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CHAPEL HILL – Notching a narrow victory over a last-place team in the ACC isn’t always cause for celebration, especially for a basketball program with North Carolina’s pedigree. But the truth is, the Tar Heels were thrilled with their 63-59 escape at Notre Dame on Wednesday night.
So much that the vibe afterward was one of tremendous relief, and it could be infusing moving forward.
Losers five times in their previous six games before venturing into Purcell Pavilion, the Tar Heels needed the ray of sun provided by a much-needed victory.
“Be happy in the moment because sometimes you just need that,” UNC junior point guard RJ Davis said following the win over the Irish, when asked if he was relieved. “You can’t be sad all the time, disappointed, and frustrated. It can’t be rainy days all the time, you’ve gotta have some sunny.
“That’s how I’m looking at things right now.”
That is healthy, kind of like having more of a balanced diet. The Heels were gorging on negativity pretty much all season. Even when they won ten of 12 games in one stretch, there never was the feeling around the team as if they were fully on the right track.
Carolina Coach Hubert Davis said Friday the preseason plaudits, somewhat fueled by their own comments, went from hill status to mountain quickly, and hasn’t receded.
So yeah, there was a great deal of relief Wednesday night.
“I felt that,” UNC Coach Hubert Davis said during a press conference Friday at the Smith Center before noting the albatross dangling from this team. “And I have felt through the course of this season our guys playing with added weight, I really do.
“I think the added weight of being preseason number one, I think the added weight of the expectations, I think the added weight of this team looking like last year’s team, the added weight of ‘you guys lost four in a row,’ the added weight of ‘you guys are out of the Top 25,’ the added weight of the NCAA Tournament, and just being free enough just to play.”
The Tar Heels (17-11, 9-8 ACC, No. 47 NET) know what is being said and written about them. They are keenly aware of the Quad records, NCAA bubble talk, and that not reaching the big dance after starting the season as the top-ranked team would be a considerable indignity.
No Associated Press preseason No. 1 team failed to make the NCAAs since the field was expanded to 64 teams in 1985. Carolina is dangerously close to making forgettable history.
More than that, however, the Heels simply needed a win the other night. They needed to feel good about themselves, and to remove the excess stress from their shoulders, that can only be achieved by notching a victory.
“They were also able to take a deep breath and go, ‘We won,’” UNC’s coach said. “Sometimes, you just need that one to build that confidence and assurance that they’re doing things the right way.”
The right way also includes making shots, and the Heels have recently acknowledged than when the ball isn’t falling through the cylinder, their mojo is greatly affected. Call it human nature, call it a syndrome where starting to believe negatives will happen can take hold of a group in the wrong way.
“I felt like our inability to be able to score impacted our energy, our effort, and our mood,” Hubert Davis said.
He hinted the team gets tight when they don’t score, so coaching against human nature when it reaches that degree is a challenge, but one he meets by trying to infuse his club with positivity.
Of course, Davis recognizes the best path to full-fledged good vibes is for the ball to go through the hoop, and to string together some wins. Teams need sunny days, too, and the Heels are hoping the bright days continue.
