UNC Basketball: Midseason player grades for 2019-20 Tar Heels

Bigs

Garrison Brooks

Stats (16 GP): 14.3 ppg (.534/.333/.667), 8.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.7 spg, 0.7 bpg

The team’s defensive anchor and an emerging offensive force, Brooks has surged during Cole Anthony’s absence, averaging 17.9 points and 10.0 rebounds on 55.7% shooting while extending his double-double streak to four games against Clemson. When the offense is going nowhere, he’s been the bail-out option. He hasn’t been perfect — his defense has been more inconsistent in this span of high usage — but he’s been one of the team’s two best players as of late.

Grade: A-

Armando Bacot 

Stats (16 GP): 10.1 ppg (.484/.000/.597), 7.8 rpg, 0.8 apg, 1.4 bpg

If anyone’s felt the absence of Anthony, Bacot’s surely felt it the most. In his first five games without his five-star counterpart, the freshman center averaged a woeful 6.2 points and 7.4 rebounds on 23.7% shooting, struggling to carve out position in the post and failing to find clean opportunities near the basket. His past two games have been a completely different story, as he’s posted averages of 18 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 1.5 blocks on 61.9% shooting. When he’s playing well, he’s playing really well; when he’s not, well, he’s really not. He’s not the interior force that some fans wanted him to be, but he’s slowly growing into the system and establishing a better rapport with Brooks and the team’s perimeter players. In time, he should be better.

Grade: C+

Justin Pierce 

Stats (16 GP): 5.7 ppg (.367/.225/.552), 4.5 rpg, 0.9 apg

Similar to Keeling, Pierce’s transition to the Carolina offense as a grad transfer from William & Mary has been far from smooth. His minutes are inconsistent, his defense is atrocious (because he’s just not strong or long enough for Power-5 big men), and his shooting woes have shown that his one plus-shooting year was an outlier. He does have his moments where his floor spacing has opened up driving and passing lanes for UNC’s playmakers, but the positives are few and far between.

After averaging 14.9 points as a junior, he’s grown into a player that’s hesitant to even shoot open shots, be it in the paint or beyond the arc. It’s uncertain whether he can still be the player that averaged 14.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 4.1 assists as a junior — so far at UNC, he hasn’t even been half that.

Grade: D

Brandon Huffman 

Stats (11 GP): 1.3 ppg (.600/.000/.400), 0.9 rpg, 0.3 bpg

Walker Miller 

Stats (10 GP): 0.4 ppg (.250/.000/1.000), 0.5 rpg

Huffman and Miller have simple roles. Come in, set good screens, rebound, try to score on duck-ins, and pass it out to the perimeter. Do that for a couple minutes at a time — so that the starters can get a quick breather (or for Roy Williams’ temper to cool down) — and then head back to the bench. They’ve done that, unspectacularly and sporadically, without truly altering the game in any way. For what it’s worth, Huffman’s rebounding has remained potent and he’s hitting his shots around the basket. The rest of his game? Well, let’s forget about it.

Grade: D