Tar Heels Have Clear Mission: Better On-Court Chemistry

CHAPEL HILL – One would have to be blindfolded and in a tunnel with no access to the outside world to not have a clue about the surging narrative regarding North Carolina’s basketball team this past week.

Cole Anthony, many are saying, is hurting the Tar Heels.

The fuel for this sentiment is that Carolina is 0-2 and has looked out of sync since he returned to the lineup after missing 11 consecutive contests because of a knee injury. The latter is true, but is it fair to heap the blame on Anthony?

The freshman point guard accepted responsibility following Monday’s loss at Florida State, repeatedly saying he must play better, he needs to trust his teammates and himself more and so on. Some of the other Heels heard Anthony speaking with the media some 15 minutes after the game's conclusion, others witnessed his contrition later that night.

They view it as a positive the 19-year-old showed how much he cares about contributing to the process, not that it was ever in question to them.

“We know it means a lot to him because he’s that type of kid,” junior guard Andrew Platek said Thursday afternoon at the Smith Center, as the Tar Heels are getting ready to host Duke on Saturday night. “He’s a great basketball player but a really good teammate and a really good young man… But you don’t want to take things too personally.

“Obviously, there’s a lot of things we could have done to help us as a team to win that game and it’s not on any one person. He didn’t have the best game, obviously, and he knew he didn’t have the best game. We all didn’t have the best game.”

The numbers aren’t very pleasant: Anthony was 5-for-22 versus the Seminoles missing his last 12 field goal attempts, and other than a couple of stretches, the Tar Heels were awfully stagnant on offense. He was also a surprising 3-for-8 from the free throw line two days after converting all 14 of his attempts in a one-point loss to Boston College.

After shooting 50.1 percent going 2-1 with the loss in overtime at Virginia Tech over the three games before Anthony’s return, the Heels are 43-for-129 (33.3 percent) from the field since. Junior forward Garrison Brooks shot 59.2 percent averaging 22.3 points in the noted trio of contests, but he’s at 30.4 percent with 15 total points in the last two games. He's looked like a different player.

Sophomore Leaky Black says there’s something the other Heels on the floor can do to make things run smoother with Brooks and Anthony getting less contested shots as the Tar Heels get used to Anthony being back on the floor.

“Just keep cutting and moving,” Black said. “Don’t get caught standing so our defender helps out on them, doubles them or whatever. Always be a threat. All eyes are definitely going to be on Cole and G, so we just have to keep moving to help those guys out.”

The stuff circulating on social media and message boards about Anthony and the Heels doesn’t reflect how the guys on the team see the situation. They know Anthony took the FSU game rather hard, but see it as a freshman growing and perhaps that should be the narrative, not the alternative.

“He’s a young player (but) he’s ahead of his years, honestly,” Black said. “He’s been playing against pros his whole life, pretty much, to see him care that much and not just think about the future and actually want to get back out here with us does mean a lot to us.”

The chemistry, however, still needs massaging.

“It’s a really different team and a different dynamic for us,” Brooks said, noting Anthony being out there.

He’s so ball dominant that mltiple Tar Heels have admitted to just standing and watching him at times. But that’s obviously not a winning formula, and the Heels are uber aware of this.

Add No. 7 Duke’s visit and the daunting task of finding a groove in February is a bit more challenging.

“We’re going to find a way to coexist this Saturday and we’re going to play well together…,” an optimistic and matter-of-fact Brooks said. “It was difficult the last two games, but I think we’re going to get on the same page and we’re going to play well together.”

Public narratives aside, the tenor around the team is different. And that might be the next step toward finding needed cohesion.