I can’t look at the TV. I turn away and shake my head as my dad slumps on the couch. The room seems to darken. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s men’s basketball team just lost in overtime to the College of Charleston. They will go on to lose to Clemson, Georgia Tech, and Wake Forest, claiming a disheartening 12 wins and seven losses.

I can’t believe this is happening. For seven years, I have put my faith in Head Coach Roy Williams to pull my Heels through thick and thin.

Williams works miracles at Carolina. He took a group of disparate players from a disheveled 2002 campaign and made them into a championship unit within a year.

Recently, Williams turned the overweight Sean May, the selfish Rashad McCants, the football-playing David Noel, and the scatterbrained Quentin Thomas into basketball players.

What’s the matter with this group?

For Carolina, the problem begins and ends with guard play. UNC has a posse of productive postmen including senior Deon Thompson, sophomore Ed Davis, and sophomore Tyler Zeller. They lead the team in scoring and all shoot better than 50 percent from the floor.

UNC’s three main ball handlers, sophomore Larry Drew II, first-year Dexter Strickland, and first-year Leslie McDonald, however, do not have the experience to run a team in the Atlantic Coast Conference yet. With experience I have no doubt that each will grow into a fine floor general. But, for the time being, their inexperience has led to 101 turnovers between the three of them in the first 19 games.

Senior guard Marcus Ginyard and junior guard Will Graves simply don’t have the skill to make up for the cast of inexperienced underclassmen. Each shoots above 40 percent from 3-point range, but neither has made more than 20 3-pointers this season.

Despite the current state of affairs, worry not Tar Heel faithful, the drought will not last long. Next year, Carolina welcomes a stacked class of freshman ballers who, along with current players, will take UNC back to the Promised Land.

Forward Harrison Barnes, arguably the best player in the 2010 draft class, along with pass-happy point guard Kendall Marshall, and man-child of a shooting guard Reggie Bullock all bring their skills to Chapel Hill. Their arrival offsets the departure of Davis, Thompson and Ginyard and will blend nicely with the returning players.

Stand together, Carolina nation. This year only makes us stronger and the inevitable nectar of victory sweeter.