Freshman Backcourt Struggling, But Williams Keeping Faith

CORAL GABLES, FL – Suggesting North Carolina freshmen guards Caleb Love and RJ Davis are struggling would be an understatement.

They are having a very tough time, especially of late. Their issues adjusting to the college game have somewhat hamstrung UNC Coach Roy Williams, as he does not have a ton of options at point guard, which is where Love and Davis rotate, with Love mostly on the ball and Davis having started the majority of his games at the shooting guard spot.

Turnovers, poor shooting, problems managing the offense and defensive issues have plagued both players resulting in their court time diminishing in recent weeks. At some point, they need to perform at a higher leve for the 7-4 Tar Heels, or Carolina’s season will continue to wobble.

Williams laid it out there following the Heels' 67-65 win at Miami on Tuesday night inside Watsco Center.

“They've got to stop turning the ball over, that's the biggest thing,” Williams said. “They can both be good defensive players, so they’ve got to stay in front of the basketball. I've always said, ‘If my point guards will stay in front of the ball and not turn it over, I can stick with them for anything.’

“They're both shooting the ball terribly and they're good shooters. But this is not kindergarten basketball. I can't say. ‘Oh, you're doing great. You're shooting 28 percent, God that's fantastic,’ or anything. Sometimes, you’ve got to man up and start making shots and that's what they have to do to get their entire game going because they focus so much on their shots going in.”

The shooting numbers?

For the season, Love has hit 27.6 percent of his field goal attempts, including just 17.8 percent from 3-point range, of which he’s attempted 45 treys. In the three games since not starting at Georgia Tech, Love has been even more errant: 6-for-26 from the floor (23.1 percent) and he’s averaging 5.3 points in the stretch, bringing his season average down to 9.5 points per game.

One positive for Love is that he went into the Georgia Tech game having converted only 4-for-34 from beyond the ar, but is an acceptable 4-for-11 (36.4 percent) since. Love has not attempted a free throw in the last three contests.

After scoring in double figures in UNC’s first five games, Davis has done so once since, netting 11 points in a loss at NC State, and is averaging only five points per contest in that stretch. He hasn’t attempted a free throw in the last two games and has shot just three in UNC’s last five after outings after doing so 21 times in Carolina’s first five contests.

Furthermore, since going 4-for-8 from the floor at Iowa, Davis is 11-for-48 (22.9 percent), including 4-for-22 from 3-point range, which is 18.2 percent.

Williams’ challenge in bringing along his cubs isn't just related to their shooting woes, instead it encompasses multiple aspects of their games. But the Hall of Fame coach maintains his faith in Love and Davis.

“I think I've been the most patient I've ever been in my life,” he said. “Now the biggest question is, what do they think? But, I think I've been the most patient I've ever been in my unbelievable life that I've had, but I've never been this patient.

“Guys, our two point guards, yeah, 2-for-14 with seven turnovers (versus Miami), but you know what? North Carolina won the game and Caleb made a big three at the end and that was a big, big play and let's build from that and go on. But the bottom line is, I trust them, I believe in them, I'm putting them in the game. Now, they’ve got to play better. That's it, pretty simple. You’ve just got to play better.”

The other stuff?

On the season, Love has 38 assists and 35 turnovers, Davis is at 26 and 25. In the three games since not starting, Love has eight assists and 10 turnovers and he's registered more turnovers than ssists in six of Carolina's 11 contests. During a five-game stretch from Stanford through Kentucky, Love played at least 30 minutes in each game and averaged 32 per contest. In the last three games, beginning with the loss in Atlanta, he’s averaging 24 minutes

Davis has more turnovers than assists in six of UNC’s last seven games, has only two steals on the season, and his time has also dropped. He averaged 30.1 minutes through the first six games but has played 22.8 minutes per game since and was on the floor for just 14 minutes Tuesday night.

Freshmen struggle, that’s not a surprise, but Love and Davis doing so at the same time has made navigating through the season a more demanding proposition for the Tar Heels, who are No. 179 in the nation averaging 72.3 points and No. 255 in field goal percentage at 41.9, including No. 267 (30.4 percent) from 3-point range. But the freshmen aren’t alone, either, as Leaky Black has advised them, speaking from personal experience.

“I just tell them we all go through it, they’re not the only ones that have been through this,” Black said in Coral Gables. “I’m sure if we look back at the great point guards Marcus Paige, Joel Berry, probably went through the same stumble.

“It’s not going to be high school where you can just go out and play, you’ve actually got to come in every day (and) work and be better than you were the day before.”

Black had to adapt, as well, even last year when his playing time shot up. It took time, but he caught up to the game and expects the same will happen with Love and Davis.

“Eventually they’ll get it,” he said. “The game will start to slow down, and their confidence will be back.”

That cannot happen too soon for the Tar Heels.