Moore Hoops: Get Ready for the Real UNC with Marcus Paige's Return Imminent

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Marcus Paige carried the CBE Classic trophy with both hands out of the tunnel at the Sprint Center on Tuesday night, and this was a big deal.

Not only had the Tar Heels survived a scrappy Kansas State squad to win the CBE, but Paige had enough strength in his right hand, the one he broke last month and has kept him out all year, to carry a heavy trophy. Which means Paige is close to returning. Which means the Tar Heels are close to unveiling the actual team that folks thought were deserving of preseason No. 1.

"I feel comfortable with where I'm at, and I've still got a couple days of preparation," Paige said when asked about about his possible return next Tuesday for the ACC/Big Ten Challenge against No. 2 Maryland in Chapel Hill. "I think I'll be out there. I would put it at most likely."

The injury to Paige brought up some here we go again feelings in Chapel Hill. Paige spent much of last season hobbled by foot, ankle and hip injuries, but this was more of a freak accident. On one of the final plays of practice on Nov. 3, UNC forward Luke Maye cut across the lane and Paige's hand got caught in his jersey, yanking back his fingers and breaking the middle bone (the third metacarpal) in his non-shooting right hand.

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Paige has had to miss all six games UNC has played—he didn't miss any games last year—but if we're grading out the impact on the Heels, last year's setbacks were worse.

"You have to be on your feet at all times, so when my foot and ankle were bothering me, there's nothing I could do to ease back into it," Paige said. "So this, I was able to rest a little bit and still keep my conditioning up, keep myself ready to play without really doing anything to hurt it, so that was a good thing."

In other words, this hand injury shouldn't linger. And Paige was admittedly not right last year.

"It's harder to make moves that you're used to making," Paige said. "It's harder to push off and get separation from a defender, because you're pushing off at 75 percent of your max instead of being able to create separation. It's harder to defend. You've got to pick up at half court and defend quick ACC guards.

"It's hard to really put a lot of force on that foot when you're tender and cautious about your movements. It's just the entire game, you don't have to worry about it. You don't have to worry about that you might aggravate it. You're just playing with a free conscience, and that'll make a difference."

Paige compensated last season by not attacking the basket as often. He took over 57 percent of his shots from outside the arc. He shot 1.4 fewer free throws per game, and when he did attack, he finished only 47.8 percent of his shots at the rim compared to 65.2 percent as a sophomore, per Hoop-Math.com.

"You can tell that's me being hesitant to attack and mix it up, because I'm at least conscious that my foot is a problem, and I had gone down a couple times and it hurts," Paige said. "You kind of train yourself to adapt to your condition. It hurts you as a player. If I can't mix it up more, then I'm easier to guard and I'm more predictable."

Paige said his body felt "great" in the preseason, and he was playing well. That should mean the Paige we see this year is just a better version of his sophomore self, which is an All-American kind of player.

Without Paige, the Heels looked vulnerable, losing at Northern Iowa last weekend and nearly losing to K-State—the Wildcats led by eight with four minutes, 24 seconds left.

But if you want to look at the glass half-full, Paige's absence forced the Heels to figure out others are capable of making plays in close games and that the offense could survive without him. In the past, the Heels had a tendency to stand around and watch Paige work in tight situations.

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On Tuesday they finished on a 17-2 run, and they found a second go-to guy in the last week in Justin Jackson, who is averaging 22.7 points over the last three games after a slow start.

"They realize they were able to make some plays without him," coach Roy Williams said. "... But I think when the little rascal gets back, he will be able to help us."

Yes. Now we'll get to see if the Heels, little rascal included, were worthy of preseason No. 1.

Gimme Five

Five Things I Want to See

1. Indiana play some defense.

The hope was that the mere presence of Thomas Bryant would improve Indiana's defense. Bryant would offer some rim protection and rebounding. What no one really saw coming was that Bryant would turn into a liability on the defensive end.

Doug McSchooler/Associated Press

Much like Jahlil Okafor a year ago, Bryant is lost when he has to get out on the perimeter and defend ball screens. This was killer in the loss to Wake Forest on Monday. Twice in the final minute, Wake Forest used Bryant's man to set a ball screen for Bryant Crawford, and Bryant failed to detour Crawford in any way, simply letting him turn the corner and get to the bucket for an easy layup.

