He was one smooth ballhandling point guard.
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In my opinion Ed Cota had the best handles of any former Carolina point guard
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Easy Ed was great but I would have to pick either Phil or Ty as having the best handles. Some of the things I saw both those guys do with the ball just is not supposed to be done. I saw Ty lawson dribble in to the teeth of packed in zone defense, around multiple defenders and not get stripped, that is not suppose to be even possible. And don't get me started on Phil Ford as a ball handler, he was the 4corners and when we had a lead and the ball in his hands, that game was over, go where you go and do what you do cause that game was over! LOL
Phil Ford was probably more than 10 years ahead of his time. Just insane handles.
I agree with the OP. Not the scorer of other PG's we've had but the best combination of handles and passing ever to wear the baby blue. Poor quality video but it makes my point.
I think I grew up liking Easy Ed mostly because he was the man that always set up Carter and Jamison...He was the ultimate facilitator. When Vince would throw down a reverse oop what would he do...always point to the passer which was #5. He wasn't a flashy scorer, he got his in other ways which made him an anomaly in the basketball world. A lot can be learned from a guy that is willing to set others up for success and glory
Agreed. As a Duke fan, I was really glad to see him leave. He got the ball through a defense like water through a sieve.
I agree.
Ford was the master at dribbling into a crowd, getting lost from view, and coming out the other side totally unfazed.
This is one of the big reasons why I wanted Dennis Smith. He does the same (or did before his injury). He could be Ford II and it's a shame that he didn't choose to play here. Understandable, since he wouldn't want to play backup for a year or 2, but still a shame. I was thinking he might welcome a "gentle" frosh year after he got injured, but that didn't happen.
I vaguely recall thinking Jimmy Black took pretty good care of the ball. Sometimes scared me, but more scare than actual loose handle.
Glancing at the stats for the 82 season, I see he averaged 6.3 assists with a 2.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. We've seen better, but that was still plenty good.
A quick glance at the stats for 1976, 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2012 shows these assist averages:
Ford = 7.0
Black = 6.3
Cota = 8.1
Felton = 6.9
Lawson = 6.6
Marshall = 9.8
Cota also only averaged 1.1 TOs that year. I haven't checked all the records but I'm betting that's the best A:TO ratio in the books.
Glancing at the stats for the 82 season, I see he averaged 6.3 assists with a 2.4-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. We've seen better, but that was still plenty good.
A quick glance at the stats for 1976, 2000, 2005, 2009 and 2012 shows these assist averages:
Ford = 7.0
Black = 6.3
Cota = 8.1
Felton = 6.9
Lawson = 6.6
Marshall = 9.8
Cota also only averaged 1.1 TOs that year. I haven't checked all the records but I'm betting that's the best A:TO ratio in the books.
Black and Phelps excelled defensively. Phelps, in particular, was as good defensively as any UNC point I've ever seen. Rice was also pretty good defensively, he's the one guy that drove Hurley to distraction.
Handle-wise, I put Easy Ed and Phil right there together at the top. Both were extremely adept with the dribble. Ty was very good with the dribble but his speed from baseline to baseline and his strength was what made him so hard to guard. Kenny Smith was also very fast from baseline to baseline, he's probably my second favorite PG behind Ed.
My favorite five:
"Easy Ed" Cota
Phil "Mr. Carolina" Ford
Kenny "the Jet" Smith
Kendall "Butter" Marshall
"Ray Ray" Felton
Handle-wise, I put Easy Ed and Phil right there together at the top. Both were extremely adept with the dribble. Ty was very good with the dribble but his speed from baseline to baseline and his strength was what made him so hard to guard. Kenny Smith was also very fast from baseline to baseline, he's probably my second favorite PG behind Ed.
My favorite five:
"Easy Ed" Cota
Phil "Mr. Carolina" Ford
Kenny "the Jet" Smith
Kendall "Butter" Marshall
"Ray Ray" Felton
The UNC record for assist-to-turnover ratio in one season was 2.72 set by King Rice in 1991. Ty Lawson broke that in 2009 with a 3.5 and last I knew was and still is the best in ACC history. Correct me if I'm wrong.
Gotta go with Lawson. He was unstoppable in '09
Gotta go with Lawson. He was unstoppable in '09
Oh, I agree Mike. If I'm picking the top five PG's in UNC history, Ty would definitely be on the list. That was a list of my personal favorites.
Lawson the best PG ever to me at UNC. He value the ball so well. Knew when to score his Soph. and Jr. years. Especially his Jr. year. Also, that year he really focused on playing defense every game. With the exception of that Maryland game lol.
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