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Carolina could, and probably should, go 10 or 11 deep.
For the past two years, Hubert Davis said players have had to earn starting positions and minutes off the bench by their play in practice. He had every reason to say that about reserves for the 2022 and ’23 seasons.
The only position in Davis’ rookie year as a head coach in doubt was power forward. And if Dawson Garcia, who started 12 of 16 games, hadn’t left school then perhaps Brady Manek would not have emerged as the team’s most consequential member. Luckily, they both did what they did.
While being dubbed the “Iron 5,” Armando Bacot, R.J. Davis, Leaky Black, Caleb Love and Manek were easily the best lineup and proved it all the way to the NCAA championship game. Kerwin Walton, Puff Johnson, Justin McKoy, Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn didn’t earn much time off the bench.
The 2022-23 season remains a puzzlement. Grad student Pete Nance inherited Manek’s spot almost by default, but Johnson, Dunn and Styles all had some experience; Jalen Washington came in with a big rep and Seth Trimble and Tyler Nickel with big high school resumes. Yet, that bench barely played.
Davis cannot use the same excuse about winning minutes between games, since his five transfers have almost 20 seasons combined of college experience. Hubert says he is delighted with all of them and could build a deep bench from their prior play elsewhere. He could even have a Blue Team.
Freshman reclass Elliot Cadeau will start at point guard alongside senior R.J. Davis. Trimble, at 6-3, and 6-5 Paxson Wojcik can spell Cadeau and Davis individually or come in as a tandem to match up against taller backcourts.
Sixth-year senior Cormac Ryan from Notre Dame is the likely starter at small forward with Harrison Ingram from Stanford his possible backup. It looks like the four spot will be between 6-10 sophomore Washington and 6-8 Jae’Lyn Withers from Louisville. Bacot’s back-up, hopefully for only a few minutes a game, will be West Virginia’s James Okonkwo or maybe freshman Zayden High.
So, that’s 11 scholarship guys with solid chances to play. In fact, Davis can go back to his first mentor Dean Smith and bring in a Blue Team of Trimble and Wojcik, Ingram and either Washington or Withers, plus Okonkwo or High to spell Bacot if gassed or in foul trouble.
The mentality of the old Blue Team in practice was to bust butts and play hard, play smart and play together when they got in the game. Collectively or individually, the new Blue Teamers easily have more experience and talent than Smith’s precursors.
Featured image via Todd Melet
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Oh thank God, Chanksy finally chanted a song that I love to hear. I have a slightly different take from Coach Davis’ earlier analysis of why UNC dropped games in the final 3 minutes (bad pass, missed free throw, etc). The players were exhausted and fell apart in the last minutes. That is on the coach. I listened to him describe how nicely the team chemistry is coming together with this team. Last year, because of his decisions about who played, the team never developed chemistry. That is on the coach. At the five minute mark, this year, bring in the Blue team, and let them play for 3 minutes. If that does not happen this year, and the Coach runs off another 7 players, that is on the coach. The clock is ticking
Where are you getting Washington at the 4, Hubert says all the time and any watching him play does as well that Washington is a 5. Harrison is the starting 4
Although he has yet to show it in games, Washington is potentially one of best 3-point shooters on the team. Like with Manek, Carolina needs that from the 4 spot to open up the offense for Bacot and the guards.
Love the Blue Team idea. The Blue Team mentality was always maximum energy and effort and it kept the bench engaged. How Coach Davis uses (or doesn’t use) the bench is one of the biggest question marks going into the upcoming season. In year three, this is certainly his deepest, most experienced team and has tremendous potential. Is this a make or break year for Coach Davis? Probably, especially after last season. But hopes, as usual, are high!