As a lifelong, diehard Tarheel fan, yesterday's game against Pittsburgh was difficult to watch. The Pittsburgh offense Pittsburgh dictated the play on both ends of the court. Pittsburgh ran at will on the Tarheels, they ran their halfcourt offense to perfection, and ended up shooting 65% for the game. They repeatedly drove the ball down the middle of the lane and either hit layups or kicked it out for wide open jumpers. Pittsburgh was not considered a good offensive team before this game. Pittsburgh had 30 assists on 37 made field goals and only had 4 turnovers in the game. Only towards the end of the game did North Carolina apply anything remotely resembling defensive pressure. By then the Tarheels were down by 20 points.
On offense, the Tarheels played well enough to win. They shot almost 50% and only had 5 turnovers. Brice Johnson had 19 points and Kennedy Meeks had 15. Marcus Paige cannot get going. Paige only had 8 points and 6 assists but was only 1 for 7 from the three point line.
In my limited coaching experience, defense is mostly "want to" and "desire". As a coach, you can preach and teach defense all you want to, but the team or player has to want to play great defense. Some teams get after it more than others. Right now, it looks like the 'Heels have lost the desire to play defense.
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