Size of Hubert Davis’ rotation still mystery but his desired tempo isn’t

R.L. Bynum

By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — With a more veteran team and many options on his overhauled North Carolina roster, will Coach Hubert Davis play a bigger rotation?

That answer may come later, but he didn’t offer one at men’s basketball media day, reiterating that he doesn’t have any philosophy on the rotation size he prefers.

“My philosophy is the same — prepare and practice and play really well, you’ll play,” said Davis, who had six players transfer, five of whom didn’t do enough to earn the coach’s trust enough to get consistent playing time off the bench.

In the NCAA championship game against Kansas in 2022, Davis continued to play a tight rotation and admitted that his players got tired in the second half. Last season, he mostly stuck to a seven-player rotation.

“I don’t have a philosophy of, ‘I have a five-man rotation; I only want to play eight guys,’ “ Davis said. “I don’t have a number. But if you prepare and you practice and you play well, you will play.”

This season, Davis has three fifth-year players in center Armando Bacot, and guards Cormac Ryan (a Notre Dame transfer) and Paxton Wojcik (a Brown transfer), two seniors in guard RJ Davis and Jae’Lyn Withers (a Louisville transfer) and two juniors in wing Harrison Ingram (a Stanford transfer) and center James Okonkwo (a West Virginia transfer).

When you consider that UNC also has another likely starter in freshman five-star guard Elliot Cadeau, along with sophomore guard Seth Trimble off the bench, it seems that Coach Davis has the potential depth to play lots of players.

With the same approach as during his first two seasons, there’s no way to predict how many players will get regular playing time. The third-year coach may not change his rotation size, depending on how many players earn significant playing time, but he is committed to one change.

“One of the things that I wanted to change — do a better job this year compared to last year — is just our tempo,” Davis said. “I want to play faster. Whether it’s a make or miss, I want us to go.”

Cadeau suggested that he doesn’t expect the rotation won’t be small.

“I think it’s gonna be a lot faster since we have a lot of depth on the bench,” Cadeau said. “Starting five? I think we’re gonna be playing a lot faster because we’re gonna have fresh bodies coming in and out and just a lot more ball movement. We’ve been playing defense together during these few practices, and we just been sharing the ball. And everybody on the team is so unselfish it’s been great.”

Having Cadeau in the lineup, with his ability to sling a long, accurate transition pass to start the fast break, should make that dynamic easier to change.

“No. 1, there needed to be a commitment to play this way,” Davis said. “No. 2, you got to be in shape. And I feel like we’ve checked both of those boxes. So in terms of a tempo standpoint, we’re gonna play faster.”

Playing well in transition is often predicated on rebounding well and creating havoc on the defensive end. UNC did the former last season with a defensive rebounding average (28.3) that was eighth in the country. The latter was lacking, though: the Tar Heels were 324th in the country in forced turnovers at 10.45 per game.

“From a defensive standpoint, I know one of the things that we had to improve on is to find a way to be able to generate steals and deflections and be able to get into the open court,” Davis said. “We’ve made some tweaks and pivots to be able to put us in positions to get those steals and deflections to allow us to get into the open court, and so that we can find more ways to score and be more disruptive on the defensive end.”

Carolina’s 5.4 steals per game were 292nd in the country.

In practice so far, Davis said that the team’s on-the-ball defense is better than last season, with big men able to defend on the perimeter and guards able to hold their own inside.

“We have that ability to be able to have that versatility on the defensive end,” Davis said. “It allows you to be more creative and do some different things out there.”

Davis suggested that Carolina will become less predictable on defense, able to change “pitches” and keep opponents guessing.

“Last year, it was a lot of man-to-man defense, but there weren’t any changes in terms of different types of looks,” Davis said. “And that’s something that we’ve talked about and I feel like we have the ability to do that because of the individual defense that we have from top to bottom.”

So fans who want to see a bigger rotation are going to have to wait for the season to play out to see if that happens. But you can safely assume there will be a faster tempo.

