Show and Prove: How to Realistically Assess Hubert Davis’s 3rd season as a Head Coach

This season is supposed to be different. Outside of the two returning starters in R.J. Davis and Armando Bacot (and Seth Trimble and Jalen Washington coming off the bench), Hubert Davis has been presented with a fresh slate of characters to begin the 2023 season. Caleb Love can no longer be the fall guy if Carolina’s offense bogs down. Last year’s biggest failure stemmed from offensive woes. The typical excuse was there weren’t enough shooters to space the floor, and Armando Bacot couldn’t operate on the block unimpeded. Easy points were difficult to come by; wins were ugly, and losses even uglier.

All reports coming out of Chapel Hill are that this is a different team. Davis reportedly has found shooting and depth– both areas that the team was lacking in their “Run it Back” campaign. Despite there being some red flags from last season, it appears (at least on paper) that this team will not only make the tournament in March, but will also be more aesthetically pleasing to watch play basketball. 

This new version of the North Carolina Tar Heels should be more competitive, more balanced and most importantly, a more cohesive unit than last season.  Hubert Davis went out and got the guys he felt could run his offensive system, and this finally feels like it is his team. For better or worse, the scrutiny is going to be even harsher in his third year as the head of (probably) the richest storied basketball program in the nation. Success for this program will not only be measured as much in wins and losses, but on how well this team competes, and how much they embrace the Carolina Way. Here are some realistic milestones for UNC fans to evaluate their team.

#1 Will Hubert Davis improve as a leader and head coach?

Last year was an unequivocal disaster for the UNC program, as they not only failed to meet expectations, but frequently appeared lost on the court during critical times last season. Most of the blame felt like it was directed at the players. 

Coach Dean Smith always said “Players win games, and coaches lose them.” Yet during post game press conferences, I never heard anything of the sort come out of Davis’ mouth. I’m not sure how much this impacted the locker room as a whole, but it certainly is a red flag when the coach doesn’t alleviate the blame by publicly holding himself accountable. 

Whether this involves player development, in game adjustments, or bench rotations, everything falls back on the head coach. I hope this year he shields his players and absorbs the majority of the criticism, whether it be justified or not. 

The good news is that this year’s roster of players will make Davis look a lot better than last season. Most of his rotation players are upperclassmen and graduate transfers. There is a big difference in coaching 18 and 19 year olds, and having young men in their early to mid 20’s. Even this season’s results need to be looked at with a great deal of context. 

Coaches are truly judged on getting the most out of their roster, no matter who is on it. 

Coach Roy Williams has only coached one Hall of Fame player in his career (Paul Pierce at Kansas), and Bill Self is such a talent that he can beat you with his roster and turnaround then beat you with your own roster. 

This is the key difference between having a good coach and an elite coach. Great coaches highlight their player’s strengths and find a way to hide or limit their weaknesses. Coaches like Phil Jackson, Bob Knight, Lute Olson, John Chaney, Dean Smith, and even Coach K found a way to win consistently even in down years–getting the most of their roster regardless of talent or injuries. 

#2 Will this roster learn the Carolina Way?

One of the great things about the transfer portal is that if a program misses the mark on their high school recruiting, they aren’t mired in a hole for a 4 year cycle with the same dud players. Each transfer portal presents itself as a mulligan, and a coach can clean house and start anew. The negative from this is that it all but guarantees players being at a program all 4 years is a thing of the past. Not a big deal at most schools, but for a program like North Carolina, the Carolina Way is retained with each returning letterman and lost with each transfer (and to some degree with a one and done). Returning players immediately show the newcomers the day to day traditions of what being a Tar Heel means (of course, Rasheed Wallace, Antawn Jamison, Jerry Stackhouse, and Vince Carter all left early, but they at least came back for second or third seasons). Those days of following a group of kids from their freshman year and watching them become a championship unit over the course of 2 to 3 seasons may be over. 

I have mixed feelings about Davis changing the offensive system, but even ex players have remarked that the two bigs system became a bit stifling. There are rumors, however; that the fast break and secondary break will be reintegrated into their offense now that Carolina has a true point guard again in the heralded freshman, Elliot Cadeau. There are also rumors that Coach Davis plans to press more and will actually give his bench players bigger roles this season. Multiple offenses and defenses, and using players 6 through 12 were also a facet of Coach Smith and Roy WIlliams’ coaching philosophies. Let’s see if Davis will follow this winning formula. Maybe this season we will see more pointing to the passer.

#3 The Iron Five Part Three?

Coach Davis said the Iron Five was a thing of the past before the beginning of the 2022 season, but a few games into a tough season,it was clear that Davis didn’t trust many players outside of his six (sometimes seven) man rotation. The team ranked near the bottom in bench minutes, and not only was the team unable to withstand any injuries to Bacot or Davis, but the team seemed to wilt near the end of games during winning time. Will the tired signal make a comeback this year? 

This year, Davis should have adequate backups at every position. With sophomore Seth Trimble and Brown transfer Paxson Wojcik, Davis has a four guard rotation. At times, Trimble was a great ball handler and good perimeter defender, but a reluctant shooter. It will be interesting to see if he develops his jump shot. He definitely has been in the weight room judging from all the footage I’ve seen of him this fall. 

Hubert  Davis will also have the luxury of two starting small forwards in Stanford transfer, Harrison Ingram (I’m assuming he will be an undersized 4 like KJ Adams over at Kansas)  and Notre Dame transfer Cormac Ryan; with returning sophomore Jalen Washington and Jae’Lyn Withers (a forward who transferred from Louisville) coming in. With a sturdy transfer out of the Bob Huggins boot camp , James Okonkwo, and 6 ft 9, freshman Zayden High getting an opportunity to spell Armando Bacot, there are plenty of opportunities for Davis to sub.

