University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: J.D. Lyon Jr.
Lucas: Carolina Basketball Notebook
March 19, 2019 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Notes and quotes as the Tar Heels prepare to leave for the NCAA Tournament.
By Adam Lucas
Carolina enters the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the country, but Roy Williams isn't satisfied. The Tar Heel head coach says there are two primary areas where his team can improve.
"We have to be more consistent on the defensive end," Williams says. "We did some good things against Duke, but all of a sudden we would fail to retreat in the direction of the pass, or not get over a screen, or turn to rebound the ball without boxing out. You can't beat good teams if you make those kinds of mistakes.
"The other area is that this team has spent more time on late clock situations than any team I've coached in 31 years, and it looks like we have never been coached. We scored in the late clock against Duke on a couple of occasions and I think that might be the first time we've scored on that set all year. There have been a couple times we called things and came nowhere close to getting what we want."
Part of that late clock success, of course, is Coby White's continued evolution as a point guard. He's done a tremendous job this season playing at the pace Williams desires, and has made significant strides in reducing his turnovers. White had five turnovers in Carolina's final four games. Prior to that, the freshman had at least three turnovers in 11 of the Tar Heels' previous 16 Atlantic Coast Conference games.
The next step in his development will be determining when to use his prodigious scoring ability himself when the shot clock winds down, and when to create scoring opportunities for his teammates. Virtually all of White's basketball life has been spent on teams that have required him to be the primary late clock offense. The Tar Heel coaches are still teaching him how to be efficient in that scenario.
Looking back: Part of the regular storyline about Carolina basketball is that the Tar Heels are simply more talented than their opponents. This is also presumably the reason why Roy Williams doesn't receive much support for awards such as the ACC Coach of the Year, for which he finished third this season. He wasn't mentioned in this national AP story about coaches that did a good job this season (after this story was published, he was announced as the winner of the USA Today National Coach of the Year award).
There's only one problem: the numbers suggest that conventional wisdom isn't true. Recruiting rankings are notoriously subjective, so the Recruiting Services Consensus Index tries to average the opinions of several different outlets. That creates a "consensus" top 100 list of high school prospects each season.
Carolina's starting five contains just two players ranked in their high school graduation year RSCI—White at 27 and Kenny Williams at 90. Virginia's starting five features Kyle Guy (32), Ty Jerome (46) and DeAndre Hunter (74), while Duke's normal starting five includes RJ Barrett (1), Cam Reddish (2), Zion Williamson (4), Marques Bolden (11) and Tre Jones (13).
The other number one national seed, Gonzaga, has Josh Perkins (60) and four players who were unranked, partially because the Bulldogs dip heavily into the international recruiting pool.
The end: Last year's unexpected tournament loss to Texas A&M remains fresh for most of the Tar Heels, but it won't necessarily be used as negative reinforcement this week in practice. Instead, Roy Williams takes an approach that tends to be more positive as the Tar Heels advance.
"As a staff, we remind them that there is no tomorrow," he says. "There's no mulligan. We also have seniors who will get that across to them. But those seniors also know how much fun it can be. This week in practice I'll start reminding them of the positive part of it. I'll tell them that if they do well, they're getting ready to have the most fun they will ever have in their lives."
Kenny Williams took responsibility for allowing Carolina's practices to get slightly lethargic leading into the loss to Louisville at home. He won't let the same thing happen in the postseason.
"The tournament is different," the senior says. "You can't for one minute or even one second let anybody slip up. So I will hold other guys accountable and I want the other guys to hold me accountable. At this time of year, you have to be locked in for two hours of practice every day."
Columbus notes: The Tar Heels will practice at the Smith Center on Wednesday afternoon and then depart for Columbus. Carolina will meet the media late on Thursday, and the team's open practice at Nationwide Arena is from 4:10-4:50 p.m. on Thursday. If you're looking ahead, limited single tickets remain for Sunday's session through the box office. The only tickets that remain for Friday night's session are on the secondary market.
Carolina enters the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the country, but Roy Williams isn't satisfied. The Tar Heel head coach says there are two primary areas where his team can improve.
