North Carolina is looking past its defeat to Kentucky on Saturday in order to get ready for another highly anticipated game: the Jumpman Invitational on Wednesday at 9:00 p.m. against No. 7 Oklahoma. On this week’s episode of Up in the Rafters, former Tar Heel standout Joel Berry gave a preview of the game against the Sooners. Among other things, the 2017 national champion addressed Armando Bacot’s recent troubles and offered suggestions for improving the Tar Heels’ rebounding and defence. These are his main takeaways from the programme.
“Under Coach Williams, we had to run when we didn’t rebound well or if someone neglected to box out during practice. Coach Robinson would do this by raising his hand on the sideline. I’m not sure how that works in reality, but something needs to shift. Teams cannot be awarded more
possessions or opportunities to score. Whether you’re running or something else, you have to convince your players to buy in. This is not what you want to become a habit. They must act now to eliminate it before it worsens in the future.”
“I would issue a challenge to Armando to confront his teammates and request that they pass the ball to him. The defender is frequently on his back while he sprints down the floor. There’s a circle, and he’s got his two feet in the paint. Just turn over your left shoulder for a layup, and it could be a catch. To get him the ball, I would dare him to speak up to his teammates. That’s within his rights. On his team, he leads by example. He has worked hard and has the background necessary to take that to his teammates. They’re not tossing him the ball that often. To have one of your top players
“I don’t think switching off the ball is all that great. Although I’m not the coach and I don’t make the decisions, occasionally they may become engrossed in switching when it’s not necessary. Elliot Cadeau is suddenly on someone you don’t want him to be. I’m not sure what the underlying mindset is or how to address it. But, it’s challenging to simply turn off the ball since they will look for and take advantage of any mismatch. Keeping a smaller guard on the floor while doing so is difficult, particularly if your backcourt includes players who are 6-foot-1 and 6-foot-2.”
“I’m watching him go forward. It’s good for Carolina to break out of that rut. He can continue to build on this momentum going forward. They will need him to get going, particularly as they approach conference play and even in this upcoming matchup with Oklahoma. They still need to
start working on a few additional things. However, Cormac was the one who needed to get going when it came to adding that final piece to the puzzle.”
“Guard play will be prevalent. Oklahoma puts its guards through a lot of drills. The point guard matchup excites me. This is an undefeated squad from Oklahoma. It will rise and fall. There’s no time for you to mope around in your misery. You need to go on from the previous game. Prepare yourself for this matchup. It is currently 9:15 p.m. It’s a late tip-off, so grab your Red Bull and get set to go. This gives an additional chance to improve. It’s time for them to use everything they’ve discovered and learned from that Kentucky game. This is going to be an advanced game. I’m thrilled. This is going to be another frantic
