UNC takes care of FIU
The 100th Year
And so it began, the 100th year of basketball at North Carolina. Last night, in front of a not so full Dean Dome, fifth ranked Carolina took on Florida International, who is coached by Isiah Thomas, and if we think back a while, didn’t want to play UNC as their first game of the season. The final score was UNC 88 FIU 72, but this game was not about the points on the scoreboard, but more about what happened on the floor with the many question marks the team was entering the season with. One thing is sure, the team, which is almost all new from last season national title squad, has plenty of talent, just that it’s raw and not yet refined.
One of the many question marks about this season was what would Larry Drew II do to make the fan base forget the last two great point guards at Chapel Hill (Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson)? The answer is that the sophomore played within himself, with seven points and six assists (to 2 TOs) and had control of the team while on the floor. Up front for the Tar Heels there is plenty of talent, that was never a question mark, but who would take the leadership once Tyler Hansbrough was gone was (and maybe the biggest question). It seems that Deon Thompson is going to be that guy, getting a double double last night, 20 pts and 10 boards, and being a force down low in what I would say was limited time compared to the rest of the season. Ed Davis also had a double double, scoring 13 and getting 11 rebounds. Another player that the Heels will be relying heavily on is Marcus Ginyard, and he looked very good at the shooting guard, scoring 12 points in all.
But the main question mark of the season could have been: “what about the freshman class?” Overall I am going to say this, they all showed me something, but they all have work to do. John Henson is the player all have said he can be, he had a couple of plays (including a alley opp dunk) that showed us the future of this young man. The Wear twins (and thank goodness for the numbers cause I can not tell them apart) did well, getting 10 minutes of playing time a piece and using it wisely. The two guards, Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald, probably are the ones that have the most catching up to do in order to be playing at the level that head coach Roy Williams wants them at. Having said that all of the players on this team have a lot of work to do, especially when you think that the team had 26 turnovers on the night against a team like FIU. Half as many TOs against a better team means a loss for the Heels!
I know that this was the first game of the night and it was against Florida International, but I will go out on a limb (or not) and make a prediction: this team is going to win using its defense just as much as they will win using their offense. And if I am right this team is going to turn a lot of heads. With Ginyard we knew that a defensive stopper would be on the floor, but the big men seem to be ready to step it up as well, getting eight block shots on the night (four of them from Davis).
Coach Wiliams said this of the game:
“We’re glad to get the W,” UNC coach Roy Williams said. “It’s fun to get that first game under your belt.”
But then also stated the obvious about the turnovers:
“Needless to say, we don’t like 26 turnovers,” Williams said. “I even chewed the last five guys out because we had four turnovers in the last two minutes of the game. I told them they work their tail off in practice – if you want to get into the game, don’t turn the dadgum ball over when I put you in there.”
And this is what the UNC head coach had to say after the game last night (besides the two above posted quotes):
In the end, while I think there is definitely need to improve in certain areas, this team can be one that brings plenty of satisfaction to its coaching staff and the fan base. Can it be like last year’s? No, but last year’s could not be like the one in 2005, and in the end they both achieved the same thing. Gone is the quartet of Hansbrough, Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green (along with others) and in are the five freshmen and the players that last year were the role players. It’s tough to say good bye to those stars that have left for the NBA, but with the season beginning it’s time to do just that and get behind this new team.
Tomorrow night, again in Chapel Hill as part of the 2K Sports Classic UNC will take on NC Central at 9:00 pm EST. It will probably be another game like the one we saw yesterday, but it is also going to be a chance to see if the freshmen can learn quickly from their mistakes or if it is going to take a while.
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