CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – Ex-NBA coach Michael Malone is just five months into his role at the helm of the North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team. With both his coaching staff and roster solidified, he’s prepared for the task of taking the program to the next level. Stylistically, what does that mean?
“[Defending] is going to be the most important thing and if you asked our players right now ‘what do you guys spend a lot of time on?’ It’s defense. I’m a firm believer that defense wins championships” said Malone during his first press conference since his introduction on April 6.
The heavy lifting of that responsibility will rest on the front court featuring the sole returning big, 6′ 10” senior forward Jarin Stevenson, and four additions – 7’1” freshman Sayon Keita (FC Barcelona), 6’11” freshman Alexandros Samodurov (Panathinaikos), 7-foot sophomore Cade Bennerman (Northwestern), and 7’10” graduate center Cameron Fens (South Dakota).
The veteran coach is looking for strong defense, rim protection and rebounding to make way for the style of offense he intends to implement. He says, “For us to play the way we want to play offensively, you have to defend. You have to rebound, because I don’t want to be a team that’s trying to run and you’re taking the ball to the net every time.”
Playing up-tempo, attacking, getting out in transition, and versatile scoring is Malone’s second point of emphasis on the style of play to come this season. By his account, guards 6’3” senior Terrance Brown (Utah), 6’5” sophomore Matt Able (NC State), and 6’9” sophomore Neo Avdalas (Virginia Tech) combined make up one of the more dynamic backcourts in all of college basketball – noting positional size of Avdalas and the versatility he’s seen from the guards collectively. He caps it off stressing the importance of valuing and sharing the basketball.
“Sharing the ball unites teams, brings teams together,” Malone said.
More importantly, UNC’s newest head coach wants everyone to see the culture of his team. “I just want to make sure every night when that building (Smith Center) has 21,000-plus, everybody says ‘that team plays hard, they play together and they have a toughness and a discipline about them that is going to lead to great things'”.