 It will be interesting to see how the minutes unfold for all the players. Although Bacot may be the team’s most valuable player, the guard position seems to be the thinnest on the depth chart. How long would Carolina be able to withstand an extended injury to either RJ Davis or Bacot? 

There will be plenty of questions in store for Coach Davis if we only see the same 5-7 players on the court early into the season. From everything we’ve been told about this year’s roster, there is no reason why Davis shouldn’t be using his bench players. Maybe we’ll even see players using the “tired” signal again.

#4 Can this team score? Can this team get stops?

Based on last season’s stats, RJ Davis averaged 16.1points, Cormac Ryan 12.3 points, Harrison Ingram 10.5 points, and Armando Bacot 15.9 points. Assuming the addition of Cadeau helps everyone get better shots this season. We could see Bacot average 19 points, Davis average 19 points, Ingram increase his scoring average to 14 points, and Ryan average about 16 points a game. 

That is already 68 points between four players without taking into account any scoring from Cadeau or the bench. This team could average around 75 points a game. That is the good news. The bad news is that last year’s team averaged 76.2 points, giving up about 70 points a game, and still missed the tournament. Those stats were good enough for a 20-13 season, but there were at least 4 to 6 games they could’ve easily won had they not gotten tired, or had they made a timely stop during crunch time. 

Possibly their biggest problem last season is that when UNC needed a stop, they could not get one. I was in the Dean Dome when Mark Mitchell and Tyrese Proctor were able to get to the rack any time they wanted during Duke’s win in Chapel Hill. I’m curious how their perimeter defense will look like with four guards all under 6 ‘2.  

On paper, the team seems loaded at the wing position, with a bunch of guys who can be interchangeably at the small and power forward spots. With Bacot, Okonkwo and High being able to play center, there will be lots of big bodies to move in and out for rim protection. The bigs may be able to shore up the rim protection from guard penetration, but the right team will be able to move the ball around and force UNC into tough rotations–which is where teams usually give up dunks, layups, and open 3 pointers. 

#5 The Elliot Cadeau Effect 

There has been an awful lot of hype surrounding this young kid out of Branson, Missouri (home of the infamous Yakov “what a country!” Smirnov). Just recently, Cadeau was voted ACC Preseason Rookie of the Year (whatever that means–I’ve never understood the significance of preseason awards). Bringing former Tar Heel legend Marcus Paige onto the staff was a real wise decision by Hubert Davis. They could’ve used someone like him on the staff last year just to pull the guards aside in real time.  Paige being a presence on the bench will help the development of Cadeau and make his transition to college hoops a lot easier. Cadeau’s ability to push the ball quickly will result in a lot more fast breaks and free throw attempts. 

Miami and Duke both return two of the best point guards in the nation in Tyrese Proctor and Nijel Pack. I cannot wait to see how he matches up against them. 

Realistic Expectations

Carolina only lost by double digits once last season (on the road against a fresher, deeper Indiana team). The majority of those losses came as a result of mental mistakes during crucial possessions. Can this team understand the value of possessions this season? That could be the difference between finishing in the top 3 in the ACC and falling with the rest of the pack.   Duke and Miami will be tough, and among the best teams in the nation. Winning in the ACC is never easy, and there will be dogfights. 

I see Carolina’s ceiling as a 24 win team, finishing third in their conference, and possibly a Sweet Sixteen appearance. If the team can’t execute down the stretch and we see the same rash of mental mistakes during conference play, then we could see a similar floor that Carolina hit last season (I highly doubt it, but you never know–last year’s debacle seemed unimaginable before the season started). 

This may ultimately prove to be the most important season in Hubert Davis’ career. If Carolina succeeds and the team plays to its peak, I think everyone in and around the program can feel good about the direction of the brand. Elliot Cadeau has already said that he believes he is on a two year path at Carolina, which could make for an exciting 2024 with possible incoming stud recruits like 5 star guards Drake Powell and Ian Jackson, and center James Brown(4 star recruit) coming to Chapel Hill. 

Adding those players to possible returnees Harrison Ingram, Jalen Washington, James Onkowkogo, Zayden High, and Seth Trimble (maybe even R.J Davis?), and you have a real exciting team to trot onto the court for Live Action next fall. Of course, If Cadeau plays himself into a lottery pick, he may change his tune. 

Coaches, recruits, and fans all over the country will be watching to see how the team handles  adversity, and how Coach Davis treats this year’s crop of talent. Although he has pretty much secured a great class coming into Chapel Hill for 2024, anything can change. These kids talk to each other. If Davis is ambiguous  about playing time, it will get back to recruits. If it’s apparent that Davis isn’t improving as a coach, then the sample size will be large enough to confirm what many doubters had already suspected when he was hired for the job.

 Davis has loads of resources at one of the best jobs on the planet, and has played for and with some of the best minds to ever coach basketball. If he isn’t successful these next couple of seasons, he will only have himself to blame. For a large number of the fan base, it will not be good enough for the Tar Heels to simply win. Fans want to see them win, and win the right way–preferably the Carolina Way. 

Any coach can win with the most talent on their teams. We will soon find out if Coach Davis is just a good motivational speaker and recruiter, or a decent systems coach who can only win with the right assortment of players. Will he get the best out of his players? Will he put them in positions to succeed both in college and–for some– in the pro’s? Will they beat Duke this year?

UNC fans will need to be patient and take this season’s results with a grain of salt.  These next two seasons not only will determine the course of Hubert Davis’s career, but also determine the direction of the program. One thing is for certain, we will know by year’s end just how much Hubert Davis has learned from his previous two seasons of coaching. Hang tight, Carolina fans. You’re not out of the woods yet.

