North Carolina Tar Heels: Is Roy Williams Throwing His Team Under the Bus?

The Tar Heel bus has hit some early season speed bumps, and those could be especially harmful since Ole Roy has thrown his team under that bus. Again.

Roy—if you’ve got one player who doesn’t try hard, it’s probably on that player. If it’s the whole team, it’s on the doggone coach. Why don’t you step up and take one for your team? Maybe they’ll return the favor in a tight game sometime. Ask Brad Childress how that works.

UNC’s two game skid down in Puerto Rico has shown us more about the team—both good and bad. I’ll pepper in some good points with the bad in hopes that UNC fans will have to actually read the bad, too. In general, this team lacks testicular fortitude.

There’s no one I can point to who can put the team on his back, demand the ball in a tight situation or impose his will on the game. The closest I can come to that is Tyler Zeller. He’s right now the best player on the team—and that’s not entirely a knock on the team.

Zeller has shown polished offensive moves and, more surprisingly, the strength to absorb contact and still finish at the basket. He’s also a solid defender. At this point the team is on his back, whether he put them there or not. He averaged about 16 points and seven rebounds in the three games in PR, including a double-double against Vandy.

So, who is going to help Zeller? Well, we have to look to Preseason All American Harrison Barnes first. He has shown the smoothness and shooting ability that garnered him the high ranking coming out of high school (yeah, I know, he missed 15 in a row over three halves, but I’m cutting him a break—everybody gets one).

He did not show much more than a finesse game and certainly not the strong will or leadership that the ‘Heels sorely need. He did attempt what looked like it could have been a monster dunk against Vandy, but ended up getting posterized himself when it was stuffed back in his face.

The rest of the team looks timid and confused. Well, except for Dexter Strickland. He’s far from timid and goes straight to the basket every time, finishing fairly well. He should be playing more. No one else can seem to score and a lot of open shots don’t fall.

After the Hofstra game, where the ‘Heels scored 107 points, veteran and (still puzzlingly) starting point guard Larry Drew said, “I have a feeling we’re going to be seeing a lot more 100 games this year.” Not with what we have seen since that game. And not with you on the floor, buddy.

Josh Henson is either trying to move too quickly or is nervous with the ball in his hands (maybe those are the same thing), but he hasn’t impressed this year so far. He’s long as hell, and should be able to wreak havoc.

Kendall Marshall didn’t impress me against Vandy the way he did earlier this season, but is there any reason whatsoever that he should still be No. 2 behind Drew? Drew is a good defender, but his offensive liabilities far outweigh any gains he provides defensively. Put Marhsall in and let him grow and develop on the court.

The outlook for UNC isn’t terrible. Zeller is solid and productive. Barnes is legit and will continue to come along, even if he isn’t an imposing character on the floor.

A starting five of Zeller, P-S AA Barnes, Kendall Marshall, Josh Henson, and either Strickland, Bullock or Knox should be good enough to compete in the ACC. That is, if Ole Roy can pull them out from under the bus and coach ‘em up.

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