UNC Basketball: Comparing This Team To The Great Team Of 2009
By Matt Hamm
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The Heels enter this season in a familiar place, ranked #1 nationally and the favorite to win the national championship. Welcome to the first part of a mini series in which Keeping It Heel will compare this years team to great UNC teams of the past.
Two huge differences between the 2 teams stick out to me. The first being Ty Lawson’s scoring ability vs Kendall Marshall’s lack thereof. I love Marshall, he’s the superior passer but Lawson had that shooting and finishing ability Marshall has yet to develop. Marshall is more of a Jason Kidd like player, whereas Lawson is a Phil Ford kind of guy. Marshall doesn’t have to become a big time scorer but he has to get a competent jump shot and a has to be able to finish at the rim and knock it down from the charity stripe with consistency. In order to take full advantage of the big men the Heels possess so many of they need everyone on the perimeter to stick the J.
The 2011 Heels are definitely deeper down low than the 09 team but they don’t have anybody with the killer instinct like Tyler Hansbrough had. The team has as much, maybe even more talent than the 09 squad. As of right now, they do not have the heart of that 09 squad. This isn’t just my observation, many have pointed this out as a “concern” for the team. I say a player with the type of drive psycho T brought everyday was once in a lifetime. When he arrived on campus Roy and others around the program raved about the work ethic and desire of Harrison Barnes. Marshall has even pointed out that each morning he wakes up to Barnes “annoying” alarm clock at the “butt crack of dawn”. Barnes has showed the ability to step up and put the team on his back late in contests. He has also shown that he has a little more Lebron James in him and a lot less Michael Jordan than we thought coming in. Barnes is not, yet, a dominating player night in and night out. One could argue that John Henson is the team’s best player (in fact I will in a column later this week) still Barnes has the most talent and it’s not even close. The Tar Heels need Barnes to become more assertive, early in games, he needs to make a point to dominate every time UNC steps on the floor.
When I began this column before the season started I originally wrote that this team doesn’t have a Danny Green. I was wrong, that guy has turned out to be Reggie Bullock. Green was known for his stellar defense, hustle, and 3 point shot. Bullock who was seriously injured his freshman season before he could make any significant contribution is playing Green like basketball this season. It is my belief that Roy Williams needs to get Bullock into the starting lineup this year for the team to play at its best.
So is this team as good as the 09 team? No, net yet. Will they be? Maybe, a few things need to fall in place before the 2011 UNC Tar Heels can stake claim as one of the greats in UNC history. Only time will tell, in the end I expect Roy to have this group firing on all cylinders by March. This team is too deep and has way too much talent, anything less than cutting the nets down for the 3rd time since 05 will be a complete disappointment.
Keep It Heel!
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