Lucas: Halfway

By Adam Lucas

Saturday marked the pseudo-halfway point of the 2020-21 Carolina basketball season, and it's hard to know exactly how to view this particular team.

Carolina is 8-5 after 13 games, and has 13 games left on the ever-changing schedule, plus a home date with Clemson that can hopefully be rescheduled.

The Tar Heels are clearly better than last year's team. They've won three close games in the league, they have a youthful core that continues to get better, and they've made noticeable strides in key areas during the course of this season (better perimeter shooting, better care with the ball—with exceptions—in the last two games).

But they are also .500 in the Atlantic Coast Conference and dropped another winnable game Saturday afternoon in Tallahassee. Florida State is the best team Carolina has played in the league this season. But the 'Noles were without one of their most dynamic players, freshman Scottie Barnes. And if you don't think the Tar Heels had a chance to win the game, consider these second half possessions:

Down one early in the second half: turnover.

Down one early in the second half: turnover.

Down three with 17:36 left in the game: turnover.

Down four with 9:30 left: missed three-pointer.

Down four with 8:43 left: Caleb Love dunk.

Down three with 7:30 left: missed shot, offensive rebound, missed shot.

Down four with 90 seconds left: missed shot, offensive rebound, missed shot.

Down four with one minute left: turnover.

Down four with 45 seconds left: missed shot.

That's a pretty good nine-possession description of exactly how you could come out of Saturday's game both encouraged and frustrated. Carolina was firmly in position to win the game. A little better execution, a little better attention to detail, a little more care with the ball and the Seminoles are forced to play from behind in the closing minutes. Florida State is a good defensive team; they're going to get some stops.

But the Tar Heels played nowhere near solidly enough on the game's decisive trips. On those nine possessions, the Tar Heels had four turnovers and shot 1-for-7 from the field. That's not good enough to beat one of the league's best teams on the road.

For the game, yes, Carolina committed a manageable 14 turnovers, not bad against what is typically ferocious FSU pressure. But nine of those 14 turnovers came when the deficit was four points or fewer, including a two turnover-in-35 second stretch at the end of the first half.

That seeming proximity to being a good team is what will fuel plenty of discussion about what Anthony Harris might bring to the Tar Heels. The redshirt freshman did knock down a three-pointer against the 'Noles, but outside shooting is suddenly one area where the Tar Heels look fairly proficient. And at this stage of his career, Harris's shooting is likely to be a bonus rather than a constant.

But you can count on him consistently providing the type of effort that resulted in a team-high +10 rating on Saturday, as he forced a couple of offensive fouls, handed out three assists (he would've had four "the way we keep them" thanks to a post feed to Armando Bacot that resulted in free throws), guarded the opposition's hottest scorer—and stoned M.J. Walker on one attempted dribble drive, a welcome sight this season—for many of his minutes, made a gorgeous backdoor cut for a basket, and generally provided the sort of consistent urgency that he also flashed in limited action last season.

"I'm just bringing some energy to the team," Harris said after the game. "Energy on defense. Being vocal on the court. Everyone feeds off a vocal leader and someone who stays locked in the whole game."

It's not a coincidence that defensive communication has been a point of emphasis in practice this week. Harris understands how to make sure five Tar Heels are one cohesive defensive unit each time down the court.

He's not an instant fix. After a fall with limited repetitions, his conditioning isn't at midseason form. It was Harris who gave the tired sign after his first stint of the second half, needing a chance to catch his wind.

But with him in the rotation, it's reasonable to feel better about the second half of the season than the first. It's believable that on at least one or two of those nine possessions—Harris was not on the floor for any of them—he might have made a difference.

"I'm just trying to get some wins right now," he said. "And bring energy in any way I can."

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University of North Carolina Athletics

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Anthony Harris

Caleb Love

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