Chansky's Notebook: Embarrassing

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What would YOU say about UNC’s 7-point defeat Tuesday night?

Do you agree with Tar Heel loyalist Eric Montross, who on the Tar Heel Sports Network post-game show called it “a dismal performance, more of a loss by Carolina than a win by Wake Forest. . . it was embarrassing.”

Or do you agree with Hubert Davis, who said, “I was proud we didn’t quit. In the first half, I didn’t see Carolina play out there, not the competitiveness, fight or energy. We need to talk more and spend more time on the floor to find out what holds us back.”

Whatever your take, the facts tell the story. The Deacons beat the Tar Heels for the third straight time in Winston-Salem by blowing out to a double-digit lead early in the game that grew to 26 points in the second half, when Carolina wound up beating Wake 60-45 with more points than they scored in the entire loss (57) at Duke.

Unfortunately, the Heels’ 25 points in the first half matched their total in the second half in Durham to, in tandem, represent their worst 40 minutes of the season. It was so listless of a showing that at halftime ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi all but dropped the Heels from his NCAA tournament field, where they were what he called a “generous” No. 9 seed going into the game.

The comeback that cut the final deficit to seven points might have earned some credit from Lunardi, but at best UNC is back on the same bubble it spent most of the 2022 season before we all know what happened.

The first half, when Davis’ team was expected to come out breathing fire after consecutive losses to Pitt and Duke, looked like the blue team was running in slow motion compared to the white team’s speed and ability to get easy shots and knock enough down to shoot 51.4 percent with five 3-pointers compared to Carolina’s 33 percent and 0-of-5 from the arc.

The 47-25 halftime score also included forcing only 3 turnovers by Wake. One play epitomized the effort, when Leaky Black recovered the Deacons’ first turnover in the open court with an easy snowbird layup or dunk in front of him. Only Leaky slowed down to allow Wake’s Tyree Appleby to catch him, block the shot and foul Black, who missed both free throws.

The Tar Heels continued to help their hosts by letting Appleby and other Deacs drive by them and find teammates alone for layups and lob dunks. Though Carolina didn’t quit, Wake Forest got understandably lackadaisical with the big lead that made the game look much closer than , in actuality, their biggest loss of the season.

You can also see the comeback in one positive way. Caleb Love, who has led a three-game 16-for-72 drought from outside, made three late 3-pointers and could be a sign that he is ready to hit a hot streak the Tar Heels need desperately.

Featured image via Inside Carolina/Jim Hawkins

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3 Comments

Joe X on February 8, 2023 at 1:29 pm

Embarrassing. Losing to Pitt TWICE and then this first half effort…I hate Lunardi but for a change he’s right.
P.A. on February 8, 2023 at 2:53 pm

So.. the national championship run was fool’s gold. Other than that run, this is essentially the same team as last year’s. With the same flaws and weaknesses such as poor on court communication, lack of awareness on defense, poor decision making on offense. lapses in effort and the like. Other teams don’t dread playing UNC now as they might have in past years.The coaching staff keeps putting the same starting five on the court each game in the hope that things will turn around. But as one of the podcast guys said “Hope is not a strategy.” How about trying something different! UNC ‘s bench has been used almost as an afterthought. Why not change it up? As I look at them play, I think some of their issues could be corrected with a more facilitator type point guard as they have had in the past. That’s a recruiting issue I know. Whatever the answer, it’s going to take real commitment on everyone’s part and not just “we’ll be better next time.”
Don 2020 on February 8, 2023 at 3:53 pm

Wes Miller!
Give me Wes Miller and a bunch of no-name 2 star players and I’ll beat UNC 4 out of 5 games.
Watch Miller on the sidelines, see how engaged he is, actually calling and running plays on defense as well as offense. But he’ll never return to UNC because Roy anointed Hubert, Bubba won’t rock the boat, and the rich folks that could make a difference won’t put any pressure to do anything about it.
Don’t just look at one game. Look at stats from all the games the past 2 years, and know that these guys are “4” and “5” stars. And what about Pete Nance? Did he just go from being a force on offense at Northwestern to being a “dud” or could it be that the offense we run is so bad that it affected him such that he is shooting 15 percentage points lower this year than last? Hmmmm…

Chansky’s Notebook: Embarrassing

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