NEW YORK, NY – With ten days in between games for North Carolina, the Tar Heels have a chance to exhale some and assess the first five weeks of the season.
Of course, semester final exams will take place over the next several days, and it will give the players a chance to fully get a gauge on where they are right now as opposed to when the season started.
Nine games is nearly a third of the regular season, 29 percent to be exact, as only three nonconference games remain, and then its 19 more ACC battles before the postseason arrives. The assessment, however, started in the bowels of Madison Square Garden on Tuesday night, following an 87-76 loss to Connecticut in the Jimmy V Classic.
Carolina is 7-2, and for this week at least, is ranked ninth in the nation. It has quality non-ACC wins over Arkansas on a neutral floor and at home over Tennessee. The other loss was to struggling Villanova in The Bahamas.
“If you would have told me at the beginning of the season we’d be right here, I’d be fine with it,” fifth-year forward Armando Bacot said, following the loss to the Huskies. “Going to a school like Carolina, we all play for national championships, so it’s a long road.”
A long road for sure, as the Heels recognize much progress is needed to reach their stated goals. But, looking back a month and seeing how much they’ve grown gives them optimism they are headed in the right direction.
“I’d say evaluation right now, I think we’re in a pretty good spot,” said senior guard RJ Davis, who scored 26 points versus UConn and has averaged 26.6 per game over the Heels’ last five contests.
“We had a lot of people talk about our nonconference schedule. It’s pretty evident. I think we have a really good basketball team here from the starters all the way to the bench. We have everyone that contributes in so many different ways.”
The Heels have used huge second-half runs in six of their wins, most recently last Saturday when they flipped the script on Florida State with a 22-0 press-led explosion leading to an eight-point win.
Seth Trimble came off the bench to help fuel that charge, and on other nights, different Tar Heels have heavily contributed to wins. The team entered the season thinking it could handle rugged foes in a manner last year’s 20-13 squad couldn’t, and that has been the case.
Offensive efficiency is much higher, the pace quicker, and the defense has had some excellent stretches.
“I think we've gotten better every day,” UNC Coach Hubert Davis said at the Garden. “I just do, I think we're getting better and have grown each and every practice and game.”
Some national stat rankings to chew on:
-No. 24 in scoring at 85.1 points per game.
-No. 236 in scoring defense at 73.7 points per game.
-No. 133 shooting 45.8% from the field.
-No. 195 in field goal defense at 43.0%.
-No. 48 shooting 75.8% on free throws.
-No. 5 averaging 21.2 made free throws per game.
-No. 93 shooting 35.9% from 3-point range.
-No. 189 defending 3s at 32.6%.
-No. 91 in rebound margin at plus-4.9.
-No. 48 in assist/turnover ratio at 1.44.
-No. 7 in adjusted offensive efficiency.
-No. 47 in adjusted defensive efficiency.
-No. 32 in overall strength of schedule.
These numbers somewhat reflect a group that started the season with seven new scholarship players joining just four returning from last year’s club. So jelling in all areas is an ongoing thing, though Bacot says they are there.
“I think we feel fully meshed,” he said. “We’re kind of figuring out our swag. RJ, he’s been killing it, Harry, everybody. We’re all just playing off each other. I think what’s so good about this team is we can take whatever the defense gives us.”
Nine games in, and the Tar Heels have made clear progress. The evidence is in their play, and what they say.
