UNC Basketball: See what ESPN’s Myron Medcalf has to say about UNC

ESPN’s Myron Medcalf has scathing — but fair — assessment of the Tar Heels

The North Carolina Tar Heels turned in an underwhelming performance in front of a near-capacity crowd at the Dean Smith Center on Saturday afternoon. The loss, which came at the hands of the unranked Louisville Cardinals, was the Tar Heels’ worst home defeat in the Roy Williams era.

The 21-point drubbing that Chris Mack’s team handed North Carolina was really never in doubt, and the Tar Heels’ only lead of the game was gone just one minute after the tip. From there, everything went downhill for Roy Williams’ team, which is now 1-2 in the ACC after beginning the conference season with two consecutive road wins.

The troubling part for the Tar Heels and their Carolina blue-clad fans, is that many of the same disconcerting tendencies we’ve seen from them through the first 15 games of the season were again evident on Saturday.

The Tar Heels shot just 34 percent from the floor, but allowed the Cardinals to hit nearly 52 percent of their attempts. The disparity from the beyond the arc was even worse as North Carolina went 3-for-22 from three-point range, while Louisville knocked down 11 of their 26 shots from downtown, good for 42 percent.

The Tar Heels struggled to put together multiple stretches of good offense or good defense, too, and failed to consistently stop Louisville in transition. Transition defense, in particular, has been an area of concern all year long for the Tar Heels, who rank 246th in the nation according to Synergy Sports.

North Carolina’s preseason All-American forward, Luke Maye, went 3-for-14 from the floor, including 1-of-6 from the three-point line. The other four UNC starters turned in sub-par performances, at best, with the exception of Kenny Williams, who scored 12 points on 50 percent shooting. The Tar Heels scored a season-low 62 points, and dropped to 12-4 overall.

The blowout home defeat was a bad loss by any metric, since 20-point home losses to ANY opponent are bad. It was the lack of effort and enthusiasm that made this one that much more discouraging. Once they got down by a few scores, the Tar Heels looked virtually incapable of making a run in their own building. Louisville was completely in control from start to finish.

Apparently, we weren’t the only ones who noticed.

In an article posted to ESPN.com on Monday morning, staff writer Myron Medcalf discussed some of the problems that are facing the Tar Heels this season, and what they’ll need to do in order to turn things around. Medcalf’s scathing sentiments — which won’t be popular among UNC fans — were not only true, but warranted.

"“It’s never a great idea to doubt a Roy Williams team,” Medcalf said. “But Saturday’s loss to Louisville, the worst home loss in the Williams era at North Carolina, magnified some of the concerns about this program. This is still a good team that will have an edge in most matchups. But the Tar Heels aren’t the physical, tough Tar Heels we’ve been accustomed to seeing under Williams.Louisville kept them from taking advantage of second-chance opportunities and stalled their transition game on Saturday. They’re also struggling to defend teams that push the pace and get buckets on fast breaks. . .. . . Luke Maye is 3-for-14 from beyond the arc a year after making 47 percent of his 3-point attempts in conference play. Coby White is committing turnovers on 22.5 percent of his possessions. . . A team that can beat Gonzaga and NC State on the road is a team that has the potential to compete for a national championship. That’s still UNC’s ceiling. But North Carolina has been overwhelmed in three lopsided losses to Michigan, Kentucky and Louisville. Williams’ track record suggests he’ll fix the challenges. Right now, however, a turnaround doesn’t seem like a guarantee for the Tar Heels.”"

Look, we understand that it’s unpopular among the Carolina faithful to make any kind of assertion contrary to the “UNC is awesome at all times” narrative. We get it. It’s not fun, and it’s not preferable. But neither is death or taxes, and it doesn’t change the fact that they still exist.

This North Carolina team has potential. There’s no doubt about that. And if there is any coach in America that I trust to develop and bring out the full potential of an underachieving team, it’s Roy Williams.

None of that changes the fact, though, that this UNC team lacks strong front court play — namely one-to-two traditional big men that have always been a hallmark of Williams’ best teams — which just so happens to be the same thing that led to the Tar Heels’ 21-point loss in the second round of last year’s NCAA Tournament.

They can, however, improve their effort and intensity on both ends of the court, as well as working harder to defend in transition and from three-point range. Taking care of the ball also has to be of grave importance for this team — they’re turning the ball over 14 times a game — as their offense isn’t as potent as in years passed, giving them less wiggle room for silly mistakes and miscues.

Stick with Keeping It Heel for all the latest on North Carolina basketball.