Lucas: Carolina Basketball Notebook

By Adam Lucas

Carolina went through a full practice on Thursday morning before the team's open practice at the Spectrum Center. Most notably for the Tar Heels, Cameron Johnson went through the full session.

"Cam practiced this morning and he got through it and didn't seem to have any problems," Roy Williams said. "I expect him to be full go."

Johnson's outside shooting, of course, is integral to Carolina's success. He scored in double figures in 18 of the 24 games in which he played this year. Of the six single-digit performances, the Tar Heels lost four of them, including the ACC championship game against Virginia in the last outing.

"When Cam is on the floor it's another threat," said Theo Pinson. "You have to be aware of him being on the floor. With him being on the court, it opens up driving lanes because you know he can knock down the shot."

Lipscomb scouting report: Roy Williams on what concerns him about Lipscomb, a team that he compared to Belmont and Wofford, two squads that have beaten the Tar Heels in recent years: "The one thing that jumps out to me is (Garrison) Matthews has shot 130 or 140 more free throws than anybody on our team. That's remarkable. They do a great job of getting to the free throw line. That means the team they're playing is in foul trouble a lot."

Of course, the Bisons tempo is also one of the fastest in the country. "We're used to running," Williams said, "but this is a team that will run back at us." Defensive balance has been an emphasis in practice the last two days.

Leadership lessons: Beginning tomorrow, there will be lots of variables that determine how far the Tar Heels are able to advance. But Carolina has one undeniable asset as the team enters tournament play: two seniors on the roster who have been in virtually every possible situation and understand how to help their teammates in those same scenarios.

"Leadership is so important right now," said Pinson. "We have to lead by example. The younger guys will be watching Joel and me, and we have to show them that every possession is important. The other night when I had 25 points, it was important that I was still willing to dive on the floor to get extra possessions. We have to show the younger guys that those are the things we have to do to be able to win."

One advantage of having seniors is they understand the difference in facing new opponents who might not be as familiar with the Tar Heels as ACC opponents. In league play, every opponent has an in-depth scouting report and years of historical knowledge on Carolina. NCAA foes, especially in the early rounds, are more unfamiliar, which heightens the importance of scouting and the players understanding the information given to them by the assistant coaches (Brad Frederick has scouting responsibilities for Lipscomb).

Of course, the reverse is also true—after a couple months of facing defenses that knew how to anticipate every screen and every pass, the Tar Heels will see a team that doesn't know them quite as well.

"Coach stressed in practice today that we are playing against different teams who don't know our offense as much as a conference team would," said Joel Berry. "We have to make sure we're executing. It's hard in the conference when every team knows every play you're going to run."

Briefly: With a win tomorrow, Pinson and Joel Berry would tie Pat Sullivan for playing in the most NCAA Tournament wins (16) in program history…Pinson, who had an eight-game double figure scoring streak snapped in the ACC Tournament, has never scored in double figures in an NCAA Tournament game…Cameron Johnson and Kenny Williams have played a combined 22 NCAA Tournament minutes…

Pinson and Lipscomb sophomore guard Mike Buckland were high school teammates at High Point Wesleyan. "In high school, he was that guy who always listened and tried to learn from us," Pinson said. "He was always under the radar. He always worked hard and wanted to get better…He's a really good dude and I'm happy for him."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Cameron Johnson

Theo Pinson

Kenny Williams

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