Photo by Todd Melet

Ol’ Roy needed to channel his inner Belichick.

As Carolina moves on to a winnable visit to Wake Forest Saturday, bloggers were still analyzing how usually composed Virginia coach Tony Bennett reacted to his players turning the ball over too much in falling behind at UNC by seven points.

He said he felt the veins in his neck begin to pop when one of his assistants suggested he calm down. So Tony began to channel his inner Dick Bennett — his great coaching father. During a timeout he said to his team, “We’re okay, just take care of the ball and make some plays.”

And did they ever. The fourth-ranked Cavaliers put together a 11-4 run in which their three stars Kyle Guy, Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter combined to make all six of their shots to only one for the suddenly struggling Tar Heels, who went stone while losing their lead.  And it got worse from there as Virginia finished the game without another turnover.

The Cavs closed with a 12-2 run, and guess who did most of the damage? Their three best players took control while our big three (Cam, Coby and Luke) missed 29 of their 43 shots in the 69-61 loss, Virginia’s fourth straight win over UNC.

Roy Williams summed it up by saying, “Their defense was better than our offense and their offense was better than our defense.”

That’s what makes Virginia so hard to play, and Carolina made it harder by not stopping any of UVa’s big three.  Like Garrison Brooks scored 12 points on layups and put-backs, the Tar Heels failed to take away Guy or Jerome or Hunter with double-teams or a zone and forcing their weaker scorers to shoot the ball more.

Patriots coach Bill Belichick has become famous for building game plans around stopping the other team’s best player, be it Patrick Mahomes or Todd Gurley or Deshaun Watson. He will let the lesser players try to beat his team because they aren’t as dangerous or proven and, overall, it takes them all out of their comfort zone.

Except for a 17-3 run in the 2nd half, the Tar Heels looked and played erratically while the Cavaliers found their comfort zone early and late behind their three studs on both ends of the court, who combined for 55 of their 69 points.

If there is a next time in the post-season, much better execution will be needed and perhaps a different game plan.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Subscribe: RSS

Related Stories
‹
Chansky's Notebook: And Did I Mention…
It was almost as if the Tar Heels knew that Duke lost. Those who could follow both the Duke-Virginia Tech and Syracuse-Carolina games saw the Blue Devils’ 77-72 loss to the Hokies end at almost the exact time the Tar Heels were tipping off against the Orange. Of course, it didn’t happen this way, but I could […]
Chansky's Notebook: Nine Common Opponents
It’s Duke-Carolina week, so let’s start with common opponents. We’ll be hearing lots of statistics and metrics this week as the Tar Heels and Blue Devils tangle in the first of two contests this Wednesday night in Durham. Nine common opponents to date is one of them, and the results are fairly surprising. Duke has […]
Chansky's Notebook: A Big Blue Night
For Roy Williams, another big fix looks to be in order. During his frustration-filled press conference following Carolina’s embarrassing loss at Michigan, Williams said, “I’ve been coaching for 31 years, and right now my coaching sucks.” If you root for good sports teams, sometimes they play like they will never lose another game. And occasionally […]
Chansky's Notebook: Greatest Of This Time
Todd Melet) Going to Charlotte, the Roy vs. K debate doesn’t seem close. The so-called GOAT arguments are always tinged by bias for your favorite team or sentimentality. Some people still think Joe Montana is the greatest quarterback of all time when Tom Brady now has two more Super Bowl rings. The […]
Chansky's Notebook: Oh, No, Not Again!
Could you handle playing Duke three times for the third straight year? If the ACC tournament were this weekend, Carolina and Duke would in all likelihood be playing tonight in the semifinals – once again six days after their second meeting of the regular season. The tournament is still two weeks away, and things could change, […]
Chansky's Notebook: Looking Finer
Suddenly, Carolina can determine its own ACC — and NCAA — fate. When the basketball schedule came out, the unbalanced slate looked much to UNC’s advantage. Besides the four home-and-home series with Duke, State, Miami and Louisville, the Tar Heels had five single home games and five single road trips that appeared almost ideal. The […]
Chansky's Notebook: Tykes And Yikes!
The home crowd was ready, even if the Tar Heels weren’t. The Smith Center atmosphere Saturday afternoon was appropriately wild, seeing as it was the first home game since Carolina routed top-ranked Duke in the highest-rated weeknight telecast in ESPN history — despite Zion’s famous injury 34 seconds in. Unlike a bandbox where tickets were going […]
Chansky's Notebook: Bad But Beautiful
Finally, Duke-Carolina failed to live up to its legendary hype. This one might have been over before it started when the Blue Devils’ Superman slipped, blew apart his shoe and left the court with a sprained knee not to return. Zion turned Zeron with no full minutes, zero shots, free throws, rebounds, assists, blocked shots […]
Chansky's Notebook: Kinder and Gentler?
Two ways the Duke-Carolina rivalry has changed. When the Blue Devils and Tar Heels play, it is almost always a great game, tough and taut for most of 40 minutes. The common denominator making the greatest rivalry in college basketball is both programs have been national contenders for the last 60 years. The one obvious […]
Chansky's Notebook: The Stronger Survived
Ol’ Roy needed to channel his inner Belichick. As Carolina moves on to a winnable visit to Wake Forest Saturday, bloggers were still analyzing how usually composed Virginia coach Tony Bennett reacted to his players turning the ball over too much in falling behind at UNC by seven points. He said he felt the veins […]
›