North Carolina fans have not liked what they’ve seen from the Tar Heels this season, and in the closing seconds of Tuesday’s disappointing loss to Pitt, ESPN analyst Jay Williams did not like what he was seeing, either.
The Tar Heels led at halftime, but trailed in the final minute on the road. The ESPN broadcast showed UNC head coach Hubert Davis pacing the sideline.
“What is going through Hubert Davis’ mind right now?” play-by-play announcer Kevin Brown asked as North Carolina trailed 69-65 with 24.9 seconds remaining.
“I can tell you what you want to go through North Carolina’s players minds right now, they are all fragmented on the court,” Williams said. “Look at Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is huddling in the middle of the court. It already looks as if, with 24.9 seconds left to go, North Carolina being down only four points, that the game feels over.
“None of them have huddled, none of them have talked to each other. This is what Hubert Davis has been talking about, the lack of leadership on this team… You’re never out of it until you’re out of it, but you need to have communication about what you’re doing next, what you’re going to run offensively, what you need to be in defensively, and there’s no quit in your voice.”
Jay Williams rips into UNC for a lack of fight.
“It already looks as if, with 24.9 seconds left to go, North Carolina being down only four points, that the game feels over.” pic.twitter.com/JqB3yV8nqc
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) January 29, 2025
Those are two of the most damning statements an analyst can make about any team, a lack of leadership and acting as if they’ve already lost a close game. As Williams alluded, Davis has pointed out the leadership issue.
North Carolina went on to lose, 73-65. The Tar Heels, who finished 29-8 last season, are now 13-9 and in serious danger of missing the NCAA Tournament for the third time in six seasons. And next up on the schedule is Williams’ alma mater, No. 2 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium, a bad place for a team still searching for chemistry and leadership to find itself.
