Lucas: The Learning Process

By Adam Lucas

CHESTNUT HILL—Carolina's sizable 26-point win over Boston College on Sunday afternoon was the perfect opportunity for the Tar Heel youngsters to get some valuable Atlantic Coast Conference minutes, at the exact same time it was a reminder of why those minutes are so difficult to earn.

With the rotation short because of the expected absence of Justin McKoy (Covid protocols) and unexpected absence of Dawson Garcia (who suffered an early-game fall), first half minutes opened for freshman Dontrez Styles. It was a tremendous opportunity for the Kinston native, who has already shown impressive athleticism plus explosive ability around the rim both as a scorer and as a rebounder.

Styles is the kind of athlete who will help Carolina in spots this season and in a big way in the future…and also the kind of freshman who is still learning some of the same lessons every Tar Heel freshman eventually finds out the hard way.

Those first half minutes turned into a turnover, a foul, and a missed box out. It happens—which is largely why at this point in any freshman's career, it tends to happen in smaller spurts rather than longer rotational minutes.

Both Styles (nine minutes) and fellow freshman D'Marco Dunn (ten minutes) played the most minutes of their young Carolina careers. It was the perfect opportunity to be reminded of why Hubert Davis is so excited about their futures…and why there's still some work to be done to get there.

"It's huge for them," Davis told Jones Angell on the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "We're going to need guys like D'Marco and Ant (Harris) and Dontrez throughout the year. They're such great players and great kids. We always talk about how much depth we have. We have to have that out on the floor. We're going to need that depth and guys coming off the bench and stepping up and making big plays."

It's part of every freshman's learning process that in their entire basketball history, they were always relied upon to make big plays by scoring. Now, as a Carolina freshman, there are other players in the rotation who carry that burden. But there are still ways for the rookies to have an impact, whether it's grabbing an offensive rebound or hunkering down defensively.

Davis is fond of telling the reserves that he has to be able to trust them to put them into a game. It's about probability. There's no doubt that either rookie is capable of making a positive play on any given trip down the floor. Davis wants them to reach the point that it's more likely than not that they'll contribute something on every possession.

They aren't there yet, and that means absolutely nothing. It's completely inconsequential to Dunn or Styles' long-term potential that there are others in the rotation who are more productive at the ACC level right now. There was a time that Ademola Okulaja was more productive than Vince Carter, and Carter still turned out to be a pretty good player. There are examples in every generation of Tar Heel basketball.

That's one of the mysteries of coaching—how to win today's game while also getting enough experience for the players who will help you tomorrow…while not sacrificing any victories today. Doesn't sound all that simple when you put it that way, does it?

Right now, Styles and Dunn are not consistently better than anyone ahead of them in Carolina's rotation. They are still capable of incredible flashes; earlier this week, Styles had a fantastic sequence in practice when he slammed through a follow dunk, soared to grab an offensive rebound, and fired a nice assist. Dunn's shooting stroke has been more consistent in recent practices, and he swished his second career three against the Eagles. No one questions whether the potential is there. It's a matter of doing it every time down the court.

Davis stopped practice a couple of days ago to teach one of the freshmen about the constant effort required at the ACC level. "I saw what you did there," Davis told him. "Instead of sprinting back, you measured your effort because you thought you were going to chase him down from behind and block his shot. I know why you did that, because you could do that in high school. But this is the ACC. That won't work anymore."

It's one thing to get those lessons on the practice court, away from the television cameras. It's another thing to learn them in live action, when a too-casual pass can turn into a Boston College dunk or standing up for just a moment defensively can get you whistled for a foul. Learning those lessons against an ACC foe will pay fast dividends.

"It's been a work in progress every day in practice," Dunn said. "It's not about skill. It's about the little things. It's about learning the plays and being in defensive rotation. Dontrez and I have the skill set to be here. The more the year progresses and we see good teams and see how our team plays at a high level against good teams, we're going to learn from that."

That's a refreshingly mature and encouragingly confident outlook. Dunn knows he has the ability to play at this level, and seems to understand his time is coming. In 2022, that outlook might be harder to find than a player who can get you 20 points a game.

Another encouraging sign: the freshmen are prone to parroting their head coach. Understanding what the guy in charge of your playing time wants you to do is the first step to getting more of those precious minutes.

"You can get away without doing some of those little things in high school because you are the best player," Dunn said. "Coach Davis says the little things win and lose you games at this level, and I'm growing in that area."

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D'Marco Dunn

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Dontrez Styles

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