The North Carolina Tar Heels have been off to a poor start to the 2024-25 season. Many experts have been urging fans to give the team time, as they have faced a tremendously tough schedule and have several talented young players still finding their way. Unfortunately, an 83-70 loss to the Louisville Cardinals might change this perspective.
North Carolina Are Running Out of Excuses
The Tar Heels started poorly against conference opponents Louisville, who controlled the game for the majority of the second half. Without guard Seth Trimble, who averages almost 15 points a game, it would make sense that Carolina would have some lower offensive output. However, shooting under 33% from the field in the opening period was certainly not expected. Star guard RJ Davis struggled to get anything going and finished the game just 4-14, including 1-5 from three. In the first half, Carolina managed a season-low 31 points.
It wasn’t all bad for the Tar Heels. Emerging star freshman Ian Jackson continued an impressive run of scoring, adding 23 points in just his second start, which led the team. Jackson is really starting to come along and has been a popular name for the upcoming NBA Draft. The team’s other NBA prospect, athletic forward Drake Powell, had an efficient 14 points but ultimately fouled out of the game.
Three consecutive games of 20+ pts 🔥 pic.twitter.com/dOicdP7oLD
— Carolina Basketball (@UNC_Basketball) January 2, 2025
As Carolina continues to be heavily reliant on their guard play, shooting 25% from three is not going to get it done against solid Quad 1 teams. Despite Davis and Jackson, North Carolina’s array of talented guards were outplayed by the Cardinals’ backcourt. Senior Chucky Hepburn led the way for Louisville, scoring 26 points and stacking up an unbelievable 20 free throw attempts, converting 16 of them. Hepburn was aided by solid play from fellow starter J’Vonne Hadley and clutch moments from Reyne Smith, who came off the bench to pour in 17 points.
This Isn’t the Same Old North Carolina
One of the biggest differences in this North Carolina team versus the great squads of years past is the lack of interior scoring. Even following an impressive four-year career from Kennedy Meeks, who cemented his Tar Heels legacy with a national championship in 2017, Chapel Hill has bore witness to impressive post play from players like Garrison Brooks, Day’Ron Sharpe, and of course, the fantastic Armando Bacot. Bacot would set school records for double-doubles on his way to becoming North Carolina’s all-time leading rebounder. However, this current roster does not have anything close to the elite interior play Carolina fans usually enjoy.
This year, the Tar Heels have junior Jalen Washington starting as the lone big man amongst four other talented perimeter players. Washington’s 6.2 points per game and only 4.8 rebounds are certainly not what Carolina’s recent standards have been. Backup big Jae’Lyn Withers is also a solid player, but also a far cry from what Carolina’s frontcourt has been historically. Both players have not up to snuff in the eyes of many fans.
After years of having 6’8″ Armando Bacot as the five-man, North Carolina again didn’t fill their need for true size at the five. Not a shot at Jalen Washington, who’s under lots of pressure at the moment.
It’s a pity that their guard talent isn’t fully optimized due to their… pic.twitter.com/rLaea4QVaZ
— Ersin Demir (@EDemirNBA) December 18, 2024
While not being a truly bad rebounding team, North Carolina is used to leading the country in rebounding, particularly dominating on the offensive glass. This year, they rank outside the top 200 in offensive boards. Coach Hubert Davis was specifically asked about the big men following the loss, and although he deflected and refused to answer directly, he did make an illuminating comment.
We just got to get better at and we just got to continue to improve. And so one of the areas that we haven’t been as consistent has been late in games, and that’s something that’s just going to have to change the remainder of the season.
Defending the rim was certainly a problem late in the game, with Louisville getting several easy looks in crunch time. North Carolina ultimately could not overcome what they had reduced to a small deficit, unable to make plays on either end to turn the tide of the game. Despite the final score, they had plenty of opportunities late it the game to make their move, but to no avail. UNC’s schedule does not get any easier, as later this month, they will face tough opponents that include SMU, Pitt, and Wake Forest.
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1 Comment
So nc state is not a future tough opponent