Chansky's Notebook: Weight Of The World

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Is the pressure off or on for Carolina at the ACC tournament?

Everybody everywhere, feel it in the air
Oh yeah, it’s time to take the pressure off

Everybody everywhere, step out into the future
It’s time to take the pressure off

Duran Duran says it all in the song “Pressure Off.”

Is it a clean slate for the Tar Heels or will they still be playing under the burden they’ve carried for a year? After the Duke loss, which was like many others this season, Armando Bacot acknowledged that high expectations were in their locker room before the first game.

They were the No. 1 pick, which meant they were as much as a 30 percent favorite to go one game further in the NCAA tournament than last year. So the players had that “championship or bust” attitude when, deep down inside, they knew it might have been lightning in a bottle for a month.

There had to be other factors, like who would replace Brady Manek’s quick release at the 3-point line and his reputation as a “hot head” who said what needed to be said in the huddle and the locker room. Fifth-year Leaky Black has grown into a quiet leader, and Hubert Davis told Pete Nance to forget trying to fit in and just be a dude.

Strategically and psychologically, it has been a different team that had trouble closing out games from Portland to Pittsburgh and all the way back to Chapel Hill. Now they have to play their way into the NCAA tournament or become the first preseason No. 1 to not make the Big Dance since 1984.

Are they going to Greensboro with clear eyes and open hearts, as they try to capture some more magic moments with pressure off because no one expects them to… or is the pressure still on becoming a national story for the wrong reason?

Personally, I believe pressure is a byproduct of confidence. You feel it when you are not confident and the pressure goes away when you regain that buoyancy and belief by doing something positive. It can happen at any moment, and it can be contagious from one player to another because all it takes is one guy who can shoot the Tar Heels out of it. Caleb Love did it last year, and he’s the same guy.

This is a veteran team that has been through it all. Love plays like he is carrying the weight of the world, but that world knows he can get hot at any moment, and when he does the light may come on for his teammates, too.

Featured image via AP Photo/Chris Seward.

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Chansky’s Notebook: Weight Of The World

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