UNC Basketball: 5 Early Adjustments Tar Heels Should Consider

Despite a 5-1 record on the year, the North Carolina Tar Heels have encountered their share of problems early on in 2014-15.

The shortcomings are easy to spot thus far. The hard part is figuring out what tweaks head coach Roy Williams can use to help alleviate what ails this team.

Williams tried mixing up the starting lineup for North Carolina's bout with UCLA, and it worked swimmingly. The newly instituted rotation led UNC to a 78-56 win over the Bruins in which Carolina forced 23 turnovers, gave up just nine offensive boards and shot well from the foul line.

Not every change is going to bring immediate results like that, though. And even Williams was simply trying to make a point, as he went back to his old lineup the following game.

But there are still a few things the coaching staff can try to fix the team's early-season problems.

Increase Meeks' Minutes

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Kennedy Meeks needs to be playing more.

Even if his production per minute begins to decline, he is too important to the team on the glass right now.

UNC is allowing far too many offensive rebounds. After bouncing back from the Butler game with a good performance over UCLA, the Tar Heels allowed an overrated Florida squad to grab another 19 offensive boards against them.

There is no one on the roster rebounding exceptionally well other than Meeks. Freshman Justin Jackson is not a great rebounder for his position, and the guards are small, neither of which helps the cause.

Meeks, though, is a monster. He ranks third in the ACC in both rebounds per game and total rebound percentage. It's a skill that UNC can ill afford to bench.

Feature Justin Jackson

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UNC is shooting rather poorly from nearly everywhere. The team's free-throw percentage is coming along nicely after a disastrous first four outings, but UNC is still stuck well under 70 percent from the line. The Heels are also hovering around 30 percent from three as a team even after two good showings.

Perhaps worst of all, though, Carolina is shooting just 44.9 percent from the floor, good for 121st in the country.

This would be easier to stomach if the team excelled in other areas, but UNC likes to feed the ball down low and get easy looks from the post or the paint. How can a team with just 30 made threes all season shoot so poorly from the field? They are successfully avoiding difficult shot attempts yet still failing to convert.

One of the main culprits is, unfortunately, Marcus Paige. The preseason All-American is shooting just 37.7 percent from the floor. Paige will not and should not be weaned out of the offense, but the team can run more plays for the guys shooting well, including Justin Jackson.

The freshman forward is hitting 50 percent of his total attempts and 56.4 percent of his two-point attempts. He's great from the line and isn't forcing threes. North Carolina should work the ball his way more often and see if that alleviates some of the pressure off of Paige and company.

Cut Back on the Four-Forward Lineups

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For Carolina, the turnover numbers are simply too high. North Carolina has eight different players averaging at least one turnover per game already, with two others not far behind in very limited minutes.

You would expect dribble-heavy guards to turn the ball over. With the Heels, their forwards are the ones losing the rock far too often.

Brice Johnson has a turnover percentage of 15.0. Compare that to where he was a season ago (11.6) with a comparable usage rate and minutes load.

Theo Pinson is turning the ball over at an even higher rate in his first go around. And the sloppy ball-handling of bit players Desmond Hubert and Joel James isn't helping matters.

It is worth exploring more lineup compositions that limit the number of forwards on the floor at one time. Having more talented ball-handlers control the basketball could bring those figures more in line with expectations.

Switch to Some Zone

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Playing a zone defense is not the most efficient use of North Carolina's athleticism. It could also backfire and increase the offensive rebounding numbers the team is allowing.

However, it may be worth a shot to rotate in more zone looks to help lessen the foul trouble players like Brice Johnson are routinely finding themselves in.

As it stands, the team's top three frontcourt forwards, Johnson, Meeks and Isaiah Hicks, are all averaging over two fouls per game, with Johnson and Hicks over three apiece. Keep in mind that none of the three is playing even 23 minutes a night.

Nate Britt on the outside is also committing fouls much too often for the amount of minutes he is on the floor.

If a team doesn't practice zone looks, it will struggle with them. Coach Williams should start allocating some time to do so, though, if he wants to keep his guys on the floor longer.

Unleash Theo Pinson

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Freshman Theo Pinson is not off to the best start. Along with his 28.6 field-goal percentage and 20.1 turnover percentage, he often plays a bit out of control.

In these first few games, Pinson has looked like an athlete who was just recently given his gifts. And yet he is contributing across the board for the Tar Heels in just 15 minutes per game.

He is a good rebounder and actually possesses the best assist percentage on the team right now. He also is averaging a steal per game in that limited time frame.

This may be a case of Williams babying Pinson a little too much. Players who are making a bunch of mistakes without contributing need to be harnessed for sure. But with Pinson, he's doing so many good things that it may be time to set him free and see if he can make the scoring work.

If Carolina does this in small lineups with multiple guards up top, it would give Pinson the speed advantage over most defenders, allowing him to get to the rim more often and avoid his struggling jumper.