Lucas: Carolina Basketball Notebook

By Adam Lucas

Carolina players had the day off Monday after arriving back to the Smith Center around 6 a.m. from an overnight flight from Portland. Several of them had 8 a.m. classes, many came by the Smith Center later in the day for treatment.

After an 11-day road trip that Roy Williams said was the longest of his coaching career, the Tar Heel staff met Monday afternoon to decide how to handle a very busy week that includes home games Wednesday and Sunday and a road trip to Davidson on Friday. As he told Jones Angell during Roy Williams Live on Monday night, the Carolina head coach has never been a fan of "burning the tape" after a disappointing loss—and Sunday's 63-45 setback to Michigan State certainly qualifies, after the team posted the lowest shooting percentage in school history.

"On Tuesday we'll look at some tape from the game against Michigan State and some tape of Michigan," Williams said. "Then we'll get out on the court for an hour and fifteen minutes or so."

Theo's shots: Theo Pinson has had a strong start to his senior season. The Greensboro native leads the team in assists with 16, and is shooting an impressive 63.6 percent from two-point range—a vast improvement from last year's 45.3% mark from that range. After being challenged by Williams to rebound more effectively, he's third on the team in that category. Both Arkansas coach Mike Anderson and Michigan State coach Tom Izzo singled out Pinson before the game as a key to stopping Carolina.

However, Pinson has not shot the ball well from the perimeter, where he has hit just two of his 19 attempts. "The ball isn't going in the basket for him from the three-point line," Williams said. "Theo is doing some really good things for us taking the ball to the basket, and his assist/error ratio has been good. He does need to make some better decisions (on shot selection)."

Cam Johnson update: Pitt transfer Cameron Johnson still hasn't played in an official game for the Tar Heels as he recovers from knee surgery. He did not travel on the west coast trip as doctors wanted to avoid any blood clot issues. But the news about his recovery has been cautiously good. "I talked to him today," Williams said Monday night. "He's moving around and not having any problems. He's got a little swelling that they have to get down, but he feels and the doctors feel the surgery went very well."

The original timeline for Johnson's return was 4-6 weeks from the surgery date of November 15.

Freshman progress: It was a good road trip for freshman Andrew Platek, who is shooting 60 percent from the field and 40 percent from the three-point line in limited minutes. Williams has enjoyed telling a story from Platek's recruitment when another head coach asked Williams, "Why did you offer that kid a scholarship?" Williams, of course, replied that Platek didn't have to play for the other coach, he just had to play for the Tar Heels.

Platek's take on his first few months as a Tar Heel sounds exactly like something Williams would appreciate. "The coaches have believed in me and my teammates have believed in me," Platek said over the weekend in Portland. "I don't think anyone knew what to expect of me, but I know how I can play and I think I play hard and I feel like I play the right way and the way Coach Williams wants me to play. I'm just taking what comes to me. I'm not trying to do too much."

"Most times," Williams said, "you tell him something once and he's got it. You don't have to tell him twice."

Briefly: Williams pointed out an area the Tar Heels have not been consistent so far this year—post defense. "We've got to do a better job defending the big guys," he said. "Even in the games we've won, we haven't done a good job of that yet." Bucknell center Nana Foulland went for 21 points against Carolina, Stanford forward Travis Reid also had 21, and Michigan State's Nick Ward too often had his way in the paint…Wednesday night opponent Michigan will present another challenge for the Tar Heel big men, as in addition to leading the team in rebounding, 6-foot-11 Moritz Wagner is also a threat from the perimeter, where he's hitting 37 percent of his three-pointers…

Williams' quick scouting report on the Wolverines: "They're a well-coached team that can really shoot the basketball. They'll change defenses and play some 1-3-1 and some man-to-man."...The head coach has now mentioned twice how he spotted Spartan players carrying cold pizza boxes to the team bus on Sunday night while the Tar Heel players dined on individually ordered hot food. It wouldn't be surprising to see that change for the near future. "If you're going to be spoiled rotten, you'd better play your butt off on game night," he said...Luke Maye had his first off night of the season against MSU, shooting 3-for-13. "What he did in the first five games made him the focal point of Michigan State's defense," Williams said. "The tough thing is can you continue doing that when you're the focus of the other team's defense. We need Kenny and Joel and the other guys to do some things to help him." In addition to the junior's skill level and well-documented work ethic, the head coach also praised Maye's ability to run the floor, which has led to some easy baskets in the first two weeks of the season.

University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cameron Johnson

Luke Maye

Theo Pinson

Andrew Platek

Related Videos