University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: ANTHONY SORBELLINI
Lucas: March 14 Basketball Notebook
March 14, 2024 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
Carolina's ACC Tournament quest begins today.
By Adam Lucas
Lost in the hailstorm of Cormac Ryan three-pointers on Saturday at Duke was the stellar contribution the Tar Heels received from the bench.
Jae'Lyn Withers had one of his best games as a Tar Heel, scoring six points and grabbing eight rebounds in just 11 minutes. That's more rebounds than any Duke player secured in the game, and Withers' four offensive boards also tied for a game high (with Armando Bacot).
In the backcourt, Seth Trimble provided six points, but all three baskets came at junctures that stemmed Duke momentum. Trimble tied for a game high with two steals while playing his usual stellar defense over the course of his 20 minutes.
Add in a dunk from Jalen Washington, and Carolina's reserves outscored Duke's 14-7. That's the kind of edge that can—and did—win you games in March and April.
"J-Wit and Seth are the most athletic guys on our team," Hubert Davis said. "Them coming off the bench raises our athleticism to another level. Their ability to guard a number of different positions allowed us to be flexible guarding Duke. And in transition when you have those guys running, you can pitch ahead. Both of them can also attack the offensive glass."
Carolina will need that versatility against an athletic Florida State team. Trimble had nine big points in the first meeting—when Carolina's switch to full-court defensive pressure completely changed the game. Withers was mostly a non-factor in both meetings with the Seminoles, but his recent activity around the rim on both offense and defense would be very valuable against an FSU squad that in conference games got a greater percentage of points on two-point shots than any other team in the league.
Notes: Carolina is staying in the same Washington, D.C., hotel where the Tar Heels stayed when they won the ACC Tournament in 2016. Savvy administrators booked the hotel—which is easily accessible to the arena—back before the pandemic. Since then, word has spread, and both Wake Forest and Florida State are also staying at the same hotel, leading to the situation where Tar Heel and Seminole players might be sharing one of the same four elevators in the morning and then squaring off on the court at noon…Last week was a big one for the Heels, as they won the outright regular season championship. But they also know the season isn't over. "Like Coach Davis says, there's a lot more still to be said and a lot more still to be done," said Cormac Ryan. "The Duke win was an incredible victory. But nobody was surprised. We are happy that we won but we weren't surprised."
Hubert Davis mentioned this week that he has Bill Guthridge's famous "Excuses" jar on his desk in the Smith Center. "Mrs. Guthridge gave me the jar," the Carolina head coach said. "I have it on my desk. When the guys come in, if they give me any excuses, I give them a piece of paper and they write it down and put it in the jar because I don't want to hear about that. This year, the good thing is I haven't had to have any player write down excuses."…Davis has lots of ties to the D.C. area. He grew up in Burke, Va., about 18 miles from the team hotel. And when he played for the Washington Wizards for parts of two seasons, he lived in McLean, about 12 miles outside of town. Washington sneakily has a very solid Tar Heel fan base--walking around town on Wednesday evening, there were multiple occasions of strangers offering a "Go Heels!" to others wearing Carolina blue.
Lost in the hailstorm of Cormac Ryan three-pointers on Saturday at Duke was the stellar contribution the Tar Heels received from the bench.
Jae'Lyn Withers had one of his best games as a Tar Heel, scoring six points and grabbing eight rebounds in just 11 minutes. That's more rebounds than any Duke player secured in the game, and Withers' four offensive boards also tied for a game high (with Armando Bacot).
In the backcourt, Seth Trimble provided six points, but all three baskets came at junctures that stemmed Duke momentum. Trimble tied for a game high with two steals while playing his usual stellar defense over the course of his 20 minutes.
Add in a dunk from Jalen Washington, and Carolina's reserves outscored Duke's 14-7. That's the kind of edge that can—and did—win you games in March and April.
"J-Wit and Seth are the most athletic guys on our team," Hubert Davis said. "Them coming off the bench raises our athleticism to another level. Their ability to guard a number of different positions allowed us to be flexible guarding Duke. And in transition when you have those guys running, you can pitch ahead. Both of them can also attack the offensive glass."
Carolina will need that versatility against an athletic Florida State team. Trimble had nine big points in the first meeting—when Carolina's switch to full-court defensive pressure completely changed the game. Withers was mostly a non-factor in both meetings with the Seminoles, but his recent activity around the rim on both offense and defense would be very valuable against an FSU squad that in conference games got a greater percentage of points on two-point shots than any other team in the league.
Notes: Carolina is staying in the same Washington, D.C., hotel where the Tar Heels stayed when they won the ACC Tournament in 2016. Savvy administrators booked the hotel—which is easily accessible to the arena—back before the pandemic. Since then, word has spread, and both Wake Forest and Florida State are also staying at the same hotel, leading to the situation where Tar Heel and Seminole players might be sharing one of the same four elevators in the morning and then squaring off on the court at noon…Last week was a big one for the Heels, as they won the outright regular season championship. But they also know the season isn't over. "Like Coach Davis says, there's a lot more still to be said and a lot more still to be done," said Cormac Ryan. "The Duke win was an incredible victory. But nobody was surprised. We are happy that we won but we weren't surprised."
Hubert Davis mentioned this week that he has Bill Guthridge's famous "Excuses" jar on his desk in the Smith Center. "Mrs. Guthridge gave me the jar," the Carolina head coach said. "I have it on my desk. When the guys come in, if they give me any excuses, I give them a piece of paper and they write it down and put it in the jar because I don't want to hear about that. This year, the good thing is I haven't had to have any player write down excuses."…Davis has lots of ties to the D.C. area. He grew up in Burke, Va., about 18 miles from the team hotel. And when he played for the Washington Wizards for parts of two seasons, he lived in McLean, about 12 miles outside of town. Washington sneakily has a very solid Tar Heel fan base--walking around town on Wednesday evening, there were multiple occasions of strangers offering a "Go Heels!" to others wearing Carolina blue.
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