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University of North Carolina Athletics
Photo by: MAGGIE HOBSON
UNC MEN'S BASKETBALL
Lucas: This Jersey
February 11, 2025 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Adam Lucas
The score was one of the least frustrating things about Monday's loss.
By Adam Lucas
CLEMSON—Several minutes after Carolina's 85-65 loss to Clemson, Hubert Davis took a very long pause.
The Carolina head coach had gathered his thoughts for a couple minutes in a separate area before addressing his team. He typically prefers to follow the Dean Smith model and keep his immediate postgame remarks very brief, the better to lessen the chances of saying something he might regret in the heat of the moment.
This time, though, he talked to them longer than usual. And when he emerged from the locker room to conduct his Tar Heel Sports Network postgame interview, Jones Angell asked him about his message to the team.
These are hard moments. Sitting on the couch, of course we all know exactly what we would say. But there, just a few feet off the court where they had just absorbed a thorough walloping, it is complicated. There are egos and personalities and they all have to see each other starting Wednesday and try to get better.
Talking to this team, after that loss…it isn't easy.
Several seconds elapsed.
"I was talking about my expectation of how to react and respond after a game like this," Davis said. "When you have this jersey on, there is a responsibility for this team and this program to get back up and competitively fight. That is your job and requirement and responsibility. That's what I am going to do when I wake up in the morning and that's what our team will do."
And that's the kind of night it was. Brad Brownell has a very good team. Clemson went to the NCAA Tournament regional final last year and have the look of a squad that could do it again. They are big, talented and experienced. They are fun to watch if you're not playing against them.
The Tigers shot it well on Monday. They rebounded it well. They have had a fantastic 48 hours that includes a win over Duke and a victory over Carolina that tied the program's biggest victory ever over the Tar Heels.
That will be the story here at Littlejohn. It will not be the story in Chapel Hill.
As Davis referenced, the story back at the Smith Center will be that Monday's performance was not representative of the jersey.
When the team goes back to watch this film on Wednesday—Tuesday is an off day—they're going to see too much that should look very unfamiliar.
It's one thing to be beaten by a good team. That happens. But being beaten this way…that shouldn't happen.
It's almost impossible to write about it without appearing to finger point, and there is no reason to finger point because everyone from starter to coach to podcast/column guy carries the responsibility. That's part of Carolina basketball: big expectations, big attention, big responsibility.
Suffice it to say this: for decades, Carolina basketball has been about playing hard, smart and together. The Tar Heels, in too many cases, went 0-for-3 in those categories on Monday. They let the game devolve into trying to put up individual numbers. They chirped at teammates. They allowed straight line drives for layups. They…
For 40 minutes, on this day, they weren't Carolina. They know it, and no one is more frustrated about it than they are. And anyone can have a bad night--none of us are very good when judged at our worst, and Monday certainly felt like the worst--as long as it doesn't turn into more than that.
The job now is to make sure those 40 minutes stay in Clemson. This cannot be the story of the entire season.
The lone recognizable moment came with 6:33 left. In a hostile environment, aware that his team was reeling, senior RJ Davis gathered the other four Tar Heels who were on the court and put his arms around them. Davis has sometimes struggled this year with the expectations of being a fifth-year leader. In that moment, in one of the darkest times of the season, when it was exceedingly difficult to be a leader, he did it.
But at that juncture, Carolina trailed by 26 points. We will never really know how much Clemson actually had left in the tank after the win over Duke, because the Tar Heels never pushed them very hard. The Tigers did what they wanted, when they wanted.
It's possible that Carolina could lose other games this season. But they can't lose this way. Not wearing this jersey.
CLEMSON—Several minutes after Carolina's 85-65 loss to Clemson, Hubert Davis took a very long pause.
The Carolina head coach had gathered his thoughts for a couple minutes in a separate area before addressing his team. He typically prefers to follow the Dean Smith model and keep his immediate postgame remarks very brief, the better to lessen the chances of saying something he might regret in the heat of the moment.
This time, though, he talked to them longer than usual. And when he emerged from the locker room to conduct his Tar Heel Sports Network postgame interview, Jones Angell asked him about his message to the team.
These are hard moments. Sitting on the couch, of course we all know exactly what we would say. But there, just a few feet off the court where they had just absorbed a thorough walloping, it is complicated. There are egos and personalities and they all have to see each other starting Wednesday and try to get better.
Talking to this team, after that loss…it isn't easy.
Several seconds elapsed.
"I was talking about my expectation of how to react and respond after a game like this," Davis said. "When you have this jersey on, there is a responsibility for this team and this program to get back up and competitively fight. That is your job and requirement and responsibility. That's what I am going to do when I wake up in the morning and that's what our team will do."
And that's the kind of night it was. Brad Brownell has a very good team. Clemson went to the NCAA Tournament regional final last year and have the look of a squad that could do it again. They are big, talented and experienced. They are fun to watch if you're not playing against them.
The Tigers shot it well on Monday. They rebounded it well. They have had a fantastic 48 hours that includes a win over Duke and a victory over Carolina that tied the program's biggest victory ever over the Tar Heels.
That will be the story here at Littlejohn. It will not be the story in Chapel Hill.
As Davis referenced, the story back at the Smith Center will be that Monday's performance was not representative of the jersey.
When the team goes back to watch this film on Wednesday—Tuesday is an off day—they're going to see too much that should look very unfamiliar.
It's one thing to be beaten by a good team. That happens. But being beaten this way…that shouldn't happen.
It's almost impossible to write about it without appearing to finger point, and there is no reason to finger point because everyone from starter to coach to podcast/column guy carries the responsibility. That's part of Carolina basketball: big expectations, big attention, big responsibility.
Suffice it to say this: for decades, Carolina basketball has been about playing hard, smart and together. The Tar Heels, in too many cases, went 0-for-3 in those categories on Monday. They let the game devolve into trying to put up individual numbers. They chirped at teammates. They allowed straight line drives for layups. They…
For 40 minutes, on this day, they weren't Carolina. They know it, and no one is more frustrated about it than they are. And anyone can have a bad night--none of us are very good when judged at our worst, and Monday certainly felt like the worst--as long as it doesn't turn into more than that.
The job now is to make sure those 40 minutes stay in Clemson. This cannot be the story of the entire season.
The lone recognizable moment came with 6:33 left. In a hostile environment, aware that his team was reeling, senior RJ Davis gathered the other four Tar Heels who were on the court and put his arms around them. Davis has sometimes struggled this year with the expectations of being a fifth-year leader. In that moment, in one of the darkest times of the season, when it was exceedingly difficult to be a leader, he did it.
But at that juncture, Carolina trailed by 26 points. We will never really know how much Clemson actually had left in the tank after the win over Duke, because the Tar Heels never pushed them very hard. The Tigers did what they wanted, when they wanted.
It's possible that Carolina could lose other games this season. But they can't lose this way. Not wearing this jersey.
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