University of North Carolina Athletics
Lucas: Gifted
November 8, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
By Adam Lucas
Before he ever took the podium on Friday night after Carolina's 112-34 exhibition shellacking of Belmont Abbey, you had a pretty good idea what Roy Williams was going to say.
The first words from the head coach: “We're much more gifted naturally than that team.”
That's Williams' go-to phrase when his team is noticeably more talented than the opposition, as they should be against a Division II club like Belmont Abbey. The Crusaders are a team whose head coach, Martin Unger, got the job a month ago and said before the game one of his biggest concerns is the fact that he closed on a house this week, had to play at UNC Friday night, has to move over the weekend, and then plays at Florida State on Monday.
That's a pretty full week. Unger and his team also had to contend with a formidable performance from the Tar Heels, one that made it apparent early that Williams would be using his “gifted” line in describing what happened.
But as Carolina kept coming—13 deep, with 13 players scoring, 13 players getting a rebound and 10 players handing out an assist—it started to feel like Williams might have multiple opportunities to apply his talent disparity argument this season.
Five positive indicators from Friday night:
1. Very fluid ball movement. Most of the preseason attention has gone to the fact that Williams plans to occasionally play two point guards, and he did indeed pair a couple of his lead guards at the same time. But what's more encouraging is the fact that everyone in the rotation passed the ball very well. J.P. Tokoto led the team with six assists, and the Tar Heels handed out 29 assists against just 10 turnovers. This year's team appears to be able to score from multiple positions, but also to be able to pass from multiple positions.
“We have the will to run and the will to get those open cuts for the passer,” said Kennedy Meeks, who was the beneficiary of several of those passes on the way to shooting 6-for-7 from the field. “We want to get those easy plays and help a teammate. That's something we've been working on every day.”
2. The all-around contributions of J.P. Tokoto. The junior was terrific against the Crusaders. He shot 5-for-7, sprinkling in a midrange jumper with an array of cuts to the basket and dunks. He had six assists and zero turnovers. And he tied for the team high with three steals.
“J.P has the best eyes of any guy on our team right now about seeing things,” Williams said. “Sometimes he fails to see the defensive player…but he made the easy play every single time tonight.”
“It's knowing personnel,” Tokoto said of his passing improvements. “Knowing who you can throw a bullet pass to and who you can't. Knowing who is going to finish. It's all about knowing personnel.”
3. Justin Jackson's versatility. He wasn't the most spectacular freshman (thank you, Theo Pinson), but Jackson was the most efficient rookie. All he did was make eight of his ten field goals for a game-high 16 points, tie for the team high with five rebounds, hand out two assists against zero turnovers, block two shots and grab one steal. That's a pretty good night, and it didn't even showcase Jackson's outside shooting—he just might be the second-best three-point shooter on the team.
“He has a knack for the ball finding his hands,” Williams said. “He's working hard defensively trying to become a better defensive player. He's naturally an instinctive basketball player who makes the right pass.”
4. Carolina's variety of defensive options. Roy Williams told his team after the game they have the chance to be a much better defensive club than last year's group. They're going to be more exciting defensively, too, because the versatility and athleticism throughout the rotation is going to create lots of hands in the passing lanes.
The Tar Heels trotted out a starting lineup that went 6-foot-1 (Paige), 6-foot-6 (Tokoto), 6-foot-8 (Jackson), 6-foot-9 (Brice Johnson) and 6-foot-9 (Kennedy Meeks). The long arms on Tokoto and Jackson especially made guard-to-guard passes an adventure for the Crusaders.
5. The quiet contributions of Nate Britt. The sophomore was the first player off the bench and scored 10 points to go with his four assists. The newly right-handed jumpshooting Britt swished a three-pointer, finished a physical and-one layup at the rim with his right hand, then went to the free throw line and knocked down his free throw left-handed (although he's switched to shooting righty from the field, he's still shooting lefty at the stripe, where he was 3-for-3 on Friday).
Britt and Joel Berry II played almost identical minutes—20 for Britt, 19 for Berry—and it's going to be a major luxury for Williams to have multiple options he trusts in the backcourt behind Paige. Berry, too, will get better by having Britt to compete with in practice.
