Nine Different Starting Lineups Challenging Cohesion

LOUISVILLE, KY – Just when it appeared North Carolina was getting healthy, all things considered, news that Garrison Brooks would miss Saturday’s game at No. 11 Louisville must have seemed like a sick joke to the Tar Heels.

No pun intended.

But given how things have gone this season, how could they see it any other way?

So, one of only four Tar Heels to play in every game entering Saturday’s affair, Brooks fell ill a couple of days earlier, and by Saturday's shootaround he was deemed too ill and ruled out by UNC’s medical staff. Also out with a sprained ankle was reserve forward Justin Pierce, who averages 18.6 minutes per game this season.

As a result, Roy Williams started his ninth different lineup of the season, the most ever during his 17 seasons in Chapel Hill. And the Heels missed Brooks big time in their 72-55 defeat at the KFC Yum! Center.

“Obviously, it’s a big loss,” sophomore Leaky Black said. “To be honest, it just hurts me that he went down. I just hate the fact that he’s sick.

“He’s a tough dude, I knew he wanted to be out there with us, he’s obviously our number one, two or three scoring option, best defensive player. You’ve got to have him on the court at all times.”

Carolina’s second leading scorer (15.2) and leading rebounder (8.5) was on the floor for its first 26 games, as well as freshman forward Armando Bacot, Pierce and occasional starting guard Christian Keeling. Losing Brooks, however, gave some of the players a “here-we-go-again” mindset, junior Andrew Platek said, but also took away a player who scored 20 points last weekend versus Virginia’s stingy defense and 22 on Monday night at Notre Dame.

So, with little depth up front, Williams was forced to start Black at the four spot, a position he’d never played before until parts of Friday’s practice. His line: 34 minutes, four points (2-for-7 shooting) and four rebounds.

It wasn’t an easy adjustment for the sender 6-foot-7 wing.

“Personally, I felt like playing the four was one of the hardest positions,” Black said. “It’s different battling down there and having to try to remember the plays and where I’m supposed to be and try to give space.”

Adjusting on the fly has been the norm for the Tar Heels this season, though most of the time it’s been required on the perimeter. UNC has started four different point guards, and in fact achieved that distinction by its 16th game, a home loss to Clemson. That afternoon, Black opened at the point.

He’s now started six games at point guard, one at “power forward” and 18 at the three.

The effect on the Tar Heels has been considerable. They’re in the midst of the second worst season in program history in part because they really haven’t had the opportunity to generate any cohesion.

And it’s not just playing together in games, it’s in practice, too.

“It’s just difficult because we just never get a rhythm and just get a consistent lineup together and build that chemistry,” said senior Brandon Robinson, who has missed starts in three different parts of the season for three different reasons.

“Me being out, Cole (Anthony) being out and just guys being in and out of the lineup, it’s kind of difficult just to play that way. Chemistry’s everything in basketball. Playing together, knowing each other. And then just having Leaky play out of place, it kind of threw off our flow on offense. So, it was definitely difficult.”

Adding one more wrinkle to the equation is that Bacot barely played in two of his starts. He left three minutes into a win at UNC Wilmington because of a concussion and went out seven minutes into a home loss to Ohio State with a badly sprained ankle. Robinson’s start at Gonzaga in December lasted a half, as he remained in the locker room after the intermission because of an illness.

So, the Tar Heels will start at least a 10th different lineup on senior night versus Wake Forest in less than two weeks and maybe that will be it.

Regardless, this team has already set a mark that few, if any, will match in the future.

*Full list of starting lineups posted below

*The 20-17 team that advanced to the NIT finals in 2010 started eight different lineups. It, too, was decimated by injuries. The 2013 and 2014 teams started seven different lineups. Williams’ NCAA championship teams: 2017 six lineups; 2009 five lineups; 2005 four lineups.

*Last year’s team won a share of the regular season ACC title and was a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament but started just two different lineups.

*Starts by player this season: Bacot 27; Brooks 26; Black 26; Robinson 17; Anthony 15; Platek 9; Keeling 8; Smith 3; Francis 3; Pierce 1.

First (Notre Dame home & away, @ UNCW, Gardner-Webb, Elon, Virginia)

-Anthony, Keeling, Black, Brooks & Bacot

Second (vs. Alabama, vs. Michigan, vs. Oregon, Ohio State, at Virginia)

-Anthony, Robinson, Black, Brooks & Bacot

Third (Wofford)

-Smith, Robinson, Keeling, Brooks & Bacot

Fourth (@ Gonzaga, vs. UCLA)

-Smith, Robinson, Black, Brooks & Bacot

Fifth (Yale, Georgia Tech, Pitt)

-Francis, Robinson, Black, Brooks & Bacot

Sixth (Clemson, @ Pitt, – later Miami, @ N.C. State, BC)

-Black, Platek, Robinson, Brooks & Bacot

Seventh (@ Virginia Tech)

-Black, Platek, Pierce, Brooks & Bacot

Eighth (@ FSU, Duke, @ Wake)

-Anthony, Platek, Black, Brooks & Bacot

Ninth (@ Louisville)

-Anthony, Keeling, Robinson, Black & Bacot