Hubert Davis’ seat just got warmer.
The popular person and oft-questioned coach has a current basketball team that began the season with a 12-1 record against the non-conference schedule and earned a top 20 ranking. UNC has since gone 2-2 in ACC play with a sharp U-turn, especially on defense.
With uncomfortable home wins over 0-4 Florida State and 1-3 Wake Forest, a lopsided loss at SMU and crushing collapse at Stanford, more UNC alumni and fans are sitting on the mythical fence and have joined the debate over Davis’ longevity.
Sometimes his Tar Heels match the smart and superior standard set by Hall of Fame mentors Dean Smith and Roy Williams, whose squads built leads and protected them. But Hubert’s deep and talented team let one game get away and almost blew another. That has also happened over his first four seasons.
It is a bit mind-boggling since he has retooled his roster with two of the best big men in the country and his senior captain is among the steadiest players to ever wear light blue. Ironically, Carolina’s poor outside and free throw shooting has sometimes offset the spectacular way these Heels can put the ball in the basket.
The media has stats on how good opponents have had great games that kept them close enough to erase double-digit deficits or complete their comebacks. Stanford’s All-American freshman Ebuka Okorie scored 36 points that broke personal records and inspired his teammates to up their games against a deteriorating defense.
After the narrow win over Wake Forest, Davis spoke directly about a lack of commitment and execution. Against Stanford, they held 12-point leads in both halves and could not build on them. Both games became nail-biters. And some of that has to go on Davis and his coaching staff.
They don’t change defenses like Smith did and are not successful with the kind of pressure Williams also taught. Stanford opened with a zone that helped the Cardinal make its first-half comeback and later went with a more pressure man-to-man that cooled Carolina off while Stanford just got hotter down the stretch.
Yes, they made some tough shots but were more often beneficiaries of wide-open looks or late close-outs on the perimeter that perhaps an active zone defense could have helped. Davis occasionally employs a zone but says they don’t practice it enough to use it more.
All coaches know the importance of making free throws, but the Heels shoot under 68 percent from the line, which is 16th in the ACC. And while Henri Veesaar and Caleb Wilson are in the highest 10 scorers in the conference and top five in overall shooting percentage, neither is in the top 15 in free throw percentage. As great threats in the paint, their foul shooting is especially important.
With the ACC much stronger than last season, close games and losing is inevitable, but not the way Carolina has been doing it.
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Featured image via Associated Press/Jeff Chiu
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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