Ol’ Roy can have a quicker trigger finger this season.
Remember last year, when Roy Williams got furious at his starters for playing bad basketball? He would jump off his chair and walk down the bench, looking for someone to put in. Usually, he didn’t find anyone and got over the impulse.
In the first round of the Asheville/Maui Classic against UNLV, his Tar Heels fell behind 13-0 by missing their first eight shots and letting the Running Rebels look like the old Rebs of Tark the Shark. Roy jumped up and almost took the whole dad-gum bunch out.
Walker Kessler and Day’Ron Sharpe for Brooks and Bacot; Kerwin Walton and Andrew Playtek for Leaky and Caleb Love. Only R.J. Davis stayed in because he was playing okay.
Playtek the (no, no, no, YES!) shooter who missed 7 of 9 in the opening win over Charleston, broke the ice with a trey from the top of the key. Then Davis made a jumper and a free throw. Sharpe added a foul shot, his only point of the game, along with 6 rebounds.
Now back in, Bacot dunked. Still in, Playtek drilled another three from the corner, assisted by Love. Davis made the first of what would be three long balls to cut the deficit to 18-15, and the eventual 78-51 rout was on. That’s a 40-point turnaround if you’re counting.
Williams rewarded those subs who started the rally by giving them more playing time throughout the game. Kessler was most impressive, coming back from COVID quarantine to play 14 minutes, score 7 points and grab 6 rebounds and dive on the floor. His offensive board and feed to Davis gave Carolina the lead for good. It turned into 33 before Roy cleared his bench.
After two games, the talking heads are already declaring UNC has the best front court in the country. Don’t know about that, but Brooks-Bacot and Kessler-Sharpe go from 6-10 to 7-1 and all have different skill sets.
This team can literally go 10 deep, and sooner or later they will all know their roles. At Asheville-Maui, they played them well.
Stanford with a familiar coach and star recruit is next up.
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