North Carolina Basketball: 5 Players Who Deserve More Playing Time

With Selection Sunday right around the corner, the NCAA March Madness picture is beginning to become clear.  The Tar Heels' ticket to the dance isn’t in question, although it remains to be seen what tournament seed they will be given.

After last night's victory over rival North Carolina State, the Tar Heels currently sport a record of 24-4 (11-2 ACC).  As the Tar Heels head into the stretch run of the season, head coach Roy Williams will begin to tighten up the playing rotation.

Here is a look at five players that should receive more time on the court for the Tar Heels.

Harrison Barnes

Harrison Barnes is undoubtedly one of the most talented scorers in NCAA Basketball, which is why it is surprising to see that he averages only 27.5 minutes per game.  As the Tar Heels' star player, this seems low, but considering the Tar Heels' ability to blow out opponents, there are games where Barnes' services aren’t needed.

Still, in the Tar Heels' four losses on the season, Barnes averaged only 29 minutes per game, including 24 minutes in the early-season loss to UNLV.  Conventional wisdom would have Barnes playing in excess of 35 minutes per game in the games where UNC needs him the most.

Obviously, Barnes needs time to rest like every other player, but for the Tar Heels to go deep in March Madness, they need their superstar on the court more.

P.J. Hairston

Blessed with a beautiful jump shot, it would seem like P.J. Hairston has exactly what the Tar Heels so desperately need.  Given the season-long struggles from behind the three-point line, it seems counter intuitive that P.J. Hairston is only seeing 13.5 minutes per game.

Then again, Hairston isn’t exactly shooting lights out from deep, as his 29.1 three-point percentage indicates.  That being said, for the Tar Heels to stop defenses from sagging off into the paint, they need someone to step up and start hitting the open outside shots. 

There is no reason Hairston can’t step into this role.  With a couple more minutes of floor time, Hairston could begin to regain rhythm with his shot and provide the Tar Heels with needed outside shooting.

Stilman White

When Dexter Strickland tore his ACL in January, it left UNC in a serious bind at the point guard position.  As a result, Kendall Marshall is playing a team-high 32.4 minutes per game.

Marshall hasn’t showed any ill effects due to the increase in minutes, but it would serve the Tar Heels well if they could get a little more rest for Marshall going forward.  When the Tar Heels signed Stilman White last recruiting period, not much was expected from him.

Now with the Tar Heels less than a month away from March Madness, White is the backup point guard.  Despite his freshman status and the fact that he only averages 4.5 minutes per game, Roy Williams needs to play White more to insure that Marshall doesn’t tire.

Reggie Bullock

As previously mentioned, a glaring weakness for the Tar Heels this season has been their outside shooting. One way to amend this is to give more minutes to their starting 2-guard, Reggie Bullock. 

Despite his starting status, Bullock is playing a little more than half of every game (22.4 minutes per game).  For the Tar Heels' second-leading outside shooter—38.7 percent from thee-point range—Bullock could also give the Tar Heels' lineup versatility. 

Due to his ability to switch between the 2 and the 3-spots, it is a bit surprising that Bullock doesn’t get more burn.    

Desmond Hubert

Despite the obvious weight issue (Hubert is 6’10”, 205 lbs), there is no reason why Desmond Hubert only averages 4.9 minutes per game.  Despite the great talent in front of him—Tyler Zeller, John Henson and fellow freshman James Michael McAdoo—the Tar Heels need to get more floor time for Hubert.

As the fourth big man on the team, Hubert has only played in 19 of the team's 28 games and has never logged more than 13 minutes in a game.  As an undersized freshman, this isn’t that surprising, but if the Tar Heels are to go deep in the tournament, it is likely that their frontcourt will encounter foul trouble or injury issues.

One way to protect against a decline in production is to give Hubert more minutes (more experience) so that Hubert can better help the Tar Heels when called upon.