TALLAHASSEE, FL – Much has been made about a turn toward using a bigger lineup as being largely responsible for North Carolina’s current four-game win streak. And it’s true, the Tar Heels have played at a higher level in almost every metric since going big a couple of weeks ago.
Peeling away some layers, however, reveals some areas of improvement that are paramount to success.
A massive uptick in rebounding, especially on the offensive end leading to 75 second-chance points in the last four games. Vastly improved shooting, as the Tar Heels have eclipsed 50% in six of the last seven halves. And an ability to put together long runs. For example, where the Heels usually capped spurts at around 8-2, they are now building 21-2, 15-4, 21-9, and 31-9 eruptions.
An upgrade in play from each Tar Heel has also allowed head coach Hubert Davis to exercise more trust in his players. They are giving him reasons to stay in the game longer instead of being yanked after a few minutes often not seeing the court again for a while. This is a notion Davis quickly agreed with following UNC’s 96-85 win at Florida State this past Monday night inside the Tucker Center.
“So many players ask, ‘what’s my rope’ in terms of ‘you leaving me out on the court.’ And the rope is not determined by me, the rope is determined by the players and (their) play,” Carolina’s coach said. “If you’re playing well and a group is playing well, I’ll keep them out there on the floor because I like what we see.”
Look no further than Jae’Lyn Withers and Cade Tyson as perfect examples of this. That they are 6-foot-9 and 6-foot-8, respectively, helps, too, as Davis is committed to playing bigger clearly ditching the small-ball approach that put the Heels well on the wrong side of the NCAA Tournament fence.
Tyson, for example, had stints of 6:18 (first half) and 7:50 (second half) against FSU. He also produced, scoring six points and pulling down 4 rebounds. It was time earned on the court, so Davis stayed with him.
“I thought Cade and other guys out there played strong, played confident,” Davis said. “And I was really happy with their performance.”
Tyson has served a role in the last three games after not appearing in the victory at Syracuse, which kicked off the current four-game win streak. He played nine minutes scoring 6 points against NC State, and had a 4:09 stint that included hitting a 3-pointer against Virginia.
Other than playing the final 9:25 at Duke, in which he entered with the Tar Heels trailing by 29 points, Tyson had four-plus minute stretches just three times from Louisville through the Clemson games.
Withers has started the last five games but played just 17 minutes in the 20-point loss at Clemson. In the four wins since, he’s averaged 23.5 minutes. What’s interesting, and proves Davis’ trust is growing, is that Withers had stretches of 5-plus minutes only seven times in the 11 games from Louisville to Duke. In the last four contests, he’s had six such uninterrupted stretches on the floor.
Furthermore, he logged four or sustained minutes only 10 times in the 11-games from January 1 until the loss at Duke. Over the last four contests, however, he’s also had 11 periods playing at least four consecutive minutes without leaving the game.
With some Heels (18-11, 11-6 ACC) staying on the court for longer stretches, it means some are also sitting on the bench for deeper periods that previously. That’s a problem Davis doesn’t mind having.
“That’s what a team is, is you just have different strengths and different parts, different games, and you bring them all together and use them in this game and use them in this situation,” he said. “And guys step up here. We can go through every guy on that stat sheet and I can name plays in which they helped us be successful tonight.”
An example of sitting for a while came Monday when Seth Trimble essentially sat for 11:14. He actually checked in for the final second of the first half, but that was it. He logged only nine minutes by the intermission, in which the Heels led 49-43.
Yet, 12 of his 17 points came in the second half as did 16 of his 25 minutes. Trimble doesn’t want to sit, but he’s patient and understands that’s how games go sometimes, especially when everyone is contributing and Davis is showing trust in his roster.
“Not every possession will be your possession, not every game will be your game,” Trimble said in the tunnel at Tucker Center. “That first half wasn’t my first half. I wasn’t happy with it and I wasn’t happy with sitting. So, I told myself, ‘as soon as I check in that second half it’s a whole another game for me.”
And he produced.
“I made sure I was,” he said.
And so did his coach. It appears that Davis has more options now, so he can ride lineups longer. Crunch time is here, and this luxury comes at the perfect time.