"We have to be more consistent on the defensive end," Williams says. "We did some good things against Duke, but all of a sudden we would fail to retreat in the direction of the pass, or not get over a screen, or turn to rebound the ball without boxing out. You can't beat good teams if you make those kinds of mistakes.
"The other area is that this team has spent more time on late clock situations than any team I've coached in 31 years, and it looks like we have never been coached. We scored in the late clock against Duke on a couple of occasions and I think that might be the first time we've scored on that set all year. There have been a couple times we called things and came nowhere close to getting what we want."
Part of that late clock success, of course, is Coby White's continued evolution as a point guard. He's done a tremendous job this season playing at the pace Williams desires, and has made significant strides in reducing his turnovers. White had five turnovers in Carolina's final four games. Prior to that, the freshman had at least three turnovers in 11 of the Tar Heels' previous 16 Atlantic Coast Conference games.
The next step in his development will be determining when to use his prodigious scoring ability himself when the shot clock winds down, and when to create scoring opportunities for his teammates. Virtually all of White's basketball life has been spent on teams that have required him to be the primary late clock offense. The Tar Heel coaches are still teaching him how to be efficient in that scenario.
Looking back: Part of the regular storyline about Carolina basketball is that the Tar Heels are simply more talented than their opponents. This is also presumably the reason why Roy Williams doesn't receive much support for awards such as the ACC Coach of the Year, for which he finished third this season. He wasn't mentioned in this national AP story about coaches that did a good job this season (after this story was published, he was announced as the winner of the USA Today National Coach of the Year award).
There's only one problem: the numbers suggest that conventional wisdom isn't true. Recruiting rankings are notoriously subjective, so the Recruiting Services Consensus Index tries to average the opinions of several different outlets. That creates a "consensus" top 100 list of high school prospects each season.
Carolina's starting five contains just two players ranked in their high school graduation year RSCI—White at 27 and Kenny Williams at 90. Virginia's starting five features Kyle Guy (32), Ty Jerome (46) and DeAndre Hunter (74), while Duke's normal starting five includes RJ Barrett (1), Cam Reddish (2), Zion Williamson (4), Marques Bolden (11) and Tre Jones (13).
The other number one national seed, Gonzaga, has Josh Perkins (60) and four players who were unranked, partially because the Bulldogs dip heavily into the international recruiting pool.
The end: Last year's unexpected tournament loss to Texas A&M remains fresh for most of the Tar Heels, but it won't necessarily be used as negative reinforcement this week in practice. Instead, Roy Williams takes an approach that tends to be more positive as the Tar Heels advance.
"As a staff, we remind them that there is no tomorrow," he says. "There's no mulligan. We also have seniors who will get that across to them. But those seniors also know how much fun it can be. This week in practice I'll start reminding them of the positive part of it. I'll tell them that if they do well, they're getting ready to have the most fun they will ever have in their lives."
Kenny Williams took responsibility for allowing Carolina's practices to get slightly lethargic leading into the loss to Louisville at home. He won't let the same thing happen in the postseason.
"The tournament is different," the senior says. "You can't for one minute or even one second let anybody slip up. So I will hold other guys accountable and I want the other guys to hold me accountable. At this time of year, you have to be locked in for two hours of practice every day."
Columbus notes: The Tar Heels will practice at the Smith Center on Wednesday afternoon and then depart for Columbus. Carolina will meet the media late on Thursday, and the team's open practice at Nationwide Arena is from 4:10-4:50 p.m. on Thursday. If you're looking ahead, limited single tickets remain for Sunday's session through the box office. The only tickets that remain for Friday night's session are on the secondary market.
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
G
/ Men's BasketballCarolina Women's Basketball 2025-26 | Episode 5 - “The Most Dangerous Team”
Tuesday, March 17
MBB: Hubert Davis Pre-NCAA Tournament Press Conference
Tuesday, March 17
WBB: Courtney Banghart Pre-NCAA Tournament Availability
Monday, March 16
UNC Baseball: Diamond Heels Sweep Series at Cal with 10-2 Win
Monday, March 16