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Fatherly Advice Helps Johnson Regain Stroke

Cam Johnson hit six 3-pointers Tuesday after netting just three total over the previous four games.
Cam Johnson hit six 3-pointers Tuesday after netting just three total over the previous four games. (Bruce Young, THI)

CHAPEL HILL – Nobody knows Cam Johnson’s game better than his father.

Gil Johnson played basketball at Pittsburgh, though he wasn’t a perimeter shooter like his son is. In fact, the elder Johnson, who was a 6-8 forward in his playing days with the Panthers, never attempted a 3-pointer in college. But he knows the game and he knows his son.

So that’s why the critique he offered following North Carolina’s win at Notre Dame on Saturday paid immediate dividends Tuesday night, as Cam, a junior wing for the Tar Heels, scored a season-high 21 points after hitting 6 of 9 attempts from 3-point range.

“He said, ‘You’re not getting your feet set when shooting, you’re not in a good position and you’re shot’s going left and right,’” Johnson said, following the Tar Heels’ 87-79 victory over No. 20 Clemson at the Smith Center.

Cam took his father’s words to heart and began applying some changes that carried over to Tuesday morning when he worked on his perimeter shot with assistant coach Hubert Davis, a session that began at 8 am, 11 hours before the Heels and Tigers were to tip off.

They worked on a variety of left-foot step-ins and right-foot step-ins so he could regain a measure of comfort with his feet in order to react to any situation. By game time, Johnson was ready to change a course that saw him hit just 3 of 16 shots from 3-point range dating back to a Dec. 30 win over Wake Forest. He went 1-5 twice in that four-game stretch.

Johnson hit twice as many 3s Tuesday night.

“I missed the first one. It didn’t come off very clean, I don’t think my feet were ready,” he said. “That was a big emphasis the past couple of games, I haven’t been getting my feet underneath me quite well enough when I’m shooting. I thought about it, the next one fell and it just kind of went from there.”

Fellow Tar Heel Kenny Williams would have been fine had Johnson not even missed a shot versus the Tigers.

Johnson didn't drive much Tuesday night because he didn't need to.
Johnson didn't drive much Tuesday night because he didn't need to. (Bruce Young, THI)

“I was hoping he would be 10-for-10, honestly,” the junior guard said. “He had one in the corner, it might have been one of the better looks he had in the second half and he didn’t shoot it. That’s when he got the charge.

“Cam can shoot, he can really shoot. He can flat out shoot the ball.”

Johnson hit 3 of 4 from outside versus Wake, but otherwise, one must look back to a year ago for the last time he hit so many 3s in a game. In fact, as a starting wing at Pittsburgh, before graduating and transferring to UNC, in nine different games Johnson drained at least four 3s, including another 6-9 effort in this same building.

But then it was against the Tar Heels. On Tuesday, it was for the Tar Heels, showing off the kind of new weapon UNC is working into the mix.

“Matter of time, matter of time,” Clemson coach Brad Brownell said after the game Tuesday, alluding to Johnson breaking out of his slump. “He lit up a whole lot of teams last year at Pittsburgh.

“He's finding his way in a new program and getting used to playing with different players. He's a huge dimension for them, I think. He's another added shooter to go along with (Kenny) Williams and the rest of them. They have a good team.”

Carolina had a good team before Johnson entered the lineup on Dec. 23 after missing the first 11 games with torn meniscus in his right knee, now it can be even better, especially when Johnson plays as he did Tuesday.

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