UNC Basketball: Biggest Adjustments Tar Heels Must Make in 2016-17
North Carolina has a chance to once again contend for a national championship, but there are adjustments that both the players and coaches will have to make to improve upon last year's result.
While the Tar Heels will lose arguably their two top players in Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige, they also have received some good news this offseason with both Kennedy Meeks and Justin Jackson returning to school after flirting with the draft process.
All of a sudden, a team that went all the way to the national title game will return a large portion of its rotation. Considering the addition of three impact freshmen as well, there won't be much of a drop-off, if any, from last year's squad.
With that said, there will be plenty of other top contenders all hoping to reach the same goal. Villanova will return many of its key players, while teams such as Kentucky and Duke added a lot of talent through recruiting. North Carolina will need to see plenty of improvements in order to compete with these teams and others.
There is a lot of time to develop before the start of the 2016-17 season, but here are some adjustments the Tar Heels must make.
Get to the Rim
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Considering the play of Johnson and Meeks in the post last season and the lack of outside shooting, you would expect North Carolina to be one of the top inside scoring teams in the country. Well, this is partly true.
According to Hoop-Math.com, UNC ranked fourth in the country in field-goal percentage at the rim with 72.8 percent. Unfortunately, only 27.6 percent of its shots took place there, good for 333rd in college basketball.
The squad relied upon mid-range jumpers for much of the year, an effective practice last year but not always the most consistent strategy. Considering how efficient the team was at the basket, though, the players should work to get even closer next season.
One of the problems was a lack of elite athleticism to finish over bigger defenders in the paint. This should be less of an issue this year with incoming freshmen Seventh Woods, Tony Bradley and Brandon Robinson all providing above-average explosiveness to attack the rim.
With these additions and Jackson hopefully being more aggressive, this offense will once again be difficult to stop.
Be More Aggressive Defensively
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North Carolina improved defensively as the season progressed, but there were still major problems, especially on the perimeter. Opponents made 36.2 percent of shots from three-point range and rarely had trouble taking care of the basketball.
The problem was a lack of pressure from the defense. The Tar Heels were content to sit back and let the opposing guards do whatever they wanted with the ball.
Perhaps the most noteworthy statistic was the fact opposing possessions lasted an average of 18.7 seconds, 345th in the country out of 351 teams, according to KenPom.com.
Unlike other teams with similar numbers in this category, such as Syracuse and Virginia, North Carolina likes to play fast. As a result, all this does is give opponents better looks at the basket while messing up its own tempo offensively.
With quick players such as Joel Berry, Nate Britt and Woods likely guarding the ball, the squad needs to be more aggressive defensively to force turnovers and other bad decisions.
Box Out
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Brice Johnson was a dominant rebounder last season, but he helped mask some of the issues in this area throughout the rest of the roster.
Offensive rebounds were a major issue in many of the losses during the year, including defeats against Virginia, Notre Dame, Louisville and Texas. UNC was dominant on the offensive end when it came to just grabbing the ball, but there was inconsistency in defensive rebounding, which features boxing out and a lot more focus.
Meeks and Isaiah Hicks will be the primary big men next season, but neither was as good as expected on the boards. While Johnson's presence limited their numbers somewhat, Meeks had just a 15.9 percent total rebounding percentage while Hicks finished at 14.1, per Sports Reference.
Not only are these numbers relatively weak for their positions, but they even trailed Joel James (16 percent) and Luke Maye (17 percent) in this category.
The two rising seniors will each play an important part on this roster and need to step up their play. However, their biggest role might be winning the battle on the boards each game.
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Use More Lineup Versatility
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Head coach Roy Williams is usually a fan of traditional lineups with a pair of big men in the post. With Johnson (6'10"), Meeks (6'10"), Hicks (6'9") and even James (6'11") rotating around, it was easy to always have someone with size defending the paint.
However, basketball has seen a shift in both college and the NBA to feature quicker, smaller lineups. This strategy gave North Carolina trouble throughout last season with teams such as Villanova and Duke, among others, spreading the floor and forcing mismatches on the perimeter.
UNC experimented a bit with Jackson at the 4, but it rarely used this lineup, and the Tar Heels would pay the price.
Going into next season, the coaching staff has to be more open to change while using players at different positions. Theo Pinson (6'6") has the talent to guard multiple spots, while Jackson's size at 6'8" could also be useful. There is also plenty of depth in the backcourt with Berry (6'0"), Britt (6'1"), Woods (6'2"), Pinson and Robinson (6'5") rotating around the guard spots.
North Carolina doesn't necessarily have to always play small, but having versatility is extremely useful over the course of the season. Even if you don't want to let your opponent dictate a style, you will still be prepared no matter the situation.
Improve Shooting Consistency
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This is easier to say than it is to do, but it's clear the players are better shooters than they have shown in games.
Berry was the only consistent three-point threat for the Tar Heels last season, making 38.2 percent of his looks from deep. With Paige gone, the rest of the team will really need to step up to create some balance offensively.
Jackson should focus on attacking the basket more, but it's clear he has confidence in his shot considering he took 120 three-point attempts this past season. This was justified during the NCAA tournament when the sophomore hit 9-of-19 (47.4 percent) from deep in six games. Now he just has to expand that over the course of the season.
Pinson and Britt have also displayed stretches of quality shooting over their careers but couldn't find much consistency last year. Maye and Kenny Williams have the talent to be quality shooters even if they didn't show it during their first year with the program.
With a full summer to work on their game, most of these players should be focusing on improving their outside shot above all else. If there are even slight improvements, North Carolina could be a dangerous team once again next season.
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