Lucas: A Better Bench

By Adam Lucas

Let's talk about the Carolina bench player who won the game for the Tar Heels.

So right away, you know this is going to be a long talk.

Carolina beat Notre Dame on Tuesday night, 75-69. Coby White was very good (17 points), Luke Maye had another double-double, Cameron Johnson hit the boards hard…but the Tar Heels absolutely, positively do not win this game without the bench.

In fact, Carolina would have been looking at much more than the three-point deficit they faced at halftime were it not for Brandon Robinson. The junior guard made three of his first ten three-point shots this season, and then something very timely occurred: Christmas happened.

"Christmas was the biggest thing that helped me through this entire season," Robinson said after scoring nine points. "I went home and got in my high school gym with my dad and focused and worked on my form. He told me to stop rushing and be myself. My family kept telling me to relax, it's going to happen."

Tuesday, it happened. In a first half when Carolina couldn't do much right offensively, Robinson pumped in three three-pointers. Since Christmas, he's made eight of his 11 three-point attempts, and he's become the type of instant offense off the bench that all good teams possess.

Quietly, he's also a solid defender. In the first half, Notre Dame set up a lob pass to John Mooney, who was going to have an easy two points…until Robinson swooped in and knocked the ball away. Put those two points that he stole with the nine he scored, and Robinson alone was responsible for an 11-point swing in the first half. Carolina finished +1 in his 16 minutes. It might not sound like much, but it means Robinson helped his team be even better with him than they were without him. That's a terrific evening when you're coming off the bench.

His swipe against Mooney won't get much attention because there was an even more timely open-court theft. With Notre Dame holding a one-point lead with twelve minutes left, Nate Laszewski got a steal and had a clear path to the basket. As he motored down the court, it felt like a big play; the Irish were going to push the lead out, it was another Carolina turnover, and maybe this would be another case—like Saturday—where the Tar Heels could never just get in front.

But then there was Seventh Woods. It hasn't been an easy last couple of weeks for the point guard. After starting the season well, he'd turned it over at least twice in six of the past eight games. His reaction, though, was telling—in recent days, he was exactly the same Seventh Woods he was back when he was handing out eight assists against Tennessee Tech or scoring 14 points against Gonzaga.

Woods saw Laszewski a couple of steps ahead of him moving down the court and didn't see an easy dunk. He saw opportunity.

"When I saw him get out there on the break I knew I was going to try and chase him down, or at least attempt to," Woods said. "Once I saw him take the first two dribbles, I felt like I had a chance to get him. And I don't think he saw me coming, so that helped."

Woods is being modest, of course. Laszewski is 6-foot-10. Woods is 6-foot-2. It might have helped that the big man didn't see him coming, but--like Joel Berry's "rim protector" block last year at Louisville--it also helps that Woods is absurdly athletic and didn't give up on the play.

Woods' soaring, athletic rejection was a near carbon copy of a block he had against Maye in practice Monday. This one, though, came at the perfect time for a Carolina team that needed some energy and momentum.

Once the Tar Heels had made the big defensive play, much of the offense came from the most-discussed player on the roster, Nassir Little. With Garrison Brooks ineffective, Roy Williams went small for long stretches in the second half. That put Little on the floor, and it also put him on the floor with wide driving angles and plenty of room in the paint to operate.

Little had a beautiful baseline drive for a dunk with the other four Tar Heels lifted above the free throw line, and he also had a gorgeous three-point play that he finished with his left hand that pushed the Carolina lead to five with 5:40 remaining. All 11 of Little's points came in the second half, which will doubtless be dissected in every possible way over the next few days.

"A lot of times guys are in the paint." He said. "With that lineup, a lot of guys are outside. That's my game. I have a quick first step and I'm pretty good at finishing around the basket."

The formula isn't much different than it's been all season for Little: when he's a jump shooter, he makes himself not much different than the hundreds of other jump shooters in college basketball. When he attacks, he's very difficult to defend.

Woods finished +1 against the Irish, and Little was +2. All three reserves made the team better with them on the floor than with them on the bench. And yet, there's no guarantee that any of the bench trio will get the same chances against Miami on Saturday that they received today. Reserve roles don't come with guarantees.

As he has for most of this year, though, Little retains the ideal outlook.

"Coach gives me an opportunity," the freshman said, "and I have to take advantage."

University of North Carolina Athletics

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Garrison Brooks

Cameron Johnson

Nassir Little

Luke Maye

Brandon Robinson

Coby White

Seventh Woods

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