North Carolina Tar Heels: 1968 vs 2009, Bracket Challenge

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Apr 1, 2017; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Sacramento Kings guard Ty Lawson (10) controls the ball against the Minnesota Timberwolves during the second half at Target Center. The Kings won 123-117. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

North Carolina Tar Heels Basketball

2009 Rotation

Starters

C Tyler Hansbrough

F Deon Thompson

F Danny Green

G Wayne Ellington

G Ty Lawson

Key Reserves

G Bobby Frasor

F Ed Davis

C Tyler Zeller

G Marcus Ginyard*

F Will Graves

G Larry Drew

G Justin Watts

Comments

Both teams feature solid starting fives, but the 2009 team is just deeper from the bench. Frasor and Davis may give you drop offs from their starting counterparts, but both brought new things to the table when they were in games. The inclusion of Ginyard would even solidify the small forward rotation. A healthy Zeller would also have added more height for 1968 to deal with.

That having been said, there is a bit of disparity in the scoring here even in the front lines. The 1968 team had three players averaging double figures while two more were close to it. The 2009 team had five players average double figures. Davis would be just as close to the lower scoring starters from the 1968 team as those guys were to double figures.

More from Old North Banter

The top three of 1968 are Miller (22.4 ppg), Scott (17.6 ppg), and Clark (15.8 ppg). Their direct analogues on the 2009 team are Green (13.1 ppg), Ellington (15.8 ppg), and Hansbrough (20.7 ppg). That by itself would seem favorable for 1968 except it leaves out Thompson (10.6 ppg) and especially Lawson (16.6 ppg) against Grubar (8.1 ppg) and Bunting (7.9 ppg). Amongst the starting fives alone, the score would be 71.8 (1968) vs 76.8 (2009).

That would make for a close game assuming that the 1968 team might hit a three or two on the way. Where the game would get lost is in the benches. Davis (6.7 ppg) and Joe Brown (6.3 ppg) might cancel each other out offensively, but Brown would be lost in the weeds when he came in the game. Fogler (2.2 ppg) might even reasonably cancel out Frasor (2.6). After that seventh man point, the game inches toward 2009.

Will Graves averaged 4 ppg in limited action while Zeller averaged three points per game. Nobody on the remaining 1968 bench matches that. Then consider a healthy Ginyard and that’s six more points per game.

Results

Next: 1977 vs 2009

The 2009 team becomes the second entrant into our Championship. They will face 1993 in a game that I can turn over to a simulator. That should make my life easier in this last round. Next time will be Eric Montross versus Hansbrough, Donald Williams versus Ellington, Roy Williams versus Dean Smith, and other exciting possibilities to see who comes out on top. See you then.

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