CHAPEL HILL – Athletes and coaches are known for speaking in canned quotes, cliches, and generalizations.

But when multiple players on a team collectively say they must “buy in,” they should be taken literally. That comes from a different place than “we need to play harder” or “they wanted it more.”

Buying in comes from deep within the pits of their souls and recesses of their minds. It’s not a gray area issue; a player and team are either bought in or they aren’t.

And for the last week-plus, North Carolina has not only appeared as if the Tar Heels weren’t bought in, but they are saying it, too. Three losses in a row, a series of terrible first halves and massive deficits opened the door to some real talk following a 94-79 loss at home to Alabama on Wednesday night.

“It starts with myself and also starts with the team,” veteran guard RJ Davis said. “We all have to buy in. It can’t be one guy and the rest not follow along. It kind of has to be like a domino effect. We all just really have to buy in.”

What exactly does buying in mean?

It could be a few things. Typically, it reflects whether or not a team is taking their coaches’ message or mandate and applying it on the field or court. It could also reflect how they feel about one another. Lacking trust comes to mind, and it would explain a lot about how the Tar Heels have played on offense, but not defense.

That’s a different animal, and it's the most perplexing because it’s all about want; wanting to buy into the little and dirty things.

“It’s really just two things for me, the energy and effort on the defensive,” junior forward Ven-Allen Lubin said.

Yet, during Monday’s press conference, UNC Coach Hubert Davis highlighted his team’s defensive problems saying it’s a point of emphasis. But the message wasn’t well received Wednesday night. The Tar Heels allowed 51 points in the second half to the Crimson Tide; and Alabama shot 51.4% for the half. That was the seventh out of 16 halves this season the opponent has made at least half of its shots from the field.

Wednesday may have been the Tar Heels at their worst.

“I think for all of us, we just need to learn to just know it takes all of you,” Lubin said. “It takes everybody. Everybody buy-in on the defensive end.”

In only one of those 16 halves has an opponent shot below 35%, so even the Tar Heels’ better performances haven’t been complete lock-down performances with the exception of the second half against American when the Eagles hit only 14.7% of their shots, but they were above 50% in the first 20 minutes that night.

"Very frustrating,” Carolina’s coach said about the struggles and players saying they aren’t bought in. “You know, one of the things that I've consistently said is that this group has shown flashes of playing at the level that is required in order to be successful. But the next step forward is to start there and to be able to stay there for 40 minutes on both ends of the floor. So that's something that we've got to get better at and address and be ready to do that at 2 o'clock on Saturday."

Yet, how do they get there so quickly. No magic wand exists that will sweep over the Heels and suddenly make them all Leaky Black on the defensive end. It has to come from within, and Lubin said that may require everyone to serve as the trigger point.

“I think we’re all capable of being leaders and being a voice,” he said. “It could take one person, it could take two people. It really just takes everybody to buy in so we can be better.”