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It’s not exactly the Iron 5, but it is moving in that direction.
After two years of having among the thinnest benches in the nation, Hubert Davis began this season playing just about everyone on scholarship for at least 10 minutes. Only freshman big Zayden High played fewer than 10 through the first six games and his playing time has gone down, as well.
Amidst Carolina’s rabid fan base, there are many statistical and analytic geeks who study the team stats game by game and overall. And an early trend is beginning to show, now that we are in an 11-day exam break with No. 16 Kentucky and No. 19 Oklahoma waiting on neutral courts.
Once the ninth-ranked Tar Heels got into ACC play (Florida State) and began facing ranked opponents (Tennessee and UConn), the minutes are now favoring what appears to be a regular starting five that is averaging between 23 and 34.
R.J. Davis and Harrison Ingram are the stalwarts, each playing more than 30 minutes in nine games. Armando Bacot is averaging just under 30, which is okay because it’s a long season with a short-term back-up.
Cormac Ryan, who missed one game and one start with an ankle injury, is playing just under 28 minutes. Freshman Elliot Cadeau moved into the starting lineup after five games and sees about 24 minutes of action that’s trending upward.
Ryan has lost some time due to the injury and has yet to show himself as the knockdown outside shooter he was at Notre Dame, hitting just 12 of 47 treys. He is the scrapper on both ends and will surely raise his shooting mark of 33 percent.
Jae’Lyn Withers has been playing important minutes at power forward, while the versatile Ingram moves to the 3 spot on the perimeter. J-With is shooting 42 percent overall, 1-for-5 from the arc, 3 rebounds and has an assist-to-turnover ratio of 5 to 9, which mirrors how he played at Louisville.
The battle from the bench is clearly being led by sophomore sixth man Seth Trimble, whose improvement is stunning on both ends of the floor. The team’s best on-the-ball defender is averaging more than 15 minutes, including 25 against Arkansas and important minutes in a small lineup in the win over Florida State.
The biggest loser of playing time is grad transfer Paxson Wojcik, who started the first four games including the exhibition against St. Augustine’s. With Cadeau’s time increasing, Wojcik is down to 13 minutes from 20. He is the 6-5 “big guard” who is supposed to be the answer to a bad backcourt matchup for UNC.
Jalen Washington goes in when Bacot comes out, averaging 9 minutes while AB takes a blow. That is the rotation we will likely see moving forward.
Featured image via Dakota Moyer
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