Photo by: J.D. Lyon Jr.
Lucas: Rapid Reactions
March 8, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from the ACC Tournament quarterfinal.
By Adam Lucas
1. That doesn't take away the sting of senior day. But it sure does feel good to send Miami home from the ACC Tournament for a second straight year.
2. Theo Pinson was absolutely sensational in that game. There's no other word for it. The final dozen minutes of the second half were a complete Pinson showcase, as he scored, made perimeter jumpers, passed, and then capped it by diving on the floor to secure a loose ball. Pinson finished with a career-high 25 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
3. The ol' five-for-five substitution doesn't work every time. But it has a pretty high success rate. Roy Williams went for the wholesale substition with Carolina down 12-0 approximately six minutes into the game, as the starters were too frequently settling for three-pointers. The new fivesome of Seventh Woods, Brandon Robinson, Andrew Platek, Sterling Manley and Garrison Brooks settled things down--and got the Tar Heels on the scoreboard--and played a solid two and a half minutes. The deficit eventually made it to 14-0...but Carolina won the rest of the game, 82-51.
4. Don't underestimate the value of Cam Johnson's three free throws with 0.4 seconds left in the first half. Somehow, after playing a mostly horrendous half--and completely horrendous for six minutes--the Tar Heels had the lead going into the locker room. Carolina has been occasionally victimized by last-second shots at the end of the first half this year. This time, they turned the tables.
5. As long as Jim Larranaga is the coach, Miami is going to be absolutely committed to trying to stop Carolina from getting a big advantage on the offensive glass. They were able to play the Tar Heels fairly even in that category on Thursday. Carolina eventually held a 17-12 edge in offensive rebounds, but just 17-13 in second chance points. The overall rebounding battle was 52-40 in favor of the Tar Heels.
6. Luke Maye suffered through perhaps his most difficult offensive game of the year , making just one of his 15 shots. He did get into double figures in rebounding with ten, but he looked out of rhythm with his shot.
7. Some things you just can't explain. Miami's Ja'Quan Newton has made four three-pointers against the entire rest of the country this season...and has made three against Carolina in two games.
8. The trio of Cam Johnson, Joel Berry and Pinson carried Carolina in the second half. The upperclassman trio carried virtually all the scoring load during a stretch when there weren't many points coming from other sources.
9. Two reserves gave Carolina some quietly efficient minutes: Garrison Brooks and Seventh Woods. Woods was more valuable in the first half, when he played some solid relief minutes in place of Joel Berry, and Brooks was tough in the second half. And another starter who won't get headlines but made a big play was Kenny Williams, who snuffed a Miami fast break by drawing a charge on Newton. Williams also finished with 11 points.
10. How you know you're not in Greensboro: staff members Brad Frederick, Steve Robinson and Eric Hoots, who had scouting and other responsibilities for the night's first quarterfinal, left before the team bus. That meant they rode the 2 3 train from the team hotel to the Barclays Center, mingling with a Duke-heavy crowd along the way. At one point, Robinson was asked, "So, what do you do with the team?" The congenial veteran grinned and said patiently, "Assistant coach." But expect a lively arena on Friday night as Carolina and Duke meet for the second straight year. The Blue Devils had by far the strongest fan contingent on Thursday.
1. That doesn't take away the sting of senior day. But it sure does feel good to send Miami home from the ACC Tournament for a second straight year.
2. Theo Pinson was absolutely sensational in that game. There's no other word for it. The final dozen minutes of the second half were a complete Pinson showcase, as he scored, made perimeter jumpers, passed, and then capped it by diving on the floor to secure a loose ball. Pinson finished with a career-high 25 points, 11 rebounds and three assists.
3. The ol' five-for-five substitution doesn't work every time. But it has a pretty high success rate. Roy Williams went for the wholesale substition with Carolina down 12-0 approximately six minutes into the game, as the starters were too frequently settling for three-pointers. The new fivesome of Seventh Woods, Brandon Robinson, Andrew Platek, Sterling Manley and Garrison Brooks settled things down--and got the Tar Heels on the scoreboard--and played a solid two and a half minutes. The deficit eventually made it to 14-0...but Carolina won the rest of the game, 82-51.
4. Don't underestimate the value of Cam Johnson's three free throws with 0.4 seconds left in the first half. Somehow, after playing a mostly horrendous half--and completely horrendous for six minutes--the Tar Heels had the lead going into the locker room. Carolina has been occasionally victimized by last-second shots at the end of the first half this year. This time, they turned the tables.
5. As long as Jim Larranaga is the coach, Miami is going to be absolutely committed to trying to stop Carolina from getting a big advantage on the offensive glass. They were able to play the Tar Heels fairly even in that category on Thursday. Carolina eventually held a 17-12 edge in offensive rebounds, but just 17-13 in second chance points. The overall rebounding battle was 52-40 in favor of the Tar Heels.
6. Luke Maye suffered through perhaps his most difficult offensive game of the year , making just one of his 15 shots. He did get into double figures in rebounding with ten, but he looked out of rhythm with his shot.
7. Some things you just can't explain. Miami's Ja'Quan Newton has made four three-pointers against the entire rest of the country this season...and has made three against Carolina in two games.
8. The trio of Cam Johnson, Joel Berry and Pinson carried Carolina in the second half. The upperclassman trio carried virtually all the scoring load during a stretch when there weren't many points coming from other sources.
9. Two reserves gave Carolina some quietly efficient minutes: Garrison Brooks and Seventh Woods. Woods was more valuable in the first half, when he played some solid relief minutes in place of Joel Berry, and Brooks was tough in the second half. And another starter who won't get headlines but made a big play was Kenny Williams, who snuffed a Miami fast break by drawing a charge on Newton. Williams also finished with 11 points.
10. How you know you're not in Greensboro: staff members Brad Frederick, Steve Robinson and Eric Hoots, who had scouting and other responsibilities for the night's first quarterfinal, left before the team bus. That meant they rode the 2 3 train from the team hotel to the Barclays Center, mingling with a Duke-heavy crowd along the way. At one point, Robinson was asked, "So, what do you do with the team?" The congenial veteran grinned and said patiently, "Assistant coach." But expect a lively arena on Friday night as Carolina and Duke meet for the second straight year. The Blue Devils had by far the strongest fan contingent on Thursday.
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