Late night with Hubert is this Friday! It is the official/unofficial start to basketball season. There are a lot of things to be excited about when it comes to this upcoming basketball season. The season opener is a month away, so Lauren and I wanted to explore what we are most excited about in Hubert Davis’ first season.
ENTER HUBERT DAVIS
As I said in the intro, It is now Hubert Davis’ time. He left ESPN and was handpicked by Roy to lead this program. Albeit it was a little earlier than expected, but if you aren’t excited to see what this guy can do then you are just pessimistic. He has already brought in 3 great transfers in Brady Manek, Justin McKoy, and Dawson Garcia. All of these guys were huge gets even though Manek is only a one year player. These are guys that will allow us to spread the floor. Hubert Davis LOVES Carolina, and the players love him. If you have read any of Adam Lucas’ articles or watch any of the videos that the basketball teams’ social media accounts put out then you know Davis has a lot of fire. He puts an emphasis on competing and playing defense. He is modernizing our offense system and the players are excited about it. There is a new energy to this team with Davis at the helm. He brought in a staff that only has ties to Carolina and brought in people with NBA experience whether it be coaching or playing. These guys probably took pay cuts to come back to Carolina, but that is how much everyone loves this program. It’s a family and no one understands that better than Hubert Davis.Davis is ready and I don’t think things will change much. It will be weird to not see Roy on the sidelines, but I am sure he will still do some mentoring behind the scenes and will be present at a lot of the home games. I'm excited for the future of this program.
FANS ARE BACK:
I’m excited about this for multiple reasons. One, I will be going to a game. Two, I’m excited for the players that haven’t experienced a full Smith Center that they now get to experience it. You go to Carolina because of the atmosphere. Carolina basketball is almost godly. I went to Hatchell’s basketball camp when I was younger and they used the Smith Center and just walking in there takes your breath away a little bit. Looking at the banners, and the jerseys in the rafters is awe inspiring. Now the sophomores finally get to experience what the Dean Dome is all about. They finally get to play in front of sold out crowds for ACC games or other big games. When I was in high school, It was always the Kentucky game as far as non-conference games go. I went to the Duke game my senior year when I was a student and the atmosphere was surreal. I can’t wait for Caleb Love, RJ Davis, Kerwin Walton, and Puff Johnson to experience that as well as the transfers. Being able to experience the starting lineup intros and “Jumping Around” playing before tip off. That stuff always gave me goosebumps when I was in the crowd, I can’t even imagine how awesome that is for the players.
NEW OFFENSE
Now I am definitely an old school person per say, but I am happy the offense is getting brought up to speed. Love and Davis should have a better season with more room to operate in the lane as Bacot is really the only guy that operates solely in the post. The offense emphasizes getting the best shot even if that is an open 3 a couple of passes into a set. Davis’ new offense brings the 4 out and he picked up the guys he needed to fill that role. With Davis and Love having more room to drive that should open up more 3’s. Walton should have an even better year if Davis and Love can consistently get into the paint. The modern game is dependent on hitting 3’s, if you don’t have any shooters then you aren’t going to win. This offense will help free up the shooters we now have.
THE NEW GUYS
There is a lot to be excited about here. 3 transfers and 2 freshmen all of whom can contribute immediately. The transfers won’t miss a beat as they are transferring from other big time programs. Brady Manek comes from Oklahoma, Garcia from Marquette, and McKoy from Virginia. Manek has the most experience, but all of these guys have experience playing big time basketball. Garcia lit us up last year, and is a matchup nightmare. The last guy (Cam Johnson) to light up the Smith Center then transfer to UNC turned out pretty well. He can guard the post on defense and will force a big to guard him on the perimeter. He is a good 3 point shooter, but also has the size to operate in the post. He has also played with Walton before and that connection should be fun to watch. Two guys that don’t say much, but are electric on the floor. McKoy is a highly competitive player, and some guys have said he is the most competitive guy they have ever met. He got his defense down while he was with UVA and is now ready to take a step forward on the offensive side of the ball. He gives us a multiple year wing option and can even play the 4 with a small lineup. He didn’t get a chance to showcase his offense ability at Virginia. Well Justin you have your chance at Carolina. Brady Manek may just be my new favorite player. He showed up on campus wearing a bass pro shop hat, and blasted country music during the first practice. YEE YEE big sexy. YEE YEE. But seriously he was a major contributor all 4 years he was at Oklahoma and is a known 3 point shooter. He averaged double figures and shot 38% from 3 at OU. He provides another mature, experienced player who can also play in the post. Manek has been working on his post moves to compliment his outside shooting ability. These guys have kind of stolen the show from the freshmen, but the freshmen are no slouches either. Dontrez Styles and D’Marco Dunn are athletic guys. Watch them in practice footage and they almost don’t look like freshmen size wise. They are long and quick and can have a big impact on this team. They have a lot of bounce and a knack for getting to the rim. Styles is listed as both a forward and a guard. We could be 12 guys deep comfortably depending on how Puff is recovering from some nagging injuries and how prepared Davis thinks the freshmen are. The future is bright for this team though.
OUT OF CONFERENCE SCHEDULE
Now there is going to be some growing pains with this team no doubt about it. They do, however, have plenty of chances to beat some good teams. We play Purdue in the Hall of Fame tip off on 11/20 and then get either Tennessee or Villanova the next day. We have a home matchup against Michigan on 12/1 and play UCLA in the CBS Sports Classic on 12/18. Now will we win all of those games? Realistically no, but we do have some chances to knock off some pretty big, top 25, opponents.
SOME THINGS TO WATCH
Plain and simple, defense. Last year we were frequently lost, especially when it came to guarding the 3. It is a must, considering most teams have 3 or 4 players who can hit the three. I don't know whether they just didn't know how to play defense or it was just a lack of effort. We need to stop dribble penetration and Love in particular got beat by guys who definitely weren't quicker than he was. Speaking of Love it will be interesting to see how he progresses in year 2. Playing point guard for Roy Williams might be the toughest role of any player in college basketball and specifically as a freshman. The games in which Love excelled were where the offense was simplified. I expect Davis’s offense to be more simple, centered around dribble penetration and ball movement. The offense will go as Love goes and he has to decrease the amount of turnovers. This is Bacot’s team, without question. I think he will be the leader that we were hoping Brooks would be last year. No knock on Brooks but with him out the way it clears the way for Bacot who is much more vocal. We did lose Brooks, Sharpe, and Kessler but I think Davis did more than just replace them. As previously mentioned the new transfers will usher in a new era of Carolina offense that is more wide open. Unfortunately we will have to hear about Coach K’s farewell season all season but Hubie does it get the jump on having to replace a hall of famer. We have officially reached the “wait for basketball season” part of football season, so bring on college basketball and the return of a sold out Dean Dome.
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