BM

 Bob E. Freeman is a part time teacher, part time writer, and full time basketball junky. When he isn’t involved in some basketball related activity, actively looking for parties to deejay or venues to perform comedy, you can find him banging his head on the keyboard, and trying to finish his backlog of writing projects. For booking inquiries or content proposals, send contact info to bobbymickey@gmail.com

Flashpoint: Game 3 of ’91 NBA Finals

This game would prove to be the backbreaker of the series. The Lakers would not be able to recover from this loss. Los Angeles actually had the game somewhat in hand, then Michael Jordan and company made all the plays they needed down the stretch and Los Angeles just needed one more rebound, one more basket, one less foul, and one less turnover. Any of these things could’ve resulted in a Lakers win in regulation rather than an overtime loss. Here are the game notes:

Q1

• The Forum is lit! Dimly lit….
• 11:45 Jordan hits the first jumper he attempts
• Vlade gets 2 early buckets
• Worthy really is an underrated passer
• John Paxson jumper been falling all series long
• Worthy layup on Pippen; then a jumper over Pippen
• Great ball movement for the Bulls. They reversed the ball across the court to the weak side post for a Pippen layup. No dribbles. Very impressive. Great passing team. Something not talked about enough when they discuss this first iteration of the championship Bulls.

End of Quarter 1

Q2

• Horace Grant had some post moves. Didn’t really get to show them in the triangle, also had a nice baby jumper.
• Divac with a beautifully ugly turnaround jumper from 12 ft. People sleep on Vlade still, he was a hooper. 
• Michael forces a backcourt violation on VLade who can;t advance the ball in 8 seconds. No help with everyone up court.
• Wild seeing the Lakers being so slow. Riley had them fast breaking at every chance.
• Levingston Cartwright, Paxson chipping in all series (and after game 1 Horace Grant)
• Levingston 2 blocks, 4 points. Wichita State in the house!
• James WOrthy is underrated. He is  aplayer you have to see play to appreciate because stats don’t tell the whole story of what he did. Solid all around game, wasn’t just a scorer. 
• The forum is buzzing! It dimly lit but it does feel electric. Staples never captured that magic of the old forum, but the same could be said for places like old Boston Garden and old Chicago Stadium, and of course, the Oracle. 
• Divac picks up a 3rd pivotal foul with 18 seconds left in the half going for a steal. I get the feeling this will somehow contribute to the final score.

End of Quarter 2

Q3

• Vlade got some damn good foot work. He looks like he should be clumsy, but then he pulls off some crazy up and under or baby jumper in the paint. I keep waiting for him to commit a traveling violation but somehow he manages to keep his pivot foot.
• I would love for someone to do an oral history on UNC pickup games. That is a story that deserves telling. 
• Magic with the trademark behind the back post pass into Vlade Divac. Yup! This is who I first patterned my game after. Unfortunately, my handle was too busted to pull off even the semi-flashy stuff…. But this behind the back wrap around…..[epiphany! Magic birthed the Fab Five. Now I see where Jalen and C Webb’s flash came from. Magic being a Michigan guy, it makes sense that they idolized him. WOW]
• The spacing and cutting from both teams at times is just a clinic in beautiful basketball. Divac passes to a cutting Worthy, who drives to the cup and drops a wraparound pass to Sam Perkins for a dunk. MPPPPPPPPHHHHH! Good Ass Game!
• Sam Perkins, Vlade Divac, and James Worthy were some really good passing bigs. Seeing a lot of touch passes (especially on the interior) from the Lakers bigs. Worthy had a great touch pass earlier in the 2nd quarter that was a thing of beauty. For all the praise Worthy got for his athleticism, I don’t think Worthy gets near enough credit for being an IQ Player (which you had to be to play for Dean Smith).
• Vlade hits a crazy turnaround jumper at the tail end of the shot clock. I didn’t realize a jump shot was in Vlade’s repetoire for some reason. But now that I think about it, he was hitting the jumpers out the high post in Sacramento (can’t wait to rewatch those games). Vlade really was a great player. Found space  to catch and finish along with being a great passer. Vlade ends up having 12 points in the quarter alone.
• Stacy King comes into the game as a #6 overall pick. He was a star with Mookie Blaylock on that Billy Tubbs Final Four team
• Uh Oh. Vlade to bench with four fouls. The Lakers currently have a 12 pt. lead. I should’ve time stamped this moment. Have a feeling this will be the turning point of the game (and the series).
• MJ really struggling in the 3rd quarter and the Lakers still can’t really separate.
• AC Green was really limited offensively at this point in his career. You can see why they eventually let him leave to Phoenix. 
• Lakers end the quarter only up by 6. Not a good sign for Lakers Nation, but Mike had yet to cement that fear into the rest of the league. He had his share of doubters (and haters––myself included) until after that 93 title, when he proved he was the BIG Dawg of the league. End of Quarter 3
• 4th QTR Jordan with a push off on Perkins. Basket don’t count. Almost certain that bucket counts in a pickup game. I can see Jordan calling foul. I’m about 90 % sure very few calls went against Jordan in pickup game
• Perkins with a baby hook at the rim.
• Jordan almost always makes the right play. Its amazing to watch him makes decisions so quickly and efficiently.
• Craig Hodges with a jumper. Cartwright with a basketball move and then a jumper. Bulls are cooking at this point. 
• Levingston with another block. This one on Perkins,. Jordan takes it down and then throws a beautiful look away pass for a bucket.
• 20-7 run by Chicago ignited by Vlade going to the bench with his 4th foul. 
• Levingston makes winning plays and does cool little dances in the introduction line. As Bill Simmons would say, “A real glue guy. He was the Deandre Jordan of the 90’s. Speaking of the 90’s.. Beverly Hills 902010!” Levingston scores, and then gets the rebound on the following defensive possession. 
• Divac picks up his 5th foul with 6:54 left in the 4rd quarter. Two of them were ticky tack fouls, but they were also silly. Lakers depth is very suspect up front, and Vlade should understand how valuable he is to the lineup. There is a difference between aggression and recklessness, and though Vlade would be a smarter defender as he matured in the NBA, it always seemed like struggled with fouls (or maybe that was just when he was guarding Shaq) We’ll have to revisit this when we rewatch the Kings-Lakers 2002 series.
• Jordan’s jumper is just beautiful
• Magic goes to the post and immediately goes to work. He loved to pass out of that elbow area with his back to the basket as opposed to the top of the key facing up. He went on a break and went baseline, then hit a spin move on Michael  and tried to dunk on Bill Cartwright who blocked it….. Foul! 2 free throws for Magic.
• Levingston with a strong put back dunk. (Speaking of Wichita, there’s Don Johnson on the sidelines. Didn’t even know Miami Vice was still on television in 1991. Looks like he went to the game straight from the set because he didn’t have time to go home and change.
• Magic back into the post, drove back to the middle as if to hook shot, but passes to Worthy for a jumper. Somehow Worthy is better than I remember. And even then I knew he was great. 
• Lexington out with 2:54 left in the game. MJ gets his first 2nd half breather. Its 88-85 Bulls.
• Divac with a spin left to the basket and finishes with his right hand. 88-87 This a Good Ass game!
• Horace Grant with a tip for 18 pts. 
• 2 long rebounds in a row that fall to Chicago. Jordan makes the Lakers pay by tipping in a missed layup. 40 to 24 rebounds for the Bulls.
• Perkins with a great move to the cup. 49 seconds left. Bulls up by 1. This was the last year Perkins would be a star player. From 93 to his final year in 2001, Perkins would be a high level role player on the Sonics and the Pacers. (3 Finals with 3 different teams) .
• 10 years away from the Jackson and Dunleavy rematch in the 99 WCF where Phil is by then coaching the Lakers and they come back to beat Dunleavy’s Blazers (eventually we will revisit this game).
• Vlade with the And1! With 10 seconds left.  Scottie fouls out with 19 and 14 on his line. Levingston enters the game again.
• Vlade has 24 and 6 on 11 for 15 shooting. Imagine had he not had to sit because of fouls. Vlade hits the free throw to make it a 2 point game.
• TV Timeout. Can’t Touch This is playing on the house speakers. I would love to know what was the last NBA arena to finally get with the times and stop playing that song, and most importantly, when. Instead of going to commercial, Mike Fratello and Ahmad Rashad tells us what plays we might see the teams run. 
• Jordan only has 21 points at this point. Ties it with a deep jumper. He beats Byron Scott to a spot on the floor, and releases it from the elbow of the floor over an outstretched Vlade Divac. Scott gave him too much room, but history has shown if you play Mike too close, he drives right by you. 92-92.
• Delay of Game. Lakers run their action and with no timeouts, the Bulls know what they are running. The Lakers inbound the ball and Jordan who was guarding the inbounder, runs over to poke the ball from a driving Vlade Divac. He leaves Johnson on the sideline and is able to make the play from the midcourt out of bounds. The Black Cat strikes again! They are going to overtime. End of 4th QTR

