Keeping It Heel
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UNC Basketball: Five Resolutions for the Tar Heels in the New Year

By Alec Lasley

CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels watches his team play against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 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)
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - NOVEMBER 16: Head coach Roy Williams of the North Carolina Tar Heels watches his team play against the Tennessee Tech Golden Eagles 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) /
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CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 22: Tyler Herro #14 of the Kentucky Wildcats dribbles the ball while being guarded by Kenny Williams #24 of the North Carolina Tar Heels in the first half during the CBS Sports Classic at the United Center on December 22, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images)
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS – DECEMBER 22: Tyler Herro #14 of the Kentucky Wildcats dribbles the ball while being guarded by Kenny Williams #24 of the North Carolina Tar Heels in the first half during the CBS Sports Classic at the United Center on December 22, 2018 in Chicago, Illinois. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) /

Improve on the Defensive End of the Floor

Continuing to sound like a broken record, in order for the Tar Heels to make any sort of impact come March and April, they need to find a defensive identity.

One of the worst defensive teams in recent memory for the Heels, they currently rank 261st in the country in total defense giving up 75.7 points per game, 151st when it comes to field goal percentage defense (42.7 percent), 165th in three-point field goal defense (33.5 percent), and 190th in blocks with only 39 total.

Almost all of these problems stem from their extremely poor ball screen defense. I recently broke down their defense and why they are struggling and what they need to work on.

All three to four bigs that rotate in for the Tar Heels have struggled all year long hedging and recovering to the offensive big that either rolls or pops after the screen which results in either an easy bucket or a wide open three because of the help side defense that has to slide over to the roller.

Though the Tar Heels rank in the top five in points scored per game, they always go through droughts and it’s the defense that needs to step up in order to keep them in games, especially come ACC play when almost every game will be decided by only a couple of possessions.

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