UNC Basketball: Be ready for some “unconventional lineups”

As the UNC basketball program looks for its first road victory of the season, expect to see some lineups that we haven’t seen before.

While talking to the media on Friday afternoon, UNC basketball head coach Hubert Davis confirmed what we all pretty much expected to hear.

Heading into Saturday’s ACC road matchup against Louisville, both Armando Bacot and Pete Nance are listed by Davis as “questionable.” The second-year head coach stated that Bacot is closer to potentially playing than Nance, who is still dealing with a lingering back issue.

As it essentially seems definite that Nance won’t be playing, Bacot’s status is still up in the air. At this point, you’d have to think that Bacot, who was injured early on in the Tar Heels’ loss to Virginia, will also be sidelined for this one.

With potentially both players out, Hubert Davis says to expect to see some “unconventional lineups” at least for Saturday’s contest.

With Will Shaver out for the season, the Tar Heels essentially will have one active true big man in Jalen Washington. It’s very likely that he’ll be inserted into the starting lineup, but how does Davis manage the rotation to fill the void when he takes a breather?

We could see the Tar Heels utilize a smaller lineup with Justin McKoy essentially at the five, or the likes of Puff Johnson or potentially even Dontrez Styles could see some minutes in this role. Regardless of how the minutes shape out, the UNC basketball program may be forced to continue playing with a smaller lineup for the time being, as their two biggest post threats are working their way towards a return to the court.

Follow us @KeepingItHeel on Twitter and like our fan page on Facebook for continued coverage of UNC basketball news, updates, and recruiting.