the ACC's underrated players.

"Marcus Ginyard, I love him," Hewitt said. "He can play for me anytime. He may not be a guy people look at and say he's a prime-time guy, but when they made their good runs when I saw them, he was in the middle of it doing something positive, usually something that didn't show up on the scoreboard."

Ginyard isn't devoid of statistics; it's just that nothing jumps out with averages of 6.9 points and 5.1 rebounds per game. But dig a little deeper and some important things are revealed. He has started all 16 games and averages 27.6 minutes, third on the team. He is third on the team with 38 offensive rebounds and third with 21 steals.

In other words, when Ginyard is on the court, he's getting something important done.

A fine player at Bishop O'Connell High School in Alexandria, Va., Ginyard averaged 20.4 points a game as a senior. He was part of a UNC recruiting class that included Hansbrough, Danny Green and Bobby Frasor. The next season, the Tar Heels added Ellington, Lawson, Deon Thompson, Alex Stepheson and Brandan Wright (now in the NBA).

With so many natural scorers around, Ginyard figured out other ways to contribute. He started 14 times as a freshman, averaging 19 minutes, 2.5 points and 2.6 rebounds. His minutes dropped to 16.9 last season, but he improved to 4.1 points and 3.2 rebounds. All the while, he was honing his defensive skills.

"He's a very bright youngster," Williams said. "He realizes that he is good defensively and he realizes he has limitations on the offensive end. I've always been one to try to get players to play to their strengths, not try to show everybody that their weaknesses aren't weaknesses.

"Marcus accepted that very easily; it has been something that he has a great deal of pride in, his own defense. What he's got to do is just be Marcus. That means guard people like crazy, get to the offensive board, get some steals, help out the other guys on defense. There're going to be some times where he's going to have more open shots and the ball is going to go in for him. And there will be other times when he's got to emphasize those other things."

Ginyard said he has learned to get scoring opportunities by going to the offensive board, driving to the basket and knocking down the shots that come to him.

"I'm always poking my head around, not hunting shots but catching an open shot now and then," he said.

And he insists he's not just a defender who can't shoot. He said he can hang in with teammates in a game of HORSE, although Ellington is a tough match-up.

"But I won't back down from anyone," he said. "No one on this team does."

And that includes a task like delivering sandwiches.

The Tar Heels like to eat at a place called [B]Ski's on Franklin Street in Chapel Hill. Ginyard said he got to be good friends with the owner, who jokingly suggested he should be a delivery man. In the summer, Ginyard took him up on it.

"I was in summer school, going to class and going through my (off-season) workouts," he said. "I wanted to see if I could juggle something else, so I delivered sandwiches to houses and dorms three nights a week. People were shocked and surprised at first and thought it was a joke, but then they got used to it. It was a good experience and I learned something about responsibility."

Just like the challenges and responsibility he faces in basketball.

Bill Hass is a long-time observer of ACC sports. His career at the Greensboro News & Record spanned 36 years, from 1969 until his retirement in March, 2006. He is now writing "Bill Hass on the ACC" for theACC.com. His weekly columns will keep fans plugged in to the Atlantic Coast Conference.

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