Off the cuff: Not sure if we learned anything about the Tar Heels in their lost to UConn but we did learn that the Huskies are a hard team to like. From Dan Hurley taking a page from the book of Bobby by exorting the crowd to cheer (when the game was in hand) to Cam "Chatty Cathy" Spencer bragging about his shots to the defender, UConn is not likeable. Spencer did get a technical on the heels of Bacot wrongly getting a technical for celebrating a dunk. He wasn't directing his celebration at anyone in particular like Spencer always did. They are a good team and a deep team - or at least they have several players who can score. And they can either play inside or outside. It was mostly outside in this game as the guards killed Carolina. UNC guard RJ Davis hurt UConn but ultimately didn't kill them. He has become the most consistent Tar Heel. Seems he's always the top scorer. Depending on the opponent, it would be good for an inside guy like Bacot or a swing guy like Ingram to be the top scorer. Bacot keeps racking up double-doubles but he should have had more than 13 points. He hit just 33 percent of his field goals and he missed five of 10 free throws. That's a lot of points left on the table. He should hit 60 percent from the floor and at least 75 percent from the free throw line. That would have been about eight more points - enough to make this a one-possession game. Also, with a third of the season done, Cormac Ryan is going to have to go on quite a three-point run to simply get his stats in the average category. He missed all six of his three-point shots in this game and he's only 12 of 47 for the season - just over 25 percent. Anything under about 33 percent is a liability. He's also just 12 of 26 from inside the arc. Certainly no Brady Manek. All this being said, Carolina had its chances to win this game and the flashes of brilliance still leave Coach Davis encouraged for the future. "I'm encouraged about what this team can be and where it can go," Coach Davis said. "I'm excited about what we can become." |
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