Vernon Carey: Garrison Brooks Is a Great Player

Freshman has watched two years of film on UNC big man

Vernon Carey will be tasked with defending UNC power forward Garrison Brooks in Saturday’s showdown with the Tar Heels.

Both players scored 18 points for their respective teams in the first meeting between Carolina and Duke. Carey is third in the league at 17.6 ppg, while Brooks is fifth at 16.4 ppg.

“He’s a great player,” Carey said. “Just watching film over the past two seasons, just seeing him progress, it’s going to be a battle (Saturday). That’s just what I’m looking forward to.”

As Carey’s freshman year has gone on, he’s seen more and more double teams and even triple teams at times.

“With the double and triple-teaming, I just have to pass out of the post I feel like a little bit quicker” he said, “and then make quicker moves just to get open and score. That’s what I have to do. Definitely with me never seeing it (double teams) before, just having to adjust to it, there were two or three games I was struggling a little bit, but I just adjusted to it, really.”

One way to beat the double teams is to score before the extra defenders can arrive. Coach Mike Krzyzewski has been trying to get Carey to get to the other end of the floor as fast as possible to set up early.

“He wants me to get down court quicker,” Carey said, “so I won’t see those double teams. It’s about me being able to score quickly and not see those double or triple teams.”