Kennedy Meeks rediscovers game at right time

HOUSTON, Tx. (TNS) — The Associated Press, National Association of Basketball Coaches and U.S. Basketball Writers of America agreed that North Carolina forward Brice Johnson is a first-team All-American.

Media members and head coaches distinguished UNC forward Isaiah Hicks as the best sixth man in the Atlantic Coast Conference.

UNC’s Kennedy Meeks — well, maybe the best thing that can be said about him is that he seems to be rediscovering his game. And just in time, too. The Tar Heels sure could use him during the Final Four. They go against Syracuse on Saturday in NRG Stadium (8:49 p.m., TBS).

“All their bigs give us something to think about,” Syracuse forward Malachi Richardson said.

Apparently even Meeks, as iffy as he’s been.

“Meeks is great player,” Richardson said. “He’s a great rebounder. He’s great in the high post.”

Meeks (6-10, 260) is averaging 9.2 points and 5.8 rebounds per game. He began the season 15 pounds lighter than he was a year ago. During UNC’s season opener against Temple, he was looking better in his uniform and had fleet feet that he used to put 25 points together with 11 rebounds.

After that, Meeks had solid games, although the four points he scored at Texas weren’t saying much. He missed UNC’s next seven games with a bone bruise on his left knee.

Meeks returned to the lineup when UNC beat Syracuse at the Carrier Dome in New York. He scored eight points, had a couple of rebounds.

Something was different with Meeks. His feet didn’t seem so fleet anymore. He looked rusty and stiff. Meeks said missing seven games was a lot of time to be away.

Meeks scored 23 points against N.C. State. But his game never quite got right during the rest of the regular season.

Johnson kept generating double figures in points and rebounds. Hicks easily was giving UNC more off the bench than Meeks was producing as a starter.

ESPN basketball analyst Jay Williams declared that Hicks ought to be in Meeks’ spot in the starting lineup.

“At first, you pay close attention to those things,” Meeks said. “As a player, you’ve got to move on from game to game. People are going to say what they want to say, regardless of if you’re playing good, regardless of if you’re playing bad. Some people just don’t like you. It is what it is.”

UNC coach Roy Williams kept Meeks in the starting lineup. The big man didn’t do much neither in the ACC tournament nor during the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament.

But Meeks was a different dude during Rounds 3 and 4 in Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Center. He scored 15 points against Indiana in the Sweet 16 and had 10 more against Notre Dame in the Elite 8.

“He stepped up for us,” UNC point guard Joel Berry II said. “Those are things we need Kennedy to do. We’re not asking him to give us 20 points and 10 rebounds like Brice is. We’re just asking him to play within himself. That’s what he’s been doing the last couple of games, and that’s what we need from him.”

Meeks didn’t do much on the boards in Philly. He had three rebounds against Indiana, two against Notre Dame.

Since last season, when Meeks also was a slimmer version of himself — he showed up at UNC weighing 317 pounds — Williams has been saying that the kid needs to learn to be a more explosive player in his lighter body.

UNC strength-and-conditioning coach Jonas Sahratian is trying to help Meeks get there. In Philly, while the Tar Heels were getting loose before the second half against Indiana, Sahratian had Meeks sort of rebounding with a medicine ball before getting him to retrieve a basketball. It was a drill aimed at helping with explosive moves.

“We’re trying. He’s still a work in progress — a constant work in progress,” Sahratian said. “Neurologically, he’s not the most wired guy. So we’re trying to do things to excite his nervous system so that he has that feeling of moving up quickly.

“You’re kind of stuck with your genetics. He’s gotten better. He’s never gonna be Isaiah Hicks or Brice Johnson.”

Williams has talked about Meeks picking up weight during the season because so much food is made available to the Tar Heels. Meeks said he gained maybe a couple of pounds while he was injured this season.

“He’s been staying pretty consistent. But it’s a constant struggle and battle,” Sahratian said. “Once a guy with a weight issue, probably always a guy [with a weight issue].”