Can Somebody Please Hit a 3?

This shooting slump is brutal...which makes it all the more impressive that Carolina is 9-2 in the ACC.  One huge reason wears #31.  John Henson is having an enormous impact on every game.  He's had a double-double in his last four games, and five of his last six, and he did it again on Tuesday against Wake Forest.  He's extremely intimidating on the defensive end, as his ridiculous length and good discipline on pump fakes make him very difficult to shoot over.  He averages three blocks a game and alters many more, and if he gets a little stronger he's going to be scary.  I don't think he's NBA ready quite yet, so I'm very hopeful he'll be at UNC for at least one more season. If he stays he'll have the chance to pack on some muscle and fine-tune his offensive game, and the Heels will have a great chance to win the title in 2012.

Kendall Marshall is a guy that no one ever talks about going pro, and I'm glad because I think he's closer to being ready than Henson is.  I definitely think Marshall will benefit from another year in college, but Kendall has Jason Kidd written all over him, and will be a great point guard for any NBA team to have.  Marshall played another stellar game as the facilitator against Wake, finishing with 8 assists (would have been many more if anyone could make an outside shot) and 2 turnovers.  Kendall Marshall has an incredible feel for the game, and I couldn't be happier that he's finally playing most of the minutes at the point.  Carolina's offense totally falls apart without him on the floor, and I don't think you'll see many meaningful minutes without Marshall for the rest of the season.

Tyler Zeller dominated inside against the Demon Deacons just as Henson did, finishing with 18 points and 9 rebounds.  Wake simply had no answer for the twin towers inside, and the duo continuously got easy looks from point blank range.  Harrison Barnes also had another solid game, although it took him 20 shots to get his 17 points.  He ended up shooting 7-20, including 1-8 from 3-pt range, but it was another huge momentum swinging dunk that stood out as the biggest play of the game.  Barnes threw down his second vicious jam in traffic in as many games, and if he would take the ball to the basket more instead of settling for the outside jumper, he would be a much more efficient player.  Despite his questionable shot selection so far this season, he plays incredibly hard at all times and no one can ever fault his effort.  I believe he's starting to figure out what he does best and what he needs to do for his team to be successful, and there is no doubt he's going to be a great player for both UNC and in the NBA.

Now for the "shooting guard" position.  Everyone keeps saying things about people earning the starting job, but can't someone play their way out of it?  Obviously Reggie Bullock and Leslie McDonald are in a pretty bad slump from 3-point range at the moment, but Strickland has been in a shooting slump for his entire career, and he has no chance of breaking out of it.  He's just a bad shooter period, and really not a very good offensive player.  In his last 3 games, Dexter is 2-12 from the field, including 0-6 from 3-pt range, for a grand total of 9 points.  He's a very good defender, but there is no excuse for a guy with those stats playing 30 minutes at the 2 guard position.  If nothing else, a shooting guard is supposed to knock down shots from the outside, and Strickland just isn't capable of doing this.  Dexter is extremely fast, but he's often out of control and makes very questionable decisions with the ball.  He's played well at times on offense, but a few good games a year is not enough to keep the starting job in my opinion.  He would be much better used as a spark off the bench, using his quickness to take the ball to the rim (and never taking an outside jumper).

I believe both Reggie Bullock and Leslie McDonald can hit the 3's, but both are having trouble coming in cold off the bench for around 15 minutes a game.  Strickland's minutes need to be drastically reduced, with the free minutes being split between Bullock and McDonald until someone finds a rhythm.  Bullock is a very good all-around offensive player, does great work on the boards, and creates havoc in the passing lanes with his length.  McDonald seems to be shooting slightly better (meaning more are going in, Bullock's shot is more consistently on line and it's only a matter of time for him) and is definitely more of an offensive threat than Strickland, but I think when given consistent minutes, you will see Bullock's shots start to fall.  I'd vote for Bullock getting the big minutes, but I'd settle for McDonald getting the nod at shooting guard as well.  McDonald did score 13 points and grabbed 7 boards in only 16 minutes against Wake, even getting two 3-pointers to fall, so either one would be a significant improvement.  Starting either Bullock or McDonald at the 2 is the only way this team can reach its potential, and I hope we make the switch soon so we can get some games under our belt with that lineup before the postseason begins.

Boston College comes to Chapel Hill for a 4pm game on Saturday, and they'll no doubt have revenge on their minds.  Carolina humiliated the Eagles 106-74 on BC's home floor, but I expect it to be a much closer contest this time.  The Eagles are 16-9 on the season and 6-5 in the ACC, so they still have a legitimate shot to make the NCAA tournament with a good finish to the regular season.  I look for a much better performance from Boston College star Reggie Jackson, who comes in averaging 18.5 points a game but scored only 6 on 2-10 shooting in the first game against the Heels.  Forward Joe Trapani had a huge game with 25 points and 15 rebounds in round 1 between these two teams, and the Tar Heels will need to do a much better job getting out on the 3 against him (and getting him off the boards) in round 2.  Senior Cory Raji is a great player as well, so Carolina really needs to be on guard in this one to avoid a disastrous loss at home.  All things considered, I'm expecting a close game for a while, with the Heels pulling away late for the win.