RALEIGH, N.C. -- For 20 minutes on a sun-splashed Saturday afternoon inside PNC Arena, Xavier Johnson silenced both his critics and the rowdy North Carolina State crowd onhand.
And I mean that in the most literal sense. Listen for yourself:
When this happened, I was, unfortunately, looking down at my computer. I totally missed it. But I knew something big went down, because the crowd quieted around me in that way a home crowd does when their squad gets owned. As Johnson flushed the slam, I heard no less than three nearby fans utter a simultaneous "Oof."
Johnson can do that kinda thing.
His first step is elite. And to further emphasize Johnson's explosiveness, consider this: He's listed at 6-foot-3, but I can assure you Pitt's measuring tape was feeling generous that day. I've stood next to him several times this year. I am not 6-foot-5. Feel me?
That slam, then, gathering just inside the free-throw line and soaring, becomes even more impressive. In that masterful first half, the dunk dazzled, but it was this ...
... and this ...
... that inspired full confidence in Johnson.
Across his freshman year with Pitt last season — in which he led the team with 15.5 points per game — Johnson got the job done mostly by slicing through the lane and drawing contact and/or finishing at the rim. This year, however, he's struggled in that realm as teams have continually game planned to collapse the lanes and to force Johnson and fellow sophomore Trey McGowens to beat them another way. Johnson averaged 6.3 free-throw attempts per game last year, a figure that's dropped to 4.4 this year. Everybody knows what he wants to do, and they're guarding him smartly. Now, he needs to prove he can do something else.
Enter that step-back-dribble, fadeaway jumper up there against North Carolina State. Or that pull-up three in transition.
Johnson's 32.6 percent clip from deep is second on the team, trailing just Ryan Murphy, who is 40 for 120 (33.3 percent) on the year. And yeah, 32.6 percent isn't elite by any means — seven teams in the ACC shoot better from three — but it's better than what this current Pitt team is capable of producing otherwise. Their 29.2 percent mark from three as a unit is dead last, 15th out of 15, in the conference.
All that makes all this so unfortunate:
Masterful work here by Pitt's Xavier Johnson to bait refs the last five minutes of the game. Did work once, but his ability to shoot 3s while kicking his legs in different directions is outstanding. pic.twitter.com/bAMGsym7b2
— Inside Pack Sports (@InsidePackSport) March 1, 2020
That's Johnson flailing and flopping, trying to draw contact and to bait the refs into a call. It didn't work. It almost never does. Yet, he attempted it so frequently against North Carolina State, a highlight video could be cut up to showcase the madness.
The concern here is three-fold:
- He missed every shot he took while looking for contact and attempted only two free throws all game. It wasn't working on the most basic level. He wasn't getting the calls.
- That entire collection of clips occurs with five minutes or less left in the game — exactly when his team needs him the most.
- This is a pattern of behavior — and Johnson knows when it happens.
"I made a dumb decision at the end of the game," Johnson was telling me way back in early January after his Panthers defeated North Carolina on the road in Chapel Hill, N.C. "I know I did. That’s one thing that I gotta move on [from]. Because I got more games left.”
One game earlier, Pitt lost at home against Wake Forest, with Johnson once again focusing more on drawing contact than making plays down the stretch. That answer he provided up there was referring to one particularly egregious example of a forced, off-the-mark shot attempt late in the game, but it applies just as directly now, in early March, as it did then.
That, above all, is cause for concern. Despite repeatedly seeing negative results when he forces the issue late in games, looking for contact and eschewing the offensive set, Johnson keeps choosing that path. He has other tools — go ahead and watch those gifs up top again if you need a refresher — but he's electing not to use them. He's not trusting himself or the offense.
Instead, Johnson will get caught up in late-game situations, where he panics to varying degrees. Want to see the most concerning degree of them all?
Behold:
That's Johnson collecting a loose ball late in the game, spinning, falling and passing to McGowens, who lays it off for Au'Diese Toney in the corner for three.
Nice play, right?
Overall, for the team, yes. For Johnson, though?
Watch him again, after he goes down. First, he remains on the court, wallowing a little, then slowly gets back to his feet. There's no urgency there, despite the fact his team is down seven with less than two minutes to play. The shot goes through just as he stands upright, but there's no celebration. There's just ... more wallowing. Hands up, shoulders shrugged, Johnson's wondering why the referee didn't blow the whistle long after the sequence concluded.
His focus shifts from making smart plays — as he did for the entirety of the first half — to forcing the ball and to drawing fouls. Once the shift occurs, it's seemingly all he thinks about. There's no breaking it. It's a mindset that lingers until the final buzzer sounds.
Here was Capel after that disastrous Wake Forest finish:
“Our last few possessions, we didn’t get the shots that we really wanted,” Capel was saying. “That’s on all of us. We have to do a better job in those situations knowing where we want to get the shots from and making sure we execute to do that. We can’t panic.”
And yet, this particular form of panic ensues from Johnson deep into the season, with just one regular-season game left before the ACC Tournament kicks off in Greensboro, N.C., March 10.
The offensive gifts are there, and Johnson's team needs them — all of them — if they hope to snap their current six-game skid.
Otherwise, this season will go from promising and encouraging to a total flop down the stretch.
