WINSTON-SALEM, NC – The vibe around North Carolina’s basketball team as midnight approached Tuesday night was one of near-numbness.
Frustration, too. Drake Powell and Elliot Cadeau agreed with that.
But the numbness came from how they discussed the 67-66 loss at Wake Forest and what is wrong right now, why teams keep going on big runs late in games, why this happens and that happens and losses happen.
The Tar Heels have answers and yet they don’t have answers. And that goes for their coach, too. He offered the vibe of wonderment not really knowing what to say in what was probably Hubert Davis’ shortest postgame press conference of the season at just over five minutes.
He said he couldn’t recall all that happened in a decisive 12-2 Wake run over the final minutes of the game. He was asked about connecting what went wrong late a few days earlier in a similar loss to Stanford at home and tonight, and the quiet frustrated response said nothing yet it said a lot.
“Stanford was Stanford, Wake Forest was Wake Forest. We came up short tonight.”
This was the eighth time in 20 games the Heels and their coach have fielded questions about coming up short, about not making enough plays, about missed shots at key times, about not getting defensive stops, and about opponents dominating on the backboards in the games’ most crucial moments.
There’s a wash, rinse, repeat deal going on here, and yet two-thirds through the season, nobody can put a finger on it. Though, to Powell’s credit, the freshman opened a door to one issue that could be revealing.
Trust.
When asked about Wake Forest’s 12-2 run after UNC took a 54-53 lead with 5:21 remaining, Powell said, “It was a lack of attention to detail possibly.”
Lack of attention to detail has been one of the postgame themes after each of the previous seven losses, especially the ones in which the Heels have allowed opponents to close them out in such thorough fashion. Kansas, Florida, Louisville, and Stanford are reminders.
So, a follow-up question about that always being a response but everyone, and Powell offered a bit more.
“We need to start trusting each other,” he said.
Is there a lack of trust or maybe or not enough trust?
“Not enough trust, I’d say so,” Powell replied.
Keep in mind, it was Powell who said after the loss to Louisville the Heels were getting closed out by teams down the stretch because they didn’t raise their intensity in those important moments to match opponents. He was right then, so is he right now?
It’s impossible for anyone not in that room to say. The team’s body language ebbs and flows during games. The facial expressions often reflect the moment.
They go through periods in which they play connected, beautiful basketball, including on the defensive end. Then they go through periods in which they appear as if they’d just recently met, had a few practices together and were thrown to the wolves of the ACC.
RJ Davis called it “self-inflicted” mistakes, especially in the second half. He’s said that several times already this season.
Elliot Cadeau nodded in agreement when told about Powell’s trust comments. So, how can it be fixed?
“I just think talking and communicating,” he replied. “I think off the court as well. I’m the point guard, I’m the extension of the coach, and I could be better in that, and I could have us come together more.”
Talking, communicating and coming together more when February is a bit more than a week away isn’t exactly a good sign. Neither is 12-8 overall and 5-3 in the ACC with road games at Pitt, Duke and Clemson up in the next couple of weeks.
Yet, even with questions of trust and ad admittance of much they don’t consistently do well, Cadeau isn’t worried.
“I’m definitely not concerned,” he said. “All the games we’re losing is like one point, so I’m definitely not concerned. I feel like we can win all these games.”
It will take much better and more connected play for 40 minutes a night, and that requires more trust, too.
