Is North Carolina Overrated? From No. 1 in the Country to Last in the ACC

UNC went into Winston-Salem looking to bounce back from their ACC-opening loss to BC.

They left licking their wounds after Jeff Teague and Wake Forest picked up their program's biggest win since the days of Chris Paul.

Not to take anything away from Wake or how impressive they were tonight, but the whole time I was watching this game, I couldn't help but think about how bad UNC looked.

Outside of Danny Green (and maybe Ed Davis), did any of the Heels play well?

Tyler Hansbrough was a total non-factor in the second half.

Ty Lawson turned the ball over and took dumb shots all game.

Wayne Ellington couldn't buy a jump shot until the very end.

Deon Thompson was 3-for-13 from the floor.

In fact, other than Danny Green (who was 6-for-9), the other four Tar Heel starters shot 14-for-50 on the night.

Despite all of that, UNC only lost this game by three.

That, however, is not the point. This is UNC's second-straight loss to open the ACC season.

That begs the question: are the Heels as good as they are supposed to be?

If you read this blog, then you know how I feel about them. I have said on multiple occasions that they may be the best college team I've ever seen put together.

But in their first two ACC outings, the Heel's flaws have been painfully exposed.

For starters, they play absolutely no defense, especially on the perimeter. Jeff Teague of Wake Forest and Tyrese Rice from BC did basically whatever they wanted to against the Heels. Teague went for 34 points, 6 boards, and 4 assists while Rice went for 25 points, 5 boards, and 8 dimes.

The Heels are also a much different team if you can force them to play in the half court. They are very good in their secondary break, where their offense functions based on reading how the defense is aligned, who is the hot hand, who has a mismatch, etc. When they have to execute a set play against a set defense, they are much less effective.

The biggest issue might have been UNC's shot selection. I understand that the UNC system is to push the ball and to look for quick shots, but you also want them to be good shots.

I love Lawson, but when he takes step-back threes with 25 seconds left on the shot clock, it is nowhere in the vicinity of a good shot.

Perhaps the worst shot of the game was taken by Hansbrough.

UNC had trimmed an eight point lead down to four thanks to two Ellington threes, and the Heels had just gotten a stop. The ball ended up in Hansbrough's hands at the top of the key. He pump faked, took one dribble to his left, then took a step back and shot a contested three.

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