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The Tar Heels have to get their big man more involved.
Armando Bacot is averaging just over 9 shots through 24 games. Last year, as a true senior, he averaged just under 10½ per game. In Carolina’s Final Four season of 2021-22, Bacot took 11 per game. Over the last three seasons, he has played 30-31 minutes per game.
In UNC’s last seven games, including its only two ACC losses, the fifth-year graduate student is down to barely 8 field goal attempts. AB has taken at least 10 shots only 10 times. Minus 41 attempts in the first three easy wins and 13 each in the Duke and Clemson games, his has put up barely 8 shots per game.
The Tar Heel tradition since Dean Smith’s days has been to play inside-out, meaning the ball goes into the pivot area as soon as possible when possessions do not start with a fast break. So far this season, it has been a lot of outside-in, with R.J. Davis taking 179 more shots and Harrison Ingram 153 more than Bacot.
In some stretches, Mondo spends almost as much time at the high post or even outside the 3-point line setting screens rather than down low in the paint, where he became one of the most famous players in the country during Carolina’s run to the NCAA championship game.
One reason is since the departure of 3-point shooting power forward Brady Manek, opponents have spent more time trying to move Bacot off his favorite spot about five feet from the basket either with double teams or strong men pushing him out to the foul line and beyond.
With Manek drawing defenders out to guard his high, quick release, Bacot owned the paint, averaging more than 13 rebounds per game in 2022; he has grabbed about three less the last two seasons. So what can Hubert Davis and his staff do about returning to looking for the high-percentage shot where Bacot’s career stat is above 55 percent?
Davis loves Bacot and praises his hard play, calling him a “dude” when he competes that way. But the ball has to go into Bacot sooner and more often, giving him enough time to make a move to the basket and/or draw contact so he can get to the foul line, where he is shooting a career-high 79 percent. If not, then the rock goes outside to R.J. & Co.
Is it motivation and determination like against Duke, after which Bacot declared, “The ACC goes through me”? It can be that along with better movement by his four teammates or better scheming by the coach staff.
Either way, Bacot has to be more engaged from tip-off to buzzer for the Heels to have a chance at that deep run this season we all hope they can make.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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.
Bacot also needs to start using his size more. He could pushed around like a 6 footer out there.