OT

• Elden Campbell enters the game for the jump ball. Seeing his face again reminds me of last summer when I saw him at the hot dog stand at the Denver airport. I wasn’t entirely sure if was him or Reggie McFadden so I just kept it moving. But it was definitely Campbell. McFadden ain’t 7 ft tall. It was just such an odd sight for whatever reason, seeing Elden Campbell eating a Rinky Dinky dog at the Denver Airport on my way back from Chapel Hill.
• Jordan with a beautiful reverse layup for a 94-92 lead.
• Another reverse layup by Jordan up and underneath the basket. Now he is just imposing his will on the game.
• In 50 minutes of play, we have Mike with a 27,7, and 9 box score. Magic with a 22,6, and 10. Play has been clunky at junctures throughout the game, but the role players on Chicago are really stepping up. Magic getting help from the other star support, but the Lakers bench has not been productive, and Byron Scott is barely registering that he is playing. 
• Jordan with a pretty assist to Horace Grant for another bucket.
• Not a good possession for L.A. Vlade also fouls out fighting for a rebound. 102-96 Bulls
• 53 seconds left and it feels like its pretty much over. Lakers out of offensive options. Magic airballs a 3 pointer after no one is open to pass to. 
• Horace Grant hits a long jumper to ice the game. He’s hype, but you can tell he’s trying to stay composed.
• Huge L for the Lakers. It isn’t the final nail in the coffin, but this is the closest they will get to beating the Bulls again. They competed, but ultimately didn’t have enough answers for the Bulls role players. Outside of Magic, Perkins, Worthy and Divac, they got no production. They were outmatched from positions 4-9. Bulls are proven to be younger, better, and hungrier. 

Game 5 Next! I’m sure there is nothing better than going into L.A. and celebrating a championship. That had to be a crazy night! Next post I will try to actually use time stamps.

BM

 Bob E. Freeman is a part time teacher, part time writer, and full time basketball junky. When he isn’t involved in some basketball related activity, actively looking for parties to deejay or venues to perform comedy, you can find him banging his head on the keyboard, and trying to finish his backlog of writing projects. For booking inquiries or content proposals, send contact info to bobbymickey@gmail.com

Flashpoint: Game 1 of 1991 NBA Finals

Basketball in 1991 was my 3rd favorite sport behind baseball and football. I liked basketball but  didn’t yet have the attention span to fully invest in watching a full game. I only knew the star players on each team, and at the time, baseball was still the most popular sport in my neighborhood. I had a Magic poster in my room, A Bo Jackson poster, and 2 Michael Jordan posters. Magic was my favorite player and my dad had even taken me to a playoff game in 1986 when the Lakers faced the Mavericks. I liked Jordan as a player, but the Lakers were always in the Finals growing up, and I’d grown fond of Kareem and his skyhook. 

