Lucas: Williams Talks Possible Changes

By Adam Lucas

Clemson probably wonders why it caught Carolina on the wrong night.

The Tar Heels nailed 15 of 31 three-point attempts when the two teams met on Jan. 16, including a half-dozen from Cameron Johnson. That marked the second-highest number of three-pointers made by Carolina this season, and the most in ACC play.

But since that game, the perimeter offense has struggled. The Tar Heels are 19 for 71 from the three-point line in the last three games, a 26.8 percent mark.

"The ball's not going in the basket," Roy Williams said Monday night on his radio show with Jones Angell. "They've lost a little bit of confidence, and you can tell them they're great and everything's fine, but they have to see the ball go through the basket."

Getting bigger: Kenny Williams hasn't seen the ball go through the hoop from three-point range since the last meeting against the Tigers, and Johnson is just 3-for-14 from the arc in that same stretch.

That has created some natural questions about whether it might be time to shift a big man back into the starting lineup. The Tar Heels went to the smaller starting lineup against Boston College; since then, they are 4-2, but probably count only two of those games as well-played efforts overall.

Garrison Brooks was quietly effective against NC State on Saturday, scoring eight points in 15 minutes, and Sterling Manley had nine points and three rebounds against Georgia Tech.

"I have no idea who is going to start against Clemson," Williams said. "I don't know whether we will go big again."

Briefly: It will be interesting to see how much the Tar Heels probe Clemson's defense. Thirty-one of the 51 shots Carolina attempted in the first meeting were three-pointers, the first time in the Williams era the Tar Heels have attempted more three-pointers than two-pointers. Against N.C. State on Saturday, Carolina shot 34-for-53 from two-point range (64.2%) but just 4-for-19 (21.1%) from three. "We still have to attack inside," Williams said…Brooks was the only player who qualified for the defensive player of the game award from the coaches after the game against NCSU, which means he is the only Tar Heel who had a positive ratio of good to bad defensive plays…

Williams offhandedly threw out a very interesting nugget on Monday night. When asked whether the team needs to play defense differently against the three-pointer, or just play their current defense better, he replied, "Both. We've coached it the same way for many years and been very successful, but it's not working right now. We're doing a little bit of both." That would lead you to believe the Tar Heels will make some adjustments in certain defensive principles for Tuesday's game. It's worth noting that defending the screen on the ball has been a point of confusion on multiple occasions recently…Luke Maye went 4-for-8 from the free throw line on Saturday and is now shooting 59.8 percent from the charity stripe overall and 53.8 percent in ACC games. He quickly identified the problem on Saturday, when his four misses were all the first shot of two-shot opportunities. "It's just mentality," he said. "I've got to have a better mindset when I walk up to the line. After I miss the first one I probably have better focus on the second one, so I've got to have a better mentality."

Players Mentioned

Garrison Brooks

Cameron Johnson

Sterling Manley

Luke Maye

Kenny Williams

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