University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Confidence
March 14, 2015 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
By Turner Walston
@TurnerWalston
GoHeelsTV: Marcus Paige hits the dagger vs. Virginia
With under a minute to play in Friday's ACC Tournament semifinal against Virginia, the Carolina offense was in disarray. The Cavaliers' Malcolm Brogdon had scored 12 straight points for his team, in the process whittling the Tar Heel lead down to just a single point. Sensing that his team was out of its offensive flow, Roy Williams called a precious timeout. 47.1 seconds remained on the game clock, six on the shot clock.
Carolina had put itself in this position –leading wire to wire– by committing on the defensive end. The Tar Heels stayed disciplined in man-to-man (twice they went to zone and were burned for it) and kept moving for the entirety of Virginia's possessions. Tony Bennett's team wears down the defense by hunting the absolute best shot, valuing the basketball and refusing to waste possessions. When the defense relaxes, they strike.
For the most part, nothing had come easy for the Cavaliers as the Tar Heels stayed in faces and challenged shots. Carolina opened the game with such defensive tenacity that Virginia went without a field goal for the first five minutes and twenty-two seconds of game time.
But Virginia didn't win 28 regular season games by going away when challenged, and Brogdon, just 1-5 in the first half, had poured in 22 in the next twenty minutes. With the game reaching crunch time, the Cavaliers were making a run. It felt as though if Virginia got a lead, they were not going to relinquish it. The Virginia fans were on their feet and screaming. The Tar Heel fans were on their feet and screaming. The ACC Tournament was delivering a classic on a semifinal Friday night.
In the Tar Heel huddle, Roy Williams was echoing his mentor, Dean Smith. “Coach was just saying, 'We're fine. Just stay focused, and take care of the ball,'” Kennedy Meeks said.
Oh, and get the ball into the hands of Marcus Paige.
The Tar Heels took the ball out from the sideline just in front of their bench. Away from the ball, Marcus Paige ran through an elevator screen –with two Meeks and Brice Johnson 'closing the elevator doors' behind him to create separation from Brogdon– and got the ball from an inbounding Justin Jackson near midcourt. Paige dribbled to his left, sent the ball between his legs and cut right. He stopped just inside the free throw line and threw a fake, getting Brogdon airborne, and put up a left-handed floater that fell through the net as the shot clock buzzer sounded.
It was the kind of play that Paige made in his first two seasons. It was the kind of play that Paige had not been making, had been hesitant to attempt, as he dealt with plantar fasciitis for much of his junior season.
“Earlier in the year I had taken jump shots in those situations, settled for a hesitation, pull-up jump shot or tried to get the ball to one of my teammates,” Paige said. “I wanted to use my quickness on Malcolm and try to get in the lane and not panic. Six seconds is a long time, so I knew I had time to use a couple dribbles and a couple fakes and I was able to get free.”
Just a few weeks ago against NC State, Paige rose for what would have been a game-changing three-pointer. Instead, he hesitated and in mid-air looked for a cutting teammate. A Wolfpack steal and basket on the other end short-circuited the Tar Heel momentum. But here, Paige did not hesitate. Finally, healthy, he has the confidence to make plays like he did Friday.
“I'm healthy, now, so I feel like I can make plays,” Paige said. Moments earlier, he'd tried to go coast to coast with the basketball and catch a snoozing Cavalier defense, only to lose the ball out of bounds. It wasn't a Tar Heel basket, but to Paige, even having the confidence to try it was a good sign. “Those are plays I wasn't even trying to make earlier in the year because of my foot.”
Last year, Marcus was infamously 'Second-half Paige,' rising to the occasion in the second 20 minutes of play after struggling early. This year, maybe he's 'Postseason Paige.' “I feel confident,” Paige said. “I think Justin's confidence is at another level, so that plays into our whole team's confidence.” A confident Tar Heel team is finally playing their best basketball at the right time of the year. Because of Paige's play, because of a total team commitment to defense, and because of Jackson finding his shooting stroke, the Tar Heels will play for an ACC championship Saturday night. And they will play with confidence.
