EARLY SEASON HOOPS THOUGHTS: North Carolina

North Carolina has been one of the more quiet number one teams in recent memory because they really have not been tested and have not been in marquee games on TV, yet. But from what I have seen from UNC is nothing impressive at all. They lost to Georgetown in the Elite Eight last season because of their deficiencies in their half court offense and their late game D. Their defense is much improved but their half court O remains their chief weakness. In their games against Davidson, Kentucky, and Rutgers they won convincingly (except for Davidson) but still looked unimpressive. Once they get into ACC play and go up against a team that plays hard D for 40 minutes like Duke, North Carolina State, and Clemson I don’t see them winning all those games. Their other weakness is inside play. Obviously they have Tyler Hansbrough but the combination of Deon Thompson and Alex Stepheson at PF has been Jekyll and Hyde. They both have great skill and upside but it’s not all put together. Deon Thompson has a more polished offensive game than Stepheson but Stepheson is better on the defensive end and makes less mental errors. If one of them can become consistent on both ends than watch out because they will be firing on all cylinders.
Tyler Hansbrough is almost a lock to be a first team All-American, ACC Player of the Year and maybe even a National POY candidate but his game is just not pretty to watch. 80% of the time he gets the ball, all he does is bully is way into the post, pump fake, and go up hard to draw a foul. I don’t see him spin and use post moves like the great bigs that had success in college and the NBA like Hakeem Olajuwon and Patrick Ewing. Hansbrough is a great college player but I don’t see him having success in the NBA, he is slow and is an average athlete. If he had to match up with an Amare Stoudemire or an Al Jefferson night in and night out he would get schooled all the time.
Please don’t take this has me having it in for UNC because they are a great team and are fun to watch. This is merely a caution to all the UNC fans that are booking their Final Four tickets as we speak. The Tar Heels are a great team but they are not close to their predecessors in 2005. Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington are not yet Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants. Hansbrough has the numbers to match what Sean May did but he lacks his athleticism and deft touch around the basket. Marcus Ginyard is the Jackie Manual of the team but Stepheson and Thompson lack the leadership and grit that Jawad Williams brought in 2005. UNC fans should expect success deep into March but if their half court offense does not improve, they will have a hard time making it to that big Monday in April.