UNC beats NC Central

If you saw the second game of the season for the Tar Heels then you must admit that this team is young, but it also does have a seasoned leader on its roster, Marcus Ginyard. In the second game of the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament North Carolina (No. 4 ESPN/USA Today, No. 6 AP) took care of NC Central by the final of 89 to 42, and once again the score board shouldn’t be looked at as much as the game/plays themselves. Ginyard is off to a fast start for UNC, with his second double double in as many games (he equaled his career high 17 points tonight), and head coach Roy Williams is noticing what his fifth year senior is doing on the court:

“When he shoots it now, I think it’s going in. I really do,” Williams said. “I like that it’s got great spin. He gets it up in the air. It’s not flat and it’s going to land softly, so I do expect that he’ll be more of a scorer. But I want him to be Marcus Ginyard, and then whatever he scores will be fine.”

But what amazed me the most was the fact that with about seven and a half minutes gone in the first half UNC and NC Central were close, with the score being 19 to 17 for the Heels. After that the game was not too close anymore as UNC went onto a 32 to 3 run (which included a stretch of 21 nothing) and when the half was over so was the game as Carolina led by the score of 51 to 20. Before anyone says “well look at who they were playing” I will be the first to admit that NC Central is not the way you can measure how good Williams’ club can be, but the reality is that while the turnovers are still an issue this game was a lot better for all of the Heels than the first one against FIU.

The head coach said this after the game against NCCU:

What I can say is this, the team now has a couple of days to check out the good, the bad, and the ugly (yes the TOs are ugly for this team) and make the adjustments needed to begin what should be the real schedule as they take on Valparaiso on Sunday. If the fan base wants a game to judge how good this edition of North Carolina is going to be the next one at the Dean Dome should be a good one to do just that. As far as my opinion on the game before Valpo comes in? Well, it’s pretty simple, the talent is there, but unlike a lot of people (including myself) thought, the freshmen might need a bit more time to become what they can be at the college level.

Now, having said that, this does not mean that the team can not be good, since there is plenty of players from last season that can do a good job in the meantime. However, as we all know, you need as good of a bench as possible if you want to win the ACC and go deep in March. But that is a long way off and by then the five frosh could easily be college ready as they will ever be. For now Carolina is now 2 and 0, has a leader and plenty of support around him and seems to be a better defensive team than last year, so all in all it’s not that bad!

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