UNC Basketball: Questions Going into the 2012 Season Part II
By Matt Hamm
Welcome to part II of the series, for part I, click HERE. I thought I would expand on something I touched on earlier this week. North Carolina will have much lower expectations this season due to the large roster turnover it experienced. As a result, Carolina has many question marks going into the 2012 season.
Can PJ Hairston rebound from an ugly freshman season? Hairstons season was flat out ugly for Carolina in 2011. After a relatively strong start, his entire game fell flat and Hairston contributed very little to nothing on a nightly basis. He stood around on offense and looked to be a spot up shooter. Often launching bad shots that were well contested with time on the shot clock. He never took the ball to the basket in the half court and did not utilize his size to his advantage.
This summer has been different for Hairston who competed in the NC Pro-Am and played very well. He still showed a tendency to fade on his shots and favors shooting the jumper versus taking it to the net too much. But he broke out of his shell a lot and used his size and strength to get to the basket and finish at the rim consistently, something he never did his freshman season in Chapel Hill. He played aggressive defense and rebounded the ball, he handled the ball well in traffic and on the break, he passed the ball well. In other words, he looked nothing like the #15 we saw on the court in 2011. Expect a completely different player.
How will Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland perform coming off major injuries? Strickland tweeted this week some good news announcing that he has been cleared to play. McDonald has been playing for a while and is 100% back now. Both of these players will be relied upon to play big minutes this season, Stricklands versatility to play both guard spots is crucial.
McDonald was one of the teams top six players last season before his injury according to Roy Williams. He had a terrific summer once again and looked even better than he did the summer before. I fully expect him to not only improve, but explode on the scene this season. I have him penciled in as my starting shooting guard with Reggie Bullock at the small forward position.
Before he was injured he served as a role player off the bench and was the teams most reliable three point shooter as a sophomore. He was playing a role, he was supposed to come in, play hard, run the floor and hit open jumpers. And that’s what he did in his limited time on the court. But McDonald’s true strength to his game is his athleticism and his ability to do anything he wants to with a basketball in his hands on the court. I am convinced McDonald will be one of the teams three best players this season.
Strickland may take a little longer to come back to full strength even though he’s been cleared to play. Expect Roy to bring him along carefully and bring him off the bench with the teams stacked perimeter roster and utilize him at both positions.
How will Desmond Huberts physical improvements translate to the court in his sophomore season? This is one of the biggest wildcards for me because I really have very little frame of reference when it comes to Hubert. I watched very little of him coming into Chapel Hill and he played very little last season. But what I saw, I liked. Hubert is long, when he’s not making boneheaded fouls he can rebound and block shots.
As a freshman he had a very undefined and immature body, he’s worked very hard this summer and has gained a lot of muscle and definition in his upper body. He looks more than ready to bang inside for the Heels this season. Huberts offense is the biggest question mark. He has a decent little jump hook shot and can hit an open 7-10 foot jump shot if he’s left alone. The problem is he was always too timid or too aggressive. If he can find a good medium and play with a controlled high energy, he could be a very good player one day and he has the perfect opportunity to show it this season.