Taking a minute to glance back at some of North Carolina’s earlier basketball games this season, and something stands out about RJ Davis’ shot. It was flat.
His feet were often a bit awkward, even at times the right foot was too far out front. The shots looked rushed and he was admittedly working on his headspace.
But that appears to have changed and last season’s ACC Player of the Year is working toward that form again. The narrative hasn’t taken notice yet, but the numbers have, and they simply don’t lie.
“Yeah, I’ve been watching a lot of film of my jump shots,” Davis said after the Tar Heels’ win over SMU at home Tuesday night. “Big (Sean) May actually sent me clips of my shot from this year just so I can critique myself and when shots are going in, when shots are not.
“I felt like the beginning of the year I was rushing my shot rather than just shooting the basketball. Being patient with it. I felt like I was pressing a little bit.”
Davis hasn’t yet found the consistency he wants and needs, but the signs are there it's coming. He was 5-for-10 from the perimeter against Campbell four games ago and then 3-for-6 from outside against SMU. He scored 23 and 26 points in those games, too, respectively.
The combined 1-for-8 at Louisville and Notre Dame in between weren’t because the shot was flat, he simply missed as UNC’s second all-time leading scorer continues search for the right touch.
Gauging Davis’ growth clearly indicates more than an uptick in his accuracy aided by a shot with more arc and less stress when released.
He says the Florida game is when the old feeling starting returning, and tracing everything back to that game reveals a dramatic shift in accuracy.
In the last six games, Davis is 37-for-84 from the field, which is 44.1%. He is 14-for-42 from 3-point range, which is 33.3%.
Contrast that to the first ten games when he was 56-for-157 overall (35.7%) and 19-for-76 from three (25%). No nudging is needed to make believers out of his critics.
“When I do make a shot, it’s more as I’m set, my feet are set and in a relaxed position,” Davis said. “I’ve been doing a good job of doing that.”
In addition, his work inside the arc has improved as well.
In the last six contests, Davis is 23-for-42 inside the arc, which is 54.8%. In the first ten games, he was 37-for-81 (45.7%).
UNC Coach Hubert Davis said the veteran has put in the work, but also that there wasn’t a ton of tweaking to do, thus making changes in-season was far more doable for UNC’s leading scorer at 18.2 points per game.
“I think it's difficult to make major changes in your shot, but changes in terms of, let me get a little bit more arc, let me use my legs a little bit more, let me get my elbow in, let me make sure that my guide hand isn't too much on the ball…,” said UNC’s coach, who is one of the top all-time 3-point shooters in NBA history.
“The person that knew my shot the most was me, and so I knew when I was making shots. I knew when I was missing and why I was missing. In the same regards for RJ and he's in more of a rhythm now and knocking down shots, and that's exactly the way that I like it.”
Some film work with assistant coach Marcus Paige, whom Davis recently passed as Carolina’s all-time leader in made 3-pointers, has certainly helped.
And the timing couldn’t be any better for Davis to find his form. ACC play is here for the 10-6 overall Tar Heels, who are 3-1 in league play.
Up next is a trip down the road to Raleigh to face NC State, and Davis continuing his course will be a key in North Carolina beating its rival.
