University of North Carolina Athletics
Tar Heel JV Squad Tops King College And Asbury College
January 22, 2010 | Men's Basketball
Jan. 22, 2010
Stats vs. King College in PDF Format 
Stats vs. Asbury in PDF Format
CHAPEL HILL - The University of North Carolina men's junior varsity basketball team completed a successful double-header with wins against both King College of Bristol, Tennessee and Asbury College of Wilmore, Kentucky this weekend. Both games were close at least until halftime, with the Tar Heels only up 41-38 at half against King and 44-35 against Asbury.
Carolina took over after half against the King Tornados on Friday, eventually winning 100-64. King Head Coach Nick Pasqua explained his team's quick demise simply. "I think that halftime stopped our momentum," he says. "I think we had a chance, the first five minutes were big...we got four or five stops to start the second half, but then we turned it over four or five times and just made some bonehead plays, and that cost us. After that we just dug a hole we couldn't get out of." He also recognizes that the Tar Heels stepped up their play in the final part of the game, and his team reacted poorly to that. "Carolina did a great job in the second half, really dictating the tempo and pushing the ball when they had a chance," he says. "We just didn't play quite as well... I still think we played hard, we just didn't play very smart."
On the other hand, the Asbury squad stayed intense until the very end, even taking the lead twice in the second half, but eventually falling to the Tar Heels 87-77. The Eagles' Head Coach Daniel Prevett mentioned that his team's style of play was exactly what was needed to challenge Carolina's usual defensive play. "They weren't guarding ball screens very well, and we run a lot of ball screens in our offense so I think that helped us a lot," he says. "Then, what they started doing is they started getting worried about us getting layups out of that, that we got a lot of open three-pointers. We shoot the ball pretty well, especially today, so we were able to knock down a lot of outside shots so I think that's how we were able to keep in it." Tar Heel Head Coach Jerod Haase agreed with the assessment of the two teams. "There's no question that Asbury did a good job, they played a zone the whole game, and made a lot of shots," he says. "We didn't do the best job closing out and getting to the shooters, and they have some skilled players, so that makes it more difficult." However, by the end of the game, UNC seemed to have figured out the right balance between guarding the ball screen as well as the three-point shot. "I think our guys did a good job adjusting," Haase says. "There were a few different plays that they liked to run and we were guarding them a certain way and I think our guys did a better job executing late."
With the Carolina squad continuing a pattern of coming out sluggishly in the first half, and having to take back the game in the final twenty minutes, it forces both players and coaches to contemplate how best to fix this problem. One stat that has been lacking is shooting percentage, particularly in the games since Christmas break. Haase believes that, at least in the past game, and hopefully in the future this problem will solve itself. "We didn't shoot a great percentage [against Asbury], but a lot of times we got good shots, we just didn't knock them in," he says. "I think [the break] is part of the problem. But I think now we are getting into a routine, getting more practice time, getting our legs under us, so we've missed some open shots but I think that will turn around here."
UNC junior Ford Tanner believes the problem is on the other side of the court. "We have just got to come out with more intensity on the defensive end," he says. "At times, we'll forget who we're guarding or not get back quick enough and give them easy looks. So if we get it going on the defensive end, we'll get the rest of our game going." Tanner, who along with brother Frank, was a crucial component to both of this weekend's Carolina victories. Together they contributed 15 points and 15 rebounds against the Tornados and 30 points and 10 rebounds against the Eagles. Tanner's final thoughts were on the simple execution of the plays they were supposed to be running, as the team is still unorganized on the court. "I'd say it's just a matter of remembering everything and doing it," he says. "Coach Haase has us running [the plays] enough, practicing them enough, now we have just got to get out and do it. It's up to us to get the job done."
