UNC Basketball: 3 keys to beating Duke in Final Four matchup
If you asked any UNC Basketball fan how they felt coming into this season you’d get a sense of unease. A vibe that could not be expressed as positive. All due to new unproven Head Coach Hubert Davis taking over.
We have seen in the past head coaching transitions at successful schools not go the way they were supposed to go (ex. Dean Smith/Bill Guthridge to Matt Doherty). How will the transition from longtime Hall-of-Fame Head Coach Roy Williams go with assistant Hubert Davis taking over? This was a big concern amongst Tar Heel fans.
When the head coaching position at North Carolina opened up so did the avalanche of rumors of who was going to potentially take over the job. There were a lot of people who had an opinion on who should take over the position.
What we did know was that North Carolina is going to look everywhere and do extensive research to find who it could possibly be. And if you were not a “blue blood” program your coach was a target. North Carolina’s last two years with Williams were not up to the standards that historical success set as a precedent for how the program should be.
There is an overall general expectation that North Carolina should be competing every year, on the recruiting trail and on the court. Two things Williams was struggling within his last few years. A myriad of candidates but no pinpoint answer to the coaching vacancy.
An argument can be made that this is the best coaching position in the entire college basketball world. Here are the numbers to back that up:
- Most Final Fours all-time
- 2nd highest winning percentage for NCAA basketball programs
- 2nd most NCAA tournament appearances
- 2nd most Elite 8s
- 3rd most NCAA basketball wins all-time
- 3rd most NCAA basketball titles all-time
- 101-87 vs. Duke all-time with a +46 scoring differential
Regardless of who took the job, they have some big shoes to fill after Williams. Eventually, North Carolina decided to stay close to home and hire Davis who was a North Carolina player (1988-92) and a longtime assistant under Williams (2012-21). The hire drew mixed responses as there were more appealing and acclaimed coaches on the market. Nevertheless, Davis was going to be North Carolina’s Head Coach for the foreseeable future.
Fast-forward to now North Carolina is in the Final Four, virtually the game of the century vs. longtime rival Duke. A team that they split the series with earlier in the season, each victor winning by double-digits. However, Duke is looking for vengeance since the Tar Heels spoiled successful Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski, last collegiate game at Cameron Indoor Stadium. It could be considered that the Duke win was the turning point of Tar Heel season.
Getting to the Final Four was no easy task. At the end of January, it looked very unlikely North Carolina was going to make the NCAA tournament after multiple double-digit losses to Miami and Wake Forest. In a down year in the Atlantic Coast Conference [ACC] every win matters. Getting blown out by Tennessee, Kentucky, Miami, and Wake Forest did not help the early “Bracketology” for North Carolina. In addition, there were no positive early remarks about Coach Davis being the right fit for the Head Coaching position.
The middle of February loss to ACC bottom-feeder Pittsburgh essentially put the rest of the season into the hunt or be hunted mode. Winning six (plus the Duke win) out of the next seven helped alleviate any concerns about; one Davis being the right pick for the coaching, two North Carolina making the tournaments.
Despite all the concerns throughout the season Davis has figured out which were the best rotations going forward. According to Evan Miya, the lineup of Caleb Love, RJ Davis, Leaky Black, Brady Manek, and Armando Bacot are one of the best 5-man lineups in all of college basketball.
Being an 8-seed it was a longshot for first-year Coach Davis and company to get as far as they currently are now. The chances of North Carolina going far based off the season that they had it would not be a shocker if they lost in either of the first two rounds, specifically to number one seed on their side of the bracket, Baylor. Combined with hot shooting from the outside and hard work on the defensive end the Tar Heels have gotten through the tough gauntlet of their side of the bracket which included ninth seed Marquette, Baylor, fourth seed UCLA, and upstart Cinderella team Saint Peter’s. It was not been an easy path but Coach Davis has proven to be the right man for the job.
What should fans expect for round three between North Carolina vs. Duke, how can the Tar Heels be victorious once again? Coach Davis has a well-oiled machine right now, these are some ways for them to win.