UNC Basketball: 2019 keys against Duke in the ACC Semifinals

3. Slow down Zion Williamson… somehow

This is an obvious goal for Friday’s game, right?

Despite twice preparing to face off against this tank-pogo-stick hybrid, Roy Williams‘ team has yet to actually put whatever gameplay was crafted into effect.

The Duke offense and defense are transformed radically whenever Williamson is in the picture. Without him, Duke fails to get stops and make possession-ending plays regularly. With I’m, acrobatic swats and swipes are inevitable and merciless. on offense, the Zion-less Blue Devils fail to score efficiently, with Barrett and Reddish seeing endless pressure from opposing defenses that don’t view the Duke role players as legitimate threats. With Williamson, the Blue Devil offense hums, with the 6-foot-6 forward drawing attention away from his peers while also boasting a capability of flipping a switch and dominating games single-handedly like he did in his 29-point (13-13 FG), 14-rebound return against Syracuse.

There is no one player UNC can put on him that will slow Williamson down—just ask the rest of the NCAA. Schematically, putting starting center Garrison Brooks on Williamson is the far superior option that using Luke Maye. Although he’s prone to foul trouble, he’s at least a capable defender with better strength, mobility and instincts than what Maye has to offer. Off the bench, Nassir Little should be given a shot at guarding Williamson whenever the Heels go small, since Little has had some success on that end dating back to their prep and AAU matchups before the two entered college.

Whenever someone is matched up on Williamson around the basket, don’t even give him the chance to score. If he goes up for a shot, try—and pray—to foul him hard, making him earn those two points at the free throw line where he struggles. Williamson went to the line nine times against Syracuse and only left with two makes, signaling that his season-long free throw woes (64.6 FT%) aren’t going anywhere. The Heels are better off risking foul trouble than wide-open Williamson finishes around the rim.

Really, though, the best thing UNC can do is to bait Williamson into relying on one of his positive traits: HIs willingness to defer to his teammates and act as a team player. Yes, use his selflessness against him.

The basketball world saw what Barrett and Reddish are capable of whenever they don’t have Williamson there to lessen the offensive load, and it’s not much. Reddish (seven points, 2-7 FG) and Tre Jones (15 points, 3-12 FG) are still struggling from the field in tournament play, and Barrett’s wild drives to the basket often result in a mixed bag of makes, misses, and sloppy turnovers/charges.

Icing Williamson out of as many Duke possessions as possible is an ideal scenario for the Heels, and at times, they might not even have to try all that hard to accomplish it. At times throughout Thursday’s game against Syracuse, there would be possessions where Williamson never even saw the ball, with the ball instead sticking to the hands of Jones, Reddish and Barrett.

Duke’s best offensive option is a Zion Williamson field goal attempt. Hell, their second, third, fourth, fifth (and so on) best options on offense are Zion Williamson field goal attempts, and UNC should recognize this and do whatever it can to get the ball out of his hands.