The Four Corners

Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tarheels honored Dean Smith by starting today's game against Georgia Tech running the Four Corners offense. Roy Williams had on a vintage Dean Smith Sports Jacket and as soon as Marcus Paige gained control of the basketball, Roy Williams held up four fingers. It took about five seconds for the Tarheels to score as Brice Johnson went back door and Marcus Paige fed him the ball for a layup. The Georgia Tech players were not sure what was going on because I am sure they have never seen that before.

Dean Smith installed the Four Corners offense as a means to control the ball and kill the clock and to create easy scoring opportunities with a lead late in the game. Phil Ford was the force behind the Four Corners in the days before the shot clock.

Many point to the North Carolina- Virginia game in 1982 pitting James Worthy vs. Ralph Sampson as to why the Shot Clock was instituted in the college game. North Carolina went into the Four Corners offense nursing a 2 or 4 point lead with about 9 or 10 minutes to go in the game. They ended up winning the game because of the Four Corners and most fans felt that when Dean Smith took the air out of the ball, it changed the competitive balance of the game and did not give Ralph Sampson an opportunity to win the game.