I was too young to know it, but this series was the passing of the torch. The Bulls would win the series 4-1 and Jordan would become the new face of the league. The Lakers’ dynasty would be completely shut by the beginning of 1992 when Magic would get diagnosed with H.I.V. 

Even though the Lakers would win Game 1, in hindsight, you can tell there was blood in the water with the Lakers front court dominating the Bulls front court and only coming away with a 2 point victory. Anytime I was by myself on a court that summer, you could find me spending at least 20 minutes trying Mike’s left handed layup where he switches mid air (Game 2). By the end of that series, I was just as much a basketball fan as I was football and baseball.

1st Quarter

• Look folks, it’s the 3 best players from the 1982 UNC title team. Damn near a ten year reunion. James Worthy and Sam Perkins versus Michael Jordan and Scott Williams. 1991 was a great year for Carolina fans. The team made the Final Four. And four former players played in the Finals (Scott Williams was a reserve for the Bulls). I’m sure Coach Dean Smith felt like a proud papa.
• Vlade Divac starts off by hitting a left handed hook shot. Coming from the Yugoslavian National Team, he was in the first wave of European players to come over to NBA. 
• During one old broadcast (on NBC I think) one of the play by play guys called Chicago Stadium the loudest in the NBA. Those old buildings had better acoustics despite being dumps. Boston and Chicago and eventually Golden State lost a lot of ghosts on their side when they modernized. Not too many old arenas anymore. None in the NBA at least. Carmichael still stands in Chapel Hill, then of course you have Allen Fieldhouse.
• Jordan just played the best quarter of basketball I’ve ever seen by one player. He threw dime after dime for some assists, rebounded with aggression, and had some powerful dunks. I can only imagine what those pickup games in Chapel Hill were like in the 80’s and 90’s. Speaking of Carolina players, here comes Larry Drew II’s dad checking into the game for the Lakers.

2nd Quarter

• WoW! Just found out that Mike Dunleavy was 36 years old at this day in history. Dude looked 46 (no disrespect). 
• I didn’t realize this, but James Worthy, Magic Johnson, Byron Scott, A.C Green and Sam Perkins were the first players I’d ever seen in person when my dad took me to the Lakers vs Mavericks playoff game. Back when I was in college, a few of us drove downtown to Dallas to see Antibalas Afrobeat Orchestra. After the show, we’re hanging out by Cafe Brazil, and to my right is a very dapper dressed, Sam Perkins wearing like some huge dress shoes (Looked like Steve Madden) and talking to this beautiful young lady. My friend didn’t think it was him so we decided to yell “Go Tar Heels!” to see his reaction. Sure enough, he turns and looks at us smiling and says “mannnnnnnnn” The funniest part was my friend Teresa yelling “Are you him?” which in 2004 had completely different connotations. Yes. It was him. And 20 years ago, he was HIM. That was a really good night.

3rd Quarter

• Jordan throws another outstanding dime of a pass, but Horace Grant blows it. Magic immediately takes the ball down to the length of the court and dishes off something nice to Vlade Divac for a layup. Magic put it in a place where only Divac could catch it and still take it to the rim in one motion. Wow! 
• Watching this series proved that even Magic had his (small) share of goofy turnovers. There were a couple of “my bad” moments where he tried to force in some passes when the play really wasn’t there. Just watching highlight footage of certain players will have you thinking they were perfect when in reality, even the greatest point guard to ever lace em up made a few mistakes. It’s kind of refreshing to see–like watching your favorite comedian bomb once in a while on stage.
• Pippen blows another would be dime from MJ on a tough layup attempt.

4th Quarter

• Mike comes back in the game and immediately starts going to work: He immediately gets a layup, goes back down next possession and assists on a basket, makes a steal that leads to a fast break basket. He then proceeds to score on the next 2 possessions.
• Pippen gets his 5th foul early into the 4th quarter and Jordan picks up his 5th foul with 6:00 to go. 
• Jordan hangs in the air on a layup attempt just long enough to feed an open Horace Grant on an “and 1” Jordan’s stats at this point are 33 points, 8 rebounds, 12 assists, and 3 steals. 
• Perkins hits an open 3 pointer with 14 seconds left to give the Lakers a one point lead.
• Jordan’s jumper rims out with 2.7 seconds left . Lakers rebound and get fouled.  Byron Scott misses the first free throw and hits the second. Bill Cartwright inbounds the pass to Scottie Pippen who launches it from center court and hits the back rim. 

Final Thoughts:

At this point, the Bulls have to feel confident. They lose by a basket despite their front line getting dominated and Jordan barely getting help offensively from anyone other than Pippen and John Paxson (the blown bunnies that didn’t go in off the dimes by MJ were enough to win by themselves). Sometimes a win isn’t always a win. If I’m the Lakers, I’m happy to take game 1 on the road, but I’m probably thinking as a player, that we haven’t seen the best version of the Bulls yet. Conversely, I’m sure the Chicago locker room is disappointed at losing the 1st game, but feeling extremely confident going forward. 

Next Entry: Game 3 of this series. “Blood in the water”

 Bob E. Freeman is a part time teacher, part time writer, and full time basketball junky. When he isn’t involved in some basketball related activity, actively looking for parties to deejay or venues to perform comedy, you can find him banging his head on the keyboard, and trying to finish his backlog of writing projects. For booking inquiries or content proposals, send contact info to thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

A Lotta Pro’s….

