The Inflection Point

About that latest UNC season…

“Sweet relief” seemed to be the mood amongst the friends I watched the UNC finale with, a 68-59 loss to a (let’s be honest, pretty mid Virginia team). The game was wrenchingly, unforsakenly ugly – a type of affair that may have made Dr. Naismith either roll in his grave, or stand up rightly surprised and startled (I believe Dr. Naismith would be incredibly shocked at the beauty his creation of a sport (PEACHES!) has turned into, maybe he would have enjoyed that one). Regardless, it was indeed, a sweet relief. A feeling of acceptance hit – acceptance that finally, there would be no more false glimmers of hope to pull us back in. No more watching Caleb Love shoot off-balance 27 footers with no follow through. No more of that gut-wrenching feeling when Leaky takes the corner 3, knowing that he must take it – for Christ’s sake he’s wide open, but also knowing that Brother, that thing is probably not going to work for us in the long run.

I figured I would try to recap some of this season – not to point out what went wrong or what adjustments could have been made – more to have fun with what might have been the longest, most frustrating season in UNC history.

CALEB LOVE:

Oh Mr. Love. It would be impossible to start with anyone other than you. I swore at the beginning of the season, that no matter the frustrations you bring me, that carrying us through March and burying Coach K. would be enough for me. Nothing you could possibly do would outweigh that.

You make it so hard tho man. You are a walking green light – and with that I mean it in the utmost respect, one hooper to another. You remind me so much of Myrian, who I miss everyday, in the fact that no amount of shots missed will stop you from shooting the next. It’s a truly great quality, a measure of confidence and self assurance that I don’t have, but can only hope to strive for.

But Mr. Love, you make it so hard to Love you. The 27 footers with 20 seconds on the shot clock. The lack of effort defensively, despite being one of the most athletic players on the court. Never attacking the basket, and when you do, turning it over without a care. I understand that at many times this year, we unfairly had to turn to you – as a fearless bucket getter, when maybe, just maybe, you were the guy who went 5-24 in the National Championship Game (I SWORE I WOULDN’T DO THAT).

RJ DAVIS:

Favorite player, for obvious reasons. Fearless player and defender, all for being the smallest guy on the court (I’m sorry brother, but there is no way you are 6 feet tall). Unfortunate to say, but in true basketball debate style – if you are our #1 scorer, well, we’re probably not going to be playing in April again. See you next year, short King.

LEAKY BLACK:

Thanks for the years, there sure were a lot of them.

PETE NANCE:

Pete. Petey Petey Pete. Peter? In the Bible, Simon Peter denied Jesus 3 times. We may all deny you for the rest of these years. They lied to us about you Petey. They said you were a good player, maybe one of the best of the transferring class. But here you are, in Chapel Hill, missing the tourney – when Northwestern might make the tourney for the first time in who the fuck knows how long. You played scared. You played afraid to step on toes. You hit one of the greatest shots I’ve ever seen live (MSG BABYYYYY). It would be a low, very low blow, to say that you’ve left your HOF Father and NBA Vet brother disappointed – so I won’t say that.

ARMANDO BACOT

Mandoooooooo. The business acumen. The Outer Banks Xtra. The Chinese symbol – tattooed big man. The injuries were tough – but still, if I were you, and I knew my team was going nowhere……Dawg I would have been putting up 20 shots a game. The ACC POY was yours to take!! You’re a bigger man than me (Obviously). I’ll see you next year man – like a seasoned veteran at this point. A true TarHeel Lifer.

DEMARCO DUNN:

Jesus, man.

PUFF JOHNSON:

More airballs than makes.

DONTREZ STYLES:

I’m sorry bro. I’d leave and never look back

SETH TRIMBLE:

I had an idea last night. Nothing big. Nothing game changing, but it could have a strong improvement on your game Seth. Let’s learn how to shoot a basketball. Surely, I would have thought someone would have taught you by now, but hey – it may have slipped through the cracks. Let’s start at ground zero. And who the fuck recruited you?! They lied to us about you Seth, but you’d make a hell of a corner on the football team (I’ve got contacts in the Business Office still – help me, help you….together you can have a successful NFL career, I’ll take maybe, let’s say 5% of future earning, and most importantly, we can get you the hell off this basketball team).

And finally, the man we all have wanted to talk about ever since he was hired:

HUBERT DAVIS:

Mr. Davis. You are a great man, I have no doubt. I got to hold the door for you once walking in the office, you gave me a quick head nod and said “Thanks”. It was a cold, rainy January day. But it made my day a lil warmer.

I don’t envy you Mr. Davis. Roy Williams is among my top 5 favorite humans ever. I’m sure that sentiment rings true for most around the CH area. It’s an impossible job to answer and follow the greats. Nas never followed Illmatic with anything close to being on that level. The Strokes flamed out quickly after being the “Saviors of Rock and Roll”.

In the strikingly similar sentiment I had with Mr. Love (see above), I promised it would all be okay, no matter what happened. We wouldn’t live up to being #1 – I knew that. My God, I watched every game last year, and that’s why the March run was so much fun. Because wooooooooof, that was clearly a different team than the one I had watched all year. What I really wanted to see, was a style take over in year 2. A signature style that we as fans could hang our hats on, even in the inevitable tough times. Tony Bennett has the pack-line defense and calm demeanor. Roy had the platoon subs and fiery, competitive attitude. Jim Boeheim has the zone, and whiny, but effective, referee working ability.

But you Mr. Davis. What is your signature? Is it the fact that you refuse to sub, consistently leaving a flailing backcourt or tired frontcourt out to suffer? Or the fact that when you do sub, there is absolutely no idea or plan attached? Vegas itself would never be able to set any type of odds on first sub off the bench. Guys would play 20 minutes and then never see the court for games at a time. How, Mr. Davis, can we expect them to be effective, when you yourself are not?

The schemes were bad. The lineups somehow worse. We cannot run 4-out sets with Leaky, Pete, and Seth on the floor – that’s 3 of the 5 players on offense just taken out of the game because they clearly might be shooting with the wrong hand. No adjustments all year. No different lineups. No platoon substitutes. No emphasis on pushing the pace, secondary break, solid defense, or even not turning the ball over.

Last March was something special Mr. Davis. But increasingly, there seems to be nothing special about you. I really, really hope you figure it out next year. You are a TarHeel great, with an impossible task ahead of you. A great man, I’m sure. Unfortunately, that doesn’t mean a lot when the winning stops.

I’ll be watching and hoping you figure it out. My sweet relief, when I think about it, is actually, knowing I get to do all of this again next year.

CC