UNC Basketball : Game Three Reflections

Staff writer Aaron Conrad has some takes after the UNC basketball program’s latest victory over Gardner-Webb.

If you are like me you got ready to watch the UNC Basketball game last night with some expectations. So far the number one-ranked team in the country has played anything like it. We all know the schedule that is ahead for this team. We also know that they have not performed like the team that made a run to the final game of the 2021-2022 season. So we turned on the game last night expecting to see that switch flip.

For whatever reason, that switch has not flipped and the Tar Heels are not playing like the number next to their name in the rankings. The anticipation is a 2009-like run to the title. So far this season, we are not seeing it. I am not saying it’s not possible. I am saying that it hasn’t happened yet.

Here is what I saw last night as I watched the game.

This team is still not connected like the team we saw at the end of the 2021-2022 season. Something is off. I don’t know what it is, but they are not playing for each other. Right now I see players that “read their press clippings” all summer and are playing to the press and not within the team. There is a difference.

Armando Bacot is off. I’ll say it. Something is off. The expectation was he would return and dominate the paint and the glass. Through three games, we are not seeing the 2021-2022 version of Bacot yet. I fully believe it is in there. Maybe it’s conditioning or mentality but this team needs Bacot to be as special as he was last year.

RJ Davis is the most valuable player on this team.

Pete Nance is not Brady Manek and that isn’t a bad thing. Nance brings a skill set and leadership that can be even more important for this team. They just have to figure out how to use it.

Seth Trimble has a gear on his motor that is very similar to former Tar Heel Ty Lawson and we all know what that meant to the 2009 championship team. He will be a difference in many games this year.

Caleb Love, when he is in the zone, is incredibly fun to watch. The Tar Heels have multiple players with that level of talent and explosiveness. The issue for each of them is that games are 40 minutes, not 20 minutes.

The most important statistic right now is that the Tar Heels are 3-0. While they have not lit up the scoreboard or met our expectations for the number-one team, they have won. Coach Davis has a lot to factor in this year. These early games have been a chance to work out the bugs before the schedule gets really difficult.

Remember, it’s November. Take a look at the performance of ACC teams so far and be thankful that the Tar Heels are where they are and nowhere close to what they will be.

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