The Middle of the Road

A few years ago, I started out doing research on North Carolina basketball, but now I’m a legitimate fan of the program that the late, great Dean Smith made into a basketball juggernaut and eventually, a national brand. My deep dive into the program introduced me to so many legendary stories and it brought back quite a few high school memories. Few coaches have impacted the sport on the level Dean Smith (and Roy Williams to some degree) did both as a coach and an ambassador. I have always found inspiration in the positive ways that he touched so many lives.

Which is why it hurts to see how far the program has fallen. They are dangerously close to being perceived in similar light to programs such as UCLA and Indiana; two prominent college programs coasting on the accomplishments of the past. Although they are merely a season removed from being within one rebound of a national championship, I get the sense the program is trending in the wrong direction. In my opinion, the administration did not set Hubert Davis up to be at his most successful as the next UNC head coach. Carolina is a Rolls Royce of a program and very few rational parents would give the keys of their classic Rolls Royce to a first time driver without at least some supervision.

In their desire to keep the next hire “in the UNC family”, there were few strong options to succeed the retiring Roy Williams. I’m surprised that the administration would hire a first time head coach without also hiring an older, veteran consultant on the bench beside Hubert Davis. In the NBA, Steve Kerr had Alvin Gentry, Ron Adams, and Mike Brown. Phil Jackson had Tex Winter. Penny Hardaway had North Carolina’s very own Larry Brown. I think this would’ve mitigated (to some degree) any unnecessary turbulence that Coach Davis and the team experienced early on.

While Coach Davis should get a pass for the many missteps that first head coaches deal with, it is a bit baffling that Davis had a direct pipeline to two of the greatest to ever hold a clipboard, but yet; decided to go in a different direction stylistically. Coach Smith won 879 games playing with 2 big rebounders, fast breaking and secondary breaking, while Coach Roy Williams won over 400 games at both Kansas and UNC playing the same way. Coach Davis had the fortune of being in direct line of the Carolina blueprint, but it feels like he made his job harder than it has to be. Of all the coaches he played under and worked for, Davis adopting the style of Don Nelson’s gimmicky Nellie Ball (although fun at times to watch) has proven to be the least winningest approach to playing basketball.

One could argue that making the NCAA Final Four was in hindsight, fool’s gold (let’s be honest, they should’ve lost to Baylor), and that the 2022 season was full of red flags that weren’t as apparent because the team finished on such a hot streak. Many fans were quick to blame the players for last season’s rough ride, and some expressed a collective sigh of relief when multiple players left the program for various reasons. Although the players are responsible for playing defense, making baskets, and executing plays, the ultimate blame should lay on the coach. I for one, didn’t think Hubert Davis took enough accountability for last season’s results, and it feels like the media was a little too passive in their criticism of Coach Davis.

For instance, lets look at Coach Smith’s personal philosophy for coaching; detailed in his book, “Basketball: Multiple Offenses and Defenses.” Here are the tenets as follow:

1) Utilize personnel as effectively as possible

2) Encourage team play–achieve results through cooperation and unselfish effort on the part of every player.

3) Look to fast break at every opportunity

4) Concentrate on the high-percentage shot with good offensive rebounding coverage.

5) Multiple offense: Major emphasis on a free-lance offense, with rules along with some set offenses to make use of personnel.

6) Eliminate element of surprise by having team thoroughly prepared to meet all possible defenses.

7) Vary the offense throughout each game to prevent the defense from preparing too easily, or becoming accustomed a singular style of play.

When you look at these basic tenets of Coach Smith’s own philosophy and compare it with the last 2 seasons, it is easy to see the contrast in coaching philosophies. Coach Davis often looked like a chess player who refused to use all of his pieces, neglecting the station to station pieces in favor of his power pieces. He rarely subbed, and players rarely (if ever) gave the “tired signal” to come out of the game for even a minute. I think this is why they often seemed to wilt late into the 2nd half of games. Plays were not executed as crisply as they needed to be, players often looked lazy on defensive rotations and fighting through screens, and rebounds weren’t secured down the stretch, resulting in offensive teams retaining their possession.

Many fans saw this as laziness, or lack of desire, but to quote Jimmy Johnson, “fatigue makes cowards of us all.” Had Coach Davis trusted his bench more to play through their mistakes, there is a good chance that players would’ve showed more confidence in important moments down the stretch of conference play. Davis often said he wanted to employ a more NBA style of substitution patterns, but being a sub in the NBA differs from being a bench player in the college game. With only 40 minutes in the college game, there is less minutes available to share between positions, and it is extremely difficult to establish any sort of rhythm playing 4-5 minutes every 2 games or so. 18,19, and 20 year-olds need to play to learn how to play. It is completely different from being an adult and being a professional.

I also think that using his bench more would’ve allowed Davis to press more on defense. When the team was struggling to score points on offense, employing an occasional press could’ve kickstarted some fast break opportunities resulting in more easy baskets– or at least more foul shots. Creating 4 extra turnovers could have been the difference between getting their names called on Selection Sunday or turning down an NIT invitation. I often read that last year’s team just wasn’t that talented, and was a roster of non shooters; which may be true, but I also think the players weren’t utilized to their strengths (Coaches like Bill Self and Kelvin Sampson have often done more with less talent than Davis had last season).

Running a five out offense only works if you have Kevin Durant, Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and Andre Iguodala on the court (as many copycat NBA teams are finding out–shooting 30 3’s a game is already looking like a fad). Davis’ inability to adjust to his personnel cost the Tar Heels a chance to evaluate the players they already had, and showed potential recruits and transfers that Hubert Davis might be inflexible, and refuses to play his bench. There was a short period last season where the team looked like they were figuring things out (with Pete Nance out of the lineup and eventually coming on as a reserve) with a three guard lineup of Seth Trimble, R.J. Davis, and Caleb Love. The team looked quicker and the ball advanced down and around the court smoother with more fluidity, but this proved to be temporary.

