Thatta Boy Roy!

Now that's what I've been waiting for!!!  I don't want to say I told you so (well maybe just a little bit), but a light bulb finally turned on in the head of Roy Williams on Tuesday night.  He completely scrapped the 5-in 5-out garbage and played much more of the lineups I've been begging for all season long, and it resulted in the best game of the season for the Tar Heels.  He's been getting closer the past few games, but Roy finally put together his best coaching game of the year as UNC crushed Boston College in Chestnut Hill 106-74.

In the last two games, Harrison Barnes has played like the first-team All-American he was projected to be.  While he's clearly found his shooting touch after struggling for most of the season, I believe the players on the floor with him have had a lot to do with that.  Prior to the N.C. State game, Barnes had been settling for contested fade-away jumpers much too often, and just wasn't getting the ball in good spots.  Now that he's getting time on the floor with Kendall Marshall and Reggie Bullock, he's magically getting much better looks, and he's knocking them down.  Marshall just knows where to go with the ball, whether it's switching the side of the court he's on as he crosses half-court to improve the spacing, or recognizing who has the hot hand and making sure to get him the ball in a position where he can be successful.  There's just many subtle things that Marshall does that can't really be taught, and it takes an extremely knowledgeable eye for the game to even recognize some of the things he brings to the table.  Marshall understands the game at an extremely high level, and his mere presence on the floor makes everything work much better.  His importance to the team can't be fully seen by simply looking at the box score, and I can't be more pleased that Roy seems to finally realize who his point guard is.

Most telling stat of the night...UNC with Marshall on the floor +30, without Marshall +2

This game marked the second breakout game for not only Harrison Barnes, but also Reggie Bullock.  Bullock is a tremendous offensive player, a natural scorer, and has to get more time on the court.  Sure he was on fire today, but this would happen much more often if he was given more minutes.  He and Barnes can score in every way possible, and I just love watching these two on the court together with Marshall.  With these 3 playing the majority of the game, UNC can get back to being one of the top scoring teams in the country.  This team is certainly young, but there is simply too much offensive firepower on this squad for the Heels to have struggled as bad as they have on that end of the floor.


The guards had their best night in quite a while, but the bigs inside produced their second dominating performance in a row.  John Henson is full of confidence right now, and he's playing with the swagger he displayed in high school.  His length makes it very difficult for the opposition on both ends of the court, and when he's being aggressive and playing smart he's a dominant player.  Tyler Zeller and Justin Knox also had great games, combining for 26 points on 8-10 shooting and 9 rebounds.  Even Larry Drew II played well tonight, chipping in 9 assists to just one turnover off the bench. 

Now for the other end of the floor.  Dexter Strickland's defense on Boston College star Reggie Jackson was phenomenal.  Jackson was limited to just six points on 2-10 shooting, as Strickland's suffocating D took him completely out of the game.  Dexter never allowed Jackson to get in a rhythm, so even when Strickland came out you could tell that the Eagles' star just wasn't his usual self.  The team as a whole seemed to play with much more energy and effort than normal on the defensive end of the floor, so maybe the piles of snow covering the area had the same effect it has on a young puppy just seeing the white powder for the first time.
Joe Trapani had a monster game for BC with 25 points and 15 rebounds, and Corey Raji chipped in 16 and 6, but everyone else was shut down.  The Tar Heels held the Eagles to 35% shooting and forced 16 turnovers, and once again dominated the glass as they have done all season.  This team seems to be hitting its stride at the perfect time, and the next 3 games will really tell us just how good they are.
 

North Carolina Tar Heels
STARTERS	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Tyler Zeller, F	25	6-7	0-0	6-6	3	6	1	3	1	0	3	18
John Henson, F	26	6-10	0-0	1-1	1	7	1	0	2	2	2	13
Dexter Strickland, G	23	2-7	0-1	0-0	1	3	4	1	0	1	4	4
Harrison Barnes, F	26	9-15	4-7	4-4	3	6	1	0	0	1	1	26
Kendall Marshall, G	20	2-3	1-1	2-3	0	3	6	0	0	2	0	7
BENCH	MIN	FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
Justin Knox, F	17	2-3	0-0	4-6	1	3	1	1	0	0	2	8
Larry Drew II, G	19	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	2	9	0	0	1	2	0
Leslie McDonald, G	15	4-9	1-4	0-0	0	0	1	0	0	0	1	9
Reggie Bullock, G	17	6-9	4-7	0-0	1	4	1	1	1	1	0	16
D Bolick	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
Van Hatchell, F	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Stewart Cooper, F	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
David Dupont, F	2	0-0	0-0	0-0	0	2	0	0	0	1	0	0
Patrick Crouch, G	2	2-3	1-1	0-0	0	1	0	0	0	0	1	5
Dj Johnston, NA	2	0-1	0-0	0-0	0	1	1	0	0	0	0	0
TOTALS		FGM-A	3PM-A	FTM-A	OREB	REB	AST	STL	BLK	TO	PF	PTS
		39-68	11-21	17-20	10	39	27	6	4	9	16	106
		57.4%	52.4%	85.0%
Everyone had a good game in this one, but the minutes for both Marshall and Bullock need to go up in the next few games if they hope to win against Florida State, @ Duke, and @ Clemson.  Obviously there was no need to play anyone big minutes in such a massive blowout, but they are two of the best players on the team and have to be playing more than half the game when it's close.  These last two games are very encouraging, and it's exciting to see things coming together after a frustrating first half of the season.  Florida State visits the Smith Center on Sunday at 2pm, and the Heels can put a 2-game gap between the two teams with a win.  Chris Singleton and Derwin Kitchen are the two main weapons for the Seminoles, and with the way the Heels have allowed open 3-pointers all season long, they need to watch out for Deividas Dulkys as well.