Kendall Marshall Injury: UNC Should Play It Safe and Rule Marshall out vs. Ohio

It is utterly ridiculous that Kendall Marshall has not yet been ruled out for North Carolina's Sweet 16 tilt against Ohio on Friday. 

I'm not saying Roy Williams and the team's coaching staff are stupid, mind you. I'm merely remarking on how amazing it is that a guy with a fractured right wrist is still in the picture for Friday's game.

According to Robbi Pickeral of ESPN.com, the Tar Heels are at least preparing to play without Marshall. There is still a chance Marshall will be able to play, but it sounds like that's because nobody is really sure what he's capable of, not because Marshall is improving at a rapid rate.

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"If he comes running in here now and says, 'God, I can play!' I'll say, 'Well, let's talk about it,'" said Williams on Tuesday. "But he's in a frickin' cast. ... I cannot give you any answers. I've given everybody all the answers I can give, because I have said honestly, 'I do not know.'"

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Quick! Somebody ask Williams another question about his wounded point guard!

So far, the only one who seems to know anything about Marshall's broken right wrist is Marshall's father. He said in a text to the AP that his son is "doing much better" after having surgery on Monday morning. Marshall's father also reported that his son was able to sleep through the night.

Things would be much more encouraging if Marshall's father had texted that his son is able to dribble a basketball with his right hand and that he was able to withstand a hard foul to his right arm.

The Tar Heels don't know if Marshall can do that. They don't know if he can do anything that requires use of his right wrist, really. 

Because of that, they shouldn't waste any more time coming to the obvious conclusion: Marshall will not be able to play against Ohio on Friday. Instead of dragging it out, they should rule Marshall out and get the distraction out of the way.

On the bright side, it's not like the Tar Heels really need Marshall to beat Ohio. The Bobcats are not to be underestimated, but they're a team North Carolina should be able to dominate in the paint and around the basket. Few teams can match up with Tyler Zeller and John Henson, and Ohio is not one of them. Their bigs will be overwhelmed against Carolina's bigs.

In addition, Ohio will have to put the clamps on Harrison Barnes, who is always good and occasionally brilliant.

Having a 100 percent healthy Marshall would obviously help, but that's out of the question. Even if Marshall is able to play, he would be well south of 100 percent.

I'm not trying to rule Marshall out for the rest of the tournament (assuming there is a rest of the tournament for UNC). I doubt Marshall would play Sunday in the Elite Eight if he doesn't play Friday in the Sweet 16. But if North Carolina makes it to the Final Four, by then Marshall will have close to two full weeks of rest under his belt.

If the question is whether UNC can have a hurt and ineffective Marshall for a shot at the Final Four or a well-rested and healed Marshall for a shot at the championship game, there's only one conclusion to come to. This Tar Heels team didn't set out to get to the Final Four and call it quits. It set out to win the whole thing.

They're not winning the whole thing without Marshall, but they can afford to take their chances getting to the Final Four without him.