Roy Williams is making a solid run at the "Worst Coach of the Year" award. He has two McDonald's All-Americans sitting on the bench for most of the game, while his two "veteran" guards screw up over and over. He nearly cost his team their 3rd game of the season against Charleston, but luckily the young Heels pulled out a close game. I broke my string of writing after each game after UNC beat Charleston 74-69 for two reasons:
1) Until Roy gets his head out of the sand and gets a clue how to coach, most of my posts will look very similar
2) I pretty much called it on the Charleston game, and didn't have much hope for the next game at Illinois
Just as I thought Charleston guard and future pro Andrew Goudelock went off and scored 28 points, but he did take 27 shots to get there. He started off cold, but caught fire eventually and nearly won the game for the Cougars. Once again the UNC coach decided to stick with the same lineup that hasn't worked all season, and once again they struggled. Dexter Strickland actually played pretty well, but Reggie Bullock still nearly outproduced him in half the time. Larry Drew II was awful as usual, and Kendall Marshall naturally outplayed him badly, also in half the time. On a positive note the good version of Leslie McDonald showed up against Charleston, as he was perfect from the floor in his 15 minutes of game time. John Henson was also great against the Cougars, scoring 19 points on 8-11 shooting and adding 7 boards. He carried his success from the Charleston game over to Illinois, but unfortunately he didn't get much help.
Henson once again shot 8-11, showing all kinds of post moves down low. The last two games he's been taking the ball much stronger to the hole, always leaning toward the basket instead of away from it to allow his length to play to his advantage. He appears to have gained some control over his arms, which is a great thing for his scoring ability in the post. Last second addition to the team Justin Knox also played a strong game against the Illini, posting 8 points and 7 rebounds in just 17 minutes. This is where the positives ended for the Tar Heels on Tuesday night.
Larry Drew had his best outing of the season with 7 assists, but he was still terrible for most of the game. He had a few nice passes, but he's absolutely no threat to hit an open shot, and he's out of control a large majority of the time. On the flip side Kendall Marshall had his worst game of the season, finally showing a little bit of freshman jitters in his first road game in a hostile environment against a good team. This game said it all, as even in a game where Drew clearly had his best game of the year while Marshall had his worst, I was still much more comfortable with Marshall in the game. He's just better...at everything. End of story.
Reggie Bullock only played 13 minutes, which I just don't understand at all. He showed some freshman jitters in this one as well, but he's without a doubt one of the best scorers on the team, and he has to be out there. Strickland shows some flashes of brilliance and dazzles with his speed, but if he can't hold on to the ball then there's really no point in him being out there, especially for 25 minutes to Bullock's 13. Dex is playing good defense, but Bullock is taller, longer, and is just a much better overall player.
Harrison Barnes is really struggling as he tries to live up to the preseason hype. He's had a rough time shooting the ball in most games this season, and many times I think it can be attributed to shot selection. Barnes seems to have success when he takes the ball to the basket, or gets it in the post against a smaller defender. He plays strong around the rim, and needs to look for more high percentage shots instead of settling for fade away jumpers. Those will be there at the next level, but against college competition he's just bailing out his defender by doing that.
Just as I thought, Demetri McCamey, Mike Tisdale, and Mike Davis destroyed the Heels. McCamey will definitely be playing at the next level, and he controlled the game with 17 points and 8 assists. The Heels made Tisdale and Davis look like future pros as well, and Illinois cruised to a 79-67 victory.
Kentucky pays a visit to Chapel Hill on Saturday, and they boast two of the best freshman in the nation in Brandon Knight and Terrence Jones. Those two have been putting up huge numbers all year long, and Saturday should be no different. This has the feeling of one of those games where an underdog UNC team rises to the occasion against a highly ranked, big name program, with the help of an uncharacteristically rowdy home crowd and pulls out a thrilling win. As a student at UNC, this happened against #4 Wake Forest and #1 Connecticut. If Roy gets it figured out and plays the right lineup for most of the game, I believe there is a real possibility of this happening. Unfortunately, I don't think he will change a thing, and if that's the case, the Heels will lose and fall to 4-4 on the season.
UNC with Marshall on the Court, 1st half: +19, game: +20 
Now for Dexter Strickland. He has been fantastic two games in a row, once again leading the team in scoring with 19 on 8-12 shooting against William & Mary. I still get nervous when Dexter dribbles the ball, but he has used his lightning speed to get out in transition for uncontested layups, and he even showed a deadly long-range jumper from the right corner near the end of the game against the Tribe. I hope this was more than just a fluke, because if Strickland can back up his speed with a consistent outside shot, he will become a much more dangerous player. He's always been a great defender, but it seems like his offense is finally coming around.
