A Badly Needed Win

In my last blog, I wrote about how the Tarheels needed an emotional leader and someone to step up. It doesn't even have to be the same player in every game which might even be better for the team in the long run. The player that came through today was Brice Johnson- 22 points and 11 rebounds on 11 for 15 shooting and Marcus Paige put up 17 points in the 73-64 win over Miami.

J.P. Tokoto also had a stat stuffing kind of game-10 points, 10 rebounds, 4 steals and 6 assists. He was only 3 for 10 for the game but he was working his way into open shots. He utilized the pump fake well but he was missing the open 10 to 15 footer. He always plays an athletic game but he is prone to make turnovers. I can't wait until he puts a complete game together.

That was the Tarheels 20th win on the season and the announcers were precicting a #6 seed for North carolina in the NCAA's but I see them needing at least 3 or 4 more wins to get that high of a seed. They are at Georgia Tech on Tuesday and finish at home against Duke. The Duke game needs to be their statement game on the season.

East Carolina

As a true Tarheel blue fan, I am glad the Tarheels play East Carolina in basketball as well. After some let down losses to Butler and Iowa, the Tarheels bounced back with a 108-64 win over East Carolina. They raced out to a 48-29 halftime lead and improved to 6-2. Brice Johnson had a double-double in the first half and finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds, J.P. Tokoto had 19 points and 8 assists, and Kennedy Meeks also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Nate Britt was the only other double figure scorer with 10 points.

The Tarheels need to quit playing during Carolina Panthers games on Sundays. I was busy watching the Panthers destroy the Saints 41-10 in the Superdome to put themselves back in the NFC playoff picture so I only caught the highlights of the East Carolina game. I also religiously poured over the stats like I normally do and 60% shooting and 17-22 at the free throw line was Light Years ahead of what they shot against Iowa. The focus in the East Carolina game was on getting the ball inside as they only shot 7 three-pointers (only hitting 1) after only going 4-23 against Iowa. According to Roy Williams, the overall play was going to be better and it was. Sometimes a team just needs the proper motivation.

Project Players

Dean Smith used to always have on his teams at least one "project player". These players were not that highly heralded coming out of high school but had some potential to turn into a valuable starter or a key reserve off the bench by the end of their four years. Warren Martin, Kevin Salvadori, and Hubert Davis come to mind. Warren Martin couldn't catch a pass without traveling when he was a Freshman but by the time he was a Senior, he was averaging about 10 points and a couple of blocked shots a game. This years team has several project players with tons of potential but probably shouldn't be starting and/or logging 20 to 30 minutes a game. J.P. Tokoto probably has the most upside of these projects. He is probably the most athletic player the Tarheels have had since Vince Carter. He glides up and down the court and he is definitely the highest flyer they have had since Vince Carter. He is working hard on expanding his basketball skill set and may already be the best passer on the team. Joel James is probably the biggest project. He is listed at 6'10" and 280 pounds but he only played 2 years of high school basketball before coming to UNC. He takes up a lot of space in the middle and also needs to work on his basketball skill set. The Point Guard position has always been the toughest to play at UNC and since Roy Williams started his tenure at UNC, the position has been amped up a little bit to run the Supersonic engine that is the Tarheel offense. Nate Britt was brought to UNC as an under study to Marcus Paige but got thrust into the starting role when Paige had to slide over and assume P.J. Hairston's position. Britt needs to develop an offensive game to go with running the show. All of these projects will probably all be good players by the time they finish their four years. The climate of college basketball has changed as the McDonald's All-Americans are only staying one year now. Teams need these project players to perform a lot sooner than usually expected and their learning curve gets very steep as a result.

A Bluegrass Beat Down

I do not like Kentucky. Plain and simple. I was really nervous about the game yesterday because Kentucky keeps bringing size at you from the Guards on up. The 'Heels Guards barely hit six feet tall. Statistically, the 'Tarheels should not have won this game. They got killed on the boards (44-32), they only went 26-45 from the free throw line, and one of the few statistical categories they did win was in Turnovers (9-17). As Jim Bouton once said in his Baseball epic Ball Four "tell my statistics to shut up." The ultimate stat that is the only one that counts is the final score and that one the 'Heels had an advantage of 82-77. That improves their record to 7-2 on the season with three wins over top tier teams. Marcus Paige's Alley Oop to Brice Johnson brought back memories of Ed Cota to Vince Carter, James Michael McAdoo got back on track with 20 points and led the team with 4 assists and more importantly,drove to the basket hard and shot 19 free throws. He did not settle for the jump shot and took a very aggressive offensive approach. Marcus Paige led the way with 23 points and J.P. Tokoto scored a career high 15 points on 7-10 shooting and displayed the athleticism that will only become more prominent as his basketball skill set grows.

