Forte proves Carolina's fortitude
By Andy Katz
ESPN.com
AUSTIN, Texas -- North Carolina's season has been about vindication,
resiliency, the lack of law and order on and off the court, turnovers,
erratic shooting, questionable defense and a siege mentality from day one.
But the one constant for the Tar Heels has been Joseph Forte. The
freshman wing was the most valuable player in the Maui Invitational to begin
the season. He was the consensus choice for the South Regional's most
outstanding player Sunday with a career-high 28 points in a 59-55 victory over Tulsa which clinched Carolina's third Final Four berth in four seasons.
|  | | Joseph Forte scored 10 points in a crucial 14-4 North Carolina run. |
Forte never bought into the Carolina timeline that called for freshmen to take their place to the side of the upperclassmen. He came to Chapel Hill to start, to score and be the go-to guy.
Senior point guard Ed Cota made sure the media knew that Forte
wasn't the first option during the decisive moments. But he couldn't argue
with the fact that Forte's hot hand helped carry the Tar Heels from being a
first-round NCAA out to a Final Four team the way Richard Hamilton's
shooting inspired Connecticut a year ago.
The Tar Heels took advantage of Tulsa's one weak link, giving up too many
points to one scoring guard (Fresno State's Courtney Alexander victimized Tulsa in three
losses to the Bulldogs). Foul trouble for Eric Coley -- Tulsa's best defender -- made it impossible to knock Forte from his rhythm.
"I play defense with a lot of energy and I couldn't play that way," Coley
said after being limited to 24 minutes of action.
Added guard Tony Heard, who had to chase Forte around the
perimeter, "He moves so well without the ball that we couldn't get to him a
lot of times," Heard said. "He was one pass away from the ball. We tried to
help off of him, but he was always there to hit the open shot."
Tulsa gambled by focusing more of its defense on Brendan Haywood inside, which freed Forte to roam and slash to the basket. With Cota and Jason
Capel feeding him for most of his looks, Forte started to take over the
game. He scored 10 points during a decisive 14-3 run that broke open a 39-39
game in the second half.
"I didn't want to go home," the baby-faced, and at times, expressionless
Forte said. "Once the NCAA Tournament started, I started thinking about,
'What if I took advantage of my role as being the shooting guard on this
team?' I was a little nervous the first game, but I think I calmed down the
rest of the game."
Cota said Forte wanted to be the go-to player because of his high
self-esteem in his game.
"He's got a lot of confidence and that's why I love playing with him," Cota
said.
Forte's shooting touch is the reason the Tar Heels escaped with a win. The
Golden Hurricane held them to 59 points, normally good enough to beat North
Carolina.
But the Tar Heels' maligned defense shut down its fourth straight
opponent. Couple that with Forte's 28 points and the Tar Heels earned a trip to the
Final Four. The ease at which Forte tallied those 28 points impressed Tulsa coach Bill Self.
"They're playing with great passion and they're two good shooting
nights away from winning it all," Self said of the Tar Heels. "They can win
it. They're good enough and this tournament is crazy enough that all you
have to do is put together three great weeks."
The Tar Heels have done that for two weeks, but Forte has been playing
well for the whole season. Now, the rest of the team has caught up. Haywood
said he never questioned the talent level, but was surprised the team could
put it together so fast, from a loss to Wake Forest in the ACC tournament -- reaching "rock bottom" -- to beating Tulsa for a trip to the Final Four.
"It's different being the underdog," said North Carolina coach Bill Guthridge, who had to go from the high of earning a trip to the Final Four on Sunday to racing off for his mother's funeral
Monday. "We're enjoying it this year, but we'd rather be a top program,
which we are."
They are because they have Forte.
Andy Katz is a senior writer at ESPN.com.
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ESPN's Jimmy Roberts looks at North Carolina's Joseph Forte.