University of North Carolina Athletics
Pickeral: Finishing Strong
February 3, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers
by Robbi Pickeral, GoHeels.com
CHAPEL HILL -- After winning four of its past five games and pushing its record back to .500 in the ACC, North Carolina is aiming for a strong finish.
One key: finishing stronger around the basket.
All too often during the Tar Heels' 84-70 victory over NC State on Saturday, UNC's big guys found themselves scrambling for a rebound after failing to connect up close. "We, me included, missed an amazing amount of chippies today,'' junior James Michael McAdoo said after his team team's big guys made only 10 of their 32 shots.
The Tar Heels did get to the line more than they had in any other ACC game this season, going 25-for-33 after averaging only 17.7 free throw attempts in their first seven league outings. But for the past few weeks, coach Roy Williams has emphasized the need to be more aggressive around the basket. And that need continues.
"We've got to be more attentive to finish the play instead of worrying about getting fouled," Williams said after UNC's loss at Virginia on Jan. 20. "It's one of the things I say all the time. Tyler Hansbrough was the best I've ever seen; [he] had more old-fashioned 3-point plays than anybody because when he got the ball, he just finished the play and then started to run back down the court and realized the referee had blown the whistle and called a foul.
"So many times we're in there looking where the defensive player is or not exploding up as much as we can and being a little hesitant with it."
Freshman big man Kennedy Meeks said finishing plays is more instinct than instruction, and one key is having an aggressive mentality: "I think it just has to be about the 'want'—wanting to make those buckets, wanting to get to the line ... like Coach always says, playing hard with our hearts and our heads."
To that end, sophomore big man Brice Johnson said he expected the coaches to beat up the big men at practice Sunday.
That meant, according to Meeks, lots of one-on-one drills.
McAdoo's translation: "a lot of sweat ... but we need it."
Indeed, McAdoo at this point is the only player on the team with a triple-digit number of free throw attempts this season, a telling number for a squad that historically makes more free throws that foes attempt.
The junior, who has taken on a more aggressive leadership role of late, said he has made it a priority to try to get to the line more often because it sets a tone: "When you're attacking, trying to get and-ones, trying to get to the line, it just makes everything easier."
Making those chippies, though, could make things even easier than that.
