0 - 0 I really do not have any decent suggest or answers. I do know it is not in my nature to panic or be otherwise reactionary about the state of a young team at this junction in an equally young season. Sure there are some fairly pressing concerns with this team but I honestly do not see the point of writing this team off now or dwelling too much on last season. Let’s leave 2010 where it is and focus on the hand that has been dealt. It also should be noted that Roy Williams said he is not discouraged. He is also done allowing players to play just because. John Henson and Dexter Strickland both had their playing time affected versus Vanderbilt because their play was not making the grade. For all those people wondering about personnel decisions and believe Roy is going to keep playing the same guys over and over might want to take note of that.
Probably the biggest concern coming out of this one is the offensive execution and the turnovers. UNC did not shoot the ball well but also did not appear to run the offense particularly well at times hence the turnovers. I did not count these but the number of times players miscommunicated on a pass struck me as a tad high. This resulted in balls sailing out of bounds or into the hands of a defender. Even when the ball was not turned over, there seemed to be issues not catching passes cleanly throwing the whole flow of the offense out of whack. UNC apparently does not have any one player who can effectively create offense on his own. I had hoped that either Harrison Barnes or Dexter Strickland could do that but it has not happened much to this point. That means the offense needs to be executed and right now it is coming up short. The question is can it be fixed? Possibly. I am still working under the assumption that as the team develops, the offense will get crisper. I also think there are enough capable shooters to address the shooting woes. If you get those two in combination the ship should right with relative ease. Of course the best way to accomplish some form of team cohesion on offense is to get everyone fitted into certain roles on a consistent rotation. It is not all of that however. This team has capable players who can produce on offense but somehow it is not being maximized. Some credit goes to the other team for playing great defense and blame on UNC for not adjusting to that. Once again we are dealing with a young and newly formed team for all intents and purposes. Some of this will take time.
As for Harrison Barnes, I don’t have any idea. He was not bad in this one but there is a feeling that his production should be a tad higher. In light of some other freshmen around the country posting quality performances, questioning what is wrong with Barnes is not out of line. Is the general offensive malaise hampering Barnes that much? Are defense simply keyed on him? Is his learning/adjustment curve in Roy’s system more so than it is for others? I really don’t know but if Barnes can somehow get rolling it could serve as a relief valve. I just don’t see that many experts being wrong but after four games it is a little dumbfounding Barnes has had basically one good half in four games.
The Heels get UNC-Asheville in two days. The best medicine for this team is to play a good game, see the ball go into the basket from all over and find some confidence. The last thing you want is for this to spiral out of control like it did last season so getting some easy wins would be very helpful.
