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Lucas: Rapid Reactions
November 28, 2018 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Quick takeaways from Carolina's visit to Michigan.
By Adam Lucas
1. Not much that can be said about that one. Michigan mostly did whatever it wanted on offense and defense in an 84-67 victory.
2. You know how sometimes people will tell you Roy Williams coaches differently in November than he does in March? Wednesday was perhaps the textbook example. The Carolina starters sat for over four minutes in the second half while Michigan made a big push and didn't reenter until the Wolverines had a 63-45 lead. It's unlikely those same substitutions would be made later in the year.
3. Michigan completely closed off the offensive glass for most of the game, which is usually one of Carolina's primary sources of offense. The Tar Heels managed just two second chance points during the first 32 minutes of the game. They did get a couple second chance hoops during the late push that closed the gap to 11.
4. Roy Williams is still sorting through the rotations he wants to use. The Tar Heels struggled in a first half stretch that had five reserves on the floor, as Carolina went from up eight to down one in 90 seconds. The Tar Heels were a combined -15 in the game when utilizing lineups with five subs on the floor in the first 39 minutes of the game.
5. The Tar Heels were in the bottom half nationally coming into the game in defensive FTA/FGA ratio. That probably won't be helped by Wednesday's performance, even with the Wolverines missing a pair of the front ends of one-and-ones in the first half, when they attempted 10 charity tosses.
6. There have been very few occasions in the Williams era when it's difficult to find any positives. This might be one of them, and the Tar Heels can probably expect some intense practices between now and next Wednesday's game against UNC-Wilmington. Everyone knew this was going to be a tough three-game stretch. Carolina finished 1-2 in this section of the schedule, and is still looking at pre-Christmas games against Gonzaga and Kentucky.
7. Williams said at Monday night's radio show that this year's squad has as far to go as any group he has coached in Chapel Hill. They went out and showed why in Ann Arbor, as Michigan mostly did whatever they wanted on offense. John Beilein's team shot 57.7 percent in the second half and 56.6 percent for the game.
8. Maybe the only positive individual stat for Carolina: Luke Maye had 14 rebounds. Other than that, there's nothing in the boxscore anyone wearing blue would want to brag about.
9. That buzzer-beating three-pointer in the final seconds of the first half felt ominous. It was, and it eventually ended up being part of a 17-4 Michigan run. The Wolverines also had a separate 18-2 run during the course of the game.
10. Good college basketball environment at the Crisler Center, where the Wolverines had a nice balance between making it a college game while incorporating some elements of a more pro-style atmosphere. Of course, everything looks good when you're up by 20 points, but it was one of the more authentic college basketball environments Carolina has played in during the last couple of seasons.
11. For most of us, that was our first-ever trip to Ann Arbor. It's easy to see why there are so many comparisons between Michigan and Carolina, both as institutions and as overall athletic departments/programs. Everyone inside the Crisler Center, from head coach John Beilein all the way down, was extremely friendly and helpful--and that's not always the case. One major difference, however: the weather is just a little chillier.
1. Not much that can be said about that one. Michigan mostly did whatever it wanted on offense and defense in an 84-67 victory.
2. You know how sometimes people will tell you Roy Williams coaches differently in November than he does in March? Wednesday was perhaps the textbook example. The Carolina starters sat for over four minutes in the second half while Michigan made a big push and didn't reenter until the Wolverines had a 63-45 lead. It's unlikely those same substitutions would be made later in the year.
3. Michigan completely closed off the offensive glass for most of the game, which is usually one of Carolina's primary sources of offense. The Tar Heels managed just two second chance points during the first 32 minutes of the game. They did get a couple second chance hoops during the late push that closed the gap to 11.
4. Roy Williams is still sorting through the rotations he wants to use. The Tar Heels struggled in a first half stretch that had five reserves on the floor, as Carolina went from up eight to down one in 90 seconds. The Tar Heels were a combined -15 in the game when utilizing lineups with five subs on the floor in the first 39 minutes of the game.
5. The Tar Heels were in the bottom half nationally coming into the game in defensive FTA/FGA ratio. That probably won't be helped by Wednesday's performance, even with the Wolverines missing a pair of the front ends of one-and-ones in the first half, when they attempted 10 charity tosses.
6. There have been very few occasions in the Williams era when it's difficult to find any positives. This might be one of them, and the Tar Heels can probably expect some intense practices between now and next Wednesday's game against UNC-Wilmington. Everyone knew this was going to be a tough three-game stretch. Carolina finished 1-2 in this section of the schedule, and is still looking at pre-Christmas games against Gonzaga and Kentucky.
7. Williams said at Monday night's radio show that this year's squad has as far to go as any group he has coached in Chapel Hill. They went out and showed why in Ann Arbor, as Michigan mostly did whatever they wanted on offense. John Beilein's team shot 57.7 percent in the second half and 56.6 percent for the game.
8. Maybe the only positive individual stat for Carolina: Luke Maye had 14 rebounds. Other than that, there's nothing in the boxscore anyone wearing blue would want to brag about.
9. That buzzer-beating three-pointer in the final seconds of the first half felt ominous. It was, and it eventually ended up being part of a 17-4 Michigan run. The Wolverines also had a separate 18-2 run during the course of the game.
10. Good college basketball environment at the Crisler Center, where the Wolverines had a nice balance between making it a college game while incorporating some elements of a more pro-style atmosphere. Of course, everything looks good when you're up by 20 points, but it was one of the more authentic college basketball environments Carolina has played in during the last couple of seasons.
11. For most of us, that was our first-ever trip to Ann Arbor. It's easy to see why there are so many comparisons between Michigan and Carolina, both as institutions and as overall athletic departments/programs. Everyone inside the Crisler Center, from head coach John Beilein all the way down, was extremely friendly and helpful--and that's not always the case. One major difference, however: the weather is just a little chillier.
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