Lucas: Coaching Pushing Bacot To Excel

By Adam Lucas

Armando Bacot is coming off his 21^st double-double of the season on Monday night against Louisville. That gives him the third-most double-doubles in a single season in Carolina basketball history, and he has a reasonable chance of catching or passing Brice Johnson's school record of 23. His 12.3 rebounds per game average is fifth-best in school history.

And Sean May thinks he can do better.

May was sitting in his office on Thursday morning clicking through some clips from Carolina's win over the Cardinals. The first-year assistant coach prepares a video compilation for Bacot after every game. And while they don't go through it every time—it's not practical to do such individual breakdowns on, for example, the quick Saturday/Monday turnarounds—they've had numerous one-on-one sessions already this season.

May already knew what he was going to tell Bacot when they met on Thursday afternoon. He pulls up a play from late in the win on Monday night. Carolina is holding a 68-63 lead, and Louisville's El Ellis misses a three-point shot. May freezes the play as the ball bounds off the rim.

"Right here," he says. "We have to get this rebound."

But the Cardinals' Malik Williams hauls in the offensive board, outjumping Bacot. It gives the visitors one extra possession in a tight game. Carolina would eventually earn the win. But it's that extra possession that still irks May.

"In the national championship game, Coach Haase told me, 'We need every rebound,'" May says. "That's what I'm going to tell Mando when we meet. If we get this rebound, the game is over. We win. By not getting this one, we gave them a chance, and you never know when that chance could change the outcome of the game."

It's these types of details that have resulted in Bacot's breakout campaign. The junior leads the league in rebounding, field goal percentage and double-doubles. He's sixth in blocks and seventh in scoring, and—pending Carolina's finish in the final three games—he's a strong contender for conference Player of the Year honors.

But he hasn't been perfect yet. That's why after almost every timeout, you'll see May grab Bacot as he's leaving the huddle. "We need four rebounds this time," he'll say, setting the board goal for Bacot until the next stoppage. Sometimes it's five. It might be six. Fortunately for the next generation of Tar Heel big men, May is not an easy grader.

May, the 2005 Final Four Most Outstanding Player, sees a little bit of his game in Bacot, the way the Richmond native needs to use his brain and his motor just as much as his athleticism to create scoring chances.

The Tar Heel junior knows the expectations are always high. That's how he's reached the point with his game that he can have an "off" night, as he did against Louisville…and still put up 12 points and 15 rebounds.

It's not always about numbers. Bacot had "only" 17 points and 14 rebounds in a home win over Florida State, but he didn't take a second half shot until very late in the game. May didn't care.

"I was so proud of him in that game," May says. "That's a hard game for him because of the way they switch, it's tough to get deep post position. His first shot of the second half didn't come until a dunk at the end. But he didn't get frustrated, and he stayed with it. That's a sign of a great player. You know you're the best player on the court when we're up 30 points because the other team is so worried about you, and you still get a double-double."

Another sign of Bacot's emerging greatness: his season-long focus on the details. The clip tape May compiles sees everything. It sees Bacot's footwork, the way he rolls—is he dancing or is he rolling hard—off a ball screen, the way he establishes firm post position with two feet in the paint as soon as the opportunity presents itself.

"The small details can really pay off," Bacot says. "I've learned so much about angles and positioning."

Remember that the preseason chatter about the Tar Heel big man was about his desire to showcase his perimeter game. Yes, he's made one of his seven three-point shots, and he's knocked down a few midrange jumpers. But the credentials he's built for all of those postseason honors have largely been constructed close to the rim.

Bacot's junior season hasn't necessarily been about converting a high number of high degree of difficulty shots. It's been about learning how to get easier scoring opportunities. It looks very easy on the screen in May's office. It's much tougher to do it exactly right, possession after possession, in a 40-minute game. But May's words have power--Bacot is well aware that not only has his coach done it, he's put banners at both ends of the Smith Center rafters doing it exactly this way.

"Coach May is so insightful and smart," he says. "All our coaches are so intelligent. Coach May is always trying to make my life easier or teach me how to score the ball more easily. Sealing is something he was really good at, so he knows how to find different ways and angles to seal and get easier baskets."

That doesn't mean, though, that either May or Bacot is satisfied. He's in firm position to reap plenty of postseason awards, but his case would be even stronger with three more Tar Heel wins in the regular season and three more strong performances.

Bacot had ten rebounds in that first half against Florida State. In the halftime locker room, May wasn't impressed.

"Hey," he told his protégé, "we need you to get 20 today."

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