At ACC halftime, the Tar Heels are a bit of a mystery.
They are 18-4 and ranked 14th in the country, some polls have them lower and the latest NCAA seeding has them sixth. Their losses are a blowout to Michigan State on a neutral floor and three on the road at SMU, Stanford and Cal when they could have taken control of the games before they lost them.
But the second half of their ACC schedule is more difficult and Hubert Davis’ team has won four straight games with only the second half at Virginia noteworthy. The Heels were routing Syracuse Monday night by 32 points at home and won by 10 points.
They go on big runs but lose their mojo to teams that have no business getting back in the game. They don’t turn the ball over but also fail to take it away, and down the stretch a final score is closer. The Orange blocked eight shots, Carolina just one, and fueled the rally.
Caleb Wilson is a great athlete and Henri Veesaar a versatile big man, but the rest are just role players. The two superstars, who according to Davis after the 87-77 win over Syracuse, love to play with each in practice that it underscores the results.
The second half of the ACC schedule begins Saturday at 6:30 when Duke visits the Smith Center, and often the result makes the last eight games ever more challenging. The next Tuesday is a trip to Miami, and then comes a visit to red hot N.C. State. After that is the rematch with Syracuse, which based on the first game will make that one very tough. After that comes Louisville and Virginia Tech followed Clemson and at Duke.
With Davis in his fifth year as UNC’s head coach, the Blue Devils Jon Scheyer was Coach K handpicked after they led Duke to the 2010 national championship and was his eight years as his apparent successor. The NIL money has grown under general manager Rachel Baker, who worked for Nike and the NBA, and there has been no misstep.
Carolina has kept pace with Wilson and Veesaar, but the rest of the roster is how Davis used it. There are all new players after senior Seth Trimble and there is a curious rotation with Virginia Tech transfer Jaydon Young who has started the last four games, comes out before the first TV timeout and is back as the ninth man.
The Tar Heels have played numerous games with five players with two or more assists. They assist on 59 percent of their baskets, which is No. 38 in the country while the Division I average is 53 percent. Carolina has no individual in the top 100 assist makers.
UNC is not a perfect team but is becoming a good one. How good remains to be seen.
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.
