Theo Pinson Out Indefinitely for Tar Heels
Theo Pinson of the North Carolina Tar Heels broke his fifth metatarsal in his left foot against Wake Forest. This adds to the growing list of injuries to the Heels and testing their depth and strategy.
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The good news is that the Tar Heels are playing the same starting five that they started the season with. Marcus Paige (though paying hurt), JP Tokoto, Justin Jackson, Brice Johnson, and Kennedy Meeks have provided a consistent base all season.
The trouble has been in the reserves. Point guard has been particularly hit hard, with Luke Davis, Stilman White, and freshman Joel Berry all out with injuries. This decreases the amount of time that the Heels can play Paige at the off-guard position while giving Nate Britt an increased burden.
Pinson’s injury takes away another wing for a team that had issues with wing depth last year. The combination of Pinson and Jackson allowed Isaiah Hicks to move back to his more natural spot at power forward. There were clear substitution patterns that had emerged in Roy Williams’ lineups amongst his top ten players.
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Pinson’s absence will play with that chemistry. Jackson and Tokoto will probably take some of those minutes, but pulling on the point guards for extra minutes at the two is not ideal at the moment. Paige played big minutes last year and he is probably looking at an extra load again. One of the bright spots of this Carolina team was their ability to function without Paige for extended periods of time.
The other thing that might disappear from North Carolina’s arsenal is the small lineup that appeared at the end of games some times.
According to Greg Barnes of InsideCarolina, this injury takes about two months to get healthy. That would mean Pinson would miss the heart of the ACC season and early rounds of a possible NCAA Tournament run.