The Twilight Zone

Watching the 2013-14 version of the North Carolina Tarheels basketball team has been like watching an episode of The Twilight Zone. They lose to mid-Major teams Belmont and Alabama-Birmingham, games they easily should have won, and yet they beat #3 Louisville and last night defeated #1 Michigan State on the road in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge, 79-65. After the loss to UA-B, they even fell out of one of the Top 25 polls. The 'Heels had five players in double figures led be Freshman Kennedy Meeks 15 points and 7 rebounds in only 18 minutes, Brice Johnson 14, Marcus Paige and Nate Britt 13, andf J.P. Tokoto 12 points and 10 rebounds. If the Tarheels want to go very far into the NCAA's this season, they have some fundamental problems that can be fixed. They have problems at the free throw line (22-48 against Belmont), they have a lack of an outside threat besides Marcus Paige (he has hit 18 out of the 21 Tarheels three-pointers this season), and they have a hard time guarding against dribble penetration. The 'Heels resume this season has the two biggest upsets in college basketball thus far, but two bad losses tempers that and with the ACC super conference this season, it should be a very interesting rest of the season.

Men's Basketball Home Opener Versus Oakland

The opening of the Men's Basketball season used to be such a rush for me. The 'Heels were usually a Top Ten team (usually top five) and the only thing a Tarheel fan had to worry about was who was going to go pro at the end of the season. Until then, and it was usually after a deep run into the NCAA's, you got to watch a veteran team with a few McDonald's All-American Freshmen sprinkled in to the lineup. This season has a different feel to it. The 'Heels are opening up their season without all of their starting pieces. P.J. Hairston and Leslie McDonald are going to miss at least the home opener against Oakland due to problems with the NCAA. Hairston's saga has gone on for at least four months and should have a definitive resolution to it by now. The NCAA was able to resolve the Johnny Manziel situation at Texas A & M in about two weeks. That suspension was for half a game. He has acted like a jerk ever since then. The NCAA couldn't have the reigning Heisman Trophy winner being suspended for any length of time. Leslie McDonald's problems have been going on for a lot less time but the effects are just the same. Hairston and McDonald's situation greatly alters the 'Heels starting lineup. Marcus Paige moves into the starting Shooting Guard position (he is a natural Point Guard) and Freshman Nate Britt moves into the starting Point Guard position. The only other two "guaranteed" starting positions are J.P. Tokoto and James Michael McAdoo. It looks like the 'Heels will open with a three-headed monster at Center with Desmond Hubert, Joel James, and Kennedy Meeks all getting playing time until one separates themselves. That is also 15 fouls to give from the Center position. Desmond Hubert is the best defensive player of the bunch, Joel James has a lot of upside, and Kennedy Meeks has the most polished offensive game to this poing. All three have the size that the Tarheels lacked last year so hopefully, Coach Roy Williams three guard experiment is over except for maybe small stretches during games.

Late Night With Roy Version 2013

UNC's problems with the NCAA continue to collect more players. Late Night With Roy is supposed to be a celebration of Tarheel basketball and a preview of what is to come this season. It allows the team to show off its Freshmen players and show the improvement that the upperclassmen have made during the off season. P.J. Hairston's problems with everybody are well documented but evidently those problems are contagious. It has now managed to collect Senior Leslie McDonald and Sophomore J.P. Tokoto, wing players that UNC cannot afford to do without for any length of time. UNC is once again waiting on the NCAA to hand down decisions that I am sure will be a lot tougher than the ones that were handed down to Johnny Manziel of Texas A & M and the University of Miami. "Johnny Football" was suspended for the first half of the first game of the season and Miami got a slap on the wrist for years of "lack of institutional control" and yet UNC is still paying for their football sins from three years ago. Penn State has already asked for, and received, a reduction in their penalties from their football mess. The NCAA can claim their is no bias in any of their decisions but I am hard pressed to believe that. P.J. Hairston was allowed to participate in Late Night With Roy and in the Blue-White Scrimmage that was played later on in the evening, looked like the 'Heels only perimeter option, hitting four three's and scoring 20 points. Freshman big man Kennedy Meeks from Charlotte, and I do mean big at 6'9" and 284 pounds, had 16 points and 12 rebounds. Maybe he will be the Center that steps up this year and takes charge of the position.

