UNC Basketball: 5 Burning Questions for Remainder of Tar Heels' Season

With North Carolina's win Monday night over Syracuse, the Tar Heels are 17-4 overall and 7-1 in the ACC. Carolina has won six straight games and 11 of the last 12. Things are looking up, but now is not the time to grow stagnant.

This team has a quick turnaround from the Syracuse game. This Saturday, the Louisville Cardinals play host to Carolina looking for revenge for their one-point loss on January 10. And just two days later, UNC will see the first-place Virginia Cavaliers come to Chapel Hill.

Groundhog Day or not, this will fortunately be the Heels' only foray against the UVA defense this regular season.

With so much action in just the next week alone, it is hard to imagine that North Carolina must still face Duke twice before the ACC year is out.

With a number of huge contests remaining, it is a perfect time to ask some burning questions facing this team for the remainder of the season.

Were Those Shooting Numbers for Real?

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Against Syracuse, UNC shot 55.4 percent from the floor and an astonishing 56.3 percent on 9-of-16 shooting from three.

The turnovers were laughably bad all night, especially from J.P. Tokoto, but if UNC shoots like this, it is almost unbeatable no matter the opponent.

Part of the success stemmed from the Orange's zone defense, which allowed some open looks on the outside. Mostly, though, Carolina was simply hitting a lot of shots it normally misses or has been missing in the past.

It wasn't just outside the arc where the Heels shined, though. Brice Johnson was 6-of-6 from the floor; Isaiah Hicks was 3-of-3. Kennedy Meeks went 6-of-13 and was almost unguardable deep in the paint.

The lack of depth and warm bodies from the team's opponent factored into the success. Nevertheless, if North Carolina has any games where it shoots like this again, a win is all but guaranteed.

Can a Second Option from the Outside Stay Consistent?

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Marcus Paige needs help scoring on the perimeter if this team is going to go anywhere in March.

Monday night, Nate Britt had the best game of his career and his tryout to be Paige's running mate. Britt went 5-of-7 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from deep. It really seemed like this game could be the start of something.

Even before the injury to Joel Berry put the onus on Britt to perform, he looked like a much better player as a sophomore than he ever looked as a freshman. Britt was playing more aggressively and more confidently.

For the first time, this really showed in his shooting as well.

Of course, more than one game is needed to make a trend, and freshman Justin Jackson was solidly mediocre against 'Cuse after breaking out the prior few games.

One of these two guys needs to build consistency throughout the rest of the season to take a load off Paige's shoulders. In an ideal world, both would play up to their potential, and this team would really take off.

Can the Injuries Be Overcome?

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The lack of depth didn't factor into UNC's game against Syracuse mostly because the Orange is an even shallower team right now than North Carolina.

However, some point soon, it could start to wear on the backcourt and wing players to have so little backing them up.

It helps UNC that it still has great depth up front. However, as Shane Battier pointed out during the ESPN telecast, the injuries hurt in more than just the game. North Carolina has been unable to hold full practices in recent days.

Paige's accumulating injuries don't aid matters. With no Theo Pinson, no Berry, no practice depth with Stilman White and Luke Davis hurt and the stitches Britt needed to his mouth, there is a level of attrition that has been reached here.

Can Tokoto Come Back to Earth?

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J.P. Tokoto played a truly awful offensive basketball game against Syracuse.

The six turnovers were bad enough for someone who has become a lead ball-handler. But it was the way his mistakes were forced that leads fans to pull their hair out.

It is explainable that turnovers will happen if athletic marvels like Tokoto burst to the basket every time they have the ball. The opposite seemed to materialize against the Orange's zone.

Nearly all of Tokoto's turnovers occurred with him either lobbing short passes directly into the top of the zone for ricochets or attempting cross-court passes into the waiting arms of a defender.

The aggression and playmaking is great. It's how he generates most of his assists. But this now makes 10 games where he has committed at least three turnovers and an alarming three times he's reached the half-dozen mark.

Tokoto seems to lack a discerning eye for making smart passes. Either that or he just plays too careless.

There is some point where the way he plays becomes too detrimental to put up with. I don't think things are there yet, but this is the closest they have been all year.

Would a Weak Finish Tarnish This Season?

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Despite early losses prior to conference play, UNC has a hell of a resume already.

Wins over ranked teams are as follows: No. 22 UCLA, No. 18 Florida, No. 12 Ohio State and No. 5 Louisville.

The losses to Kentucky and Notre Dame are also "good losses," if there is such a thing. UNC was in the UK game athletically and emotionally all the way through, and things couldn't have been closer against ND.

So if North Carolina sputters to the finish, whether because of poor shooting, injuries or bad luck, would that tarnish this team's postseason credentials all that much?

It could reasonably be expected that UNC grabs just one more win over a ranked opponent this season—Louisville completes the split, UVA holds serve, Miami loses its ranking within the next month and Duke splits.

While underwhelming, that sort of finish would not be anything to fret over. This team has already built up enough tournament-type goodwill to survive it.