Fighting Off A Negative Voice, Bacot Shows Progress
CHAPEL HILL – The best thing for Armando Bacot moving forward is to not listen to the voice in his head that has nagged the freshman forward for the last month or so.
The voice, which surfaced sometime around North Carolina’s loss to Wofford, has pecked away at Bacot’s confidence, with the result a series of inconsistent play, usually leaning toward the unspectacular.
“It was messing with me and I went 2-for-14 (versus Wofford),” he said Wednesday night, following UNC’s home loss to Pittsburgh. “I never shot that bad.”
His numbers have dropped significantly beginning with the Dec. 14 loss in Carmichael Arena, and the Tar Heels have lost four of their six games during this period. One of the two wins came in Bacot’s best performance since UNC played in the Bahamas the day after Thanksgiving when he totaled 15 points and grabbed 12 rebounds versus UCLA in Las Vegas.
Otherwise, Bacot has been feeding that inner speech much more than he’s cared to.
“Just like a voice telling me I can’t do it, just like that,” he said. “It’s kind of stupid. I’ve shown I can play at this level, so me not going out there performing I just knew that wasn’t me, so I knew I (had) to turn it around.”
Bacot did that to a degree in the loss to the Panthers. He finished with 15 points on 6-for-11 shooting and pulled down nine rebounds. But it wasn’t enough, as UNC lost for the second consecutive time at home and sixth time in its last eight contests.
The pressure to perform in concert with dwindling confidence may have reached a peak prior to the Pitt game. The 6-foot-10 Virginian went a combined 1-for-11 with nine rebounds last week versus Yale and Georgia Tech.
So earlier this week, he decided to fight back against the negative energy filling his mind.
“The last two games I was struggling just fighting the voice in my head,” he said. “I guess it was kind of like a freshman mistake, but I just said (Tuesday) night, ‘Just forget it.’ We’re struggling right now and we’re not talented enough for me to just not go in there and perform.”
A bad ankle hasn’t helped matters. In fact, it could be the primary source of the struggles and no doubt that has nearly consumed Bacot. And as the negative numbers started piling up, it only exacerbated the problem.
Prior to injuring his ankle early in a home loss to Ohio State on Dec. 4 and excluding a win at UNC Wilmington in which he played just three minutes courtesy of a concussion, Bacot averaged 13.2 points and 9.7 rebounds while converting 62.5 percent of his field goal attempts.
In the six games dating back to the Wofford debacle, Bacot is averaging 7.7 points, 7.7 rebounds and has made just 13 of 49 shots from the field, which is a startling 26.5 percent.
“The way I was playing was kind of like I was disgusted with myself,” he said Wednesday, offering up the idea he’s changed course.
To his credit, Bacot admits the bum ankle bothers him some but is quick to dismiss it as the bane of his struggles.
“It kind of affects me a little bit on the offensive board,” he said. “But I’m not trying to make excuses.”
He’s the same player that went for 23 points and 12 rebounds in a win over Oregon in late November and two days earlier went for 12 and 15 in a victory over Alabama.
The ankle may be off a bit, but the voice in Bacot’s head has been more of a hindrance. His confidence isn’t entirely back, but he says the negative messaging in his mind is under control.
“That’s in the past, now.”