University of North Carolina Athletics

By Adam Lucas

Durham – Carolina finished her fourth game against a team among the first five current in the same way as the other three ended: with a defeat.

The Tar Heels played these three other games – the faults of Auburn, Alabama and Florida, which all took place before Christmas – treating the same approach that they finally hoped to click for the team of this Year: Man to Man Defense and an approach of a heavy ball on the guards.

It didn’t work.

It also did not work during most of the night against Duke, who won an 87-70 victory which was never in doubt from the moment the heels began the game with negligence and have triggered Blue Devil’s transition game.

The only way these two hours in the interior stadium of Cameron will be more than cruel and unusual punishment if Carolina has discovered something useful for the rest of the regular season. Because here is the truth: the scenario of this season is about to be written. These nine following games are essential, and even more than that – many of them are eminently winning.

Take a look at the calendar. Ralph Sampson and Isaiah Wong do not cross this door.

Six of the next nine games are against teams classified 82 or worse in the current notes of Ken Pomeroy. Seven of the nine are against teams outside the Top 35.

Do you want to play in the NCAA tournament? Beat the teams you should beat and steal one or two other victories. If you can’t do this, you didn’t have the references in the playoffs anyway.

Here is the problem: it will not be as simple. Caroline has demonstrated a strange capacity to close the games this year. When you do this, you will lose some – even against teams that you should beat (Hello, Stanford). The heels must therefore find a way to create a certain separation.

Which brings us back to the last minutes of the Duke game and two wrinkles that could be fruitful for the rest of the season. Carolina is 13-10 years old and if they were 18-5 years old, we would not have this conversation. But they are, and we are. Sometimes the ideas that seem eccentric in September seem a little better at 13-10.

First: defense of the area. Carolina had serious problems this year by defending man to man. An area eliminates this concern. And although the Tar Heels did not practice a ton this year, it was very effective in a surprise role against the Devils. In seven possessions of the second half against the area, Duke went 0-5 on the field, returned it once and made some free throws.

It is a very small sample size, but one night, they pulled 52.8% of the field, it is always much better than the other defensive results.

“We will see the area go forward,” Hubert Davis said Jones Angell On the Tar Heel sports network after the match. “This is the first time that we have played it all year round. It gives teams a different look, and that’s something we need. We might have found something with it. In addition to the defense From the man, we can sprinkle in the area to keep the teams out of the rhythm and make them think about different things.

Part of the success of the area against Duke was undoubtedly the element of surprise. The Devils have almost surely spent time preparing for that, because Carolina had not shown it this season. Now they have done so, which means that the following opponent – Pitt – will have some zone breakers installed. And it is also true that the Tar Heels are not a strong rebound team, and the area will place a bonus on the defensive rebound.

But it is something different. And for now, it’s something different that has succeeded. Again, we all recognize here that it is easier to try something in a game that has long been decided. There is less pressure and an opponent who would have already started to think about going everywhere they are going to celebrate the victories in Durham (I had a supposition where it could be but took it out because, well, Do you see the game?).

If on Saturday will not be futile, however, it must be something that the Tar Heels consider during this window of six days to come before the panthers visit the Smith Center.

Also in this category: Drake Powell to the three. The first year was dynamic in the last minutes, flashing on the rim and making sports games that made him difficult to keep. Carolina is very undersized. But if they can find any way to put two great men on the ground with him – and here is where it was a wise decision to try to find some confidence for Cade Tyson In the second half, because the productivity of him instantly changes the rotation of Carolina – she could unlock a new element to the offense.

Powell fought with consistency, but athletics never collapses. And the same warning applies: it is much easier to score against a team that has already inked victory. But it was a little glimmer during a difficult evening, and it is something that could be reproducible against another opposition if it worked against the ready list for Duke.

And from Saturday, this other opposition is what will decide the result of this season. And the Tar Heels must decide where they want to go from here.