University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Summer Practice Begins
June 26, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
by Turner Walston
Two years ago, the NCAA began allowing college basketball teams two hours per week of summer practice. Carolina will take advantage of that beginning today. “We'll introduce a lot of our basic stuff, a lot of our terminologies and our defensive schemes with the freshmen guys so that they know what to expect and communicate the same language that the veteran guys do,” Jackson Simmons said Wednesday. “But it's going to be competitive.”
Just as Theo Pinson, Justin Jackson and Joel Berry are beginning to adjust to the rigors of college basketball, the veteran Tar Heels are starting to figure out the freshmen. “They each have an area that they're really good at, and they're working in the weight room and they're taking care of their academic work,” Simmons said. “They've got their heads on straight just like the rest of us and they know what to expect and what we want to do this year.”
Joel James said while the freshman trio are impressive, the veterans can help make their transition to college basketball easier. If the freshmen are allowed to develop in low-pressure situations early, they can gain confidence. “We need to handle our business on the court so the freshmen wouldn't have to be necessarily thrown into the fire,” James said. “Handle our business so that we don't have to rely on them more than necessary.”
With so many alumni playing professional basketball in the NBA and overseas, summers in Chapel Hill offer the current Tar Heels the opportunity to play pickup games against world-class competition. “If you want to get better, you play against competition that's better than you,” James said of those games. “It's always good going up against guys like that, that are actually NBA-size players. They show you these neat little tricks, things you can pick up on in the paint and how to play better.”
Until today, the Tar Heels have been in the weight room under the supervision of strength coach Jonas Sahratian, and on their own on the court. Simmons was hard-pressed to name a single player that had made the biggest leap since the end of the season (he wanted to name them all), but he pointed to four in particular. Given the reports trickling out of the Tar Heels' pickup games, it was no surprise to hear Kennedy Meeks' name pop up. “He's gotten in better shape, really working hard in the weight room and playing well.” Isaiah Hicks spent much of last season playing out of his comfort zone at small forward. Because of Carolina's many options down low, he's had to improve his game facing the basket. “He can be very versatile for us, and that would be awesome.” Simmons said the third rising sophomore Nate Britt has made a step forward as well, particularly with his shooting (Britt decided to switch from shooting left-handed to right-handed in the off-season).
The fourth name Simmons offered? Joel James, who continues to understand what his body can do on the basketball court. “He's played with no hesitation. He's really being a force inside for us,” Simmons said. And then the names continued. “And Brice as well [has made a leap]. I should have just said all of them. I basically did say all of them.”
Simmons said he expected the rising sophomores to continue to make great strides throughout the summer, as they have a season under their belt and understand how best to manage time and relationships and now can focus on improvement.
This time last year, James said he expected to make that big leap. A December knee injury somewhat short-circuited that development, as the Tar Heels were forced to turn the calendar with James sidelined. “When I got hurt, it kind of side-tracked me a little bit, threw me out of my rhythm,” he said. “I wish I could have stayed where I was before I was hurt, mentally.” The injury was a blow to his confidence as well, and though he only missed four games, the road back was difficult. Remember, James did not play organized basketball until his sophomore year of high school, so he's still learning the game, and being on the floor is crucial to his development. But he's healthy now and is working with assistant coach Hubert Davis on not just taking shots, but making them.
Simmons and Desmond Hubert also know that in order to get quality minutes, they'll need to be threats on the offensive end. For Simmons, it's confidence that he's working on.
Hubert has been working on his hook shot. “That's really a shot for me that, with my jumping ability, nobody can really block,” he said. “I get minutes as a defensive player, but if I was more productive on the offensive end, I think my numbers would increase in the game.”
In late May, Mike DeCourcy of The Sporting News pegged the Tar Heels fifth overall in his early preseason Top 25. Simmons said while it's an honor to be thought of highly, the work must be done on the court. “Preseason rankings don't matter. They're just a guideline to how the season's going to start and the teams to keep an eye on.” The Tar Heels can't rely on merit to finish the season how they would like. “It's great, but we know that at the end of the year, we want to be number one," Simmons said. "That would be better than this.”
