UNC Basketball: 5 New Year's Resolutions for Tar Heels

New Year's resolutions are more readily broken than Elijah Price. Now is not the time for North Carolina basketball to be flippant with its plans for 2015, though.

Hopes are high, as expectations become more aggressive every season at Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels and their fans want to win championships.

It is time to look in the mirror, truthfully admit where this team is coming up short and take actions to fix those shortcomings. Winning is not supposed to be easy. A title doesn't come without work, effort and sacrifice.

Don't Take Games for Granted

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The first ACC team that North Carolina will face in the 2014-15 season is Clemson.

Immediately following the Tigers, UNC plays two Top 25 teams in Notre Dame and Louisville. It would be easy to glance ahead, taking the Clemson game for granted.

However, if North Carolina learned one thing during its games thus far, it's that wins cannot be taken for granted.

Besides the Kentucky loss, each of North Carolina's losses this season came to an inferior opponent on a neutral or home court. Those are the types of games the Tar Heels can't afford to have during conference play.

The ACC is too tough and too deep to mark any game off as a surefire "W." That goes doubly so for the first conference game of the season.

Trust Your Teammates

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Marcus Paige and J.P. Tokoto are the only Tar Heels players averaging at least 24 minutes per game, and they are both playing over 27 apiece.

The other seven in the top-nine rotation are playing between 23.1 and 10.6 MPG. Moving forward into the new year, it is important for those on the lower end of the substitution pattern to become more involved in the offense and take on a greater burden.

This is a two-way street. Those players must want additional responsibility while their teammates must want to give it to them.

Justin Jackson is an effective and efficient freshmen. However, he often seems hesitant and plays like he is afraid to upset a big brother.

The same goes for the point guards. Either Nate Britt and Joel Berry are on this team to initiate the offense and play point guard, or they are just bodies used to spell minutes.

It is time to expand the group of trustworthy players past two.

Stay Mentally Focused

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There was a time this season when it appeared as though free-throw shooting woes were a thing of the past for this ballclub.

In recent games, though, the dreaded foul-shot bug has crept back into the Tar Heels' locker room. The players are back below 70 percent as a unit from the stripe, with only Nate Britt (25-of-27) putting up numbers to be proud of.

Free-throw shooting comes down to focus and concentration. All of these players are capable of hitting an unguarded shot from 14 feet out. To be able to do so at a reasonable clip with the entire arena watching takes mental preparation and calmness that Carolina has lacked in recent years.

Work Hard When It Isn't Fun

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Everyone loves grabbing an offensive rebound. The effort gives your team an extra possession and often added points.

The glory of rebounding is occasionally lost on the other end, though. No one celebrates a textbook boxout followed by a tough defensive board. This dull, unspectacular work is what North Carolina needs to continue to focus on.

For a team so superb at rebounding the offensive glass, UNC's inability to thwart opponents from doing so has been one of the most perplexing outcomes of nonconference play.

Channel Your Inner Demon

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With big bruisers and leapers down low and a cornucopia of athletes around the perimeter, North Carolina is a team that should be scary to face.

Coach Roy Williams loves to push momentum, running up and down the court off makes and misses. This style should only add to the consternation from opponents.

To top it all off, these Heels are long and quick on defense as well as offense. The roster, which goes 10- or 11-deep with useful bodies, could be an intimidating bunch along the lines of Kentucky.

So far, it doesn't seem to be the case because these guys are not exerting their will on the players in the other jerseys.

2015 is a new year and a time to get angry and show the ACC what North Carolina is made of.