Is the Hubert Davis honeymoon period officially over?

It is not that underdog Carolina lost twice at the Hall of Fame tournament in Connecticut, but HOW the Tar Heels lost, especially the drubbing by a Tennessee team that had played its worst game of the season the day before.

Hubert called it a lack of “energy and effort” from the opening tip of the 89-72 loss to the 18th-ranked Volunteers of 35-year head-coaching veteran Rick Barnes. But UNC fans have watched too much basketball to know it was more. It was awful fundamental defense taken apart by equal athletes out-executing Carolina to death.

The program that has built its legend on getting the ball inside was outscored in the paint 54-22 by Tennessee and, including the loss to Purdue, it was 96-40 for the weekend. The Tar Heels have athletic guards in Caleb Love and RJ Davis, but they were no match for the Vols’ sometimes three-guard alignment using ball screens and pick and rolls to free teammates for almost uncontested layups while shooting an absurd 68 percent in the second half.

Tennessee also had 19 fast break points to Carolina’s 8, 28 assists to 9 for UNC and 19 points off turnovers to 10 for the Heels. Those are advantages that are supposed to belong to the team wearing light blue.

“Our defense is better than the defense we have played,” Hubert said. “We need effort and accountability to guard your guy and that’s going to have to change immediately. We are going to figure this out; it’s only been five games.”

Davis is, and remains, a popular pick to succeed Roy Williams, whose 18 years at UNC was not without attracting his own criticism. But some fans are going to gripe that Hubert, the Tar Heels’ all-time leader in three-point shooting, is an offensive guy and needs to show he can coach “help” defense against good offenses.

His team has now been behind at the half of the last four games. Brady Manek, who came off the bench to hit six 3-pointers and lead the team with 24 points against Tennessee, said, “We can’t be down at the half, these really good teams are going to keep us down.”

For sure, the trend doesn’t look good for a rookie head coach, playing worse as the competition gets better. We can debate whatever the standard is for Carolina basketball, but right now it’s not being met.

 

Photo via AP Photo/Jessica Hill.

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