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Photo by: Jerome M. Ibrahim
Lucas: Feb. 9 UNC Basketball Notebook
February 9, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Notes and quotes as the Tar Heels prepare for a two-game road swing.
By Adam Lucas
The walls didn't rattle. The paint didn't peel.
Carolina got back on the practice court Thursday afternoon for the first time following Tuesday night's loss to Clemson. And while it was an extremely intense practice, it was not—contrary to what many might have expected—an especially angry practice.
That's part of the beauty of coaching. Those directly involved have a much better feel for what a team might need at any given time, and after an NCAA-mandated day off Wednesday, Davis clearly felt his team needed a guiding hand rather than an explosion.
The head coach was still intense; he became especially animated when a Tar Heel didn't set a solid screen for RJ Davis. "He's leading the ACC in scoring!" Davis barked. "Set a good screen." That type of play is a good example of the details that have been emphasizing in recent days. Hang around any practice long enough, and you're certain to hear Hubert Davis shout, "Discipline and details!"
In the case of the soft screen, the offender was quickly shuttled off to the blue (reserve) team, an immediate example of the consequences for not following through with details. But Davis—who can be much louder than you might imagine at practice—was largely supportive to his team, praising the pace with which they were playing and the crispness of most of the execution. The Tar Heels will have had a focused two days of preparation before visiting yet another sold-out road arena—this time it's Miami's Watsco Center on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Notes: After opening the year at a blistering pace from the free throw line, RJ Davis has returned to a more normal level in recent games. Of course, "normal" for him still puts him among the best free throw shooters in Tar Heel history, where he currently holds the career mark for free throw accuracy. Davis made 67 of his first 70 free throws this season, a 95.7 percent clip. In the last six games, however, he's 23-for-30, a 76.7 percent mark…One small indicator of Carolina's slight dip in road success in recent years: the Tar Heels haven't won back to back out of state ACC road games since March of 2019, when the Heels defeated Clemson and Boston College. It's true that because of geography, there aren't that many such opportunities each season. But it's also true that the situation presents itself roughly once per season, and the Heels at best have earned a split in the last five such instances. The Tar Heels will get a chance to do it for the first time since Coby White was in argyle when they travel to Miami on Saturday and follow that with a road trip to Syracuse on Tuesday…
After a discussion that has occasionally taken on a life of its own, there's some clarification of the whole "players arriving late" issue (or, more correctly, non-issue) on today's Carolina Insider podcast. Carolina absolutely didn't play well on Tuesday. "Late" arrivals were not a major part of the problem, however…Miami is a team that can occasionally take (and make) some tough shots. The Tar Heel coaches reminded the defense not to get discouraged when that invariably happens. "All we can control is our preparation," they said. "Be in the right place. If they make a tough shot and you are there, sometimes that happens. Be fully committed to preparation this week so that every possession you know you are in the right place with the right principles."…Future ACC Tournament sites were announced on Thursday. After the event goes to Washington, D.C., this year, it will be back in North Carolina for the next five years. It will be played in Charlotte in 2025, 2026 and 2028, and will visit Greensboro in 2027 and 2029. A sign of the times: full session tickets are available to the public for this year's tournament.
The walls didn't rattle. The paint didn't peel.
Carolina got back on the practice court Thursday afternoon for the first time following Tuesday night's loss to Clemson. And while it was an extremely intense practice, it was not—contrary to what many might have expected—an especially angry practice.
That's part of the beauty of coaching. Those directly involved have a much better feel for what a team might need at any given time, and after an NCAA-mandated day off Wednesday, Davis clearly felt his team needed a guiding hand rather than an explosion.
The head coach was still intense; he became especially animated when a Tar Heel didn't set a solid screen for RJ Davis. "He's leading the ACC in scoring!" Davis barked. "Set a good screen." That type of play is a good example of the details that have been emphasizing in recent days. Hang around any practice long enough, and you're certain to hear Hubert Davis shout, "Discipline and details!"
In the case of the soft screen, the offender was quickly shuttled off to the blue (reserve) team, an immediate example of the consequences for not following through with details. But Davis—who can be much louder than you might imagine at practice—was largely supportive to his team, praising the pace with which they were playing and the crispness of most of the execution. The Tar Heels will have had a focused two days of preparation before visiting yet another sold-out road arena—this time it's Miami's Watsco Center on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Notes: After opening the year at a blistering pace from the free throw line, RJ Davis has returned to a more normal level in recent games. Of course, "normal" for him still puts him among the best free throw shooters in Tar Heel history, where he currently holds the career mark for free throw accuracy. Davis made 67 of his first 70 free throws this season, a 95.7 percent clip. In the last six games, however, he's 23-for-30, a 76.7 percent mark…One small indicator of Carolina's slight dip in road success in recent years: the Tar Heels haven't won back to back out of state ACC road games since March of 2019, when the Heels defeated Clemson and Boston College. It's true that because of geography, there aren't that many such opportunities each season. But it's also true that the situation presents itself roughly once per season, and the Heels at best have earned a split in the last five such instances. The Tar Heels will get a chance to do it for the first time since Coby White was in argyle when they travel to Miami on Saturday and follow that with a road trip to Syracuse on Tuesday…
After a discussion that has occasionally taken on a life of its own, there's some clarification of the whole "players arriving late" issue (or, more correctly, non-issue) on today's Carolina Insider podcast. Carolina absolutely didn't play well on Tuesday. "Late" arrivals were not a major part of the problem, however…Miami is a team that can occasionally take (and make) some tough shots. The Tar Heel coaches reminded the defense not to get discouraged when that invariably happens. "All we can control is our preparation," they said. "Be in the right place. If they make a tough shot and you are there, sometimes that happens. Be fully committed to preparation this week so that every possession you know you are in the right place with the right principles."…Future ACC Tournament sites were announced on Thursday. After the event goes to Washington, D.C., this year, it will be back in North Carolina for the next five years. It will be played in Charlotte in 2025, 2026 and 2028, and will visit Greensboro in 2027 and 2029. A sign of the times: full session tickets are available to the public for this year's tournament.
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