A game like that calls for a postgame column like this.
Depending on how you choose to look at that game, we’ve got three different options for you. All of these are completely viable outlooks, and all are equally true. That’s what happens when you watch a four-overtime basketball game. It’s simply impossible to distill it to one underlying factor.
Column One: What an effort.
On Sunday afternoon, Hubert Davis finally got the effort and intensity for which he’s been pleading.
The Tar Heels spent most of the game sprawling on the floor for loose balls and battling in the paint for better position in a physical game. The 103-101 quadruple overtime loss wasn’t a case of giving less effort than Alabama.
That charge was led primarily by Puff Johnson, who had his best game as a Tar Heel and played a whopping 48 minutes. Johnson was the embodiment of what Davis has asked his team to do, best personified at the end of the first overtime in a tie game when he tracked down a loose ball and threw himself on the ball while calling timeout to give Carolina a chance to win.
That’s just one of several Johnson plays that were magnificent—he also battled Alabama big man Charles Bediako for a rebound and forced a jump ball that gave possession to Carolina, scored off his own offensive rebound a minute later, snagged a key defensive rebound with three minutes left in the second half, got on the floor to force a jump ball and Tar Heel possession with 51 seconds left in regulation, blocked a shot early in the first overtime, and grabbed an offensive rebound and scored with 90 seconds left in the second overtime.
Those are only the highlight reel plays he made from the six-minute mark of the second half forward.
Having Johnson healthy makes Carolina a better, more competitive team moving forward.
Column Two: Missed opportunities.
In a game very reminiscent of the triple-overtime loss to Wake Forest during Roy Williams’ first season at Carolina, the Tar Heels will walk away from Sunday frustrated with numerous missed chances to win the game…
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