As
my alma mater and team I watch the most every season, it's only
fitting that the first team assessment of 2015 is the North Carolina Tar
Heels. Prior to last weekend UNC was 17-4 and 8-1 in the ACC. They
arrived in Louisville riding a six-game winning streak and sitting
comfortably in 2nd place, only a game behind
league-leading Virginia. The Heels jumped out to a huge lead against
the Cardinals, only to watch an 18-point second-half lead evaporate
in one of the most pathetic segments of basketball I've ever watched.
UNC
panicked and wilted under the pressure of Louisville's press, turning
the ball over 19 times and ultimately getting beat-down in overtime
by 10. When I think of adjectives to describe this Carolina
performance, the first words that come to mind are scared, soft, and
poorly-coached.
Fast
forward to Monday night, where the Tar Heels played a good first half
before ultimately getting bullied and outplayed by a much tougher
Virginia team in Chapel Hill. At 17-6 and now 7-3 in the ACC, the
season takes on a much different look than it did just a week ago.
UNC starts a three-game road trip at Boston College on Saturday, and
if the Tar Heels drop all three they're all the sudden on the NCAA
tournament bubble. While I don't expect this to happen, a team that
started the year with National Championship hopes now looks like a
prime candidate for a first-round upset.
There
are several very concerning issues for the Tar Heels. The most
obvious problem is the fact that there's only one player who can
consistently make outside shots. I'm not sure how a school that can
pretty much recruit whoever it wants can continue to put teams on the
floor that can't shoot the ball, but it's happened a couple years in
a row now. With shooting being the first thing most people think
about when you mention the game of basketball, it's hard to believe
UNC can't convince a few more kids with deadly J's to join the
program.
Beyond
the shooting, the most troubling aspect of this team is the lack of
toughness and intensity. This UNC squad is a group of “nice”
guys who shy away from physical contact, and it lacks a player that
consistently imposes himself on the game from start to finish. The
level of aggression of each player comes and goes throughout the
game, and Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson are the only two players I'd
ever say have dominating thoughts. Theo Pinson is the guy I think
could have brought and inspired this mentality on a regular basis, but he's out
with a broken foot and was having trouble getting playing time
anyway.
When I
look at the top teams in the country, the one thing they all have is
competitive toughness. You need a team full of guys that dig deep to
dominate every possession and destroy each opponent, and UNC has
lacked this essential characteristic for a few years. P.J. Hairston
brought this quality to the team during his time at Carolina, but he
was typically in the doghouse and eventually kicked off the team.
Tyler Hansbrough was a legend in this category.
The
lack of fiercely-aggressive competitors is becoming a reoccurring
issue. Failing to even come close to optimizing the lineups on the
floor has been a major problem as well. At what point do you have to
put the blame for this squarely on the coach? Who is responsible for
bringing in talent and divvying up the playing time? I know he's a
Hall of Famer, but even the best begin to lose their abilities at
some point.
Roy
Williams hasn't been recruiting enough players with the grit and
fight you need to win championships in college basketball in recent
years, and he's making the mistake of keeping them on the bench when
he does have them. He either needs more help, or it's time for 'Ol
Roy to make his way to the golf course for a permanent vacation.
Don't
get me wrong. I'm extremely grateful to Roy Williams for restoring
the program and bringing two championships to the University I love
so much. However, as I watch UNC basketball lose a little something each passing year, I can't help but think just how
long this could take to play out. Kentucky, Kansas, Duke.
These are the programs North Carolina has been compared to for
decades, and right now the Tar Heels are not on that level.
I know
I'm not the only Carolina fan who's thought about the next leader of
the program, and I have a name for UNC's Athletic Director...Gregg
Marshall at Wichita State. It's time to start thinking about the
future.
