University of North Carolina Athletics
Cameron Johnson's court savvy has been a lift for the Tar Heels.
Photo by: Jeffrey A. Camarati
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
December 30, 2017 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from the ACC opener.
By Adam Lucas
1. Well, even ACC games in December aren't easy. That one wasn't pretty, but Carolina made just enough plays down the stretch to edge Wake Forest and avoid a rough two-game home losing streak, 73-69.
2. The offensive glass wasn't supposed to be a strength of this year's team, especially going against a tough inside presence like Wake's Doral Moore. But Carolina won the offensive rebounding battle 14-4, which led to a 16-0 edge in second chance points. Several of Carolina's biggest baskets came on second chance opportunities, including a late Luke Maye bucket off a Theo Pinson rebound and a Garrison Brooks free throw chance off a Brooks board.
3. Cameron Johnson arrived at Carolina with a reputation mostly as a perimeter marksman. As he's gotten more comfortable over the past couple weeks, he's also shown some savvy that will be a big asset. Johnson hustled back to stop a Wake Forest fast break early in the game, knocked away a potential Deacon offensive rebound, and had five rebounds in the first half. Johnson, who played most of the late important minutes after Roy Williams mostly chose to go small (a lineup that helped spark the game-winning 8-0 run), finished with 11 points.
4. Carolina didn't have a huge number of turnovers (just 12 for the game), but a couple of them were of the careless variety, and they helped ignite a Wake Forest offense that was struggling otherwise. The Tar Heels are going to have to be more efficient with the ball in the next week.
5. Great off the ball defense by Kenny Williams against Moore helped win that game. Twice matched up man to man against Moore in the final 90 seconds, Williams once denied him the ball and once fouled him--but Moore missed the front end of a one-and-one to help the Tar Heels get the game-winning possession. Everyone saw Williams make the game-sealing free throws with a second to play, but he put Carolina in position to have the lead with his defense.
6. It's nice to have seniors in a game like that. Pinson made a couple big free throws with under a minute to go, continuing his habit of being clutch at the line in the closing minutes of close games, and Berry made an almost impossible teardrop shot over Moore that gave UNC the lead. The Tar Heels didn't look good offensively for stretches of that game, but they executed when it mattered.
7. Luke Maye quietly had yet another double-double, this time a big one with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Maye took 18 shots, but was big on the glass and Wake had difficulty guarding him off the dribble driving to the rim.
8. The Tar Heels will need to be more effective than they were in a three-possession stretch with under eight minutes to go. In a three-point game, the Tar Heels turned it over three times in a row and never really seemed to know what they were looking for offensively. Playing at home in front of a friendly crowd, Carolina was able to overcome the miscues. On the road over the next week, those are the possessions the home team will likely turn into a big run.
9. Wake Forest is the rare team that came into the Smith Center and beat Carolina in transition. The Deacs had a 15-5 advantage in fast break points and did a very effective job of getting back on defense and preventing the Tar Heels from running the floor.
10. This next week is going to be a difficult test for a young Carolina team. Road games at Florida State and at Virginia will be tough challenges. Going 2-0 would be very encouraging. A split would be about what you would expect. And going 0-2 would help highlight the work Roy Williams has to do over the next three months. Carolina will definitely need to be more consistent and crisp in both those games to be competitive.
11. The difficult equation of figuring out how to allocate student seats during the holiday break continues. Saturday's game was one of the most difficult non-student tickets of the year...but entire rows were open in the student section because school is on break. There's no easy math on how to distribute those seats, and someone is almost always going to be disappointed.
12. It was fitting that in the year Carolina celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1993 championship team, Henrik Rodl returned for his first game in the Smith Center since he graduated in 1993 (he did return for the team's reunion at Kenan Stadium in September). Rodl had a very successful professional career playing in his home country of Germany, and is now the head coach of the German national team. Rodl's most famous game as a Tar Heel might be the below, when he was instrumental in the legendary comeback against Florida State in 1993:
1. Well, even ACC games in December aren't easy. That one wasn't pretty, but Carolina made just enough plays down the stretch to edge Wake Forest and avoid a rough two-game home losing streak, 73-69.
