The Carolina Break is an ageless wonder

The Tar Heels have run their patented system for years. How do they maintain their offensive effectiveness in today’s game when opponents know what is being run?

North Carolina head coach Roy Williams is a disciple of the Dean Smith coaching tree. Williams was an assistant for the legendary college basketball coach for ten years during 1978-1988 and during this time he learned Smith’s basketball philosophies and systems.

Watching the Tar Heels transition game and famed “Carolina Break” are clear and obvious examples of Williams beliefs in the Dean Smith school of basketball.

The success of North Carolina under coach Williams is not surprising. However, what is fascinating is the lack of discussion around the Tar Heels sustained success while running a system that has been defined and seen for years. North Carolina has remained highly successful on offense despite the longevity of the “Carolina Break.” Most systems the same age as North Carolina’s have not had the fortune of remaining dominant or at the forefront of college basketball.

This begs the question of how have the Tar Heels remained so potent on offense when every opponent has the reads to the Carolina offense on their scouting report? Let’s examine some diagrams to see how the “Carolina Break” is an ageless wonder.

Below is the ideal starting alignment for the “Carolina Break.” Notice the overload to one side of the floor. This initial spacing is used to manipulate the defense if the ball is reversed. Positionally, one should be the best ball-handler on the team, two and three are interchangeable wings that might be purposely placed depending on their dominant hand, four is the “trailer” who is always behind the five, who usually is the teams best post player. The “trailer” for the Tar Heels is usually more athletic than the post, however, these positions are not always fluid. Last but certainly not least, all players must sprint to the other side of the court, coach Williams does not care if you weigh 180 pounds or 260 pounds, you have to hustle!

It is imperative to say that the Tar Heels always look to enter the post. One reason North Carolina has stayed so potent offensively is that stressing the defense horizontally and vertically never goes out of style nor stops being effective. The Tar Heels can shoot from the perimeter and have some crafty players like senior Luke Maye who can operate in the post as well as shoot, which forces the defense to play them honestly.

We move onto the classic reversal/back screen/cross-screen action of the “Carolina Break” now that the base alignment has been explained. The back screen action occurs when no post entry is possible from the primary ball-handler or from the hi-lo pass from the trailer at the top of the key. The wing closest to the initial ball-handler sets a back screen onto four’s defender. Four will quickly fake going towards the ball to gain a spacing advantage before using the wing’s screen.

North Carolina rarely scores from a back screen lob because of how well-known and scouted this action is. However, numerous actions can flow after the back screen. The back screen can pose great problems for a switching defense as they would face a smaller wing player on a forward in the post.

An automatic action following the back-screen and no post entry is a cross screen between the four and five. During this time the wing who set the back screen pops out onto the perimeter and receives the ball and replacing the trailer’s original placement. The rapid movement from the back screen to cross-screen forces defenses to communicate at a high level. As you are probably noticing right now, while post-ups are not as popular as they once were, the philosophy of stressing the defense and making defenses hesitate are philosophies that can and will work in any era of basketball, which makes this “Carolina Break: truly timeless.

There are other actions in the “Carolina Break” we can cover but let’s end with the Spain pick-and-roll. See, the “Carolina Break” isn’t quite as old-school as you think. The Spain pick-and-roll is currently one of the most popular ball-screens in the world! The spacing is absolutely fantastic and the relocation of the post player should not go unnoticed. If the defense is scrambling to account for the ball-screen and rim-runner than the post player can find themselves ready for an uncontested layup.

Opposing coaches most certainly know the branches of the “Carolina Break” and what to expect from the North Carolina Tar Heels. However, despite knowing the half-court actions of Carolina’s secondary break, the overarching principles of tempo, space and stress make the “Carolina Break” a system that can compete in any era of basketball.