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Friedlander: Motivated by disrespect, UNC’s Elliot Cadeau has put in the work to become a ‘shooting’ star
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CHAPEL HILL, NC – There’s disrespect. Then there’s the level of disrespect Alabama showed Elliot Cadeau in the Sweet 16 last March.
The Crimson Tide thought so little of Cadeau’s ability to knock down 3-pointers that they stopped guarding him on the perimeter, daring him to shoot.
The North Carolina point guard made 2 early. But the defensive strategy eventually worked.
Cadeau missed his next 3 attempts from beyond the arc and was such a liability in other areas of his game, especially defense, that coach Hubert Davis pulled him 4½ minutes into the second half and never put him back in.
It’s an experience Cadeau hasn’t forgotten. Nor has he tried to forget.
“I watched it about 10 times just to motivate me,” he said of the 89-87 loss that prematurely ended the Tar Heels’ season. “I thought it was very disrespectful.”
Disrespectful, but understandable.
Although Cadeau put together a solid rookie season, good enough to lead UNC in assists and earn ACC All-Freshman honors, he struggled with his shot. He made just 18.9% from 3-point range (10-of-53) for the year and was especially cold late.
He missed 11 consecutive 3-pointers in the ACC and NCAA tournaments before finally getting those 2 to go in the Alabama game.
And he made improving those numbers his mission during the offseason.
“I’m working on my weaknesses,” he said during UNC’s preseason media day last month. “That’s been my focus all summer. Shooting and defense were things I really wanted to improve on and things the coaches thought I could improve on.
“My shot is coming along very well. It’s been more mental, confidence and reps. I didn’t change any mechanical things. I feel like I used to be an elite shooter. It’s just getting back to that.”
Cadeau spent countless hours in the gym putting up shots, building muscle memory and more important, rebuilding his confidence.
The work and the results it produced didn’t go unnoticed by his teammates and coach.
“You will not recognize Elliot Cadeau this year,” Davis proclaimed. “I mean it.”
As if to drive home that point, Cadeau changed his number from 2 to 3 this season. He then made a 3-pointer for the Tar Heels’ first basket of the new season on the way to a 3-of-4 performance from beyond the arc in No. 9 UNC’s 90-76 win against Elon.
He also had 8 assists, 4 rebounds, 3 steals and 2 blocked shots to go along with his 17 points in exactly the kind of start the 5-star prospect needed heading into Friday’s marquee matchup against top-ranked Kansas at Allen Field House.
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“I think it helped his confidence,” Davis said Wednesday of Cadeau’s opening night success. “He knocked down 3 3s, but it’s been more than that. With Elliot, he’s taken on a leadership role that has been huge for us. It was great last year. But just the maturity of having one more extra year, you can just see the growth in him.”
That growth shouldn’t come as a complete surprise.
As a teenager who reclassified to begin his career a year early, he was essentially a high school senior playing at the highest level of college basketball. Though he never looked out of place or overwhelmed, there were times when the game seemed to be going just a little too fast for him.
He’s still anything but a grizzled veteran. But to a true grizzled veteran like teammate RJ Davis, the reigning ACC Player of the Year now in his 5th college season, the difference in Cadeau from last season to now is noticeable.
“He’s confident, he’s vocal, he’s doing what Elliot does,” RJ Davis said. “That’s a testament to his work ethic. He’s hard on himself when things don’t go his way. But that just shows he wants to be great. To see the strides he’s made up to now, I’m really proud of him. I know he’s got a lot more left in the tank to show.”
It’s said that the greatest improvement a player makes comes between his freshman and sophomore seasons.
That’s been particularly true for UNC point guards.
Kendall Marshall and Marcus Paige are 2 examples of players who became better-than-average shooters after struggling early with an inconsistent stroke. Working with Paige, now an assistant coach on the UNC staff, was especially helpful for Cadeau.
The work was validated with an opening night performance that might just prompt opponents to show the 6-1 sophomore a little more respect to this season.
“It was definitely, like, a weight lifted off my shoulders to just see a ball go in like that, especially the first play,” Cadeau said after the game. “I was very excited, very happy.”
As retired Tar Heels coach Roy Williams used to say, everything always seems better when the ball goes through the basket.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
