Hubert Davis is right when he says, “It is what it is.”
He says it a lot and he said it again after Carolina’s hard-fought and frustrating loss to Duke at a Smith Center that was ready to pop Dean’s Dome but, once again, its home team couldn’t make the plays to reward the gallant effort.
The jam-packed Senior Night crowd was as loud as you’ve ever heard it. Like their favorite team, the occupants of each seat along the last row of the upper deck had their backs to the wall and tried to be a factor by exploding at every UNC basket and roaring at every chance to disrupt Duke.
Davis isn’t necessarily right about who he plays and for how long or for coaching an offense so limited that it seems easy to defend. But, sadly, he is right about his current team’s proclivity to miss good shots or ones that roll agonizingly off the rim.
The Tar Heels’ first five points might have been their best: Armando Bacot slammed a pocket pass from R.J. Davis; Leaky Black penetrated and scored in traffic; Caleb Love stole the ball and was fouled on a flying dunk attempt, making one of two free throws for a 5-0 lead. It did not get any better.
“We had open shots and chances around the basket,” Hubert Davis said. “After Pete (Nance) hit the 3 that put us up by four, I thought we would extend the lead but we never did. At the end of the day, you just have to make some of those shots. It is what it is.”
For the second time this season, the more experienced but slightly smaller and marginally less talented Tar Heels lost to the younger, bigger and better-coached Blue Devils, who probably aren’t good enough to go deep into the NCAA tournament but are already in the field and may have kept Carolina out.
“I told the team we still have time and opportunities, although it may be limited,” Davis allowed after the 62-57 loss on a great night of nationally televised basketball and might have been for an anxious Chapel Hill and Tar Heel Nation had a few more…