DateMonth/dayTimeOpponent/event
(current ranks)		TV/
record
October
24FridayL, 78–76vs. No. 10 BYU in SLCExhib.
29WednesdayW, 95–53vs. Winston-Salem St.Exhib.
November
3MondayW, 94–54vs. Central Arkansas1–0
7FridayW, 87–74vs. No. 17 Kansas2–0
11TuesdayW, 89–74vs. Radford3–0
14FridayW, 97–53vs. N.C. Central4–0
18TuesdayW, 73–61vs. Navy5–0
Fort Myers Tip-Off
25TuesdayW, 85–70vs. St. Bonaventure6–0
27ThursdayL, 74–58vs. No. 9 Michigan State6–1
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
2TuesdayW, 67–64at Kentucky7–1
—————————
7SundayW, 81–61vs. Georgetown8–1
13SaturdayW, 80–62vs. USC Upstate9–1
16TuesdayW, 77–58vs. ETSU10–1
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
20Saturday3 p.m.vs. Ohio StateCBS
—————————
22Monday8 p.m.vs. East CarolinaACCN
30Tuesday7 p.m.vs. Florida StateESPN2
January
3Saturday2:15at SMUThe CW
10Saturday6 p.m.vs. Wake ForestACCN
14Wednesday9 p.m.at StanfordACCN
17Saturday4 p.m.at CaliforniaACCN
21Wednesday7 p.m.vs. Notre DameESPN2
24Saturday2 or 2:30at No. 23 VirginiaESPN or
ESPNU
31Saturday2 p.m.at Georgia TechACCN
February
2Monday7 p.m.vs. SyracuseESPN
7Saturday6:30vs. No. 3 DukeESPN
10Tuesday7 p.m.at MiamiESPN or
ESPN2
14Saturday2 p.m.vs. PittsburghESPN
17Tuesday7 p.m.at N.C. StateESPN or
ESPN2
21Saturday1 p.m.at SyracuseABC
23Monday7 p.m.vs. No. 11 LouisvilleESPN
28Saturday6:30 or 8:30vs. Virginia TechESPN or
ESPN2
March
3Tuesday7 p.m.vs. ClemsonESPN or
ESPN2
7Saturday6:30at No. 3 DukeESPN
10–14Tues.-Sat.ACC
tournament		Spectrum Center,
Charlotte
No.ClassPlayerPos.HgtWgt
8FreshmanCaleb Wilson (5 star)46–10215
5FreshmanIsaiah Denis (4 star)CG6–4180
3FreshmanDerek Dixon (4 star)CG6–5200
40SophomoreIvan Matlekovic57–0255
11SophomoreJonathan PowellG6–6190
2SophomoreJames Brown 56–10240
1SophomoreZayden High46–10230
44JuniorLuca Bogavac
(BO-guh-VAHTS)		W6–6215
4JuniorJaydon Young26–4200
13RS juniorHenri Veesaar
(VEH-sar)		57–0225
0JuniorKyan Evans16–2175
15JuniorJarin Stevenson46–10215
7SeniorSeth Trimble26–3200
Walk-ons
25SophomoreJohn Holbrook46–8230
32JuniorEvan Smith26–1195
6RS seniorElijah Davis26–3205

Former UNC players who transferred

PlayerClass next seasonPos.HgtWgtNext school
Elliot CadeauJuniorPG6–1180Michigan
Jalen WashingtonSeniorC6–10235Vanderbilt
Ian JacksonSophomoreG6–4190St. John’s
Cade TysonSeniorF6–7200Minnesota
Ven-Allen LubinSeniorC6–8230N.C. State
DateMonth/dayTimeOpponent/event
(current ranks)		TV/
record
October
24FridayL, 78–76vs. No. 10 BYU in SLCExhib.
29WednesdayW, 95–53vs. Winston-Salem St.Exhib.
November
3MondayW, 94–54vs. Central Arkansas1–0
7FridayW, 87–74vs. No. 17 Kansas2–0
11TuesdayW, 89–74vs. Radford3–0
14FridayW, 97–53vs. N.C. Central4–0
18TuesdayW, 73–61vs. Navy5–0
Fort Myers Tip-Off
25TuesdayW, 85–70vs. St. Bonaventure6–0
27ThursdayL, 74–58vs. No. 9 Michigan State6–1
DecemberACC/SEC
Men’s Challenge
2TuesdayW, 67–64at Kentucky7–1
—————————
7SundayW, 81–61vs. Georgetown8–1
13SaturdayW, 80–62vs. USC Upstate9–1
16TuesdayW, 77–58vs. ETSU10–1
CBS Sports Classic
in Atlanta
20Saturday3 p.m.vs. Ohio StateCBS
—————————
22Monday8 p.m.vs. East CarolinaACCN
30Tuesday7 p.m.vs. Florida StateESPN2
January
3Saturday2:15at SMUThe CW
10Saturday6 p.m.vs. Wake ForestACCN
14Wednesday9 p.m.at StanfordACCN
17Saturday4 p.m.at CaliforniaACCN
21Wednesday7 p.m.vs. Notre DameESPN2
24Saturday2 or 2:30at No. 23 VirginiaESPN or
ESPNU
31Saturday2 p.m.at Georgia TechACCN
February
2Monday7 p.m.vs. SyracuseESPN
7Saturday6:30vs. No. 3 DukeESPN
10Tuesday7 p.m.at MiamiESPN or
ESPN2
14Saturday2 p.m.vs. PittsburghESPN
17Tuesday7 p.m.at N.C. StateESPN or
ESPN2
21Saturday1 p.m.at SyracuseABC
23Monday7 p.m.vs. No. 11 LouisvilleESPN
28Saturday6:30 or 8:30vs. Virginia TechESPN or
ESPN2
March
3Tuesday7 p.m.vs. ClemsonESPN or
ESPN2
7Saturday6:30at No. 3 DukeESPN
10–14Tues.-Sat.ACC
tournament		Spectrum Center,
Charlotte

Photo via @UNC_Basketball

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Published by R.L. Bynum

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