2. The offensive glass wasn't supposed to be a strength of this year's team, especially going against a tough inside presence like Wake's Doral Moore. But Carolina won the offensive rebounding battle 14-4, which led to a 16-0 edge in second chance points. Several of Carolina's biggest baskets came on second chance opportunities, including a late Luke Maye bucket off a Theo Pinson rebound and a Garrison Brooks free throw chance off a Brooks board.
3. Cameron Johnson arrived at Carolina with a reputation mostly as a perimeter marksman. As he's gotten more comfortable over the past couple weeks, he's also shown some savvy that will be a big asset. Johnson hustled back to stop a Wake Forest fast break early in the game, knocked away a potential Deacon offensive rebound, and had five rebounds in the first half. Johnson, who played most of the late important minutes after Roy Williams mostly chose to go small (a lineup that helped spark the game-winning 8-0 run), finished with 11 points.
4. Carolina didn't have a huge number of turnovers (just 12 for the game), but a couple of them were of the careless variety, and they helped ignite a Wake Forest offense that was struggling otherwise. The Tar Heels are going to have to be more efficient with the ball in the next week.
5. Great off the ball defense by Kenny Williams against Moore helped win that game. Twice matched up man to man against Moore in the final 90 seconds, Williams once denied him the ball and once fouled him--but Moore missed the front end of a one-and-one to help the Tar Heels get the game-winning possession. Everyone saw Williams make the game-sealing free throws with a second to play, but he put Carolina in position to have the lead with his defense.
6. It's nice to have seniors in a game like that. Pinson made a couple big free throws with under a minute to go, continuing his habit of being clutch at the line in the closing minutes of close games, and Berry made an almost impossible teardrop shot over Moore that gave UNC the lead. The Tar Heels didn't look good offensively for stretches of that game, but they executed when it mattered.
7. Luke Maye quietly had yet another double-double, this time a big one with 17 points and 15 rebounds. Maye took 18 shots, but was big on the glass and Wake had difficulty guarding him off the dribble driving to the rim.
8. The Tar Heels will need to be more effective than they were in a three-possession stretch with under eight minutes to go. In a three-point game, the Tar Heels turned it over three times in a row and never really seemed to know what they were looking for offensively. Playing at home in front of a friendly crowd, Carolina was able to overcome the miscues. On the road over the next week, those are the possessions the home team will likely turn into a big run.
9. Wake Forest is the rare team that came into the Smith Center and beat Carolina in transition. The Deacs had a 15-5 advantage in fast break points and did a very effective job of getting back on defense and preventing the Tar Heels from running the floor.
10. This next week is going to be a difficult test for a young Carolina team. Road games at Florida State and at Virginia will be tough challenges. Going 2-0 would be very encouraging. A split would be about what you would expect. And going 0-2 would help highlight the work Roy Williams has to do over the next three months. Carolina will definitely need to be more consistent and crisp in both those games to be competitive.
11. The difficult equation of figuring out how to allocate student seats during the holiday break continues. Saturday's game was one of the most difficult non-student tickets of the year...but entire rows were open in the student section because school is on break. There's no easy math on how to distribute those seats, and someone is almost always going to be disappointed.
12. It was fitting that in the year Carolina celebrates the 25th anniversary of the 1993 championship team, Henrik Rodl returned for his first game in the Smith Center since he graduated in 1993 (he did return for the team's reunion at Kenan Stadium in September). Rodl had a very successful professional career playing in his home country of Germany, and is now the head coach of the German national team. Rodl's most famous game as a Tar Heel might be the below, when he was instrumental in the legendary comeback against Florida State in 1993:
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