Digging Out Of The Hole
Other than the season opener against College of Charleston, North Carolina has faced a double-digit first half deficit in five of their other six games this season.
Against UNLV, Carolina was down 13 with 16:24 left in the first half.
Against Texas, Carolina was down 16 with 3:50 left in the first half.
Against Iowa, Carolina was down 16 with 12:53 left in the first half.
Against North Carolina Central, Carolina was down 11 with 11:38 left in the first half.
Against Kentucky, Carolina was down 11 with 13:06 left in the first half.
Many teams, especially ones with multiple key freshman contributors, would fold under deficits of this nature.
But here’s the thing, this group of Tar Heels has fought back to take a lead in each of these five games. They are tough. They are competitive. They do not like to lose.
That tenacity to claw back out of a first half hole, in itself, is impressive. But it’s not enough just to show that you have grit. There are no moral victories here. You have to actually win college basketball games. More impressive is the fact that UNC has come back to actually win three of those five games (albeit against the three lesser teams on that list).
Texas and Iowa proved how difficult it is to not only come back against, but to then hang onto a lead against higher level teams. Carolina will be unable to dig out of these holes against better teams, which is essentially every game the rest of the way as the Tar Heels now move into ACC play.
If you’ll indulge me, I’d like to briefly explore what things might look like in those games if Carolina began the game with the same level of urgency with which they play after getting in a big hole.
From the moment when the opponent held their biggest lead to the end of the game, what was Carolina’s plus/minus in each of these five?
Against UNLV, Carolina was down 13 and won by 27: +40
Against Texas, Carolina was down 16 and lost by two: +14
Against Iowa, Carolina was down 16 and lost by 13: +3
Against North Carolina Central, Carolina was down 11 and won by six: +17
Against Kentucky, Carolina was down 11 and won by 12: +23
Does this prove that Carolina would be undefeated if they could avoid these first half holes? By no means. Who knows what other factors would have come into play?
Does this prove that Carolina has the talent and capability to play with every team they’ve stepped on the court with so far this year? Absolutely.
As we well know, it’s not just about talent. You don’t win the game by being more skilled. You win the game by being a better team.
Keep in mind…
This is a Tar Heel team with six freshmen in the top 10 healthy players on the roster.
This is a Tar Heel team that didn’t have the usual time on court this summer with returning NBA Tar Heels.
This is a Tar Heel team that didn’t have Late Night with Roy.
This is a Tar Heel team that didn’t have a “secret scrimmage”.
This is a Tar Heel team that didn’t get to play an exhibition game.
This is a Tar Heel team that played fewer games against mid-tier or lower-tier competition due to the truncated non-conference schedule.
All that to say, you are watching this team work out, in real time, the kinks they would have otherwise already worked out not under the glare of a big-time regular season college basketball game.
Sure the growing pains would still be there in a typical season, but they would likely be fewer and farther in between.
Hopefully, the lessons learned in the non-conference portion of the schedule will prove invaluable during this final 20-game conference stretch.
Let’s watch and see if, as the Tar Heels gel into a more cohesive unit, they can learn how to “dig out of the hole” before they even get in it.
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