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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: Maggie Hobson
Lucas: One Of Those Days
July 14, 2022 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Thursday's Carolina basketball practice was a reminder of what the 2022-23 team could be.
By Adam Lucas
You've heard plenty about bad practices. You've read about days when coaches get heated and players are frustrated and nothing goes right and it ends up being a catalyst for a turnaround.
And then there are days like Thursday, when the Tar Heels gathered for one of the NCAA-allowed summer practices at the Smith Center. The summary from the day is pretty simple: Carolina looked like an experienced, talented, deep squad that will contend for conference and national honors. The Heels, in other words, looked really good.
There are zero banners hanging in the Smith Center rafters for July accomplishments. And there's a giant difference between looking good for one 90-minute session and being able to sustain it for multiple months against the best competition in the country. But Thursday was a nice window into what the Tar Heels could be.
It started even before the 3 p.m. start time. An hour before practice, Jackie Manuel was talking to Puff Johnson and Dontrez Styles as they prepared to get in a hard pre-practice shooting session. "The first way we get ready for practice," Manuel barked, "is by getting our mind ready for practice. Get your mind right for practice, and your body follows your mind."
Johnson and Styles, two key pieces of Carolina's depth, were so noticeably engaged that even an observer stopped to watch them shoot mid-range jumpers. "I love your energy right now," he said.
That pre-workout energy, which came as Seth Trimble and Tyler Nickel worked on jumpers, Jalen Washington refined some post moves, and Leaky Black did some ballhandling drills—remember, it's still July—carried over to the practice. The Tar Heels were crisp as they worked on halfcourt offensive concepts. Multiple Tar Heels, including Johnson and Trimble, even earned praise from Davis for deviating from sets and, as the head coach put it, just being a basketball player. "We've never worked on what you did right there," Davis said. "You just did it because you're a basketball player. Just play basketball. I love that."
It's times like this, when everything is going great and everyone is feeling good, that a head coach loves any opportunity to find an area for improvement. So when Styles flew from outside the charge circle through contact and elicited some, "Oooooooh's," by attempting a one-handed thunder dunk, Hubert Davis quickly stepped in. Styles, unfortunately for him, had missed the slam.
"Weighted ball!" Davis immediately shouted, referencing the in-house penalty for missing a layup or dunk, as offenders must complete a down-and-back holding a weighted ball above their head. "Get a weighted ball for Trez! We don't miss layups or dunks."
But that was largely the exception for the day. There were enough highlights for everyone to get at least one. Leaky Black reminded everyone that he grew up as a point guard by throwing a gorgeous 50-foot lead pass over traffic to D'Marco Dunn for a layup, followed on the next possession by dropping a bounce pass to RJ Davis that eventually led to a layup. Trimble consistently proved to be unafraid of getting into the lane and challenging bigger defenders. Caleb Love threw a slick bounce pass to Bacot on a fast break. Pete Nance blocked a shot at one end under the basket, then ran the floor and was fouled under the rim on the other end, covering the full 94 feet.
The practice ended with an extended scrimmage. In perhaps the highlight of the afternoon, the Blue team of Black, RJ Davis, Nickel, Dunn and Nance—don't read anything into the lineups, it was purely for competitive balance—flashed gorgeous ball movement going from corner to corner that ended in a Nickel three-pointer (By the way, the Brady Manek-coined, "Bang bang" has entered the Tar Heel lexicon. As in, a three-pointer is released, and a teammate immediately says, "Bang bang!" in anticipation of it going in). A couple possessions later, Bacot grabbed an offensive rebound, hit Johnson at the three-point line, then reposted hard and scored after a clinic-worthy entry pass. It was textbook basketball, not the occasionally sloppy July action you might see.
The gamewinner in the scrimmage came on a Trimble three-pointer off Bacot penetration. Yes, you read that correctly. It was that kind of day at the Smith Center.
And an hour after it was over, it still wasn't finished, as several Tar Heels—including Dunn, Nickel, Justin McKoy and Will Shaver—were still on the court shooting.
A July practice is absolutely no guarantee of future performance, and could just as easily be followed by a clunker next week. It's a long way to April, every team thinks they look good in July, injuries are unpredictable, and all the usual caveats. But Thursday was still enough to remind you that November can't get here soon enough.