Thoughts On Georgia Tech

North Carolina's 79-63 win over Georgia Tech last night was one of those "blah" wins that I came to expect as a UNC fan. They beat an opponent they should have beat without too many problems and nothing really spectacular happened with the exception of P.J. Hairston's massive dunk in the second half that really punctuated the win. Reggie Bullock had another solid game with 17 points, Hairston had 15, and James Michael McAdoo had 14. Desmond Hubert had a career high 5 blocked shots. He reminds me a lot of ex-Tarheel Warren Martin. When Martin came to UNC in the mid-1980's he was very raw, especially offensively. By the time he graduated, he was a defensive force, a solid rebounder, and he contributed offensively. I see Hubert following the same track if he puts in the work. The 'Heels also got solid contributions off the bench against Georgia Tech. J. P. Tokoto, Jackson Simmons, Brice Johnson, and Joel James all played solid basketball. A huge game against NC State in Raleigh is on Saturday.

Looking For A Leader

North Carolina needs someone to take charge. Reggie Bullock took the leadership role off the court by calling a players only meeting before the Miami game. He saw the need to iron out a few things that needed addressing. Now the 'Heels need someone to take a leadership role on the court. The Tarheels let a tight game at the Deandome slip away from them in the last few minutes in a 68-59 loss to the Miami Hurricanes. James Michael McAdoo led the way with 14 points, Reggie Bullock had 11 points on 4-16 shooting, Marcus Paige and Brice Johnson had 10 points a piece. The 'Heels only shot 40 percent for the game (33 percent in the second half, were outrebounded (by one), and they just need someone to step up. Reggie Bullock made the effort but could not hit the big shot. The 'Heels are still looking for their "go to guy." They really need someone to step up at Center. The three-headed monster is just not being as productive as they need to be. Brice Johnson needs to be the one to step up here. Desmond Hubert and Joel James are still projects at this point in their career. Hubert continues to get the starts but he tends to be an offensive liability and that is not able to overcome his defensive strengths right now. Joel James has a solid skill set but lacks experience. Dexter Strickland had one of the strangest stat lines I have ever seen in a box score for a guard. He had one field goal attempts and that was it. 0 points, 0 assists, 0 rebounds, 0 turnovers- 0 everything except that one field goal attempt. His speed is such a tremendous asset on the defensive end and he needs to use that advantage on the offensive end as well. I have seen him blow right by people like they were sitting still. I would like to see J.P. Tokoto get more time based on his sheer athleticism. He had 4 steals in 12 minutes of playing time against Miami. They need a leader to take charge on the court.

A Work In Progress

This years Tarheels basketball team is going to be a work in progress and a learning process for the majority of the team. It is a rare occasion that you can say the Tarheels are in a rebuilding year but this may be one of those years. Rebuilding for the Tarheels and rebuilding for someone else are two different things. I believe they will still win 20 to 25 games and they will be much better at the end of the year than they are now. It will be exciting to see their development as the season progresses. They have lost to Butler in Maui and got crushed by #1 Indiana (maybe they should stay away from the state of Indiana for the rest of the year) and in the loss to Indiana only shot 10 for 36 in the second half. This is also one of those rare seasons in which the 'Heels are stronger from the outside than they are on the inside. Against UAB they were hot from the outside and it led to a 102-84 victory. Leslie McDonald had a coming out party of sorts with a career high 24 points (5 of 7 from the three point line), Reggie Bullock had 17 (3 of 5 from the three point line), and P. J. Hairston had 16, all in the second half. He hit two three pointers but drove hard to the basket and was able to put himself at the free throw line. Interior players James Michael McAdoo (15 points, 12 rebounds), Brice Johnson (11 points, 9 in the first half), and Joel James (2 points) only went to the line 3 times between the three. They should have wore out UAB on the inside. The 'Heels have some athletes this year. McAdoo is one of the most athletic inside players they have had in quite a while and you have to be excited about the potential of wing player J. P. Tokoto. His athleticism was on display before the game with a backwards shot from halfcourt and a alley oop from Leslie McDonald during the game.