Offense puts up points and fills the stands, but defense wins you championships, and that’s where Friday night new head coach Hubert Davis admitted his men’s basketball team doesn’t have a identity, stating UNC’s 94-87 win over Brown was a gut check.
“We don’t have an identity on defense right now,” Hubert told us. “We have the best offense in the country, but where we need to improve is on the defensive end.”
The weakness in Friday’s win over Brown wasn’t effort, but the inability to prevent the Bears from getting into the lane at will – running its infamous Princeton offense, that often rocks the defenders to sleep on the backend, allowing for the opposition to get back-door layups. The Bears often went right at the Tar Heel guards on the interior with numerous floaters and mid range jumpers in the paint.
Brown shot 60 percent in the first half, something Hubert Davis wasn’t proud of during his second home win of the season. As much damage as the Heels did in the paint, you would think they won the battle on the interior, but indeed it was the Brown Bears who came in Chapel Hill outscoring the Heels in the paint 44-36.
The Silencer
R.J. Davis scored a career high 26 points on Friday night, but none came at a more crucial time than late in the ball game with about 5 minutes left. R.J. was left open on the wing area due to Brown forcing a double team on Armando Bacot, prompting R.J. to call “game” with his two bombs from downtown. Hid 6-9 from three not only showed his confidence, but illustrated his poise in crucial moments to be able to hit those caliber shots.
Efficiency on the Interior
Armando Bacot was a complete force in the paint, which caused Brown to run a trap defense late in the second half. That didn’t effect Bacot from eating – scoring 22 points, with 10 boards in dominant fashion. Bacot shot 10-11 from the field, with his only miss coming off a foul by a Bears defender.
What We Learned?
The Heels have some work to do on defense, specifically stopping lane penetration and communicating team defense. Against high-powered offenses the Heels may not be able to turn on and off the switch on defense, causing stops. During the last 7 minutes and 40 seconds of the game the Heels held the Bears to 4 of 17 shooting.
Up next
UNC travels to Charleston November 16, 2021. The game is at 8:30 PM and will be televised on CBS.