LUCAS: A FOUNDATION PIECE...
ATLANTA—Leaky Black was enjoying a very brief respite on the bench during Sunday afternoon's first half when suddenly the entire Carolina coaching staff craned their necks to look down the row at him.
Georgia Tech's Michael Devoe had just gone to the scorer's table to check back into the game after a similarly quick rest. No one said a word, because no one had to. Black immediately jumped off the bench and headed for the table. If Devoe was going back in the game, so was he.
It was that kind of afternoon for the Tar Heel senior, who shadowed Devoe, the nation's leading scorer, everywhere he went. Devoe was coming off three consecutive performances of 37, 26 and 33 points in his last three games, with that last showing coming against the notably stingy Wisconsin defense.
The Tech sharpshooter did score 13 points against the Tar Heels, but he needed 12 shots to do it. Black combined with Anthony Harris, who played a season-high 14:21, to limit Devoe to 5-for-12 from the field, and two of those made buckets were run-outs in transition when he wasn't being contested. That means he shot 3-for-10 against Black and Harris.
"We gave 100 percent on every possession on the defensive end," Hubert Davis said on the Tar Heel Sports Network with Jones Angell after the game. "Devoe coming into this game was leading the country in scoring and leading the country in three-point shooting percentage. From a wing player perspective, there wasn't anybody in the country playing better than him. The job Leaky Black and Anthony Harris did on him was just outstanding and really highlights what kind of individual defender both those guys are and how elite they can be on the defensive end."
Carolina devoted significant practice time the last two days to defending Devoe. He was highlighted on the team's scouting report, which was put together by assistant coach Jeff Lebo, and the team watched extra clips of him after Friday's practice.
During that practice session, Davis once stopped practice when the Tar Heel starters gave up an open look. "That's cash on Sunday," he told them. "I'm just telling you, that's going to be cash. He is number one in the country in scoring. He is number one in three-point percentage. That's in the country! It doesn't get any more sense of emergency than that."
And that's the way Black and Harris--whom Davis called "the MVP of the game" in a move more than a little reminiscent of a certain coach who has a dome named after him, who had a knack for making role players feel essential to the team's success--played it on Sunday. Devoe very rarely got an open look at the basket, and on multiple occasions in the first half, Black was swarming him so intensely that the Jackets couldn't even get the ball to Devoe to initiate the set they were trying to run.
Devoe had averaged taking 18 shots and seven free throws per game during that recent three-game stretch. On Sunday, he got just 12 field goal attempts and two free throw tries.
"I was honestly just trying to make every shot for him tough," Black said. "He's a great player. It's hard to speed him up, but I was trying to make him as uncomfortable as I can for as long as I can. That was my job."
Black stayed after practice on Friday to get a few extra pointers from Jackie Manuel, who knows a little something about making opponents uncomfortable defensively. Manuel's advice to Black was simple: "You know he is a scorer. He's going to score. But would you rather him try to score taking jump shots or going downhill and getting to the basket and getting fouled?"
The answer, even for a player as talented as Devoe, is jump shots. The Tar Heels made a conscious effort to force him away from his more comfortable driving hand. His frustration eventually built to the point that it became noticeable. By that point, Carolina had built a double-digit lead.
"Later in the second half, I felt like he was about to become more aggressive," Black said. "I thought he would start throwing up shots, but he dialed it back. Everyone else got more aggressive and was driving and he chilled out. I felt like I was in his head a little bit, and Ant (Harris) did a great job too."
Fortunately, every opponent won't have a Devoe. But Sunday's performance gives Davis plenty to talk about over the next week as his team has five days before playing Elon. The head coach has repeatedly told his team he wants opponents to walk away from playing the Tar Heels feeling they had an off night. That's what happened to Devoe on Sunday, and that's something the Carolina defense can build upon. Pair multiple consistent shooters with players committed to making a difference on defense, and you can win a lot of games that way.
"One of the things I told them after Michigan was validation," Davis said. "We needed to prove the way we played Wednesday night wasn't a one time thing. That's who we are. This week was a week of validation from the defensive standpoint and from sharing the basketball. Those are the foundation pieces of this program, with playing hard, playing smart and playing together and playing the right way."
