Senior struggles gnawing at Ginyard

Marcus Ginyard sat hunched forward, waiting for a trainer to wrap his sore ankle. His eyes were cast downward, and his chin rested in his hands.

Members of the media had already questioned the fifth-year senior about his team’s sixth loss in eight games, as well as his removal from the starting lineup.

His answers were quiet and brief.

“It’s frustrating.”

“Coach is doing his job.”

Ginyard looked weary, and not just because of 31 minutes on the court at Virginia Tech.

This season has weighed heavily on every Tar Heel, but perhaps on none more than Ginyard.

He has turned the ball over, struggled from the field and might have lost a step defensively while nursing foot and ankle injuries.

And the same guy who was once upbeat and thoughtful in post-game interviews has been short and dismissive.

Asked in a recent news conference what was bothering his veteran leader, UNC coach Roy Williams proposed another, perhaps more telling, question.

“Physically or mentally?”

One play during that same Virginia Tech game epitomized Ginyard’s struggles.

In one sequence, he had a dunk blocked but then made a great hustle play to steal the ball back — only to throw it away again.

“Sometimes when things are tough, you don’t get many fortunate things to happen,” Williams said. “And that’s what it’s been for him.”

Ginyard is shooting 43 percent from the field this season, and he’s averaging eight points per game.

But ACC play has been a disaster.

Before Sunday’s game at Maryland, Ginyard had shot just 8-for-35 (23 percent) from the field and 2-16 (12.5 percent) from beyond the arc in conference play. He was averaging 3.3 points.

In the two games before his brief subtraction from the starting lineup, he missed all eight of his shots, including five 3-pointers.

 “It’s been pretty rough on him right now,” senior Deon Thompson said. “Just outside expectations, his own expectations, trying to reach those.”

There is no question that part of Ginyard’s trouble has been physical.

But when his coach is wishing he’d majored in psychology instead of health and physical education, there might be a little more to it.

Granted, the old Ginyard is still there. Behind the scenes, away from the court and the reporters, people still gravitate toward the fun-loving small forward.

“He’s a marvelous kid,” Williams said. “When he walks in the room, you know what I do? I smile.”

So what’s changed?

Surely it’s the losing. At no other point in his career has his team underachieved this much.

Maybe it’s a fifth year in Chapel Hill without longtime friends and roommates Tyler Hansbrough and Bobby Frasor.

But Williams is no psychologist, and most fans and pundits aren’t, either. For them, all that matters is what happens between the baselines.

“I get tired of worrying about somebody’s psyche,” Williams said. “I mean, my God, play the dadgum game. That’s what it boils down to.”

If removing Ginyard from the starting lineup was supposed to send him a message, it might have gotten through.

At Maryland, Ginyard tied a season high with 17 points on an aggressive 5-of-13 shooting.

“You pick your head up and see that, hey, you’ve got eight more games, four more times in this gym,” Ginyard said. “Why go through the rest of that with your head down?”

It’s clear that at times this season, basketball just ceased to be fun for Ginyard. But he says with a little perspective, he can escape from his funk and lift his spirits.

Maybe his play will follow suit.



Contact the Sports Editor at sports@unc.edu.