Soon, Pete Nance was healthy again to start and the offense bogged down. A large contingent of fans wanted to put the majority of blame on Caleb Love, and although some of the criticism was deserved, he often got the ball with 5 seconds left and was expected to make a play. There was very little off the ball movement and the offense looked stagnant and unimaginative. Armando Bacot never developed much of a game away from the basket and his footwork in the post was often one dimensional. If we want to give Hubert Davis a pass for last season due to his team being limited, I am okay with that. What I am not okay with is the lack of adjustments both in game and in season.

I don’t give him a pass for the players not getting better down the stretch and showing improvement, and frankly, saying this team wasn’t that good implies that Coach Davis can only win when he has players better than everyone else (as opposed to Bill Self who can beat you with his or flip the teams and beat you with your own). And although most of last year’s team has left and a slew of transfers have come in , unless Hubert Davis makes some necessary coaching adjustments, next season will be one of being in the middle of the road (while further up that road Duke looks to flirt with yet another Final Four season).

With promising transfers from West Virginia (PF James Okonkwo), Louisville (forward Jae’Lyn Withers), Brown (guard Paxson Wojcik), Stanford (forward Harrison Ingram), and Notre Dame (guard Cormac Ryan) joining the team, and highly touted Elliot Cadeau looking to run point, Carolina should on paper, be better, stylistically and statistically. I also like the addition of former point guard, Marcus Paige to the bench as director of player development. Going forward, I also like the idea of the university hiring a general manager to alleviate Hubert Davis’ off the court duties (imagine had they had one of these back in 1998 when Coach Smith retired because he grew tired of all the duties not involved with coaching).

As of today, the team doesn’t have nearly enough front court depth. They lack a true backup for Armando Bacot, and they are thin at the 4 position (I’m curious how the team’s rebounding numbers will be next season). Let’s also remember how fragile starting lineups are. All it takes is an injury to a key starter to completely derail a team’s season. Come next March, we will see just how much Davis has learned from his first 2 seasons.

For better or worse, I think he will do just well enough to keep his job for the next two or three seasons. I think they will do well enough to make the tournament and then get knocked out the first or second weekend. My biggest fear for the program is UNC will be a school that instead of hanging Final Four banners, they will be known for raising banners for making the Sweet 16. Which is obviously great for other schools, but that is not the North Carolina standard that Coach Smith set and Coach Williams upheld. Sadly, it feels like that is the road they are heading towards: neither great nor awful, just fine–a nice program with a tremendous Hall of Fame museum. I hope that I’m wrong.

Bob E. Freeman

“LOB”

This is a Really Good Sign

Carolina wins it all if……..

The wait is over for Carolina fans. After coming up “one rebound away” from a national title, Tar Heels fans are hoping this year’s team will follow in the footsteps of the 1982 and 2017 championship squads, who returned to the national title game and won, after losing the previous year.

Carolina is bringing back 4 of their 5 starters from last season, as well as 2 key reserve players. According to NCAA Reference, 82.7 % of the minutes played, and 79.4% of their scoring returns from last year’s roster. All that being said, this is a totally different team without star forward Brady Manek. Northwestern transfer Pete Nance (yes from the Nance family) replaces Manek at the power forward spot, and much like a Jazz group replacing their bassist, the song may be the same, but the essence has certainly changed.

Nance’s game is quite different from the catch and shoot style of Manek’s stretch game. Pete can put it on the floor and has more of a face up game. It will be tough to replace Manek’s production. Not only was he a deadly outside shooter, but he was excellent playing off the ball, making good cuts to the basket at precisely the right time–in addition to having superb court vision as a high level passer. That’s the bad news.

The good news is that with Nance, the Carolina front line will be rock solid on defense with 6’11 Nance (a big who can guard on the interior and perimeter), 7 footer, and POY front runner Armando Bacot, and 6’8 small forward, Leaky Black (one of the best one on one defenders in the country). With a stout front line and probably the best backcourt in the nation, it is no surprise that UNC was ranked #1 in the pre-season polls. But there are many factors to all championship runs, and the most talented team does not always win the NCAA tournament–in fact, they usually don’t. A few things need to go right for Tar Heel nation to hang another banner up at the Dean Dome. Here’s what needs to happen for Carolina to be the last team standing:

Bench Production

The Tar Heels need a lot of luck. Many a championship has been derailed by a bad bounce, a tweaked ankle, broken bones, or ruptured ligaments. The Tar Heels will need to be both good and lucky for the team to hoist one up after a victory on the first weekend of April. There is no need for an Iron 5 to carry the load, as the Tar Heels are wildly talented across the board, but most of their talent on the bench is unproven. Small forward, Puff Johnson played well in the tournament, but has endured a great deal of injuries throughout his college career. He is already dealing with knee soreness that has kept him from playing the first two games of the season. Next off the bench out of Kinston, NC, is Dontrez Styles (if the city sounds familiar, its the hometown of both Brandon Ingraham and Jerry Stackhouse).

Dontrez was the only other bench player getting light to mid-heavy minutes in last year’s tournament run. So far, forward Tyler Nickel, a freshman, freshman guard, Seth Trimble, and Sophomore guard Demarco Dunn make up the remaining players to get minutes this season. The bench won’t have to put in too much work, but they will have to make an impact when they do play in order for Carolina to maximize its talent. Besides, Bacot, I think an injury to Pete Nance would be the only injury they could not absorb for a long (or key) period of time because not only will they be short a big man, but no backup will be available to spot Bacot.

