North Carolina Tar Heels: Three Lessons from Kansas’ Demise
The North Carolina Tar Heels need to pay attention to the result in the Elite Eight between Oregon and Kansas.
The North Carolina Tar Heels play the Oregon Ducks in the 2017 Final Four on Saturday. Neither team was widely picked to in this situation with Oregon missing one of their heavy hitters and UNC potentially facing either UCLA or Kentucky in the regional final. The Ducks pulled together and the Heels won the Kentucky rematch to play in Phoenix.
Oregon’s list of victims includes Iona, Rhode Island, a hot Michigan team, and finally an even hotter Kansas team. They cooled down their opponents by playing tough defense and relying on their stars to make big shots. Star forward Dillon Brooks was already a known quantity from Oregon’s defeat of the Duke Blue Devils last year.
Of all their victories, the one against Kansas has to rank as the most impressive. Considering that Kansas follows something of North Carolina’s model for team construction, they represent the best picture of what a high speed offense with highly recruited talent looks like against the Ducks. So let’s look at why Oregon was able to defang the number one seed in the Midwest (in Kansas City of all places).
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- The three ball
Oregon’s top scorer against Kansas was not Brooks. It was sophomore gunner Tyler Dorsey. Dorsey went six of ten from the three point line to get eighteen of his twenty-seven points. By comparison Kansas’ Frank Mason III went two of eight from behind the arc. Covering Dorsey will be a big deal for the Tar Heels. Expect to see Theo Pinson slotted in his direction.
- Hard defense
Kansas scored sixty points with a team that blew Purdue wide open. Their problem was simple, they were not making shots. The Ducks may lack size but not quickness. They also matched up well with a Kansas team not predicated on size. The Jayhawks shot 35% for the game and 20% from three. The Ducks were also not afraid to foul, with the Jayhawks’ free throws being the only reason the game was as close as it was.
The Tar Heels provide a different set of matchups with their size once again being a big advantage.
- Clean-up in the Paint Aisle
Kansas also did not get a lot of second chance looks because of the way that Jordan Bell out contested them for rebounds. Bell ended up with thirteen rebounds on the night. He was also the biggest starter that Oregon had on the court. The Heels cannot allow him to have success against the larger Kennedy Meeks.
Next: UNC 20 Final Four Team Faceoff
These three things look to be the big takeaways from that game. The Heels need to put a lid on Dorsey, use their skill players to draw fouls on the Duck defenders, and make sure they control the glass in a way Kansas could not. Do those things and we have a good start to getting past this tournament round.