UNC’s Future Building Blocks: James McAdoo and Marcus Paige
After the UNC Tar Heels injury induced departure from the NCAA Tournament this year, it looked as though the team’s recent stretch of dominate play would come to an abrupt end. To the surprise of many fans, the news broke that Heels were losing their superstar front court tandem of reining ACC Player of the Year Tyler Zeller and former ACC Defensive Player of the Year John Henson to the NBA.
With the loss of the two pillars of their team, along with the departure of Harrison Barnes and Kendall Marshall, it first seemed as though the Tar Heels were in for a long period on rebuilding while they waited for other potential stars to develop their game. However, if the players that led the team’s second unit last season have anything to say about it, this will in no way be the case.
Let’s look first at UNC’s top big man, James Michael McAdoo. After getting off to a slow start during the beginning of his freshman campaign, McAdoo made a name for himself as the replacement for an injury laden Heels front court. When given the chance to play significant minutes, McAdoo showed very promising signs that he will manage to live up the standards that were set when he was named the 4th best player on the 2011 high school player’s prospect list. Above all else, James McAdoo displayed a stellar post up jump shot last season that looked to be nearly UN-guardable. After having an entire off season to coach him, I’m willing to bet that head Coach Roy Williams will not only perfect his current strong points, but also add several other tools to his arsenal. While he only averaged 6.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 15.6 minutes per contest last year, he was still drawing so much attention form NBA scouts that he had to make a public announcement to state his intentions to return to school next season.
While the recent stretch of Tar Heel teams have been based around a dominate presents at the center position, the fast break offense has always been an integral part of Roy Williams offense. With the loss of the nation’s top point guard Kendall Marshall, the team will have to turn the reigns to the team over to Marcus Paige. The top PG in the 2012 class will come in and start immediately for the Heels.
Paige is pretty similar to Marshall in terms of athleticism and speed. His basketball IQ and talent with the ball in his hands more than makes up for his lack of big time speed. Paige is a terrific scorer, he’s an excellent catch and shooter, jump shooter. He can create for himself and his teammates. Terrific in the open court, he will need to show early that he can be the QB on the floor that Marshall was.
While the 2012-2013 Tar Heels may have some chemistry or even development issues next season, I fully expect the team to be one that is in contention for some great accomplishments. While the loss of talent should cause a drop-off in production, this should be a team that improves as the season progresses. When all is said and done, do not be surprised is next year’s version of the Heels are once against one of the top contenders in the ACC.