Today is Easter Sunday, and if you celebrate the holiday and have kids, you may be watching them go through an Easter basket this morning. I don’t know how your family may do it, but every year on this day for me, the Easter Bunny would leave us a basket of goodies hidden somewhere, and it was me and my siblings jobs to try and find them.
That got me thinking. “Baskets” is a way to refer to made shots in a basketball game. That and the name of the sport in general refers to the fact that literal peach baskets were used as hoops when James Nasmith first came up with the sport.
In honor of the baskets that people are going through this morning, let’s take a look at some of the best “baskets” from North Carolina Tar Heels basketball history.
When starting a list of famous UNC “baskets,” it’s hard to start anywhere else than this certain one. Needing a basket late in the 1982 NCAA Tournament championship game, Dean Smith turned to a freshman named “Mike Jordan” for the shot.
Jordan nailed the shot, winning the Tar Heels the national championship, and Smith the first of his illustrious career. Now, I wonder what ever became of Jordan?
That wasn’t the only UNC national championship that had one singular shot play such a key role. In fact, the other one came in even more dramatic circumstances. In 1994, the Carolina women made it all the way to the national championship game, where they trailed 59-57 with just 0.7 seconds left. On the ensuing inbounds play, Charlotte Smith got free and got a clean look from three, making it to win UNC their, so far, only women’s title
The championship game is hardly the only part of the tournament where big baskets can be made and remembered. During UNC’s run to the 2017 title, Luke Maye hit one that will be forever remember by every Carolina fan that saw it.
Carolina’s rivalry with Duke has produced many memorable moments — good and bad — over its history. As far as — positive, obviously — single shots from the rivalry from a UNC perspective, there’s two that really stand out, at least to me. The first one was back in 1974, when Walter Davis hit a long shot, before the three-pointer existed, to cap off a miraculous comeback. UNC famously trailed by eight with 17 seconds left, with Davis’ shot tying the game up before the Heels won it in overtime.
The other than comes to mind happened more recently, although terrifyingly now over 20 years ago. Capping off yet another memorable comeback, Marvin Williams corralled a loose ball after a missed would be, game-tying free throw. He hung in the air for what felt like way longer than it actually was before banking a shot home, and drawing a foul, helping UNC win the game.
Not all the best baskets have to come in a buzzer beater or final seconds situation. There was plenty of time when Tyler Hansbrough his this ridiculous three in UNC’s famous 2006 win in Cameron.
You also could combine the Duke aspect and the NCAA Tournament aspect for one certain basket.
Unfortunately, not all of the best shots end up leading to wins. Here’s one from Marcus Paige, about which I won’t talk about what came after.
Most of the ones I’ve highlighted have been jump shots, but “basket” doesn’t necessarily have to mean just those. We can count dunks too.
There are plenty more I could post too, but I’ll leave that you to add your favorite baskets.
