<\/p>\nStory Links<\/h3>\n
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By Adam Lucas<\/strong><\/p>\nHubert Davis<\/dfn> burst into the coaches locker room at halftime of Saturday’s win over Georgia Tech with a smile on his face.
\n “That last three minutes,” he told his staff, “felt like Carolina basketball for the first time all year.”
\n That stretch began with a pair of free throws from RJ Davis<\/dfn>. And then, well, it was gorgeous. Armando Bacot<\/dfn> made a layup off a pass from Pete Nance<\/dfn>. Seth Trimble<\/dfn> hit a pair of free throws. Nance hit a three-pointer off the most beautiful play of the season so far (more on that in a second). And then Trimble threaded a bounce pass to Davis on the break for a layup.
\n In that blink, the Tar Heels took it from a two-point lead to a 13-point advantage at the break. And they did something even more important: they provided a little glimpse of the team they could be and the way they could play.
\n Look, three assists in three minutes might not seem like much to you. But keep in mind this was a squad that accumulated a grand total of four assists in the entire game against UNCW, five against Indiana and six at Virginia Tech. They haven’t exactly been the Showtime Lakers so far.
\n But for a few minutes, they looked like they could be. It was so refreshing that after the game, even in the wake of a Carolina school record-tying 61st game with double-figure rebounds, what Bacot really wanted to talk about was the play that led to the Nance three-pointer.
\n “We put a lot of emphasis this week on going from a good shot to a great shot,” he said. “RJ threw it over the top, and I caught it and probably could’ve shot a contested layup. But I kicked it to RJ, he pump-faked and drove, and then he kicked it to Pete. We got an amazing shot off that. That’s really the highlight of the game, and it shows that if we move the ball we can be an exciting team.”
\n Without prompting and without hearing Bacot’s assessment, Hubert Davis<\/dfn> identified the exact same play as a key moment. “RJ was wide open,” the head coach said. “But he wanted to go from a good shot to a great shot. We have been making passes, but haven’t been making the extra pass. RJ made the extra pass to Pete in the corner for three.”
\n As you might be able to tell, playing as a team has been a point of emphasis in practice this week. Hubert Davis<\/dfn> rejoiced at Wednesday’s practice when the Tar Heels ran an offensive set crisply. “Look what happened!” he barked. “We got a layup! With a little bit of energy and effort, we got a layup!”
\n Fortunately, there are plenty of examples on campus. At the end of Wednesday’s practice, Davis called on James Ayscue, who is an assistant strength coach with the basketball team but coordinates the strength and conditioning efforts for the national champion field hockey team. <\/p>\nAyscue gave some candid insight on exactly what made Karen Shelton’s undefeated national champions so potent this year: accountability to each other and holding each other responsible, whether on the field or in the weight room or in the classroom. As Ayscue described it, that accountability leads the entire team to be fully committed to playing for each other and winning as a team.<\/p>\n
Not surprisingly, given Shelton’s deep knowledge of the Carolina coaching community, that team description sounds very much like the peak versions of a Dean Smith team. No one counting minutes, no one counting shots, everyone completely devoted to the only goal that matters: winning.<\/p>\n
And this year’s Tar Heels looked like that type of team more often on Saturday than they have for any consistent stretch this season. They were not perfect. But they showed enough flashes (including a subtle tweak by the coaching staff to allow Bacot to post up more quickly which may have unlocked the transition game) to make you want to see more. Especially if that means more of the ball movement that led to the Nance three-pointer.<\/p>\n
“On that play, that was Carolina basketball,” Bacot said. “We got everybody involved. Pete was pointing to the passer and the crowd was getting into it. It was great.”
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