LUCAS: OPPORTUNITY...
It is also true that Johnson made as many three-pointers in Saturday's game as he had in the entire season so far.
It is furthermore true that Johnson responded perfectly after Leaky Black went down with an injury—"He hyperextended his knee," Hubert Davis told Jones Angellon the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "In the second half he felt like he could play but then when he warmed up he didn't feel like he was in a position to continue."—by not trying to be Leaky but by being a very capable Tar Heel who played 17 of a possible 20 second half minutes.
All of the above is fantastic. All of the above is great news for a Carolina team thirsty for depth.
You can have all of it. Because after watching Johnson's breakout performance as a Tar Heel, there are only two meaningful takeaways:
He simply understands how to play. He's not perfect—he had one turnover, on a pass that should have been more crisp—but listen to this description of why he runs the floor so hard:
"Even if I don't get the ball in transition, I want to sprint to the corner because sprinting to the corner spreads out the defense and creates more driving lanes and open shots," Johnson said after the game. "Every time we get the rebound, my goal is to sprint down whether I get the ball or not."
Roy Williams just got a very warm feeling inside and isn't sure why. And, for that matter, so did Hubert Davis, who has been begging his team to play with more pace since November. Does Johnson's approach work? Well, it turned into a slam dunk for him early in the second half, when he ran hard, took a pass from Caleb Love, and swooped in from the corner to provide an 18-point Carolina lead and force an NC State timeout.
Quite simply, it is very, very easy to root for Puff Johnson. Even when the sophomore wasn't playing much, Davis constantly raved about the way Johnson cheered for his teammates.
And even Saturday, when he received plenty of minutes, Johnson was still relishing good performances by his teammates. Watch Bacot's second-half three-point play just before Johnson's dunk—it's Puff Johnson who has one of the biggest reactions, pumping his fist and giving a celebratory little skip, which is decidedly more demonstrative than Johnson was after his own dunk seconds later. And look at the picture above. That postgame locker room scene captured by Maggie Hobson is purely teammates being happy for teammates (RJ Davis was almost as excited as Johnson after the two made three-pointers).
Hubert Davis has been very consistent in maintaining that opportunities will come for Tar Heel reserves.
"My name is opportunity," Davis said on the THSN. "I will give you an opportunity, I just can't tell you when, where or how. When it comes, the only thing you have to do is be ready. That's what Puff Johnson was: he was ready. He stepped up and hit two big three-pointers, he finished around the basket, he took care of the basketball, he rebounded, and he did a good job defensively. He was ready, and I'm very proud of Puff."
That defensive job, by the way, was largely on NC State's Dereon Seabron, one of the league's most aggressive scorers. That's going to be an important asset if Black is limited on Monday when Syracuse and Buddy Boeheim visit the Smith Center.
Carolina ultimately needs contributions from both Black and Johnson for the team to be the best possible version of the 2022 Tar Heels. Saturday, though, was about a player who patiently waited his turn for a very long time and then took maximum advantage of the chance when it arrived.
As Johnson followed Bacot to the postgame press conference, multiple fans stopped Bacot for pictures and autographs. Even at 6-foot-8, Johnson went largely undetected in the shadow of Carolina's ACC Player of the Year contender.
He didn't seem to mind. It was enough to have earned something even more valuable on this Saturday: another opportunity.
JUST AS HUBERT DAVIS HAD PREDICTED, PUFF JOHNSON TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HIS OPPORTUNITY ON SATURDAY.
RALEIGH—It is true that Puff Johnson scored a career-high 16 points on Saturday in Carolina's win over NC State.It is also true that Johnson made as many three-pointers in Saturday's game as he had in the entire season so far.
It is furthermore true that Johnson responded perfectly after Leaky Black went down with an injury—"He hyperextended his knee," Hubert Davis told Jones Angellon the Tar Heel Sports Network after the game. "In the second half he felt like he could play but then when he warmed up he didn't feel like he was in a position to continue."—by not trying to be Leaky but by being a very capable Tar Heel who played 17 of a possible 20 second half minutes.
All of the above is fantastic. All of the above is great news for a Carolina team thirsty for depth.
You can have all of it. Because after watching Johnson's breakout performance as a Tar Heel, there are only two meaningful takeaways:
- Puff Johnson plays basketball the way we're accustomed to watching Carolina players play basketball.
- (Very closely related) It's fun to watch Puff Johnson play basketball.
He simply understands how to play. He's not perfect—he had one turnover, on a pass that should have been more crisp—but listen to this description of why he runs the floor so hard:
"Even if I don't get the ball in transition, I want to sprint to the corner because sprinting to the corner spreads out the defense and creates more driving lanes and open shots," Johnson said after the game. "Every time we get the rebound, my goal is to sprint down whether I get the ball or not."
Roy Williams just got a very warm feeling inside and isn't sure why. And, for that matter, so did Hubert Davis, who has been begging his team to play with more pace since November. Does Johnson's approach work? Well, it turned into a slam dunk for him early in the second half, when he ran hard, took a pass from Caleb Love, and swooped in from the corner to provide an 18-point Carolina lead and force an NC State timeout.
Quite simply, it is very, very easy to root for Puff Johnson. Even when the sophomore wasn't playing much, Davis constantly raved about the way Johnson cheered for his teammates.
And even Saturday, when he received plenty of minutes, Johnson was still relishing good performances by his teammates. Watch Bacot's second-half three-point play just before Johnson's dunk—it's Puff Johnson who has one of the biggest reactions, pumping his fist and giving a celebratory little skip, which is decidedly more demonstrative than Johnson was after his own dunk seconds later. And look at the picture above. That postgame locker room scene captured by Maggie Hobson is purely teammates being happy for teammates (RJ Davis was almost as excited as Johnson after the two made three-pointers).
Hubert Davis has been very consistent in maintaining that opportunities will come for Tar Heel reserves.
"My name is opportunity," Davis said on the THSN. "I will give you an opportunity, I just can't tell you when, where or how. When it comes, the only thing you have to do is be ready. That's what Puff Johnson was: he was ready. He stepped up and hit two big three-pointers, he finished around the basket, he took care of the basketball, he rebounded, and he did a good job defensively. He was ready, and I'm very proud of Puff."
That defensive job, by the way, was largely on NC State's Dereon Seabron, one of the league's most aggressive scorers. That's going to be an important asset if Black is limited on Monday when Syracuse and Buddy Boeheim visit the Smith Center.
Carolina ultimately needs contributions from both Black and Johnson for the team to be the best possible version of the 2022 Tar Heels. Saturday, though, was about a player who patiently waited his turn for a very long time and then took maximum advantage of the chance when it arrived.
As Johnson followed Bacot to the postgame press conference, multiple fans stopped Bacot for pictures and autographs. Even at 6-foot-8, Johnson went largely undetected in the shadow of Carolina's ACC Player of the Year contender.
He didn't seem to mind. It was enough to have earned something even more valuable on this Saturday: another opportunity.
