UNC Basketball: Five Takeaways from the Tar Heels in November

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CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 16: Garrison Brooks #15 of the North Carolina Tar Heels battles Micaiah Henry #11 of the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles for a rebound during the first half of their game at the Dean Smith Center on November 16, 2018 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

Defensive Liability

Not sure where to start with this one, not much good has come from the defensive end as we have seen mental mistakes over and over again.

The Tar Heels currently rank 254th in total defense through the first month of the season, and honestly, at times they look even worse than that.

So far, according to KenPom rankings, in the four games against tier A and tier B teams (Wofford, Texas, UCLA, Michigan), opponents are averaging 49 percent shooting from the field and 42 percent from three. Obviously, it’s a small sample size, but that would rank the Heels 340 in the country in field goal defense – reminder there are only 351 D1 schools.

It’s not only a problem on the perimeter, shown by the three-point percentage, but it starts in the paint.

Because guards get into the paint at will, it draws help from all corners of the defense and with the lack of a shot blocker, it’s a simple dump off pass to the block for an easy bucket.

The only time Carolina has seemed to be effective on the defensive end of the floor is during their half-court traps, but it is rare that the Tar Heels defense pulls that out of the bag.

Carolina has the ability to be a terrific defensive team, big guards with great quickness, size and length on the wings, and the IQ for their big men down low.

Roy Williams’ defenses always struggle early on and eventually come into place come March, but this team will need a complete turnaround to be a second-weekend team and need to fix it sooner rather than later, owning the toughest schedule in the nation.

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