Top 5 Questions North Carolina Tar Heels Must Answer In a Hurry

From unbeatable to questionable. 

Funny how two weeks in ACC play can affect a team's perception.  Just ask North Carolina, who went from being thought of as potentially unbeatable to 0-2 in conference play. 

The Tar Heels have since bounced back with three straight wins, but questions now linger that must be answered if Carolina is to make their once-unquestioned march to an NCAA title.

Can the defense stop good teams? 

After Tyrese Rice and Jeff Teague sliced and diced the Carolina defense in the Heels' two losses, critics blamed primarily Ty Lawson for the defensive problems, and he certainly must improve against top point guards. 

But the team in general has been susceptible to dribble penetration, which leads to either easy finishes at the rim for the guard or a big man due to defensive rotation, or wide open looks from outside. 

Can the Heels correct this problem in time to handle the solid guards that always lead teams deep into tournament play?

Will the real Wayne Ellington please step forward? 

The Tar Heels' best shooter was in a season-long slump until finally recovering his stroke in the last two games.  Is Ellington over the hump and ready to pull a Donald Williams circa 1993 performance down the stretch, or is he subject to another slump come tourney time?

Will Marcus Ginyard come back and be effective? 

Carolina's best defensive player and most vocal leader is sidelined once again after his first comeback attempt from foot surgery had to be aborted.  If Ginyard can't come back, can the Tar Heels make the key plays Ginyard always seemed to produce in big games?  And who will guard the opposing team's best players?

Who will provide a spark off the bench? 

Considered the deepest team in the country entering the season, the losses of Ginyard and freshman Tyler Zeller to injury has forced Danny Green, last year's star sixth man, into the starting lineup. 

He's played extremely well, but the bench doesn't provide any offensive spark aside from the surprising play of freshman Ed Davis, but he provides a lift mostly on defense and on the glass.

Do the Heels have the killer instinct needed to win it all? 

This sounds like a crazy question for a team with "Psycho T", but after the Kansas destruction in last year's Final Four and the loss of Ginyard this year, the Heels still need a leader to emerge a la George Lynch in '93 or Sean May in '05 who just refuses to let his team lose.  That could be Hansbrough, but it remains to be seen.

It feels like a lot of questions for a team with so much obvious talent, and it is only January, but the Heels only have eleven regular season games left in which to work through their challenges. 

It will be interesting to see if Ole' Roy can push the right buttons come tourney time, but without question some of those buttons will need to be pushed by the players themselves.