With a lack of experience in the post this basketball season, the North Carolina Tar Heels will need to rely heavily on production from their talented backcourt.
When UNC’s talented backcourt can’t get its shots to fall, struggles are bound to follow.
Such was the case on Wednesday night, as North Carolina’s overall concerns grew in a 94-79 loss to Alabama. Tar Heels (4-4) sophomore guard Elliot Cadeau, junior Seth Trimble and reigning ACC Player of the Year RJ Davis shot a combined 11-of-41 – 28.6 percent – from the field.
Davis, Cadeau and Trimble struggled from deep even more, shooting a combined 2-from-17. Davis made one of 11 attempts, Trimble drained one of four and Cadeau missed both attempts.
“It’s easier to get down on yourself and be negative when things are not going your way,” Davis said in postgame interviews. “Shots are not falling, we’re losing games. Our guards have to do a better job of setting our big men up. I think it’s a two way street we’ve got to connect on. It’s a different year, in terms of guys going to be guarding me a little bit differently. Today I had Jarin Stevenson on me, (Derrion) Reid and (Mouhamed) Dioubate. That’s why coaches been doing a good job putting me in better spots to get better shouts. They’re all tough right now.”
UNC didn’t struggle entirely in its backcourt, as Ian Jackson enjoyed a career-high 23 points (10-of-17 on field goals, including 3-of-5 on 3-pointers). Hubert Davis is still tinkering with North Carolina’s lineup – and he might want to consider starting Jackson more.
The Tar Heels struggled shooting over Alabama’s height: Jarin Stevenson, Grant Nelson and Cliff Omoruyi are all 6’11”. Georgia Tech is a pretty tall team as well (center Ryan Mutombo is 7’2″), so if UNC’s guards want to rebound from Wednesday’s struggle, they’ll have to find additional ways to generate points.
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