Lucas: Getting Better

By Adam Lucas

Around thirty minutes before the end of practice on Monday afternoon, Roy Williams stopped the Tar Heels in the middle of a half-court offense drill.

"Did you see that?" he asked, after patience and good ball movement had produced a wide open jumper that was knocked down by Caleb Love. "We're getting better." Then he raised his voice for the first time all practice. "We're. Getting. Better."

It hasn't been easy for North Carolina basketball—or for any of college basketball, for that matter—this season. For the Tar Heels, it's been both technically difficult and logistically difficult. Seven of Carolina's first ten opponents have been ranked in Ken Pomeroy's top 90. Five of those seven have been ranked in the top 50. That's tied for the second-most top-50 opponents through ten games in the Williams era.

Games have been scheduled with 48 hours notice. A long awaited trip to Maui turned into a trip to Asheville in which the event strongly encouraged the participating teams to not leave the hotel other than to travel to the gymnasium.

And Carolina has navigated it all with one of the youngest teams in the Williams era. There have been some bumps; losses at NC State and Georgia Tech were frustrating in the way they highlighted the shortcomings of this year's squad at this moment.

Sometimes a team can gain more from a win than a loss. That was not the case on Saturday. Carolina needed that win over Notre Dame to prove to a very young team that what they were doing in practice could work, that it could be applied on the court against an ACC opponent and be successful.

With that positive reinforcement, Monday's practice was a good one. Two plays after Williams stopped practice to remind them they were improving, Love penetrated and then found Puff Johnson on the opposite wing, leading to choruses of, "Good…good…good!" from Williams as the shot went through the net.

"When did I start saying good?" the head coach asked his team. "When Caleb made the pass. I didn't know if Puff was going to knock down the shot. But I knew it was a good pass."

One play later, Love beat the defense for a layup and then finished at the rim over Sterling Manley (no, Manley isn't cleared to play yet). The next time down, Johnson hit another three-pointer. On the next sequence, RJ Davis drained a three-pointer. The next possession, Day'Ron Sharpe and Armando Bacot battled for an offensive rebound and stuck the ball back in the basket.

You're no doubt ready for the much-discussed practice marksmanship to translate to a game. Even in Saturday's win, the Tar Heels set the wrong kind of records, marking the lowest shooting percentage (34.8) in a UNC victory since February of 2012.

Maybe the shots won't fall tonight in Coral Gables. But the team that practiced on Monday afternoon looked more like the team from September and October—the one that prompted a considerable bit of optimism—than the one you watched in December. It felt like a little bit of the fun was back. Love was on the sideline saluting a Walton three-pointer in a late-game situational drill. Sharpe was throwing through an alley-oop dunk in transition. Davis forced a turnover and then confidently answered, "Yes, sir!" when Williams called his name to make a coaching point.

Armando Bacot tugged on the back of an unaware Creighton Lebo's jersey to force him to start a half-step behind his teammates during post-practice running. Anthony Harris (no, he's not cleared to play, either) joked with Garrison Brooks before the sprints.

To determine the quantity of those sprints, Williams selected Davis to shoot free throws. A made shot decreases the amount of running. In fact, the head coach picked Davis three times in a row. "I'm going to choose somebody else," the head coach said after the third shot. "Uhhhhh…RJ."

The freshman had made the first three but missed the fourth. "Let's get somebody different," Williams said. "How about…RJ."

He made the fifth one. The Tar Heels had started with five 33-second sprints (three down-and-backs the length of the 94-foot court). Davis knocked off four of them by swishing the free throws, leaving the Tar Heels with just one.

"We've got one 33," Williams said. "That's for everybody." Then, with a wide smile, Williams shouted across the court to assistant coach Steve Robinson.

"Did you hear that, Coach Robinson?" Williams said. "RJ volunteered to run for everyone!" RJ had not, in fact, volunteered to run for everyone. But he was seconds late to the locker room on Saturday—which was why he was not in the starting lineup against Notre Dame—and knew he had to do his penance with a smile.

It wasn't a flawless practice. As the Tar Heels worked on sideline out of bounds plays late in the clock, they turned it over too easily on one occasion. But on the very next set, working with a 20-second clock, Bacot got beautiful position in front of the rim and scored on a nice feed from Davis.

The sophomore got the two points, but he also got some teaching from Williams, who showed him why it would have been better in that situation to go straight up rather than pump fake and go to the other side of the rim.

The last sequence was very much like the Tar Heels. It wasn't quite perfect. But it was getting better.

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University of North Carolina Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

Garrison Brooks

RJ Davis

Anthony Harris

Puff Johnson

Creighton Lebo

Caleb Love

Sterling Manley

Day'Ron Sharpe

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