Jimmy Kelley is an ACC correspondent for Rush the Court. You can follow him on Twitter @DevilsinDurham.

The concept of the sixth man in basketball is based around an extremely talented player sacrificing minutes for the better of the team, knowing that his role is to lead the second unit and provide energy when the starters aren’t clicking quite the way they should. These players have a feel for the moment. They are like closers in baseball, waiting their turn to make a difference, with the best players coming through so often it feels automatic. Never someone you want to rely on but always a perfect ace in the hole, North Carolina’s P.J. Hairston has thrived in this role and his play has told the story of the Tar Heels’ season as well as any.

North Carolina’s P.J. Hairston has been one of the Tar Heel’s more important players in 2012-13 as the team’s sixth man. (Getty Images)

Hairston ranks third on the team in both scoring (11.9 PPG) and rebounding (4.2 RPG) and has been a perfect change of pace when replacing Dexter Strickland and his defense-first mentality in the lineup. A gifted scorer, Hairston’s play in relief of Strickland has been been one of the primary determinants of how the Tar Heels’ offense performs on a nightly basis. When Hairston is hot, the entire team benefits. Of the 17 games Hairston has played in this season — he sat out the 83-59 thrashing at Indiana — the Tar Heels have won 13 and are outscoring their opponents by just over 12 points per game. In those games Hairston’s scoring average jumps up a point to 12.8 per game, but in an odd twist, his minutes drop just a tad (from 20.2 per game overall to 19.4 per game) in those wins. With less time on the floor, Hairston has actually been more effective. His shooting percentage in those wins is 42 percent which is noticeably higher than his overall average (39 percent). A true sixth man, Hairston is at his best when operating at full speed in short bursts.

In the four losses Hairston has been a part of, his numbers take a significant hit. His scoring drops to 9.3 points per game, his shooting percentage drops to a dreadful 17 percent (7-of-41) and his minutes tick slightly up to 22.8 MPG. The increase in minutes reflects bad offensive nights for North Carolina where they need Hairston to produce without the benefit of those around him performing at a high level. A much better complementary player, Hairston thrives in the role of second or third option instead of the “go-to guy.”

Wednesday night against Georgia Tech was the perfect example of what Hairston does for the Tar Heels. In his first four minutes on the court he scored eight points on three shots, took a charge, and registered a block and an assist. He finished with 15 points which complemented good games from Reggie Bullock (17 points) and James Michael McAdoo (14 points and nine rebounds). In a good win over Florida State, Hairston scored a game-high 23 points including a momentum-swinging dunk before the under-four timeout. but was helped by solid showings from McAdoo and Bullock. In his lone start of the season, a 79-73 win over UNLV, he scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting while McAdoo, Strickland and Marcus Paige also reached double figures. All three were great performances by Hairston but each was helped by the play of those around him. A good player in his own right, Hairston is at his best when complementing his talented teammates. Doris Burke called him “the wild card,” but he’s actually what all great sixth men are.

An ace in the hole.

Jimmy Kelley (20 Posts)

Follow Jimmy Kelley on Twitter @jp_kelley

This entry was posted on Friday, January 25th, 2013 at 2:12 pm by Jimmy Kelley and is filed under acc, microsites. Tagged: feature, james michael mcadoo, north carolina, pj hairston, reggie bullock, roy wiliams. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.