UNC kicks off its basketball season with a very difficult ACC battle against Notre Dame. The Fighting Irish are a veteran team, and like usual they’re a well-coached group that will play intelligent, team basketball.
Notre Dame is very well connected on the defensive end of the floor. Each player is a good individual defender, and they’re typically in the right position to help if a teammate gets beat. They make you work extremely hard for each look at the basket, and they don’t have many defensive breakdowns. 6’11” senior Juwan Durham is a defensive monster inside, and he’s usually there to clean up any mistakes and deny easy looks at the rim.
This Notre Dame squad isn’t a great offensive team, but they’re smart and disciplined and don’t turn it over much. They move the ball well, but they don’t really have anyone to be afraid of.
Sophomore point guard Prentiss Hubb was the only player to shoot it well from three-point range in their exhibition game against Bellarmine, so keeping the Irish out of the paint and forcing them to knock down long-range jumpers is a good general goal defensively. Senior shooting guard T.J. Gibbs has been in a shooting slump for over a year now, but he’s shown the ability to make them in the past so I still wouldn’t want to give him many good looks from deep.
Senior big man John Mooney plays a similar game to those of former Notre Dame big men Luke Harangody and Jack Cooley. He’s a double-double machine, and he finished their exhibition game with 15 points and 12 rebounds. He’s not going to wow you athletically, but he’s extremely tough and fights for every loose ball. Garrison Brooks will need to win this matchup for the Heels to come away with a win.
Senior wing Rex Pflueger is back from the ACL injury he sustained last season, but he doesn’t look like the same player he was. He moved tentatively against Bellarmine, and at this point in the season he won’t be nearly the type of threat he was last year.
Sophomore Dane Goodwin is an extra effort player who makes all the hustle plays. He’s not exceptionally good at anything, but you can be sure he’ll be giving it everything he’s got. Notre Dame will really miss D.J. Harvey this season, a guy I expected to be their best player and top NBA prospect who decided to transfer to Vanderbilt.
If Carolina is going to win this game the starters need to play most of the game. This team isn’t very deep, and UNC can’t afford to play guys that shouldn’t be out there. I know Roy Williams typically likes to play a lot of guys, but he won’t have that luxury with this team right now if he wants to win games like this.
Freshman Cole Anthony will most likely need to be the leading scorer for this team to be successful. It’s a lot to ask, but he’s a top recruit with the skill-set to make it happen. Anthony has a great handle and is extremely good attacking the basket and finishing around the rim. He’s also shown the ability to knock down shots from the perimeter and find teammates for open looks.
Garrison Brooks looked good in the exhibition game against Winston-Salem State. He rebounded extremely well and looked under control with the ball in his hands. He showed a nice touch around the basket, and he’ll need to take on a starring role for this Carolina team.
Leaky Black is extremely versatile and can play up to four positions on both ends of the floor. He’s a tremendous defender who uses his length and athleticism to disrupt the opponent. His speed and ability to handle the ball make him especially dangerous in the open floor, and he’s shown glimpses of every skill you’d want offensively.
I didn’t like seeing him coming off the bench in the exhibition, and I hope Coach Williams realizes that he needs to be on the floor as much as possible. I understand he’s going to be the backup ball-handler, but UNC will just have to stagger the limited rest breaks of Cole Anthony and Leaky Black. With all the TV timeouts, they should be able to play nearly the entire game. It’s never a good idea to start the game without one of your best players.
Graduate transfer Christian Keeling has every skill offensively and has to play a big role this season. He has a really good handle, and he’s able to knock down jump-shots and finish around the rim. He has the vision to find open teammates as well, and I’d like to see him be more aggressive than he was in the exhibition. He could be a major playmaker for this team.
Freshman Armando Bacot looks a lot fitter than he did in high school, but he often looked lost out there in the exhibition. He really struggled defensively and with his shooting, but he’s a good rebounder and will just have to learn on the fly. Until Sterling Manley returns from his injury, Bacot will have to play a huge role. The five I’ve already mentioned should be playing most of the game until the Heels get some players back from injury.
Brandon Robinson’s ankle injury is really unfortunate. With freshman Anthony Harris still recovering from an injury of his own, the Heels are really thin on the wing.
Justin Pierce looked completely outclassed athletically and wasn’t very effective in his first minutes as a Tar Heel. Junior Andrew Platek plays hard and has some experience, but he’s not a guy I really want seeing big minutes either. Walker Miller didn’t look ready for major college basketball, and Brandon Huffman still doesn’t look like he should be out there.
Senior Shea Rush looked solid in his limited minutes, and he’s a guy I’d consider giving some time to when the starters need a quick break. He showed great energy and effort while playing good defense and knocking down a three, and he looks like a guy who might be able to make a contribution.
As is normally the case, North Carolina will have the speed and athleticism edge against Notre Dame. However, the Heels looked sloppy in the exhibition and still have a long way to go to live up to their #9 preseason ranking.
UNC was a step slow and not very disciplined defensively, and it won’t shock me to see the Tar Heels drop this game and potentially take a couple more losses in the Battle 4 Atlantis later this month. While I hope that doesn’t happen, this team still has the talent to improve throughout the season and become a factor in March. I don’t think they have a realistic chance of winning the ACC title however, and I’m going with Louisville to capture their first ever regular season crown.
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