Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of the Tar Heel’s ACC season

By Brandon Griffin

Jan 8, 2017; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guards Joel Berry II (2) and Kenny Williams (24) and forward Justin Jackson (44) react toward the end of the game. The Tea Heels defeated the Wolfpack 106-56 at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 8, 2017; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guards Joel Berry II (2) and Kenny Williams (24) and forward Justin Jackson (44) react toward the end of the game. The Tea Heels defeated the Wolfpack 106-56 at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports /
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The ACC season has just gotten its feet wet. What can we take away from the Heels thus far?

The ACC season is now three games old. That means that there is still about 83 percent of the season left. Regardless, three games is enough to see a few trends.

What has UNC shown us over the first two weeks of the ACC season?

Paying homage to Clint Eastwood, let’s take a look at the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of UNC’s early ACC season.

The Good

Rebounding. UNC has been as good as anyone at rebounding. Their 45.9 rebounds per game lead the nation by almost an entire rebound per game over the second closest team. The next closest ACC team to them is Louisville at 41.6 per game.

Jan 3, 2017; Clemson, SC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels forward Kennedy Meeks (3) gets the rebound while being defended by Clemson Tigers guard Marcquise Reed (2) during the second half at Littlejohn Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports /

During ACC play, the Tar Heels have pulled down 145 rebounds. That’s more than 48 per game. They have also grabbed 59 offensive rebounds during that span.

Carolina has missed 131 shots in those three games. That means they have rebounded 45 percent of their missed shots. In other words, a missed basket is almost an offensive play for the Tar Heels.

The Bad

Three-point shooting. As mentioned, the Tar Heels have missed 131 shots this ACC season. Of those misses, 50 have been from beyond the three-point arc.

Dec 7, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Kenny Williams (24) dribbles the ball up court during the second half against the Davidson Wildcats at Dean E. Smith Center. The Tar Heels won 83-74. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Dec 7, 2016; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Kenny Williams (24) dribbles the ball up court during the second half against the Davidson Wildcats at Dean E. Smith Center. The Tar Heels won 83-74. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports /

In their first three games, UNC is shooting only 35 percent from behind the arc including a 5-of-26 game against Georgia Tech.

Despite these low numbers, Carolina is still averaging nearly 26 three-point attempts per game. The offensive rebounding helps, but if the Tar Heels want to win they need to hit closer to 40 of their threes.

An encouraging sign for UNC though, is that it shot 43 percent in its last two games; wins over Clemson and NC State.

The Ugly

Turnovers. In their first three games this ACC season, the Heels have 50 turnovers. That’s an average of nearly 17 per game. That would be good enough to rank in the top ten worst turnover prone teams in the nation.

During this span, they have just 51 assists. That means that as a team they have a one-to-one assist to turnover ratio. That’s not good.

However like with the three-point shooting, there is hope. The Heels have lowered their turnover total each of their three conference games.

Jan 3, 2017; Clemson, SC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Joel Berry II (2) drives to the basket while being defended by Clemson Tigers guard Marcquise Reed (2) during the second half at Littlejohn Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports
Mandatory Credit: Joshua S. Kelly-USA TODAY Sports /

They have also increased their assist total each of their  past three games. Against N.C. State, they had 21 assists to 12 turnovers for a 1.75 assist-to-turnover ratio. Not great, but definitely an improvement.

And again, the season is early. A lot can still happen. However, if UNC wants to win it all, they need to keep doing the good, improve on the bad, and cut out the ugly.

If they don’t, they may end up as the team with no name.

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