The Tar Heels are in trouble
The UNC Tar Heels men’s basketball team came into this season with some high expectations. Following their most recent loss to unranked Michigan State last week, those expectations feel a bit overhyped unless some changes are made in a hurry.
In years past, the Maui Invitational has been a great early season tournament for North Carolina. In fact, UNC has won the Maui Invitational the last three times they have won the national championship. This season was different. After winning their first game against Dayton, the Tar Heels have dropped two games in a row to fall to 4-3 overall.
The biggest issues I have noticed from the first seven games of the season are that the Heels are seriously undermanned defensively in the post, and they are having trouble rebounding the ball leading to too many second chance opportunities for their opponents.
We all knew this would be a different team than we have seen in many years for Carolina. Armando Bacot was a dominating presence in the post for five years and he was just the most recent of big men. Tar Heel fans are used to names like Tyler Hansborough, Kennedy Meeks, Sean May, Tyler Zeller, John Henson and many others. This year there is no one in the post that commands the respect of the names previously mentioned.
UNC lost to Kansas, where they were beaten in the paint by Jayhawk center Hunter Dickinson. He finished the game with 20 points and 10 rebounds. The Tar Heels then suffered their next loss against Auburn and the score was not as close as it appeared. The Heels lost 85-72 against the Tigers and were never really in the game from the opening tip.
UNC had an opportunity to bounce back and finish with a third-place finish in the Maui Invitational with a win against Michigan State. Once again, defense and rebounding were the Achilles heel for UNC; no pun intended. The Spartans shot over 54% from the field, scored 50 points in the paint, and outrebounded the Tar Heels 37-29. That was a recipe for disaster and the Heels lost 94-91.
The road for UNC doesn’t get any easier, unfortunately. Their next game is against No. 9 Alabama in the SEC/ACC Challenge and I am not sure if that is enough time for the Heels to fix their issues; however, head coach Hubert Davis feels otherwise.
“I definitely think this gives time to be able to look and do a deep dive in terms of doing something – maybe tweak, a little pivot, alter, or maybe even change – because what we’re doing defensively is not sustainable, especially against the good teams,” said Davis to the media last week.
“We’ve always struggled defensively in the first half. Second half, we’ve picked it up. Now, with the level of play that has increased, it’s made it even more difficult …
“We’ve got a game next week, and we’ve got a full week to really take a close look at some things that we’re gonna have to change – or maybe stay the course and work even harder to be able to put us in a position to do better consistently for longer periods of time on the defensive end.”
Based on what I have seen so far this season, one major change to the starting lineup is necessary. I feel freshman forward Drake Powell has earned his place as a starter. His intensity on the defensive end of the floor is noticeable the moment he steps on the floor, plus he is an above average scorer, which he showed against Michigan State where he was the team’s leading scorer with 18 points.
Powell was one of the few bright spots for the Heels during the Maui Invitational and he shared his thoughts on what’s wrong with the Heels.
“Yeah, we do come out flat,” Powell said following the Tar Heels’ loss to Michigan State. “And just put ourselves in a hole into where we’re trying to come back the whole game …
“I think it’s just the toughness. We’ve got to want to get the 50/50 balls, want to get defensive rebounds, offensive rebounds. We just have to do all of the dirty work. And I think we’ll do that, continuing forward.”
With the roster constructed the way it is, Davis will have to make some changes to the lineup and rotation due to the lack of size. I feel UNC will win most games against lesser opponents, but unless they can figure out how to guard teams with taller players in the post, they will continue to lose those games.
I have faith that Davis can figure out how to deal with the lack of size. Playing small ball has worked for many teams in the past, so Davis and his staff will have to figure out how to maximize the guard talent this team possesses. Only time will tell if the Tar Heels can figure it out.