The depleted Tar Heels just may have snuck by the Kansas Jayhawks (clearly the better and deeper team. Kansas needed to play poorly and Tar Heels needed to play near perfectly for the game to even be close) had Bacot not suffered the twisted ankle against Duke in the semi-finals. All the other positions have bodies that coach Hubert Davis can throw out for an extended period of time (which would only benefit these young cats as the season’s stakes get higher). Their front line on paper is stout, but no one is mistaking this for Dean Smith’s 93 championship team, with 7 footers just hanging out on the end of the bench, waiting to spell Eric Montross.

Who will get Brady Manek’s points?

Having a deadly shooter like Brady Manek really opens up the floor for easy baskets, both outside and in the paint. Manek barely got more than a dozen touches, but if you blinked you would miss a barrage of points in a matter of minutes. Having a catch and shoot big man to throw at defenders really opens up the floor, and allows the guards to handle the ball knowing there is a scorer who doesn’t need the ball in his hands all the time. I think this will be the biggest adjustment stylistically. From what I’ve seen so far in pre-season and the first 2 games, there is a lot of dribbling going on (they only had 4 assists as a team in the first game against UNC Wilmington). It would be nice to see some action from the big men out of the high low sets or just some straight up entry passes down on the block to Armando.

I believe Leaky Black is going to step up his offensive production. He seems more confident in his shot, and if he can be a reliable 3 and D wing, this will allow Nance to just get in where he fits in. Of course, Love and Davis, can get 30 on any given night. I think we will see a different hero depending on the opposing coaches’ “pick your poison” strategy. Carolina has 3 different starters who can take over offensively, and a monster on the glass in Armando Bacot. It will be interesting to see what actually works in real time against the Tar Heels.

Play Hard. Play Smart. Play Together

Everyone must improve upon last season.- Armando Bacot needs an effective jumper to open up the floor. Caleb Love needs to learn to value possessions and pick his spots of when to take over. Leaky Black will be needed for his defense and as a perimeter threat for this offense to run at its finest. Pete Nance has to find his niche within the offense and be a constant contributor on defense and on the boards. All the bench players have to maximize their time on the floor, and find ways to contribute in any way they can. Even the training staff and game managers need to be on point.

Lastly, Coach Davis needs to really find out who can he count on when its time for a role player to make a play (or just hold a lead). There are no guarantees in a basketball season, but I like the Tar Heels’ championship chances a lot more if the team is fresh going into late March. Its really important that everyone contributes and that Coach Davis can keep the starters’ minutes down to healthy number. No more Iron 5. The key to a lengthy post season run will be balance.

Dean Smith used to say that there are 3 seasons in college ball: the ACC regular season, the ACC tournament, and the NCAA tournament. For a lot of people (UNC players are already on record saying its championship or bust), there will be great deal of disappointment if North Carolina isn’t the last team standing. However, when you consider the breaks that Carolina caught on their way to the Final Four, you realize just how hard it is to win six games in a row against the best teams in the country.

Last March, UNC played three #1 seed teams, and a # 2 seed on their way to the title game. They caught the number 1 seeded Baylor Bears on an off afternoon and won a game they had no business winning. After that, they were playing with house money. The UCLA game (# 2 seed) could’ve easily gone either way, but Caleb Love got hot in the second half.

Carolina caught a tiny break when Purdue (who would’ve been a nightmare matchup for UNC with their frontcourt depth), got caught slipping against St. Peters. The Duke game was a classic, but could’ve easily gone the other way on a different night. And despite the close score, I feel the Kansas game was the perfect storm, Bill Self’s squad would’ve won easily in a best of seven series, but happened to play one of their worst halves of the season, and Carolina played a near flawless one.

But this goes to show just how fickle the hoop gods are. Tar Heels are a 1000-to-1 odds on to win this year, but if you’re not a betting person, and just a Carolina fan, my advice is just enjoy the ride, no matter how it ends. Last year’s run was my favorite tournament run since the Roy Williams’ 2003 Kansas undermanned team made it to the title game. And though neither team won its the final game, it was easy to appreciate just how hard both teams fought and clawed their way to the final stage on Monday night, with an entertaining and fun cast of characters on the court.

Every year the underdogs are celebrated, as they should be, but there is something to be said about a good team, overachieving to the point where they look like a great team. In the tournament, as well as in life, sometimes you come up short. It doesn’t mean you didn’t have a special season. I just hope the Carolina players and fans enjoy each step of the journey, no matter where it takes them.

Good Ass Games of the Week

Tuesday: : Duke vs Kansas

Neutral court. Nap town. Blue Bloods. Top ten. Nuff said. This game has a little bit of star power too. Its like a McDonald’s All American game.

Wednesday: Gonzaga vs Texas

Zags’ Drew Timme better not stray too far from Moody Arena if he knows what’s good for his mustache. Those Eastside hipsters’ facial hair will put his to shame. Timme will be digging for his clippers before the plane ride home. I hope the atmosphere in the new arena is electric, but you never know with Longhorns fans. As a rule of thumb, they tend to be more about pigskin than peach baskets, but they have been known to come through when a top 5 team rolls into town. Plus, the Longhorns are ranked very high at the beginning of the season. Might be worth checking out. Besides, its not like there is anything else to do on a Wednesday night. Enjoy the games this week.

Bob E. Freeman

  Bob E. Freeman is a part time teacher, part time writer, and full time basketball junky. When he isn’t involved in some basketball related activity, actively looking for parties to deejay or venues to perform comedy, you can find him banging his head on the keyboard, and trying to finish his backlog of writing projects. For booking inquiries or content proposals, send contact info to thisagoodassgame@gmail.com

Will They or Won’t They?

Got some thoughts on last year’s runners up. Will share them later this weekend. Ran across this on the interwebs. Its championship or bust down in Chapel Hill, and they aren’t shying away from saying it. But again, its Carolina, and the same goals are always the same every season for those Blue Blood programs: win the conference, win the conference tournament, and make a deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Classic Game Full of Future Pro’s