Duke, as you may remember, figured things out in March and actually became elite on the defensive end in the tournament. That's probably not in the cards for the Hoosiers, but adjustments can be made to not leave Bryant on an island. It's not the only issue, but it's one place to start to improve IU's pathetic D.

2. The NCAA to give some answers in the Cheick Diallo case.

Hooray, Diallo has been cleared by the NCAA! (Note: When first published, he had yet to be cleared.) It would still be beneficial to get some answers on why it took this long. If you haven't read the letter Kansas athletic director Sheahon Zenger wrote to the NCAA, I suggest you do so.

This has been such a bad public relations moment for the NCAA that some transparency on its end would be worthwhile. If the organization had good reason to keep Diallo out (like the amateurism issue NCAA VP Oliver Luck brought up in the release), then it should share that with Kansas and share it with the public.

Glad this is resolved, but the process to get there is worth review.

3. Ben Simmons in the NCAA tournament.

Kathy Willens/Associated Press

It's early, but there's reason to be legitimately concerned that the best talent in college basketball will miss the NCAA tournament. LSU lost back-to-back games to mediocre teams in New York this week, and its execution in half-court sets on both ends has been uninspired—a lot of standing around and spectating.

Ben Simmons, as awesome as he's been at times, is part of the problem. He's not active enough on either end away from the ball. The offense is great in transition because of Simmons, but when it comes time for LSU to run something, it turns into isoball with the other four players standing around watching.

Hopefully the Tigers figure things out, because when Simmons is cooking, he's so much fun to watch. It'd be depressing to have to watch him in the NIT.

4. Valparaiso in the Top 25.

The Commodores received only two votes in the AP poll last week and none in the coaches poll, but their resume is worth considering and definitely more impressive than those of other teams receiving more votes. They have solid road wins at Rhode Island and Oregon State and also blew out Iona by 25. Their only loss is at Oregon by six, and Oregon has been one of the most impressive teams in the country over the first month.

So let's get Valpo in the Top 25. I want to cover the Fighting Bryce Drews at some point this year, and a Top 25 ranking will help me convince my editors it's a worthy pursuit.

5. More Miami.

After watching the Hurricanes mop the floor with Utah and Butler in Puerto Rico, I'm convinced Jim Larranaga has a Top 10 team. No team in the country has two more impressive wins than those.

The Canes have scorers, size and depth. I'm a believer, but it'd be nice to see some more tests over the next few weeks. Unfortunately, we have to wait until the Canes play at Virginia on Jan. 12 for their next game against a Top 25 opponent.

Leftovers

Rick Bowmer/Associated Press

I wrote a feature on Kansas wing Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk this past week, raising the question of whether he's going to live up his potential. The early returns since the story ran are pretty darn good. He's averaged 15.5 points in two games in Maui, Hawaii, seeing his minutes increase with the suspension of wing Brannen Greene.

I believed we'd see Mykhailiuk produce eventually—maybe not this quickly—and one reason I believed it was going to happen was a ridiculous work ethic.

Yeah, most college players work really hard, and it's almost cliche to include anything about how hard a guy works in a story, which is why I left this part out, but from talking to those close to him, it seems he goes above and beyond.

Take his recruiting visit to Kansas.

Mykhailiuk asked if he could get in the gym, but both KU's practice facility and Allen Fieldhouse were unavailable. So Mykhailiuk went to KU's student rec center to work with his Ukrainian coach, Maksym Mikhelson.

"Most people, when they come on their visit, they want to see the town. They want to see what Lawrence is like," said guard Evan Manning, who was one of Mykhailiuk's hosts on his visit. "He wanted to get in the gym and work out."

"He's been raised that if you're not working, you're not trying," KU coach Bill Self said. "If he was here on his own during the summer time, he'd get in at least two or three workouts a day. That's just all he knows. That's what comes natural to him."

C.J. Moore covers college basketball for Bleacher Report. You can follow him on Twitter @CJMooreBR.