Thoughts on N. Carolina 85 – 75 Davidson

1. The type of win that the Tar Heels has become somewhat consistent over the past several seasons: Davidson hits 3s, it gets a little ugly at times, but the Heels win a hard fought game. Davidson plays tough for the first half and into the second, but ultimately dwindles. If this Davidson team plays well enough in the A10 to win the conference tournament or even get an at-large bid, they could certainly pull off a first-round upset with hot shooting come March.
2. The game started just how the Heels didn’t want to, with Davidson limiting the pace and knocking down 3s throughout the first half. Up to around the under-12 media timeout, the Heels looked a bit sluggish all-around, turning the ball over haphazardly (a couple bad ones on fast breaks especially) and allowing Davidson too many open looks at jumpshots.
3. As in years past, the Heels are most effective on offense when shots come within the regular freelance flow or off set plays. Guys going 1-on-1 against a set defense, or making drives through multiple defenders usually ends up in a bad shot or a turnover.
4. There will come a time when saying “what a game from Luke Maye” doesn’t quite have the sheen that it still does, in the same way that “what a game from [insert Marcus Paige, Brice Johnson, Isaiah Hicks, Justin Jackson, Joel Berry, Kennedy Meeks]” had lost some of its novelty by the time they had gotten to Maye’s point in his career. Tom Crean said it best at halftime: “Luke Maye is just being Luke Maye.” 24 points, 17 rebounds, ’nuff said.
5. Great to see Brandon Robinson come in tonight and score 8 consecutive points. The sophomore didn’t do much of note before he had sat out a few games with a shoulder injury, but he played solid on both ends of the floor tonight which will give him some confidence moving forward. His contribution as one of the only veterans coming off the bench will be important down the road.
6. I’ve noted before the improvement needed on interior defense by the young big men, but now for a few positive things. Brooks and Manley both look (at least somewhat) confident at the FT line. Hearing the words “freshman big man” would normally indicate very bad FT% to many college basketball fans, but despite some misses tonight from them, they look to be ready to step up to the line and make FTs. They have also played ball screens well, something that is a constant point of emphasis in practice by the entire coaching staff. The big men get out and hedge hard, making the offensive guard change his path, giving the defender enough time to recover back to his man on the perimeter.

Carolina’s depth will give many teams problems this season. Playing 10-11 guys and getting solid minutes from all of them and maintaining what the starters do is an asset which will prove beneficial in bloodbath ACC regular season games. The Heels looked a little shaky at times, but got a few more stops, a few more easy shots, and wore Davidson down for a solid win going into Sunday against Tulane.

Thoughts on N. Carolina 45 – 63 Michigan State

1. The first loss for the Tar Heels this year was especially ugly. Nothing seemed to go right, with turnovers, missed layups, mental errors, and the poorest shooting performance in program history plaguing the entire team.
2. Some really great play on the road trip against decent teams in Stanford and Arkansas should not be overlooked. Outstanding performances by Luke Maye, Kenny Williams, and Joel Berry bode well for the Heels looking forward. Those guys showing up night after night against good competition in ACC play will be crucial for the Tar Heels’ success this season.
3. Prior to the MSU game the freshmen had looked much better than expected. Apart from some mistakes running the offense (which probably only avid fans and former players would catch), the young guys did their part. The MSU game gave the rookies an overwhelming taste of real competition from a size and skill standpoint. The big guys had no answer for MSU’s size and defensive ability down low, and the guards couldn’t put anything together either.
4. The Heels struggled all night to consistently create anything offensively. The shooting woes aside, even the veterans had trouble creating good shots within the regular offensive flow, and couldn’t create much for themselves. The Heels were effectively 0% from the 3 pt line, as the only shot made was a bit of a heave at the first half buzzer. A ton of missed wide-open layups, as well as layups altered by MSU’s size and athleticism down low that had chances to fall hurt the Heels badly.
5. I do believe there are two positive takeaways from this game:
   1. The defensive effort was there all night, as MSU turned the ball over more than 20 times. The Heels just didn’t get stops when they needed them on the sparse offensive runs that did happen. But as on overall defensive effort, holding a fast and experienced team to 63 pts is not bad.
6. 2. Having a loss like this early in the season is not out of the ordinary. Ugly November losses against Northern Iowa in 2015 and Indiana in 2016 gave the players and coaches a chance to confront weaknesses and reexamine shortcomings with film study and on-court practice (and a few extra sprints). We all know how those seasons turned out. Last night was no different, with shooting woes aside, this was a telling tale of problems to solve.