North Carolina Tar Heels: The Man in the Mirror
The North Carolina Tar Heels have some last minute things to address and to worry about before facing Oregon.
It is getting very close now for the North Carolina Tar Heels and their current Final Four campaign. Oregon is just a day away and the Heels are on site in Arizona for final preparations. With that in mind, it is time to look at the Tar Heels themselves and see the things that have made their current NCAA run so fraught with peril up to this point. These are the things that could guarantee victory if they are fixed.
- The Inside Game
The Heels have been unable to do their normal attacking of the post with their two big seniors. Kennedy Meeks has continued to pull in rebounds by the truckload, but he and Isaiah Hicks have had modest scoring impressions on the last couple of games.
More from North Carolina Tar Heels
- NC Colleges Provide Coronavirus Results from Athletic Departments
- UNC Football gets Commitment from Top Cornerback
- Four North Carolina players selected in first round of MLB Draft
- UNC Destroyed by Coach Duggs and Tennessee in NCAA Football 14
- UNC Basketball: Former Tar Heel star calls out Roy Williams
Hicks has had issues with early fouls and that has toned down some of his effectiveness. The team has also discovered the extra flexibility of having Luke Maye as an extra shooter when working it inside has not seemed to work. Finally the ball can only go inside if it moves and the team lacks that movement when Joel Berry is not on the court.
Oregon presents another smaller line and probably some more zone, but the Heels must bring their big guys back into the game. Right now post scoring is made of Justin Jackson floaters and Berry runners. The numbers look good, but don’t feel right.
- Brain Farts
Another consequence of Berry not being on the court are the stretches of time when Nate Britt is the point guard. Britt has never looked truly comfortable as the primary ball hander on the floor. The result is that there are unneeded turnovers that seem to happen during those stretches.
More from Old North Banter
- Carolina Panthers: Secondary battles to watch in training camp 2020
- Carolina Panthers: 2020 training camp kicks off on Tuesday
- NC Colleges Provide Coronavirus Results from Athletic Departments
- Court alleges Zion’s Stepfather received $400k
- UNC Football gets Commitment from Top Cornerback
For the most part, we are used to Britt by now. The only other option to him on the court is exposing freshman Seventh Woods to more experienced units. That led to two quick fouls against Kentucky.
The player who we expect more from is Theo Pinson. Pinson has had a series of questionable decisions in the last couple of games that are just uncharacteristic of him. I am not talking about the jacked up threes, but poor passing decisions leading to turnovers. It is confusing to see as good a passer as Pinson is do such things with the ball.
- Injuries
There is not much you can do with injuries. Kenny Williams is not coming back in the next day. The Tar Heels were pretty fortunate that their injuries hit when they did during the regular season until we reached the NCAA Tournament.
Then came Berry’s ankles. They have not been bad enough to doom the team Kendall Marshall style nor have they been good enough to simply ignore the issue and move on. Berry will play tomorrow, but we don’t know the percentage. We won’t know until he tries his first three pointer. It is scary to place the season on two unknown quantities like this.
Perhaps the Phoenix Suns medical staff could help out.
At this stage of the season, you are who you are. The Heels just need a more complete version of who they are. This Justin Jackson finds buckets and Luke Maye surprises people formula has its limits as we almost saw against Kentucky. The Heels need to take the pressure off of Jackson by returning to the interior, not giving away the ball, and praying that Berry (and everyone else) can make it one more game.