The Tar Heels have way more talent than tenacity.
In defining tenacious, Merriam-Webster uses such words and phrases as stubborn, relentless, enduring, cohesive, holding together firmly. Despite signs in non-conference play that No. 17 UNC could embody those terms, they have yet to consistently show it against Power 4 competition.
Carolina has the best big man combination in the ACC and maybe the country in Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesar, who both average more than 30 minutes per game, which isn’t among the top 15 in the ACC. Head coach Hubert Davis gives them ample rest by rotating in Jarin Stevenson and Luka Bogavac. While those two are the best free throw shooters on the team, their field goal accuracy (combined 1 for 10 against Wake Forest on Saturday) is a major drop-off from Wilson and Veesaar. Starting guard Kyan Evans is shooting 10 percentage points lower than he did at Colorado State. Fortunately, guard Jaydon Young came up clutch for Carolina in the nervy 87-84 win against the Demon Deacons. The Virginia Tech transfer knocked in a season-high three 3-pointers while playing his most minutes so far this season, more than 19.
Senior captain Seth Trimble is a vanguard of the perimeter — but his offensive stats are also part of poor outside shooting that can’t keep pace when opponents like the 10-7 Deacons get hot and shrink a 15-point lead into a one-possession game, or a close encounter turns into a blowout like at SMU. Young and fellow newcomer Jonathan Powell knocked down 5 of Carolina’s 9 three pointers on Saturday, but Bogavac, Stevenson and Trimble whiffed on their six attempts.
Davis echoed his discontent for such inconsistency that — if not improved — could mark an early end to the post season.
“This has to be our growth for us as a team,” he said after the win. “It’s not just getting to that level, it’s staying at that level. There’ve been a number of times where we were up 12, 15 points…and in those situations, you’ve got to get a stop and a score, and before you know it, it’s 19 or 20. [In] every one of those situations, we never took a step forward. We took our foot off the gas pedal on both ends of the floor. And against good teams like Wake Forest, they’re gonna keep coming back as talented as they are. That’s why you’re in a tight game.”
Without course correction, the Heels will likely fall to an opponent with more tenacity than raw talent. Hubert is a wonderful person, but drilling dependability is a huge part of his job.
“After the game, I was really proud of the guys,” Davis said, as UNC marked its 500th victory at the namesake of his college coach and mentor. “It wasn’t perfect, obviously — but when we needed to make a play, we made it. Whether it was a free throw, a stop, a box-out, getting the trap, getting the ball into players’ hands who percentage-wise are our best free throw shooters… all those little things play a part in making big things happen.
“But,” he added, “this is conference basketball. It doesn’t matter if you are on the road or at home. Every game is gonna be a challenge, and you have to embrace it.”
Seth Trimble throws down a dunk to extend North Carolina’s late lead over Wake Forest and snap the scoring drought suffered by the Tar Heels. (Photo by Todd Melet/Chapel Hill Media Group.)
It is almost unconceivable that a team can shoot 53 percent from the floor, shoot 35 percent from the arc, and lead by 15 points with under 10 minutes to play before winding up in a dogfight to the final buzzer. The Heels enabled that by scoring one point over almost five minutes down the stretch. It also happened because Wilson made only two free throws over the last 11 minutes of the game and took only two shots in the second half. When Davis was asked how that can be, he responded by pointing out how teams are “putting more guys on him” — a double-teaming strategy that Willson will face for the rest of the season.
The wonderous Wilson still finished with 22 points and 12 rebounds, his eighth 20/10 game of the season, and 11th double-double. Veesaar was the true savior with 25 points, one off his career high on 9-of-10 from the floor including 2-of-3 from the arc, which isn’t going to happen every game. But the seven-footer, despite the versatility he has showed this season, cannot be the only go-to guy.
Carolina out-rebounded smaller Wake Forest 35 to 27 and 13-10 on the offensive glass that yielded 10-plus points in the paint and on second-chance points. Of the Deacons 84 points, 28 each came from Juke Harris and Nate Calmese who drained 12 of the team’s 14 threes. Harris is fifth in the ACC with a 20-plus point average, and while Calmese isn’t in the top 20 scorers, he is second in three-point percentage. He got some wide-open looks in making 5-of-7 long balls in the second half.
“Can we sustain that level that allowed us to get the lead for an entire game?” Davis said. “This has been consistent throughout the year where we’ve had big leads and then we’ve sacrificed [them.] Whether it’s attention to detail, effort, things like boxing out, defending without fouling, mixing up defensive coverages, [poor] shot selection and turnovers…those are the things that allow teams to get back in the game. And that’s something that we gotta work on.”
If the recent media conferences are any indication of the discussions within the locker room, the UNC head coach is continuing to hammer home his non-negotiable aspects he wants to see of his team’s personality. The question becomes whether they will actually succeed in each one.
“We have to be a consistent, good defensive team,” Davis started with. “It just is what it is. There’s no way around it. We have to be a very good rebounding team. Our number one way to score is in transition. So after we get a rebound or turnover, we have to run because the numbers show that we’re most efficient in transition early in the offense.
“We have to execute — we gotta be in the right spots, we gotta set the right screens, we gotta come off at the right time,” he continued. “The last thing is: you have to take care of the basketball. And for the most part all year, we’ve done a really good job of that. Tonight we had 14 turnovers, and that just can’t happen. So…those five things have to be our identity, our personality for us to be the best team that we can possibly be. And there’s no other road or route.”
Carolina’s 14-2 start matches 2016, when the Heels lost the NCAA championship game on a buzzer beater by Villanova. The Final Four is three months away, but sometimes it seems longer than that.
Featured photo by Todd Melet/Chapel Hill Media Group.
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
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