By R.L. Bynum
INDIANAPOLIS — Michael Malone is only months into his return to college basketball, and Carolina’s 76–58 exhibition loss at Indiana on Sunday gave the first-year coach his first opportunity to show how he will handle a bad night with his new team.
The Tar Heels had beaten Southern Cal in Malone’s debut nine days earlier, and the contrast with the Hoosiers’ 53–31 rebounding edge was stark. Malone, whose path to Chapel Hill surprised even him, spoke afterward about what the last several months have taught him.
“I had no idea I was going to be here,” Malone said after the loss to a tall and physical Indiana team at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. “Not one time did I ever think I’d be coaching in college basketball.”
The college game he is learning again is different from the one he left. Malone said the adjustment has been a big focus since he took the job.
“The last six months for me have been definitely a learning experience,” Malone said. “Getting reacclimated to the college game. Last time I was in the college game was 25 years ago, and it’s changed quite a bit.”
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Malone said his attention has stayed on the players in front of him. The roster has 16 players, and he described building that group as the priority, even on a night when the results were hard to watch.
“My whole focus is pouring into the 16 kids in our roster,” Malone said. “It’s easier to love them after a win, but I got to love them after a loss, and sometimes that requires tough love.”
That tough love will come in the film room, where the Tar Heels will review the rebounding deficit, the turnovers and the stagnant stretches on offense. Malone said he expects the staff to hold players accountable and to demand improvement, and he made it clear the standard applies to him as well.
“I have to be better as a head coach and help our guys as we try to move this thing forward,” Malone said.
Jaydon Young said the message was delivered in the locker room before Malone said anything else. Young said Malone started by including himself in the criticism.
“We all got to be better, including him,” Young said of Malone’s first words to the team.
Malone said the contrast between the two exhibitions is part of what makes the early schedule useful. After an 88–60 win over short-handed Southern Cal, he said, everyone in the program was excited, and Sunday’s result reminded them that the same group can look very different a week later.
“Tonight we got blown out. We got our butts kicked,” Malone said. “We’re going to stay together. We’re going to watch the film. We’re going to own it and challenge ourselves to be better for our last exhibition game.”
He added that the loss didn’t worry him as much as it might have if the games counted, and that the team’s response matters most.
“Failure is never fatal, but it’s a hell of a learning experience if you’re willing to take that,” Malone said. “If you’re not getting better, you’re getting worse.”
Malone has eight practice days to work with the team to improve before Charlotte comes to the Smith Center on Oct. 27 for the final exhibition, and the season starts Nov. 2 against Western Carolina.
Photo courtesy of UNC Athletics
