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With 6:53 remaining Wednesday night, it appeared that North Carolina was in good shape to get to .500 after two games of Atlantic Coast Conference play. The Tar Heels were up 61-53.
However, there was a complete meltdown from there as Georgia Tech went on a 19-6 closing run to hand UNC a 72-67 defeat. The result moves the Tar Heels to 5-4 overall and 0-2 in league play.
The run by Georgia Tech was quick and decisive. North Carolina lost momentum in a matter of seconds and could never get it back. If you followed the game closely, you probably had the feeling that Georgia Tech was getting buckets much easier than the Heels.
In this edition of the film review, we will take an unpleasant look at how Carolina took defeat out of the jaws of victory.
North Carolina had everything where it wanted it. Up 61-53 with 6:53 remaining in the game, it had just experienced the best offensive run of the game with a pair of deep shots by Kerwin Walton and a a driving layup by Leaky Black that forced a Josh Pastner timeout.
Georgia Tech responded with three straight 3-pointers, and just like that it was anyone's game. Carolina's nemesis throughout was dribble penetration. In the first half, it didn't seem that Pastner had learned much from the North Carolina State film, but in the second he repeatedly put the Tar Heels in ball-screen situations.
That is what they do here, and this time the Heels handle it nicely. Armando Bacot hard hedges and forces Michael Devoe to dribble out onto the floor. Keep that in mind, because their bigs are very inconsistent in doing that. Devoe faces up and is now in a isolation situation out front with Walton. Devoe is crafty with his change of speeds and his behind the back move. He gets even with Walton, but I'm not sure he is ever beaten. Caleb Love steps in to take the charge, but probably should have stayed on his man, Bubba Parham, who made back to back threes. However, Love is trying to make a team play, and this is just good offense.
North Carolina 61, Georgia Tech 56, 6:36 remaining.
I've watched Georgia Tech twice this season, and they are very opportunistic with four and five-point swings. Against Kentucky, they scored 33 points directly off Wildcat turnovers. This example wasn't exactly like that, but Carolina should have scored here and instead Tech pushes off the miss and hits a three for a five-point turnaround.
Garrison Brooks gets the ball in the short corner and Bacot dives to the block. This is good ball movement and post-to-post passing. Georgia Tech doubled down with their guards out of their zone as much as you will ever see. Carolina's bigs did have to deal with lots of doubles on their shots, but many times they. were still against much smaller players. The six-foot Jose Alverado slides down here and never leaves his feet. Bacot catches the ball in good position with a foot in the paint and just throws the ball of the back board. He has to make this shot.
Georgia Tech gets the ball and pushes. Carolina gets back, but they have a fatal communication breakdown. Parham makes a guard to guard pass out front to Alverado. He is defended by Love. For some reason, Leaky Black leaves Parham to go take Alverado. Now he is doubled and Parham is left alone. He gets the ball back and drains and uncontested three.
Parham has now made back-to-back three pointers, and in one minute and thirteen seconds Tech has cut an eight point lead to two.
North Carolina 61, Georgia Tech 59, 5:40 remaining.
Kerwin Walton answers with his third 3-pointer in just a few minutes. That was a discouraging part to this loss. The lack of 3-point shooting has been a much discussed problem, but on Wednesday night they were 8-for-20 for 40 percent. Walton has three-for-four. I would have taken Carolina all day long under that scenario.
Now, the Tar Heels are back up five at the 5:27 mark, and then they let the one thing happen that just cannot transpire. They let Georgia Tech answer tit-for-tat with their own three. Michael Devoe drains Tech's third consecutive three in just a matter of a few possessions.
I'm going to do something I haven't done this year, and blame part of the on the stripes. Jordan Usher hands off the ball then goes to screen for Michael Devoe who had just made a three. He has a 15-foot sprint at Kerwin Walton and obviously nails him with a running shoulder block. He is nowhere close to being set.
However, after studying this play several times, I do have to lay some of this at the feet of Walton as well. When Devoe first cuts he takes an inside step. Now there is no way he can get around a screen. You have to chase over the screen with these hot shooters. Devoe has a HORSE shot. That's nine GT points on a trio of trifectas in less than two minutes.
North Carolina 64, Georgia Tech 62, 5:05 remaining.
After a Caleb Love missed jumper, Georgia Tech initiates the offense with a high flat ball screen more toward the left slot. The handoff comes after than and they look to iso Jordan Usher on Garrison Brooks from the top. Brooks does his best job of the game of keeping Usher in front of him and gives up nothing. Georgia Tech basically took turns doing this. Usher gives it to Jose Alverado and he tries the same thing against Leaky Black. Alverado is very crafty and experienced with the ball. He can also stop on a dime at a selected spot and rise up for the mid-range jumper. When he gets got he is difficult to handle. Alverado has the longer Leaky Black on him, but his change of pace creates space at the right elbow.
North Carolina 64, Georgia Tech 64, 4:10 remaining .
North Carolina now leads 65-64 with just under four minutes remaining. Armando Bacot was fouled at the rim and made one of two free throws. That gets me to another point. Bacot had a point blank miss although there was contact. This could have very well been a three-point play, but instead Carolina only gets one out of it. That is basically like giving up a field goal. They were a perfect five-for-five in the first half at the line, but only four of nine in the second. The bigs missed critical foul shots down the stretch. Not only did Bacot contribute, but Day'Ron Sharpe missed a pair, and later missed a front end of a one-and-one. Sharpe was also stripped going up at the rim with under two minutes remaining.
