Last season North Carolina Men's Basketball was anointed as the Champion before they even played a game. With the whole crew back, led by uber college stud Tyler Hansbrough, the Tar Heels marched all the way to Detroit leaving crumbled opponents in their wake. Ty Lawson was the floor general, Wayne Ellington, the sniper and Danny Green was the glue that held the whole thing together.
Now they are gone.
Just like in 2005, practically all the scoring, rebounding and assists are gone from a loaded squad. Also like in 2006, the new team will be full of potential All-Americans with a bit of good leftovers to bridge the gap.
Roy Williams has prided him teams on running, shooting, scoring and playing defense in spurts (especially come March). This year it appears as though this team will be led on the defensive side with spurts of offense (hopefully come March).
The two seniors on the team are Deon Thompson and Marcus Ginyard. Thompson has been overshadowed by Hansbrough for the last three years, but he'll have a full season this year to prove he can play in the NBA. Ginyard should have been a senior last year, but a foot injury kept him from leaving a champion with his own class. He is known as a defensive stopper, which just happens to be the only weakness the Heels had last year.
Also returning will be Ed Davis who will be the most scouted prospect on the team this year. He is long and lanky. If you get out a guard or a wing, Davis will be there. He has the tools to score, but again it'll be defense first for him. Larry Drew II is the key to the team. He is stepping in for Lawson at the point. Will he be able to increase his shooting percentage, lower his turnovers and increase his assists (oh and play quality D as well)? That's a ton of question marks in a Roy Williams system.
Tyler Zeller had an abbreviated season last year (bleep you Kentucky) but returned to gain some much needed experience down the stretch. He is yet another long (you'll hear that word used a lot with UNC) player who has some definite offensive skills with a nice touch from outside the paint.
Will Graves (suspension) and Justin Watts (too much talent ahead of him) also saw some playing time last year and will be in the mix this season.
The blue ribbon recruiting class Roy Williams brings to Chapel Hill this year is led by string bean John Henson. The Wear brother, Travis and David, are also tall, but actually look like they have been to a weight room before heading to college. Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald are in to hopefully fill Ellington's shoes at the wing spot.
All in all there is a ton of raw talent, and if I had to have someone put the pieces together, I'd ask for Roy Williams.
For a quick season prediction...this year will look a lot like 2006. UNC is going to have real good nights and nights where things are a bit askew. The ACC is not the strongest that his has been in the past, but it is good. I can see UNC going 11-5 in conference.
Come March they will lose in the ACC semis and probably in the Sweet Sixteen of the Big Dance. As long as Dook doesn't win the whole thing (or friggin' Kentucky).
Good luck Heels!
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