GLENDALE, Ariz. — Nearly every player at the Final Four is happy to discuss the anticipated thrill of playing in Saturday’s semifinal games, some even bold enough to look ahead to Monday’s national championship.
Joel Berry II is just focusing on Friday. North Carolina’s point guard needs to get through one full practice first.
“It’s a big day for me,” Berry said.
Still bothered by his two injured ankles, the Tar Heels’ point guard wasn’t able to practice fully on Thursday. Berry’s right ankle — which he’s sprained twice this season — remains sore. His left ankle — which he sprained less than a week ago — is even worse.
Earlier this week, Roy Williams said he was “scared to death” about whether Berry would be able to play, and the coach said he still needs more evidence than Berry’s belief that the junior can be effective in Saturday’s game against No. 3 Oregon.
“I can’t let him play on Saturday if he can’t do something full court because we do play full court,” Williams said. “If you can’t do anything up and down, then I can’t let him play.”
The Tar Heels landed in Arizona one day earlier than planned — on Tuesday night — to allow the swelling in Berry’s ankles to go down after the long flight. Since then, Berry has done so much rehab he’s “tired of it,” but he said the pain has dramatically decreased in the past few days.
And even if he isn’t fully healthy by Saturday, Berry — perhaps the team’s most important player — still plans on suiting up.
“Even if I’m not 100 percent, I’m still playing,” Berry said. “There are only two games left in the season. I’m not going to sit them out.”
A similar scenario played out in 2009, when North Carolina’s star point guard, Ty Lawson, played through a toe injury that sidelined him for the ACC Tournament and the first round of the NCAA Tournament to lead the team to a national championship.
In 2012, Kendall Marshall — who ranked second in the nation in assists that season — couldn’t play through the pain of a broken wrist, crushing top-seeded North Carolina’s title hopes when he broke his wrist in the second round.
Berry remembers watching each team, and how each season ended. A championship is again at stake — and so is a legacy.
“Sometimes you put yourself aside and you think about other guys,” Berry said. “You play through the injuries. Even though I’m hurting, I just want to do whatever it takes to help my team out.
“Ty Lawson thought about his team first. … I remember all of that.”
Should Berry be unable to play or limited — Berry missed time after going to the locker room in the regional final against Kentucky because of the injury — guard Stilman White believes the team is far better prepared than it was when he filled in for Marshall as a freshman.
“Me and some of the guys have been getting a few more reps,” White said. “We’re just prepared for anything, honestly. In the last game, when he went out for a little bit, we were prepared for that. Joel’s really tough, though, and we expect him to be his usual self.”
Berry hasn’t been his usual self in the tournament, though. After averaging 14.6 points, 3.6 assists and 1.4 steals this season, while shooting over 39 percent on 3-pointers, Berry is hitting less than 33 percent of his shots, including just 6-of-26 3-pointers.
At this point, even Berry realizes his body may prevent him from playing to his potential, but he doesn’t need to be at his best. He just needs to be good enough.
“Sometimes when you think about [the pain] you limit yourself,” Berry said. “[Against Kentucky], I didn’t want to put my team in jeopardy of losing and I just tried to get lost in the game and I think I did a good job of not trying to do too much, but doing enough to help my team out.”