Check back tomorrow for an exclusive feature on the newest Tar Heel, Pete Nance.
You've heard plenty about bad practices. You've read about days when coaches get heated and players are frustrated and nothing goes right and it ends up being a catalyst for a turnaround.
And then there are days like Thursday, when the Tar Heels gathered for one of the NCAA-allowed summer practices at the Smith Center. The summary from the day is pretty simple: Carolina looked like an experienced, talented, deep squad that will contend for conference and national honors. The Heels, in other words, looked really good.
There are zero banners hanging in the Smith Center rafters for July accomplishments. And there's a giant difference between looking good for one 90-minute session and being able to sustain it for multiple months against the best competition in the country. But Thursday was a nice window into what the Tar Heels could be.
It started even before the 3 p.m. start time. An hour before practice, Jackie Manuel was talking to Puff Johnson and Dontrez Styles as they prepared to get in a hard pre-practice shooting session. "The first way we get ready for practice," Manuel barked, "is by getting our mind ready for practice. Get your mind right for practice, and your body follows your mind."
Johnson and Styles, two key pieces of Carolina's depth, were so noticeably engaged that even an observer stopped to watch them shoot mid-range jumpers. "I love your energy right now," he said.
That pre-workout energy, which came as Seth Trimble and Tyler Nickel worked on jumpers, Jalen Washington refined some post moves, and Leaky Black did some ballhandling drills—remember, it's still July—carried over to the practice. The Tar Heels were crisp as they worked on halfcourt offensive concepts. Multiple Tar Heels, including Johnson and Trimble, even earned praise from Davis for deviating from sets and, as the head coach put it, just being a basketball player. "We've never worked on what you did right there," Davis said. "You just did it because you're a basketball player. Just play basketball. I love that."
It's times like this, when everything is going great and everyone is feeling good, that a head coach loves any opportunity to find an area for improvement. So when Styles flew from outside the charge circle through contact and elicited some, "Oooooooh's," by attempting a one-handed thunder dunk, Hubert Davis quickly stepped in. Styles, unfortunately for him, had missed the slam.
"Weighted ball!" Davis immediately shouted, referencing the in-house penalty for missing a layup or dunk, as offenders must complete a down-and-back holding a weighted ball above their head. "Get a weighted ball for Trez! We don't miss layups or dunks."
But that was largely the exception for the day. There were enough highlights for everyone to get at least one. Leaky Black reminded everyone that he grew up as a point guard by throwing a gorgeous 50-foot lead pass over traffic to D'Marco Dunn for a layup, followed on the next possession by dropping a bounce pass to RJ Davis that eventually led to a layup. Trimble consistently proved to be unafraid of getting into the lane and challenging bigger defenders. Caleb Love threw a slick bounce pass to Bacot on a fast break. Pete Nance blocked a shot at one end under the basket, then ran the floor and was fouled under the rim on the other end, covering the full 94 feet.
The practice ended with an extended scrimmage. In perhaps the highlight of the afternoon, the Blue team of Black, RJ Davis, Nickel, Dunn and Nance—don't read anything into the lineups, it was purely for competitive balance—flashed gorgeous ball movement going from corner to corner that ended in a Nickel three-pointer (By the way, the Brady Manek-coined, "Bang bang" has entered the Tar Heel lexicon. As in, a three-pointer is released, and a teammate immediately says, "Bang bang!" in anticipation of it going in). A couple possessions later, Bacot grabbed an offensive rebound, hit Johnson at the three-point line, then reposted hard and scored after a clinic-worthy entry pass. It was textbook basketball, not the occasionally sloppy July action you might see.
The gamewinner in the scrimmage came on a Trimble three-pointer off Bacot penetration. Yes, you read that correctly. It was that kind of day at the Smith Center.
And an hour after it was over, it still wasn't finished, as several Tar Heels—including Dunn, Nickel, Justin McKoy and Will Shaver—were still on the court shooting.
A July practice is absolutely no guarantee of future performance, and could just as easily be followed by a clunker next week. It's a long way to April, every team thinks they look good in July, injuries are unpredictable, and all the usual caveats. But Thursday was still enough to remind you that November can't get here soon enough.
Check back tomorrow for an exclusive feature on the newest Tar Heel, Pete Nance.
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