Season in Review

North Carolina
29-8 (14-2 ACC)

Tar Heel fans have to be pretty happy about what happened this past season.  After a nightmare of a season where they ended up in the NIT, the Heels ended up with an ACC regular season title and a berth in the Elite 8.  They showed some rust in the beginning of the season with a lot of new players, but really came together by the end of the season.

You can divide North Carolina's season into two parts.  The first would be the Larry Drew team.  This is the team that struggled to early losses against Minnesota, Vanderbilt and Illinois.  The second is the Kendall Marshall team.  After Drew left the program, the team significantly improved.  From December 21 to March 5, UNC went 17-2.  That is an incredible run for a team even in a relatively weak ACC.  Carolina made it to the final of the ACC Tournament despite struggling through much of their first two games, but got blown out by rival Duke.  In the NCAA Tournament, they played great at times and poorly in others, eventually losing to Kentucky and missing out on a Final Four bid.

The funny thing is I felt like despite all the success, Carolina still didn't play up to potential.  Harrison Barnes is a great talent but can tend to get selfish during games, taking wild shots.  He no doubt hit a lot of clutch shots, but I would like to see him distribute more.  Similarly, John Henson has a ton of potential and is a big force on the inside.  But I saw him make way too many plays where he tried to drive all the way to the basket from the 3 point line with no success.  That being said, Marshall was the real catalyst for this team, and could have a huge impact next year.

Biggest Win:
81-67 vs. Duke on 3/5

Carolina was very motivated to beat their hated rival, especially after blowing a big lead in Cameron during the first game.  They played one of their best games of the year here, making Duke look slow and unathletic.  This was big for their confidence, although they didn't play up to this level again the rest of the season.

Worst Loss:
78-58 at Georgia Tech on 1/16

Carolina came into this game having not lost in a month and just laid an egg.  Losing at Georgia Tech is bad enough, but to lose by 20 is really inexcusable.  The good thing is this was just a blip on the radar, as they came back to win their next five in a row.

Postseason Play:

The ACC Tournament was a bit of a struggle for the Heels.  They came in as the #1 seed, but got down big in the first half against Miami in the quarters. They were able to come back and win due mostly to Miami ineptitude.  Then, they got down by a significant margin to Clemson in the semis.  Barnes hit some big shots and led Carolina back to an overtime win.  This led to a third matchup with Duke in the finals.  It was Blue Devils all the way from the start, as Duke jumped out to a double-digit halftime lead and ended up winning by 17.

North Carolina came into the NCAA Tournament with a 2 seed, and started with an easy win over Long Island.  They had a tougher time in the second round game against Washington, coming up with a huge play on an in-bounds from Henson and a last-minute stop to win.  In the Sweet 16, Carolina blew out an overmatched Marquette team, one of the most lopsided games of the tournament.  Then came the Kentucky game.  The Wildcats seemed to have a good game plan against the Heels, and made a ton of 3s in a mild upset.

Looking Ahead:

With the return of Henson, Barnes and Tyler Zeller, most pundits have North Carolina pegged as the best team next season.  And it's hard to argue with that.  If they can keep working on developing team chemistry, they can certainly win it all.  Carolina will have as much talent as anyone in the country.  The best player they are losing is Justin Knox, who averaged 4.6 points per game.  The only thing that can keep Carolina from taking it all next year will be themselves.