Was reading an article on the 1993 National Champs North Carolina and found this to be interesting about how Dean Smith built a foundation of trust into his team:
The coach can deny it all he wants, but there are certainly many constituent systems to whatever it is North Carolina does. There is an honor system: If you're dragging, you flash a clenched fist, the "tired signal," and the coach will take you out. But because you have credited the team with your honesty, the team rewards you, letting you return to the game whenever you're ready; Smith merely tells you whom to replace.
There's a buddy system, too. Each Tar Heel is paired with another. When Williams gives the tired signal, Rödl usually enters the lineup. When Reese flashes the sign, Sullivan fills in. When Montross wants out, Salvadori is sprinting to the scorer's table.
There is also an electrical system of sorts—or there had been. Since the three-pointer was introduced in 1986, good shooters had a green light to shoot threes, those with a less deft touch had a yellow light (they could shoot only under certain circumstances) and a few lived on Deano's own Bourbon Street, in his red-light district. " 'Red light, green light' was making me more hesitant," says Reese, who was one of several Tar Heels who went to Smith during the off-season and prevailed upon him to scrap the rule. "This year there is no light, and the team is more comfortable with its shots. Coach Smith knows that a team of juniors and seniors isn't going to try anything wild."
