DUE TO THE SETBACK OF THE TEAM,A KEY PLAYER FOR THE TAR HEELS, RJ Davis, ANNOUNCE STEP DOWN TO THE TEAM.
Even though he had a fantastic season and won ACC Player of the Year, his play soured just when it mattered most. Thanks in large part to Davis’s on-court problems, the top-seeded Tar Heels suffered a heartbreaking 89-87 loss over No. 4 Alabama in the March Madness Sweet Sixteen.
Acknowledged as a first-team All-American, Davis had a difficult shooting evening, finishing the game with a 4-of-20 field goal and a 0-of-9 three-point game. But in the post-game press conference, teammate Cormac Ryan stood up for him, keeping Davis from devolving into self-criticism.
“I must add my voice to this. You guys are free to discuss the game in whatever way you choose. It would be possible to discuss RJ and the statistics. You could discuss anything. If it were not for RJ Davis and Armando Bacot, we would not be in this situation. Without these two players, Carolina would not be in this situation.
The age-old question in sports circles is whether elite athletes should take the bulk of the blame when they perform poorly in pivotal games despite their outstanding regular-season efforts. Ryan angrily shot down any idea that Davis was to blame, emphasizing their incredible season-long consistency.
During the regular season, Davis led North Carolina to a conference title with an astounding average of 21.2 points per game on 42.8 percent shooting, while his teammate Armando Bacot often recorded double-doubles.
Although Ryan’s support for his teammate is admirable, there’s no denying that this game will cloud Davis’ record. Naturally, Davis has greater responsibilities as the squad leader—a weight that can seem unfair for a 22-year-old college student. That being said, the greatest players are frequently recognized for their contributions during the most important games.
Davis has left his mark on the history of North Carolina basketball in spite of the loss. Remarkably, he eclipsed Michael Jordan in the UNC scoring record book and, in NCAA Tournament action, owns the second-best free-throw % in Tar Heels history, per GoHeels.com.
Basically, Ryan has a point when he defends Davis. Given the program’s legendary past, Davis’s ranking as one of the best players to wear the North Carolina uniform is certainly impressive.
Nevertheless, he bears some of the blame for the team’s loss, therefore his difficulties versus Alabama cannot be completely disregarded.
