Heel Tough Blog: Alabama Recap

The Sports Ledger

After a week off, the Tar Heels still played the same lethargic defense and struggled to get great guard play, and it resulted in a 94-79 home loss last night to Alabama in the ACC/SEC Challenge. The loss drops Carolina to 4-4 on the season, a far cry from where this team was believed to be in the preseason when they were ranked inside the top 10. The 4-4 start, is the worst since the 2001-02 season, where UNC went 8-20. RJ Davis led Carolina with 18 points, but did so on 7-24 shooting, including 1-11 from behind the three-point line, as his struggles to start his super senior season continued. Davis wasn’t the only starting guard who struggled though, as Elliot Cadeau produced more turnovers than points, and Seth Trimble scored 12 points but was 4-13 shooting in the process. As a team, Carolina shot 18% from behind the arc, as this team has failed to shoot the ball well from the outside since the season-opening win over Elon. 

A common theme in Maui was Carolina falling behind by double-digits in the first half, and that trend continued last night, making it the fourth straight game they’ve trailed by double digits in the first half, and the fifth time in eight games overall. The Heels started the game with an inspired defensive possession, but couldn’t maintain it not over the course of 40 minutes, but in the first sequence of play, as Carolina still trailed 11-7 at the first media timeout. Carolina allowed 94 points, on 49% shooting, and 12 made three-pointers, compliling another non-competitive defensive effort. 

This schedule was put together to get Carolina prepared for their 20-game ACC schedule, but no one would’ve imagined that they’d be 0-4 against power conference competition, and 1-4 against NCAA Tournament teams from last season. For the first time since 1967-68, UNC has played three top-10 teams in the first 8 games, but are 0-3 in those contests. That 1967-68 team by the way? Made the second of three consecutive Final Fours under Dean Smith. It’s apparent that this team has a lot of work to do, to have the look and feel of being an NCAA Tournament team, let alone one with Final Four aspirations. Here’s what to take away from last night’s result against the Crimson Tide: 

1. Cadeau Conundrum: It was the fifth straight poor game for Elliot Cadeau, and last night was arguably the worst. Cadeau played 25 minutes, scored just one single point, and committed four turnovers. Over the last four games, Cadeau has 18 assists, against 16 turnovers. With how ineffective he has been over the last handful of games, you have to wonder what his role will look like moving forward. This dip in play comes after a hot start, where he averaged 17 points, and 8 assists out of the gate.  Hubert Davis said in the preseason that Elliot Cadeau had progressed so much, that you wouldn’t be able to recognize him. Well, he’s right but in a negative way, because this version of Cadeau is a regression from his freshman season, and is borderline unplayable at this point. 

2. Action Jackson: Drake Powell made his presence felt in the Maui Invitational last week, and last night, it was Ian Jackson who stepped up and gave Carolina a chance scoring 23 points, on 10-17 shooting, including 3-5 from behind the arc. In the second half, he scored 12 points, in 16 minutes, and may have earned him a starting spot, because Carolina looked better on the floor with him, as opposed to Cadeau. Jackson may be the most talented player on the entire roster is the best guard on the roster, and being able to create offense for himself. He has ways to go defensively, but then again so does the entire roster. His energy and competitive spirit are contagious, and the Heels looked more looked the team we thought they’d be in the preseason than what we’ve seen the first month of the season. 

3. Adjustments: Or lack thereof. After a week off, with a chance to re-evaluate the way that they are doing things, the only noticeable adjustment that Hubert Davis made was inserting Drake Powell into the starting lineup, and while it paid off in many ways, it wasn’t enough. Hubert expressed his defensive frustration after the game, but in part, he’s to blame. When Carolina picked up the defensive pressure with Drake Powell on the floor, it ended with a positive result, meaning an out-right stop, or a turnover. Now part of Hubert’s reluctance to press is the lack of depth he’s comfortable playing with right now, but in the short term, it’s the best way for them to compete on that end of the floor. Hubert told the team to bring their work boots to today’s practice ahead of prep for the Georgia Tech game, we’ll have to wait and see if they take steps in the right direction. 

4. Size Matters: Carolina started a significantly smaller lineup than Alabama, and it showed on both ends of the floor, even though Carolina won the rebounding battle. The issue is that Carolina’s best 5, is even smaller than the one that started. UNC’s best 5 is Davis, Jackson, Trimble, Powell, and Claude at the 5, who is 6-8. The staff exhausted all possibilities trying to replace Armando Bacot this off-season, but even they didn’t this coming. While many of Carolina’s issues are correctable, their lack of size isn’t, and it most certainly impacted the game on both ends of the floor last night.

Up Next: The Tar Heels start ACC play on Saturday, as they host Georgia Tech at 2 PM, on the ACC Network.

The Four Corners Podcast: