Earning Trust: How Jarin Stevenson and Jonathan Powell Are Shaping UNC’s Early Season Identity
Preparing for each game, Hubert Davis is figuring out which players he can trust for certain types of production. And when they give him more than that, it’s a bonus. Roy Williams used to say the Tar Heels were simply more gifted than the other team—and that was true last night against NC Central. But Davis also walked away with more evidence about the energy and effort he’s getting from Jonathan Powell and Jarin Stevenson.
One of the biggest preseason questions, and one that’s still worth watching, is how missed shots would affect Stevenson or Powell.
Billy Donovan once told a player that nine seconds shouldn’t outweigh the other 38 minutes he’s on the floor. A shot takes about a second. There are countless other ways to impact winning. Of course, as Roy also loved to remind everyone: “It sure looks a lot better when the ball actually goes in the basket.”
From where I sit, these two players are responding to that pressure in different ways.
Stevenson has been steady on both ends. He’s still bringing energy despite being a little banged up from that fall against Radford. He’s pulling down timely rebounds, blocking shots, and using his length to bother his assignment while playing fundamentally sound basketball. It’s a small sample size, but his net rating sits at 27 through the first four games. That matters.
I always wonder how a player’s production shifts when his minutes go up—or down. Jonathan Powell played 30 minutes a night at West Virginia. Through four games at UNC, he’s playing about half that. Yet the scoring is almost identical: 6 points here, 8 points there. The stage hasn’t rattled him. Powell isn’t shy about putting up threes, and over the past two games he’s taken better ones—less forcing, more rhythm. His corner three is absolutely something I’m here for, but he’s also flashed a couple of strong drives. If that becomes a reliable part of his game, defenses will have to respect it.
By the time we’re putting turkeys on the smoker, the real question will be whether Hubert Davis feels that slow-building trust in Powell and Stevenson—the kind that develops like good barbecue: low, slow, steady, and dependable. Or will that confidence burn off quickly, like a grill left too hot and unattended?
