Lucas: Game Night

By Adam Lucas

Roy Williams lined up his team on the baseline on Sunday night, and with seven words made an unusual year seem normal again.

"Three practices before we play a game," the head coach told his team before Sunday's session. And with that reminder, despite all the struggles to get to this point, despite all the non-basketball challenges that every team has faced this fall, it suddenly felt very much like basketball season.

The Tar Heels are supposed to be in Maui right now, one of Williams' favorite places in the world. Instead, they'll host College of Charleston on Wednesday night at 6 p.m., meaning despite the lack of an island setting, he'll still be in his very favorite place this week—the sideline, coaching his team.

That's where he was again for part of Sunday's practice, as for the second time this week the Tar Heels devoted multiple periods of a practice to scrimmages. Unlike Wednesday, this one even came complete with media timeouts, which made for less fatigued players and more intense end-to-end action.

Players shuffled between teams, making individual and team scoring totals inexact. But it felt even more like a real game than the previous scrimmage, including some detailed work on end of game situations at the end of the second scrimmage period. Sometimes that can take the form of running a specific play. But sometimes it's a detail that might otherwise go unnoticed, as when one freshman substituted in for another freshman with seconds remaining.

The substitution was too casual, leading Williams to pause the action, walk onto the court, and demonstrate exactly how to make a substitution, by meeting the teammate face to face, finding out who they're guarding, and making sure they're aware of the defensive call.

How many times have you seen the Tar Heels do that in your life as a fan? It's because they're coached to do it on nights like these.

Some specific basketball observations from the evening:

•Caleb Love threw a beautiful, Kendall Marshall-esque fullcourt hit-ahead pass to Day'Ron Sharpe for an easy layup after a made basket. A couple of possessions later, he beat the defense back with the dribble for a layup after a made basket. Love's point guard instincts remain a work in progress, but if Carolina regularly plays at that tempo this season, they will win some games.

•Even without great size, RJ Davis has the potential to be a pest as a defender. He does not take possessions off.

•Williams has so much more flexibility on this team than he did last year. Davis will spend some time at point guard, which will allow Love to play off the ball. And there are multiple flexible interior pieces, all of which revolve around senior Garrison Brooks.

•One of the most encouraging aspects of the preseason: there aren't many one-dimensional players on the court. Almost everyone in the rotation is a multi-faceted basketball player, not a specialist. That can lead to plays like the one in which Day'Ron Sharpe, who will be better known as a scorer and rebounder this season, whipped a crosscourt pass from the low block to the opposite corner for an open three-point shot.

As always, Williams began the practice by asking individual players to repeat the offensive and defensive emphasis of the day, plus the thought for the day.

Kerwin Walton correctly recited the thought: "Are you becoming a team?"

We'll find out beginning on Wednesday night.

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Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Caleb Love

Day'Ron Sharpe

Kerwin Walton

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