Advertisement
basketball Edit

UNC In Search Of Right Mentality And Leadership

**************************************************************************************

Subscribe to THI for one year at just $8.33 per month and get access to everything we do. We are all over football & basketball recruiting & we go where the Tar Heels go.

***************************************************************************************


CORAL GABLES, FL – A couple of weeks ago, Hubert Davis was asked if his team had any fanny smackers, to which he replied, after laughing some, that it did not.

He was hopeful, however, one of his players would emerge as an igniter of energy, positivity, and team-wide focus. That’s what fanny smackers do.

But two weeks later, North Carolina is still searching for a leader, an on-court motivator capable of getting his teammates going when times are tough. And at no time have the Tar Heels been more devoid of that intangible than in an 85-57 loss at Miami on Tuesday night.

Whether Carolina was actually not ready to play the game can be up for debate, but it really doesn’t matter at this point. What is known is that the Hurricanes hit the Heels with an early 14-0 run to take a 16-5 lead, and the surge continued, as Miami led 49-22 at halftime and extended the lead to 32 in the second half. What is up for discussion is UNC’s seeming inability to change course when things go off the rails, as Miami wasn't the first time this has happened.

That requires leadership, and right now, that massive box has not been checked. But why?

"That's a great question. I don't know, I don't know,” Davis replied following the lopsided defeat at Watsco Center. “I told them in the huddle, that irregardless of what is going on in this game, and in certain games, whatever has happened in the past that they cannot get me to change my mind, me thinking that this team can be really good.

“I truly believe that. But why is the team missing that? That's a great question. I don't know but it is needed, immediately."

In truth, this was needed several times in a big way thus far, so “immediately” has almost become cliche with this group.

Advertisement
The Tar Heels didn;t have much juice in a 29-point loss to Kentucky last month.
The Tar Heels didn;t have much juice in a 29-point loss to Kentucky last month. (USA Today)

The need for a juice injector was evident when the Tar Heels were flat and listless in a 17-point loss to Tennessee in November. A month later, Armando Bacot was the only Heel who played well in a defeat to Kentucky in Las Vegas, but Carolina was throttled by 29 that day, so Bacot nor any other member of the team displayed any semblance of leadership that day. There was no trickle-down from his performance.

Bacot was outstanding in a loss at Notre Dame two weeks ago, and he was outspoken afterward saying all the right things about what was needed psychologically within the locker room. That, of course, was several days after Davis’ 30-day challenge to his team he wouldn’t have to mention his motto “energy, effort, and toughness.”

As noted, that challenge, which began January 1, was shelved by January 5.

Carolina (12-5 overall, 4-2 ACC) responded with impressive wins over Virginia and Georgia Tech, games in which they defended well and played with fire. But the bug that got them three times previously, soared to the surface Tuesday night. So even if Davis restarted his challenge, it was swatted to the side a second time just 18 days into the month. UNC needs leadership, but it requires a revamped total mentality, first.

“At this moment, I don’t know,” Davis said, when asked what it will take to get his team’s collective mindset in the same place at all times. “At times throughout the season, I feel like there has been a change in mentality and effort and toughness, and then we have a game like this.

The same problems that afflicted UNC in a loss to Tennessee, have re-appeared in three other losses.
The same problems that afflicted UNC in a loss to Tennessee, have re-appeared in three other losses. (USA Today)

“Just very disappointed, very disappointed in our fight, competitiveness, our effort, just very disappointed.”

A first-year head coach of the Tar Heels, Davis has a massive job. He’s the CEO of the brand that is North Carolina basketball, and he took over with no training in the head seat. So, his learning curve is something with which this team is dealing. And part of that is finding ways to improve and eventually master communicating to his club.

If they sometimes just aren’t there as a group, however, it won’t matter what Davis or any leader on the roster does or says. That is why UNC’s issues, aside from porous defense, turnovers that lead to points, and occasional poor shooting, are in the realm of its collective psyche.

It begins when scouting the next opponent, during pre-game meal, warmups, and then when things get tough on the floor. A fanny slapper must trigger a reversal of some kind, create a spark, and get the team humming.

Sophomore guard RJ Davis says it begins inside the locker room long before his head coach walks in with a motivational speech.

“There is no talk of we can do this, we can do that, but our actions are going to have to be that factor that allows us to win games, allow us to compete every night,” he said following the loss to Miami. “I don't think there's any motivation speaking-wise, I think it's our actions have to take place.”

They do, because words don’t win games, defensive stops, rebounds, and baskets do.

Some nights, the Tar Heels do those things at a high level, but too times they haven't. And until that is figured out, the hot-and-cold nature of this club will continue.

Advertisement