By Adam Lucas
Multiple Tar Heels mentioned they found themselves getting unexpectedly tired in the first half of the season opener against Radford. That same fatigue hasn’t been present in practice, leading most of the players to determine it was mostly due to simple excitement for the season opener.
“In the first half I definitely got tired,” said Armando Bacot. “I was over excited and really amped up.”
It will be interesting to monitor that same energy level on Sunday against Lehigh (a 2 p.m. tipoff at the Smith Center). Bacot is playing this season around 235 pounds, after spending most of last year between 245 and 250.
“I put an emphasis on losing weight so I can stay healthy this year,” Bacot said. “I had been eating a lot of protein trying to get beefy and bulky, and I’ve gotten away from protein.”
Notes: Practice sometimes provides a window into the ways that Elliot Cadeau sees the floor differently than most players. He recently threw an alley-oop over the rim—from one side of the lane to the other—to Jalen Washington. That’s not a normal pass…Cadeau has made noticeable progress in the last month. He had some uneven practices—as you would expect from a newcomer to this level—early in the preseason but was very good both in the Late Night scrimmage and in the exhibition game victory. Then, in the season opener, he committed two turnovers in nine first half minutes. But he had three assists and zero turnovers in ten second half minutes. According to Cadeau, he’s always been more effective when the lights are brighter. “I definitely think I play better when there is more pressure and there are people watching me,” he said. “I’m not a practice player. I’m an in game player.”
To answer one of the most frequent questions since Monday’s season opener, Hubert Davis has indeed made the decision to go with a sport coat on the sidelines this season. Recall that the move to quarter zips was originally made conference-wide. There is no such league mandate this year. Staff members will continue to be in quarter zips during games. This concludes your fashion update…Two fun interviews recently on the Carolina Insider podcast with younger Tar Heels. Zayden High was on this Tuesday’s show, and Jalen Washington appeared on Friday. There’s also video available of High’s puzzle fandom and video of the full interview with the freshman is available here. Both Tar Heels were extremely entertaining and the shows are worth saving for your weekend listening…
The Tar Heels piled up 18 assists on 32 field goals in the season opener against Radford, but it could have been more. “We missed some assists,” Hubert Davis said. “We easily could’ve had over 20.” Six different players had an assist, led by Cadeau’s half dozen. But as Davis noted, a couple of entry passes could have been baskets without a Highlander foul or a missed point blank opportunity. Just for the sake of comparison, Carolina had four assists on 22 field goals in last year’s season opener and had an assist on fewer than half its field goals (395 on 866, 45.6 percent) last season. “It’s natural for this group to not only pass but to go from good shots to great shots,” Davis said. “This team enjoys celebrating the success of their teammates. You can see guys are more excited when they pass the ball as opposed to them making a shot. It’s something this group has done from the start and it’s one of the many things I like about this team.”…Sunday’s game is one of only four remaining chances to see this team at the Smith Center before Christmas, and one of only two weekend opportunities. Tickets are available…In the continuing rotation of Tar Heel Sports Network color analysts this season, Marcus Ginyard will join Jones Angell on the call on Sunday.