When UNC’s Armando Bacot has a ‘funky game,’ he hears about it — from mom
Big dog status.
If North Carolina forward Armando Bacot sees those words appear in a text after Friday’s NCAA tournament first-round game against Wisconsin, the Tar Heels are probably going to be marching into the second round.
Christie Lomax, Bacot’s mother, is his biggest fan, but she doesn’t give praise that’s not earned. When he plays well, like scoring 20 points with 13 rebounds against Notre Dame in the ACC tournament, she lets him know with a text.
“That’s how I expect him to play, that’s how he’s supposed to come up and show up to play,” Lomax told The News & Observer. “He knows those games I’m really, really excited about and really commend him on because that’s who he is. That’s his gift and talents.”
The 6-foot-10 sophomore forward leads the Tar Heels with 12.2 points per game, 8.0 rebounds per game and field goal percentage, shooting 62.7 percent from the floor.
But when he’s not at the top of his game, Lomax doesn’t find the silver lining to spare Bacot’s feelings. He has come to expect, anticipate even, her critique after every game.
“Since I’ve been a little kid when I first started playing basketball, my mom has always been kind of telling me what I need to do, what I need to get better at and what I need to keep doing,” Bacot said. “It’s just something she’s just been continually doing and I know I can listen to her because she’s going to always keep it 100 with me.”
Nothing sugar-coated from mother or coach
Her brutally honest assessments, said with love, of course, can be as blunt as anything Bacot would hear from UNC coach Roy Williams and his coaching staff. After Bacot scored just 1 point and took just one shot from the floor against Clemson, Lomax did not spare the rod in her criticism.
She texted him that was a “funky game” and she didn’t “know what was wrong” with Bacot but he let the team down.
Bacot hasn’t received that kind of feedback in a while now. He’s scored double figures in five consecutive games, which is the longest streak of his career. He’s averaged 17 points while shooting 65 percent from the field and averaged 10.6 rebounds in that span. He was named first-team All-ACC tournament, the lone Carolina player to receive a postseason honor.
“There were times during this year that Armando was our most consistent player,” Williams said. “And I think that that was extremely important to us all season.”
Bacot did get some much-needed in-game needling from Williams in their win over Virginia Tech. After foul trouble forced Bacot to sit most of the first half, he proceeded to be challenged by Williams at halftime not to play “soft.”
There are parallels between how Williams has pushed Bacot and how he pushed former forward Brice Johnson. Williams sees the untapped potential in Bacot and sometimes has to cajole it out. Bacot went on to score 13 of his 17 points with nine of his 13 rebounds in the second half.
“I’m telling you, he’s just relentless when it comes to me,” Bacot said after the game. “He’s always riding me every single day.”
Getting to work during the pandemic
That’s why Lomax eased off last season. She wanted Bacot to find his own space as a freshman and work through his own problems. But when the pandemic hit and he spent the summer back home in Richmond, Virginia, she didn’t allow him to sit idle.
Bacot got back to work, thinking about how he could improve over his freshman season when he averaged 9.6 points and 8.2 rebounds. And frankly, knowing he’d have to be more consistent to stay in the lineup with freshmen Day’Ron Sharpe and Walker Kessler joining the rotation.
“For him to have had to come home and do nothing but work out and play ball and get in that mindset for this season, it was a blessing for us,” Lomax said. “So as soon as he got home I immediately hunkered down on him like, alright, we don’t have nothing but time so, let’s do it.”
Bacot could become the first player to lead the Tar Heels in both scoring and rebounding since Johnson did it in 2015-16. With momma’s help, he’s been doing just fine.
NCAA tournament: North Carolina vs. Wisconsin
When: 7 p.m., Friday
Watch: CBS