On To The West Coast

The 'Heels finished off Florida Atlantic yesterday afternoon 80-56 and some roles are already starting to take shape. Joel James will be the starting Center by the time the 'Heels get to Hawaii because his offensive game is already more advanced than current starting Center Desmond Hubert. The Tarheels need to find some outside scoring to go with James Michael McAdoo's inside game. Reggie Bullock was able to provide that against Florida Atlantic with 16 points and 3 of 4 from the three-point line. Dexter Strickland is more of a slasher and Marcus Paige has not demonstrated the ability to hit from the outside in the first two games. P. J. Hairston and Leslie McDonald are the most likely candidates as outside scorers off the bench. Hairston's slump from last season has carried over to the first couple of games this season and McDonald missed the entire season last year with an ACL injury. Brice Johnson has been solid off the bench providing some inside scoring punch and J. P. Tokoto will be important as a swingman and I see his minutes growing as the season progresses. I see the same thing happening with backup Point Guard Luke Davis.

Tarheels on a Roll

The Tarheels vanquished rival NC State last night for the tenth straight time. I would love to say it was easy but nothing is easy this season for the Tarheels. This is easily the worst shooting team in Tarheels basketball history at least since I have been an ardent fan since the Phil Ford years of the mid-1970's. It used to be news if the 'Heels shot under 50 percent for a game, now it is a major part of the story if they shoot over 50 percent. One reason for this is they are not getting as many fast break points as they have in past seasons and and are not pushing the ball up the court as hard.

They are 21-6 on the season and should be a lock for the NCAA's this season and are slowly working their way back up the polls. The last I checked they were #19 in one poll with a game against Duke on the horizon. I really can't explain how the 'Heels have been winning but they just have is the bottom line. Some credit their defense, others point out the weak ACC this season, and I am beginning to believe smoke and mirrors.

They still have a few weaknesses and the two most obvious are three point shooting and inside depth. The Tarheels bench has all but disappeared over the course of the past 5 or 6 games, Justin Knox is the only big man coming off the bench and no one is providing any points. Other ACC teams are finally figuring out to beat the 'Heels or at least to stay with them, you have to play zone and the 'Heels are incapable of shooting them out of it. The ACC tournament should be very interesting this year and I am hoping the 'Heels will snap out of their team wide shooting slump and get really hot for the tournament.

On a very positive note, center Tyler Zeller was named Academic All-American just a few days ago. That is the first Academic All-American the Tarheels have had since Eric Montross in 1994. Most fans forget that the players are student athletes and that the student part is more important than the basketball or football part.