Jimmy Bitter didn’t have one of his better shooting days against Loyola on Saturday.
Bitter had one goal, but he took many shots, some of which looked forced. North Carolina coach Joe Breschi wasn’t worried about what appeared to be a little bit of a shooting rut for the usually sharp sophomore.
“I trust that he’ll come out of any funk,” Breschi said. “We never tell him to stop shooting, and he won’t, which is a good thing.”
Loyola’s defense gave the relentless shooter special attention by double-teaming Bitter quickly on dodges, and Breschi liked that team communication his offense responded with.
“I love the communication down at that end,” Breschi said. “(Bitter) was drawing double-teams and the rest of the attack and offense were letting him know.”
That communication helped Bitter lead the team with two assists on the day despite a less-than-stellar shooting performance.
Sankey back in action
Two weeks ago, sophomore Joey Sankey missed out on a snow-filled scrimmage against Denver, but when the Greyhounds came to Navy Field on Saturday, Sankey was back in action.
“It was precautionary stuff last week,” Breschi said. “Now that he’s back it’s great.”
“Great” may very well describe more than Breschi’s feelings. It could probably be used to describe Sankey’s play.
Late in the fourth quarter of the scrimmage, the Tar Heels found themselves down by one. On an isolation play behind cage, Sankey shook up his defender, making him look silly and drawing a double team.
As the slide came, Sankey found senior captain Marcus Holman wide open for a rip that tied the game.
Breschi said that he’s asking for veteran play like that from all his sophomores this season and even some of his freshmen.
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