2011-2012 Season in Review: North Carolina

32-6 overall, 14-2 ACC

If you look at that record, it's hard to call the season a disappointment. But expectations were extremely high. You can break down Coach Roy Williams' tenure in Chapel Hill by three classes: the group that included Felton, May and McCants won a National Championship. The group of Lawson, Ellington and Hansbrough won a National Championship. So many expected the group of Marshall, Barnes, Henson and Zeller to win one as well. Things don't always turn out as planned.

North Carolina began the season with five wins, and then surprisingly lost against UNLV.  They added another loss to eventual national champion Kentucky before reeling off nine straight wins.  Conference play for the most part was a breeze.  The two games they lost were each surprising in their own way.  First there was a 33 point loss at Florida State in which Coach Williams pulled his team off the floor before the final buzzer.  Then the amazing comeback by Duke and final shot by Austin Rivers.

Then the injury bug hit.  John Henson missed three games, and was largely ineffective when he came back.  The killer, though, was the injury to Kendall Marshall.  He was hurt in the Creighton game, and a team that was already short Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald was extremely thin at point guard.  It's hard to put all the blame on Stilman White, but he was ineffective trying to replace Marshall, and North Carolina's season ended in the Elite Eight.

The one constant all year for North Carolina was Tyler Zeller.  He finished with 16.3 points and 9.6 rebounds per game and took home the ACC Player of the Year honor.  His presence down low made up for the relative shortcomings of Harrison Barnes.  He was the team's leading scorer, but didn't quite fill the promise of his freshman year.  Barnes exceeded 20 points in 13 games, but didn't pick up the slack when the other players were out injured.  He only topped the 20 point mark once in the last ten games.

Biggest Win:

88-70 at Duke (March 3)

Duke was ranked #4 in the nation at the time, but North Carolina was coming in with a lot of fire, and it showed.  They were angry about the way the first matchup ended, and took it to Duke from the start.  The Blue Devils really never had a chance in this one.

Worst Loss:

85-84 vs. Duke (February 8)

The 33 point loss to Florida State was embarrassing, but it doesn't compare to blowing a late lead to your biggest rival at home and losing on a three pointer by a freshman.  Austin Rivers' dagger silenced the 20,000 in the Dean Dome and took a lot of air out of the fanbase.

Postseason Play:

North Carolina started the ACC Tournament with a very easy win over Maryland.  The semifinal game was a real dogfight against N.C. State.  It took a late basket by Marshall to beat the Wolfpack by two.  In the final, North Carolina surprisingly lost to Florida State once again.  The Seminoles seemed to be a team on the mission, and won a back and forth affair by three.  The NCAA Tournament was an interesting ride.  After getting a #1 seed and taking care of Vermont, they won fairly easily against Creighton, but suffered that crippling injury to Marshall.  The Tar Heels could feel the effects of his loss right away, needing overtime to beat Ohio.  They actually played quite well in the first half of their Elite Eight game against Kansas, but the Jayhawks made all the plays down the stretch and won by 13.

Next Year:

Next year's Tar Heel team will look very different.  Zeller is the only real senior of consequence to leave.  But Henson, Barnes and Marshall have all declared for the NBA Draft and are leaving school early.  That is four starters gone.  The good news is James Michael McAdoo returns, and he looks to be a star.  McAdoo should be the team's best player next year.  They do get Strickland and McDonald back from injury, which should help.  The major questions, though, will be who will play point guard and who will provide post depth?  The best freshman prospect is probably Marcus Paige, who is not a big scorer but could provide stability at the point.  So how is North Carolina going to do next year?  They aren't going to go 14-2 in conference next year.  But they're also not going to go 8-8.  I would expect them to contend for the top spot alongside Duke and N.C. State.