So where does North Carolina go from here?
Serious question for a team with some serious problems.
The Tar Heels are past the freshmen-early-in-the-season stage. They are beyond the COVID-excuse portion of the schedule. And they have raced past the grace period any newly arranged team is afforded in the sometimes-symphonic sport of basketball.
Wednesday’s 72-67 loss at Georgia Tech never should have happened. But it did because every ill that has afflicted this team reared its ugliness over the final five-plus minutes of the game sending the Heels back to Chapel Hill with yet another defeat.
That’s now 5-4 overall and 0-2 in the ACC. It’s also 19-24 in their last 43 games, but that’s a different topic for a different time. This year’s club, as New Year’s Eve and the merciful end to 2020 approaches, heads into the new year needing a reboot of sorts as much as the rest of us.
The Tar Heels appear tattered, sometimes listless, disjointed, stressed, complacent, and bewildered.
Following Wednesday’s game, Leaky Black offered up “selfish.” Asked what he meant, the junior wing gave a thoughtful response, clearly carefully choosing his words. He meant what he said.
“I just mean, obviously we know our big guys are pretty good,” Black said. “They shoot a high percentage, so why take quick outside jumpers when we need to get them the ball when they’re the ones putting the ball in the basket most of the time?
“I feel like they need to touch the ball at least one time down the court, not anything other than that I feel like, to me, is going to be selfish. It’s going to be a bad shot; it’s not going to be a good shot.”
Armando Bacot, clearly Carolina’s best and most consistent player so far this season, and also a big man who is easily the team’s most efficient player, attempted just one shot from the field over the final 15:59 of the game. He attempted free throws at the 9:05 and 3:42 marks. That’s it.
Forward Garrison Brooks, the preseason ACC Player of the Year, attempted just one shot and no free throws over the final 15:20. Freshman big Day’Ron Sharpe attempted only two shots and with two trips to the line over the final 13:23.
In all, guards attempted 16 of UNC’s last 22 field goal attempts. Several were 3-pointers that were converted and certainly helped Carolina take an eight-point lead with 6:53 remaining. But that’s not who this team is, and it was unlikely perimeter shooting and off-balance drives into a crowded lane were going to lead the Heels to the winner’s circle.
North Carolina is a post-oriented team, and to win an ACC road game it cannot ignore what is by far its greatest strength. In some ways, that’s the Heels’ only strength. But it wasn’t just what Black highlighted that is a major concern for the team moving forward.
Brooks had some words, too, and they were about the defensive end of the floor. As the offense was falling apart missing six of its final seven field goal attempts, the defense did the same allowing the Yellow Jackets to convert six of their final seven shots. Hence, the closing 19-6 run.
“It’s just a matter of want-to and focus,” Brooks said. “Gotta lock in more, gotta know what’s going on at all times, gotta know who you’re guarding. Can’t fall asleep on defense. Just gotta be more prepared. It’s a matter of us being better, the players.”
Their coach tried to shake things up Wednesday, pulling Black, Brooks and freshman Caleb Love from the starting lineup. Roy Williams said it was because of their poor defense at NC State, but it may have also been an attempt to shake the tree some.
Rattling the cage before New Year’s, a 5-4 mark, turnovers galore, poor shot selection, lax defense, and body language suggesting the task at hand may be much greater than anyone imagined a month ago indicates the Tar Heels are at a crossroad.
Players using “selfish” and “want-to” when describing their team’s play means this is more than just an ability thing. It’s something more, and the Heels have reached a point where it must be fixed real soon, or this season could quickly veer off the rails.
