The formula for the UNC basketball team is “TEAM.”
For the first time since 2015–2016, the UNC basketball team is 8–0 in the ACC after nine straight victories, and they are showing genuine team cohesion both on and off the court. their success is largely due to their chemistry.
In a recent interview with ESPN, big man Armando Bacot talked about the Tar Heels this season and what is enabling them to play at such a high level.
How close-knit is this group? When asked what has been helping this squad throughout its nine-game winning streak, Bacot’s first response was, “those four letters you just stated.” T.E.A.M.
Even more astounding is the fact that, although his statistics aren’t as high as some UNC basketball fans would want to see, Armando Bacot is still averaging a double-double. But we at Keeping It Heel think that Bacot is playing some of his finest hoops to date. He is cooperating with the TEAM and following their instructions.
During this nine-game winning streak, he is boxing out at an exceptional level, which is helping other players like Harrison Ingram and Jae’lyn Withers get more rebounds. He is playing better defense than he has ever played, allowing his guy to shoot less than 30% from the field. Finally, with 38 blocks, he has established himself as this team’s primary rim protector. With the exception of 2022–2023, when he had 65, that is more than any other season in his career.
When asked about RJ Davis’ performance, Bacot mentioned the efforts he had made over the course of his career, which had made him perhaps the best guard in the nation this season. There is no disputing that Davis is a fantastic guard who is having a historic season. The chemistry between Davis and Bacot, though, is unrivaled.
This season, North Carolina has used pick-and-roll play with Bacot and Davis countless times. In most cases, this gives Davis a great view of the rim, which is what makes him so effective. Bacot is blocking the lane so that Davis, or any other guard from North Carolina, has a clear route to the hoop if it isn’t a pick-and-roll.
In this montage of Davis’s game against Wake Forest earlier this week, you can see him seal a play in the paint or score on seven Bacot screens. Supporters would not be griping as much about the UNC basketball star’s lack of output if Bacot was the source of those points.
Bacot would have a lot of “points responsible for” for the 2023–2024 UNC basketball team, and there wouldn’t even be a discussion if “points responsible for” was a basketball track metric comparable to “touchdowns responsible for” in football.
Site expert Nick Delahanty and I discuss our opinions on Bacot and why we aren’t worried in our most recent Talkin Heels podcast. We start talking about this at 35:45 in the video.
Bacot is going above and beyond what this team asks of him. His entire ESPN interview is just more evidence of what a fantastic teammate he is and what makes the entire UNC basketball team of 2023–2024 so exceptional. They sincerely care about each other’s achievements and are in love with one another.
When North Carolina and Armando Bacot play Florida State on Saturday at 2:00 PM on ESPN, they’ll be trying to keep up their winning streak and maintain their ACC perfect record.
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