Lucas: Thirty Days

By Adam Lucas

CORAL GABLES—Twenty-eight days ago, before Carolina's game against Appalachian State, Hubert Davis stood before his team and gave them a very simple message. Later that evening, he recounted what he had told them.

"Everyone says in order to make something a habit, you have to do it for at least 30 days," he said later. "So I challenged them. I said, 'You bring energy, effort and toughness for 30 days and see what happens.' And I said, 'One, that will become a habit. And two, you will look back and you will say this is of great benefit to bring those three things every time I step on the floor.'"

Exactly four weeks later, Carolina went into the University of Miami's Watsco Center with a chance to play for at least a share of first place in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Sure, they don't give out any trophies for mid-January regular season champion. But this group of Tar Heels has very little experience with spending time on top of the standings. It felt like it would mean something, would be a tangible sign of progress, to beat a good Miami team on the road with league implications.

To do so would have required plenty of Davis' favorite buzzwords—energy, effort and toughness.

The final score was Miami 85, Carolina 57. The Tar Heels trailed 49-22 at halftime, which tied for the largest halftime deficit in program history.

"I'm shocked," Davis told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "I'm disappointed that we're here again. That after everything we've been through with this team and understanding what it takes to put ourselves into position to win basketball games. There was something on the line here. I talk to them about it. First place was on the line. That has meaning. For us to come out with a lack of energy and a lack of toughness is very shocking."

It was shocking from the very beginning, which perfectly encapsulated the rest of the game. In the days leading up to the trip to Coral Gables, the Tar Heels had a very simple emphasis in practice: attack the paint by post or dribble.

That's just as simple as it sounds. Carolina either wanted to throw the ball into Armando Bacot in position for him to score, or get dribble penetration from the guards that led to an open shot.

Handed that gameplan, the Tar Heels promptly went out and…took their first five shots from three-point range, making just one. Bacot, the reigning national player of the week, did not attempt a field goal until nearly seven minutes had elapsed in the game. By that point, Miami already held a 16-8 lead.

You saw the game, so you probably don't need this additional observation from courtside: once it became clear that Miami was going to make things difficult defensively and was going to attack offensively, the Tar Heels simply shriveled. They resorted to one-on-one play on offense and on defense they put up very little resistance. Miami got the shots it wanted, often with the help of a generous UNC offense that committed 14 turnovers that led to 30 Hurricane points.

"Defensively, we didn't have the mindset and the toughness you have to have to win games on the road," Davis said. "We didn't have the toughness you need to play against good teams like Miami."

Don't misunderstand. These games can happen. It's entirely possible to get blown out and still have a very successful season. But the thing about having an all-Tar Heel staff is that they have a frame of reference for these types of games. Teams that included Hubert Davis lost two 20+ point regular season games in his entire four-year career in Chapel Hill. Teams that included Brad Frederick lost two such games in three years. Jeff Lebo-led teams only lost one such game in four years.

It's now happened twice in the last month, and Steve Bucknall or J.R. Reid or King Rice aren't walking through that door to explain to their then-teammates how very difficult it is just to win an ACC game, how taking one night off can lead to...well, this. "At this moment," Davis said after the game, "we do not have any (leaders), and that's something that needs to change."

And so Carolina now faces an essential road trip to Wake Forest on Saturday, needing a win to avoid falling into the middle of a jumbled ACC. And needing a win, also, to begin building some new habits.

Players Mentioned

Armando Bacot

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