North Carolina Basketball: 5 Keys to Tar Heels Tourney Success

As the ACC tournament gets set to kick off shortly, the North Carolina Tar Heels have proven their worth as the top seed heading into Atlanta.

Their destruction of Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on senior night laid all doubts about who the best team in the ACC to rest.

However, as good as the Tar Heels looked in the Duke game and for much of the regular season, the Heels still have some work to do.

What follows are what I feel are the keys to Carolina winning the ACC tournament and positioning themselves for a deep run in the NCAA tournament as well.

Be Windex Men

The Heels have been an excellent rebounding team all season long, and they must stay in character for the tournament.

The Heels are a good offensive-rebounding team, but the key is their defensive rebounding.

If the Heels can clean the defensive glass, it ignites their high-octane open court game. And everyone knows the Heels are at their best in transition.

Lock Down the Perimeter

As the Heels showed in snuffing out the vaunted Blue Devils perimeter attack, when properly motivated, they can be a force defensively.

They have to have that same commitment to defense throughout the tournament season, as the teams they face from here on out will be just as tough as they have seen in the regular season, and some may even be tougher.

Run the Floor!

The open court is where the Tar Heels have thrived under Roy Williams.

With Kendall Marshall running the point, Harrison Barnes, John Henson and Reggie Bullock filling the lanes, and Tyler Zeller filling the trail position, the Heels can absolutely devastate opponents in transition.

What makes them even more dangerous is the ability of both Henson and Zeller to consistently beat opposing big men to the basket on the fast break.

If the Heels can find a way to play in the open court even as the games are slowed down, they will be very formidable in the approaching tourneys.

Good Shot Selection

The Heels have to make a concerted effort to work for the best shot available on each possession.

This was not shaping up to be a great three-point shooting team from the beginning of the season, and with the injury to Leslie McDonald and the struggles of freshman P.J. Hairston, their ability to consistently make the deep ball took a serious hit.

Harrison Barnes is a pretty good shooter from three, but the rest of the team is either reticent (Kendall Marshall), or inconsistent (Reggie Bullock).

The Heels cannot afford to fall in love with the jump shot to the detriment of their inside strength. Which brings me to my next point...

Feed the Beasts!

North Carolina has one of the best frontlines in all of college basketball, bar none.

With a rotation of Tyler Zeller, John Henson, Harrison Barnes, James Michael McAdoo and Justin Watts (in a pinch) the Heels have something many teams simply don’t: frontline versatility.

The Heels should not hesitate to ride their big men as far as they can carry them. If they are willing to commit to that, the sky could be the limit for the Heels in tourney season.