Cadeau's Cue From Davis is Starting to Pay Off
TALLAHASSEE, FL – RJ Davis is a role model for Elliot Cadeau.
Sounds logical enough, given that Davis is a senior guard and Cadeau a freshman and his backcourt mate. Davis is also having an ACC Player of the Year kind of season.
It goes deeper than what people see on game nights from Davis, who leads the ACC in scoring at 21.2 points per contest.
“I’m a freshman and I’m constantly trying to learn from all my teammates, and RJ is a great influence on me,” Cadeau said after scoring a season-high 16 points in a win this past Saturday at Florida State. “And to see how poised he is, to see him make the shots down the stretch, just shows me a level I want to be at. So, maybe next year I could be exactly like him.”
Whether or not Cadeau develops a perimeter stroke that has helped Davis contend for All-American honors remains to be seen, but more to his point is the manner in which Davis handles himself on the court.
He never panics. He is never rattled. He never, ever looks out of sorts. And for Cadeau, that’s where the greatest lesson from Davis originates. And, it is an absolute area of Cadeau’s game that has come together of late.
It’s slowing down for him, and is beginning to feel like it did before he arrived in college with natural hills to hurdle. They're being scaled each day.
“Yeah, it’s definitely starting to come back to me,” Cadeau said. “I definitely feel like I’m getting back to how it was.”
In the win at FSU, Cadeau also handed out six assists, which was a product of his successful drives to the basket. So were the points.
He was just 4-for-12 from the floor, but the 12 is an important number. It was the second consecutive game in which he attempted a dozen shots with a previous high of nine. He also drew nine fouls on Seminoles, a reason the 6-footer attempted nine free throws, converting eight.
As noted, the game has slowed because Cadeau’s quickness and speed are starting to take over. Sometimes, he appears ungaurdable when taking his man off the dribble and into the lane. The crisp, darting moves have always been there, but Cadeau just needed regular injections of confidence, and that boost has come from the staff.
“I think my confidence is the coaches trusting me more, putting the ball in my hands more, and calling sets that actually get me downhill,” he said.
It has liberated Cadeau to do what he does best.
“I’m just getting more and more confident in myself,” said Cadeau, who scored 14 points last week versus Wake Forest, giving consecutive double-digit games after having only three on the season.
“And I’m figuring out how to get my shots within the play style without forcing anything.”
As for the guy who has been a regular recipient of Cadeau’s dishes, Davis sees his young teammate’s game evolving. The talent is starting to meet performance.
“He does a great job of setting people up, and he does a great job of being aggressive down in the lane and finishing with contact,” Davis said. “He’s a special player and a special talent.”
On the season, Cadeau is averaging 7.8 points and 3.7 assists for the third-ranked Tar Heels (17-3, 9-0). He isn’t much of a perimeter shooting threat yet, and while his defense has vastly improved, there’s room to grow there between now and when the Heels march into March.
But the recent trajectory of his game suggests he will make strides in those areas, too, over the next month aided by his maturing manner, a cue from his older, high-scoring teammate.