There was a lot that went into the possession on the other end. Georgia Tech looks for an initial dribble at on the right side which leads to the wing back cutting and the corner coming for a handoff. Caleb Love does a good job of overplaying and denying Bubba Parham. Alverado changes direction and uses the ball screen by Moses Wright who is being guarded by Bacot. Either way (handoff or ball screen), Pastner wanted to go at Bacot out on the floor. Once again, a Carolina big plays too soft on the screen and allows dribble penetration. This is the symptom that leads to the ensuing pain.
Garrison Brooks has to cut off Alverado on top of the lane arc. That is much too deep. He kicks to Jordan Usher on the right wing. Brooks has to sprint 20 feet into a closeout to get to him. Now we have a problem. This was the problem mismatch, and now Usher is going to use Brooks' momentum against him. Brooks simply cannot keep him in front of him. Usher gets two feet in the lane on the middle drive and draws Love in help. He simply drops it to Alverado for the easy layup and goal tend. Georgia Tech takes the lead, and the overwhelming feeling is that this one is past the point of no return.
Georgia Tech 66, North Carolina 65, 3:24 remaining.
Georgia Tech plays an unusual zone. Against other teams, it played more of a straight 1-3-1. Against UNC, the Yellow Jackets still had that look, but it's more of a matchup. Each one of the four players on top will take the ball from the foul line extended depending on where it is. The defender who leaves the ball will drop off to take the high post, but it seemed to usually be the top and middle players interchanging. It is confusing for anyone to attack, especially freshmen guards. One thing Tech did well in the second half was to make sure the high post was covered. Sometimes it looked like a 1-3-1. Other times it resembles a 3-2. It depended how Carolina attacked it.
Around the 13-14 minute mark, it first entered my mind that this lead might get squandered. Tech was starting to get penetration while every Carolina possession seemed like a root canal whether they scored or not. Tech was willing to let the ball be swung from side to side up top, but it appeared the strategy was to not let the ball get into the middle, particularly in the paint. The Tar Heels can't get the ball into the high post or the block, and Caleb Love ends up taking a deep, contested three a couple of feet behind the 3-point line with seven seconds left. They still had some time to get a better shot, but the nerves kicked in when the shot clock got under ten because golod looks were so hard to get.
Garrison Brooks just missed an open 15 footer from the foul line area. Georgia Tech leads 67-65, it has possession, and the Jackets have scored on their last five trips. The Jackets go to the look they tried a moment ago in which the wing back cuts, and the corner then comes up for the hand off into the pick and roll. Roy Williams can be heard yelling for an illegal screen call by Alverado on the handoff. Carolina helps and recovers, but the threat of the ball-screen success sets up the play. Garrison Brooks is providing help directly in front of the rim. His man is Jordan Usher in the left corner. That's another 20-foot sprint into a closeout.
Usher doesn't even wait on Brooks. As soon as he heads his direction, Usher blows by him with this right hand. Brooks does not close out on his toes by chopping his feet. He jumps into a closeout with his feet flat on the ground. Usher is a decent three-point shooter. He is 8-for-23 for 34.8%. It would have been a risk to play off him and dare him to make the jumper, but it was no contest when Brooks went all the way out to him.
Usher gets to the middle of the lane once again, and this time draws Armando Bacot. His man is Moses Wright who gots fouled at the rim after getting the pass from Usher. He made 1 of 2 free throws.
Georgia Tech 68, North Carolina 63, 2:01 remaining.
Day'Ron Sharpe made a strong move with the jump hook with 1:07 left that cut the Tech lead to 68-67. From there, Moses Wright was tied up by Sharpe. Georgia Tech had the possession arrow, and got the ball on the side.
Tech stacked and Jose Alverado received the in-bounds pass cutting along the sideline away from the basket. He received an attempt of a guard to guard ball-screen from Bubba Parham, but he didn't need it. Carolina switches the guard to guard, and Alverado is picked up by R.J. Davis 40 feet from the basket. Alverado took a page out of the Braxton Beverly book. He keeps going side-to-side until he turns the corner on Davis which is almost even with the three-point line on the right side of the floor. Alverado uses leverage to let Davis run by him, and converts the pull-up jumper. Tech scores on a bank shot for the second time down the stretch. Add the help from Sharpe, and the 6-foot-0 guard scored on three Tar Heels.
Georgia Tech 70, North Caroline 67, :46 remaining.
North Carolina fouled Jose Alverado after a turnover who surprisingly missed the front end. The Tar Heels get the ball back with 26.9 seconds left and a chance to tie the score trailing 70-67.
The Tar Heels get a good look. This clip shows the difference in attack a zone zone compared to man to man. Andrew Platek cuts to the top to receive a guard to gaurd pass from R.J. Davis. Jordan Usher is going with him, However, Garrison Brooks screens the top defender in the middle and then flashes. Platek finds him. This draws the wing defender from the help side who vacates a wide open R.J. Davis. I have one critique here, and it is an important one. Davis fills a spot and calls for the ball, but he doesn't have court awareness. He is five feet behind the three-point line. He should have crowded the arc and had a 22-foot shoot instead of 26-27.
