UNC Basketball: Playing Marcus Paige at Point Guard Holding the Tar Heels Back

Marcus Paige proved last year that when he's getting into space, shooting in rhythm and making things happen, he's one of the best players in the nation. But so far this season, when he's had to create on his own, he's been just like any other player on the court.

UNC wants a balance on offense, but that shouldn't be at the expense of Paige's ability to excel.

During the second half of North Carolina's 84-70 loss at top-ranked Kentucky on Saturday, Paige showed some flashes of that unstoppable post-halftime player from a year ago. He had 12 of his 14 points in the final 20 minutes, hitting four of five three-pointers, compared to taking only four shots (and making just one) in the first half.

The main difference? Paige spent much of the first half at the point as the only true guard in UNC's starting lineup. After halftime, though, backups Nate Britt and Joel Berry saw far more time, sharing the point, which let Paige slide into the 2 and freed him up to act more and direct less.

With a more impressive frontcourt than a year ago, UNC has better offensive options than just having Paige do it all, and as a result, he's averaging 14 points per game this season, compared to 17.5 last year. But his accuracy is way off, from 44 percent to 36.5.

The junior is trying to work with this better scoring depth, which might explain why he's been less inclined to drive to the basket and instead sticks to the perimeter. But doing that while also having to control the point is taking away Paige's best attribute: being able to find the open look.

Paige had six assists Saturday, tying a season high, and he's averaging 3.7 assists per game. He's not going to stop trying to create for others, especially with the likes of Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson showing the ability to perform better offensively. But if that's too much of his responsibility, to worry about getting the rest of the team involved, then Paige is going to sacrifice his own production, and that's not a recipe for victory for the Tar Heels.

Player	2013-14 scoring average	Player	2014-15 scoring average
Team	76.6	79.4
Marcus Paige (G)	17.5	Paige	14.0
James Michael McAdoo (F)	14.2	Meeks	13.3
Leslie McDonald (G)	10.4	Johnson	11.7
Brice Johnson (F)	10.3	Tokoto	9.8
J.P. Tokoto (G)	9.3	Justin Jackson (F)	9.7
Kennedy Meeks (F)	7.6	Isaiah Hicks (F)	6.5
Nate Britt (G)	5.1	Britt	5.5

Britt (17) and Berry (11) played a combined 28 minutes against Kentucky, a slight increase from their season averages of 14.9 and 9.9 minutes per game, respectively. Though they made just two out of nine shots when they were on the court (and Paige was also in the game), the scoring opportunities for Paige were far better. He came off screens and had the open look, nailing four straight threes at one point.

"Roy Williams has consistently said the Joel Berry II who has played the first month of the season isn't the real Berry," wrote Adam Lucas of GoHeels.com. "The freshman showed some flashes on Saturday afternoon against Carolina's toughest opponent of the season. Berry gave the Tar Heels some solid second-half minutes and didn't back down from the physical Wildcats."

There needs to be more of that. A lot more. Otherwise, Paige will be forced to stick with the approach he's been trying to take this season, which isn't a smart move for the long run.

When Paige didn't have a point to work with Saturday, pushing him back into that role, he either deferred to the bigs or tried to force things in crowded areas. UNC's frontcourt players—minus Johnson, who was very aggressive—played very soft against Kentucky, so that wasn't a viable option, and when Paige pushed the ball into traffic, he'd lose it or put up a bad shot.

It should be noted that what UNC had to deal with inside was an anomaly, as few teams will be as talented in the frontcourt as Kentucky is. But in the Tar Heels' other losses this season, against Butler and at home to Iowa, they had a distinct size advantage inside, yet didn't capitalize.

It's not that Paige isn't capable of taking over games. He's shown he can do that numerous times, including a few instances in 2014-15. He sparked a 32-11 run to end the first half of a solid win over UCLA in the Bahamas with his three-point shooting, while in wins over Davidson, Florida and East Carolina, it was his ability to distribute that paced the offense.

He can do it all, yes, but does that mean he should? Instead, Paige should be free to be that go-to player in just one role, rather than the jack-of-all-trades. And that one role should be as the outside scoring threat, seeing as no other Tar Heel has shown an ability to hit the three consistently this year.

There are too many weapons on this year's Tar Heels team for Paige to be the only one making things happen. Those other standouts need to help make things happen for Paige as much as he does for them. Otherwise, UNC will have a lot more games like Saturday.

Follow Brian J. Pedersen on Twitter at @realBJP.