Off the cuff: There have been games where free throw shooting cost Carolina wins and it has made games closer than they should have been. The game against Wake is an example of using free throws to blow somebody out. The Tar Heels hit 24 of 29 free throws, that's 12 more made free throws than the Deacons. Of course even with 12 fewer points the Tar Heels would have won handily. Another big determining factor was the three-point shooting. The Heels shot threes better than any other time this season. Leslie McDonald, who is really coming on, scored 15 of his points from beyond the arc while Paige scored nine points on threes. The Tar Heels scored 15 more points on three pointers than did Wake. So the free throws and three pointers amounted to a 27-point edge on Wake Forest. Once again, Coach Roy Williams tried to get his subs on the court to hold the ball at the end of the game. But one walk-on player Luke Davis passed to another walk-on Jackson Simmons on a nice play with six seconds left. Good for them. Seldom-used players should get a chance to play, not dribble the clock out. But Williams, I think unnecessarily, apologized to the Wake Forest coach at game's end. The very first thing he said was, "I'm sorry about those last points." Ridiculous. Had it been his starting five running a play to score at the end, yeah, I'd understand that. If anyone is to apologize, it should be Wake Forest coach Jeff Bzdelik to his subs for not playing them in a rout game like that. |
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