North Carolina Tar Heels: Need Berry Back for Kentucky Game
The North Carolina Tar Heels need consistent output from everywhere. Yet they seem to be missing a gear without Joel Berry.
The North Carolina Tar Heels play the Kentucky Wildcats on Saturday in a matchup of two top ten teams. Well, we think it is a matchup of two top ten teams. The Tar Heels anxiously await the return of point guard Joel Berry to make it a true matchup. In two games without Berry, the Heels have treaded water against Davidson and Tennessee with one game won by a Justin Jackson sighting and the other by just grinding.
The Tennessee game revealed just how reliant the team will be on their depth and their youth as the season progresses. The Heels got meh games from Isaiah Hicks and Kennedy Meeks. Jackson disappeared until the closing minutes. This meant that the bulk of scoring had to be done by other contributors.
Nate Britt scored eleven, got seven assists, and got five steals, but his decision making was still questionable at times. Despite this being a good Britt stat line, it did not leave anyone comfortable with the idea of Berry missing more time. This resulted in more minutes for Stilman White over the course of the game. Right now White is playing more minutes per game than Seventh Woods.
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Woods offered some spark off the bench with his speed, and Brandon Robinson provided some hustle. Their bench counterpart Tony Bradley was arguably the most effective big on the court with ten points and a key block late in the game. Everyone needs to work on free throws through.
The other lesson of the Vols game was just how useful Kenny Williams has become. Williams provided defense against a hot shooting Vols team. He got a key offensive rebound stick back reminiscent of Marcus Ginyard or Jackie Manuel. His three point shooting still hasn’t come around yet, but he led the team in scoring with twelve. He is also easy to recognize on the court since he doesn’t have a fro.
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If the Tar Heels have been up and down as a unit, Williams has been a solid contributor to every game. He is proving he belongs at this level and is starting to raise a real question about the return of Theo Pinson early next year. Do the Heels move Williams to the bench to become a good sixth or seventh man? Or do they bring Pinson back slowly and let Williams continue to start?
Against Kentucky, Williams and the rest of the Heels will face their biggest challenge yet. They will face a team full of athletes that will need tough individual defense to bring down. Fortunately he does some of that.