ATLANTA—Leaky Black was enjoying a very brief respite on the bench during Sunday afternoon's first half when suddenly the entire Carolina coaching staff craned their necks to look down the row at him.
Georgia Tech's Michael Devoe had just gone to the scorer's table to check back into the game after a similarly quick rest. No one said a word, because no one had to. Black immediately jumped off the bench and headed for the table. If Devoe was going back in the game, so was he.
It was that kind of afternoon for the Tar Heel senior, who shadowed Devoe, the nation's leading scorer, everywhere he went. Devoe was coming off three consecutive performances of 37, 26 and 33 points in his last three games, with that last showing coming against the notably stingy Wisconsin defense.
The Tech sharpshooter did score 13 points against the Tar Heels, but he needed 12 shots to do it. Black combined with Anthony Harris, who played a season-high 14:21, to limit Devoe to 5-for-12 from the field, and two of those made buckets were run-outs in transition when he wasn't being contested. That means he shot 3-for-10 against Black and Harris.
"We gave 100 percent on every possession on the defensive end," Hubert Davis said on the Tar Heel Sports Network with Jones Angell after the game. "Devoe coming into this game was leading the country in scoring and leading the country in three-point shooting percentage. From a wing player perspective, there wasn't anybody in the country playing better than him. The job Leaky Black and Anthony Harris did on him was just outstanding and really highlights what kind of individual defender both those guys are and how elite they can be on the defensive end."
Carolina devoted significant practice time the last two days to defending Devoe. He was highlighted on the team's scouting report, which was put together by assistant coach Jeff Lebo, and the team watched extra clips of him after Friday's practice.
During that practice session, Davis once stopped practice when the Tar Heel starters gave up an open look. "That's cash on Sunday," he told them. "I'm just telling you, that's going to be cash. He is number one in the country in scoring. He is number one in three-point percentage. That's in the country! It doesn't get any more sense of emergency than that."
And that's the way Black and Harris--whom Davis called "the MVP of the game" in a move more than a little reminiscent of a certain coach who has a dome named after him, who had a knack for making role players feel essential to the team's success--played it on Sunday. Devoe very rarely got an open look at the basket, and on multiple occasions in the first half, Black was swarming him so intensely that the Jackets couldn't even get the ball to Devoe to initiate the set they were trying to run.
Devoe had averaged taking 18 shots and seven free throws per game during that recent three-game stretch. On Sunday, he got just 12 field goal attempts and two free throw tries.
"I was honestly just trying to make every shot for him tough," Black said. "He's a great player. It's hard to speed him up, but I was trying to make him as uncomfortable as I can for as long as I can. That was my job."
Black stayed after practice on Friday to get a few extra pointers from Jackie Manuel, who knows a little something about making opponents uncomfortable defensively. Manuel's advice to Black was simple: "You know he is a scorer. He's going to score. But would you rather him try to score taking jump shots or going downhill and getting to the basket and getting fouled?"
The answer, even for a player as talented as Devoe, is jump shots. The Tar Heels made a conscious effort to force him away from his more comfortable driving hand. His frustration eventually built to the point that it became noticeable. By that point, Carolina had built a double-digit lead.
"Later in the second half, I felt like he was about to become more aggressive," Black said. "I thought he would start throwing up shots, but he dialed it back. Everyone else got more aggressive and was driving and he chilled out. I felt like I was in his head a little bit, and Ant (Harris) did a great job too."
Fortunately, every opponent won't have a Devoe. But Sunday's performance gives Davis plenty to talk about over the next week as his team has five days before playing Elon. The head coach has repeatedly told his team he wants opponents to walk away from playing the Tar Heels feeling they had an off night. That's what happened to Devoe on Sunday, and that's something the Carolina defense can build upon. Pair multiple consistent shooters with players committed to making a difference on defense, and you can win a lot of games that way.
"One of the things I told them after Michigan was validation," Davis said. "We needed to prove the way we played Wednesday night wasn't a one time thing. That's who we are. This week was a week of validation from the defensive standpoint and from sharing the basketball. Those are the foundation pieces of this program, with playing hard, playing smart and playing together and playing the right way."
