North Carolina is already sorting out who does what with the ball, and Terrence Brown Jr. has taken the heaviest share. Through three exhibitions and Monday’s season opener, tracked play-type data shows the Tar Heels using multiple ball handlers, with Brown carrying 12.2 offensive possessions per game while Neo Avdalas and Angelo Brizzi have been used in different, narrower ways.
That split matters now because the season is still young, and North Carolina is trying to make its offense harder to guard before the schedule gets tougher. Michael Malone said that is the plan: multiple initiators, different looks, and enough variety that the ball does not live in one place for long. In practice, that means Brown can be the one who finishes an action, even when Avdalas starts it.
Brown’s usage has been the most demanding. More than half of his tracked possessions come in the pick-and-roll and transition, including 3.8 pick-and-roll possessions per game and 2.8 in transition. He scores 1 point per possession as a pick-and-roll handler,.73 in transition and.86 on catch-and-shoot chances. In Monday’s 80–72 win over Western Carolina, he still found production in a rough shooting night, going 3-of-11 overall and 0-of-3 from 3-point range while scoring 14 points on 8 of 10 free throws. He also added two steals and a block.
The fit is not seamless, though, and that is the real story here. Avdalas has been the most efficient pick-and-roll handler of the three guards, producing 1.4 points per possession in that role while averaging about 11 tracked offensive possessions per game. He also posted 13 points, seven rebounds and four assists against Western Carolina, even as he had three turnovers. Malone said Brown needs to trust that if Avdalas is initiating, Brown may be getting the ball on the second side or the backside of the action, and that Brown’s response is never in doubt because of how he is wired.
Brizzi’s role has been smaller by design. He has about 10 tracked offensive possessions across the four games, or about 2.5 per game, and 30% of those have been catch-and-shoot attempts. That leaves North Carolina with a clear early hierarchy: Brown is carrying the largest offensive load, Avdalas is the best creator in the pick-and-roll, and Brizzi is operating more as a spacing piece. How Malone balances that mix when stronger opponents arrive will tell whether the Tar Heels can keep all three guards involved without dulling the edge that Avdalas has brought as a creator.
