Lucas: Enough

By Adam Lucas

That was ugly. That was sloppy. That was, maybe, even a little unsettling.

But it was also Carolina basketball. And right now, on October 27, that's enough.

Carolina defeated Barton 91-80 in an exhibition game that was immediately forgotten and bore absolutely no resemblance in virtually any way to the Tar Heel team you'll be in love with by February.

That seems impossible right now. Who are these guys anyway?

There's time to find out. For now, it's just nice to have Theo Pinson back throwing passes and Luke Maye slipping to the rim for a dunk and Roy Williams frowning exasperatedly on the bench as if these youngsters might never be competent basketball players. It doesn't seem like it's time for another basketball season, seems like we were just sifting through confetti in Phoenix. But then you see Pinson feed Maye for a dunk, and, well, maybe I wouldn't mind getting started with this season after all.

It's different after a national championship. If the Tar Heels commit a turnover (11 of them in the second half) or can't hit from the perimeter (3-for-15 from the three-point line) or give up too many offensive rebounds to an undersized Barton team, it hurts for just a moment...until you look up in the rafters at that shiny new 2017 banner, and suddenly exhibition game issues don't seem quite so critical.

Those of us who aren't Tar Heel coaches have the luxury of knowing—because we've seen it, year after year—the Tar Heel coaching staff will turn this group into a functioning, competent unit. Right now, it's not completely clear how the pieces fit together. But last year at this time we weren't sure Justin Jackson would be a consistent high-level ACC performer, so there's a little more faith this October. We're still in that glittery post-championship haze, so "The coaches will figure it out" hasn't yet been replaced by, "Why doesn't Roy use his timeouts!?!"

Don't misunderstand. This happy-go-lucky everything-is-awesome mindset will last until roughly the first time an opponent goes on a 10-2 run against this very young team. Until then, it's enough to have an excuse to gather in the Smith Center, see the argyle jerseys again, and occasionally gaze at those banners (it's the best kind of crowded on that end of the rafters right now, which is a great problem to have).

Meanwhile, they'll figure it out. Cam Johnson made just one of his six three-point shots, but he's been practicing as a Tar Heel for less than a month. He's still a little staggered by the emphasis Williams puts on, as Johnson explained it, "The first three steps. When you're running, you have to have a concentrated effort on those first three steps in the transition between offense and defense and defense to offense. You really have to get out and go."

You can reasonably assume every freshman is currently experiencing that same bewilderment. They'll all figure it out at different paces, similar to the way teammates have seen Jalek Felton start to make the shift in recent weeks to a Carolina basketball player rather than just a supremely talented high school player. Felton had seven assists and one turnover against Barton.

"He's definitely improved in practice in terms of playing harder," said Kenny Williams. "He's starting to understand what Coach was saying in those earlier practices, and he's using it. He's playing harder and he's making more plays on offense and defense."

There will be plenty of time for us to obsess over Felton's shooting or pick it apart if he only makes 33 percent of his shots, as he did on Friday night. Right now, along with the rest of the 2018 Tar Heels—that still sounds a little strange—he's messing up (sometimes), learning (constantly), and applying what he's learned (enough to make progress).

It's just enough to make you want to see a little more. And, right now, that's enough.

Players Mentioned

Jalek Felton

Justin Jackson

Luke Maye

Theo Pinson

Kenny Williams

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