UNC Basketball: What Is Going On In Chapel Hill?

First of all, congratulations to Boston College for its stellar play against North Carolina, and to Wake Forest for showing why it remains undefeated. Both teams played smart, aggressive basketball against the Tar Heels, and deserved to have won. Now on to tougher matters.

What has happened to the former No. 1 team in the nation? That could be the question North Carolina coach Roy Williams is asking the official in the picture above.

With all the blue-chippers coming back, this was supposed to be a cakewalk to a National Championship, at least as the media led us to believe. Call off the season, they wrote, as the Tar Hells are a shoe-in in Detroit.

Some people really bought into the hype, and lots more jumped on the bandwagon. All these accolades came even though Bobby Frasor was coming off major ACL damage, Marcus Ginyard wouldn't be able to even jog until December, Ty Zeller gets hurt in the second game, and Tyler Hansbrough has shin problems. Yes, North Carolina breezed against lesser opponents and the Tar Heels showed what they were capable of against the likes of Michigan State and Notre Dame, yet something still wasn't quite right.

I for one never thought North Carolina was going to go undefeated, nor did I think the Tar Heels would breeze through the ACC schedule, as five other teams in the conference returned all five of their starters. Even though most of those teams are fairly young, they still have game experience to fall back on. 

Last night's game against the Demon Deacons wasn't a surprise to me, as North Carolina was on the road, and Wake Forest was hungry to show they were as good as advertised.  The game against Boston College was a shock, as I felt that the Tar Heels would play tougher and play smarter than in the previous three games, as this was their home and ACC opener.

Did Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson really buy into the team concept Williams was preaching, or are they trying to prove to the scouts that they are NBA lottery picks?  Where is the perimeter defense they both displayed early on in the season, and the good decision making? 

Is Hansbrough truly healthy, or is he not feeling 100 percent, as he has looked gassed in the last couple of games? Where has Deon Thompson disappeared to, and who is that imposter wearing No. 21? Bobby Frasor is having problems moving backwards trying to keep up with his man, and his shot selection has not been good. Ginyard is not in game shape, and no one knows how long—if ever this season— it will take him to get there, so don't count on him.

The Tar Heels have far more questions, it seems, than they have answers. Let's just take the first two ACC games they played. There was no team chemistry, and heaven forbid players should run plays on offense or play defense. 

Lawson has taken his fabulous 5-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio and nearly reversed it. He is barely shooting 30 percent from the floor, and still tries to take the game into his own hands. The Eagles' Tyrese Rice and Wake Forest's Jeff Teague have torn him apart, and the Nevada point guard took it to him throughout that game.

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