UNC Basketball: Keys for the Tar Heels at 2014 Battle 4 Atlantis

North Carolina has landed in the Bahamas for a huge week of basketball, as it will spend Thanksgiving tangling with some of the best teams in the country in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament in Nassau.

With a field that features five other teams that reached the NCAA tournament last season—including three Sweet 16 qualifiers and half of the Final Four—the competition UNC will face between Wednesday and Friday should far exceed what's come so far during a relatively easy 3-0 start to the season. The Tar Heels could very well face an unbeaten team each day while in Atlantis.

As tough as the field is, it's by no means unwinnable for UNC. For that to happen, though, certain things have to happen:

Mix and match

Opening opponent Butler is undersized in the frontcourt but has shooters aplenty from the perimeter. The team UNC faces on Thursday, either UCLA or Oklahoma, is more balanced in terms of its personnel. And potential foes on Friday include some of the best post players in the country as well as some incredible shooters.

Whatever the Tar Heels are up against, they'll need to find the right lineup and rotation to best handle what the opponent brings to the table.

UNC's wins over North Carolina Central, Robert Morris and at Davidson were comfortable enough to allow coach Roy Williams to try out a variety of player groupings during the games. Ten players averaged at least 10 minutes in those contests, with eight logging more than 14 minutes.

With that many players getting significant time so far, Williams has the ability to use a variety of lineups depending on the foe.

Get Paige in gear

There have been plenty of individual bright spots to this point, particularly in the frontcourt with how Brice Johnson, Kennedy Meeks and freshman Justin Jackson have looked. Yet the one player who was expected to be playing at peak performance when the season began, junior guard Marcus Paige, has had a very slow start to 2014-15.

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Paige is shooting 37.9 percent from the field, with seven of his 11 field goals coming from three-point range. He's made 50 percent from outside, and just four of 15 two-pointers.

After carrying UNC offensively last season, Paige's supporting cast has stepped up to balance the attack. But against tougher competition, the Tar Heels' scoring leader will need to get back up to speed.

Share the wealth

With six players averaging at least 7.7 points per game, the offense is showing balance. But that's not just because of individuals stepping up, but also because UNC is working together to produce, as evidenced by its 21.7 assists per game.

Against Davidson, the Heels assisted on 21 on 32 field goals, with five different players logging at least two dimes. Continuing to pass the ball will enable them to get the ball to open shooters and cut down on turnovers.

Control the boards

The Battle 4 Atlantis games are played in a converted ballroom in a resort, with a temporary court laid out on an area where conventions and weddings are normally held. This unique atmosphere could lead to some strange sight lines and cold shooting, which makes being able to rebound effectively that much more important.

UNC's frontcourt has dominated in this aspect so far, contributing to a plus-15.3 rebounding advantage in three games that includes 13 more offensive boards than its opponents. Offensive rebounding has enabled Meeks and Johnson to both shoot better than 60 percent thanks to their ability to come down with a missed shot and put it right back up.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.