UNC Basketball: Random Observations – Indiana Loss

The UNC Basketball team heads back to Chapel Hill after losing to Indiana 77-65 in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. 

Three straight losses and likely being unranked in the span of two weeks is not exactly how the Tar Heels wanted to go through their non-conference schedule. The good news is that it is just the beginning of December. The bad news is that the schedule does not get easier.

This has been mentioned in a number of these random observation posts but where is the offensive movement? ESPN commentator Jay Bilas mentioned it several times during the game. Some credit should be given to Indiana’s defense but this is a troubling sign in this early season.

Armando Bacot appears to have hurt his shoulder early in the game. Though he stayed in the game and fought through it, it was clearly bothering him most of the game.

Bacot also doesn’t appear to have the lift in his vertical jump so far this season. It could be tied to his nagging ankle issues.

The poor shot selection and shooting percentage for RJ Davis and Caleb Love is a direct result of the lack of offensive and ball movement. There is too much one-on-one.

One of the most maddening things to watch is lazy entry passes. This was an issue early last season too. Those turnovers turn into leak outs and layups for the opposing team. Especially at the top of the key.

Poor execution out of timeouts is also something that should be easily cleaned up. The Tar Heels again failed to get the ball in out of a timeout versus Indiana.

How quickly this team can turn this around will all depend on how quickly they start to execute the little things. The good news is that it’s fixable. The bad news is the schedule only gets tougher.

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