UNC Basketball!!!

It's time. I don't think I've ever been this excited about UNC basketball. Even though I absolutely miss Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, Bobby Frasor, Danny Green, and yes, even Mike Copeland - I'm really pumped about watching this new crop of talent develop.

So - I never did a posting about my thoughts after going to Friday's exhibition game vs. Belmont Abbey - so I will start there.

Thoughts on the Heels after the exhibition game:

I was very pleased with my Heels. It's hard to develop a total team picture with such an inferior opponent - so I will detail individual thoughts (sort of stream-of-consciousness like):

Most Impressed With:
Dexter Strickland - This kid can play. He's going to be a star next year if not this year. You know a guy this talented is a good person when he elects to be a supporting cast member of such a talented team - because he could star just about anywhere else. He'll likely never develop the foot speed of Lawson (who ever will?) and his ability to defend remains to be seen - but this kid is talented. I see him as a 19 ppg SG by next year. I see him pushing Will Graves for the starting two-guard spot in the coming months.


Justin Watts - who knew? I knew this kid was athletic (for a 3-star recruit), but I expected him to be another Mike Copeland. But no - this kid has really enhanced his game over the summer. It's unfortunate (for him) he's on such a stacked team - but if he plays consistently, he'll earn perhaps some Frasor-esque minutes in the years to come.


Needs Work:
Unfortunately, the most important cog in our team did not impress me too much. Larry Drew did a nice job managing the game, but I don't see him as much of a scoring threat, which will severely limit his ability to find open guys. He will need to threaten other teams by either finishing around the hoop or showing his shooting range. There's still a ton of time - and I'm not worried - just didn't see a dramatic improvement so far.

Other Thoughts:
John Henson looks like Jack from the Nightmare Before Christmas. That kid is over a foot taller than I am only ten pounds heavier. His wingspan looks even more freakish than Ed Davis' - he reminds me of a more versatile Brandan Wright. He could leave after this year - here's to hoping Ed improves his draft stock and mentors Henson into waiting it out. I was really impressed already with his ball-handling and speed on the wing.

The Wear twins look really versatile - I can't wait to see how they develop.




AND NOW - THE Florida International Game!!

- I feel a bit better about Larry Drew. He drained a nice looking 3-pointer - showing that off season work on his shot I've heard so much about. He also drove to the lane very efficiently and looks like - when Roy takes the leash off a bit, he could score some points. He really does have a natural talent for the drive and dish - I'm just worried better offensive teams will cut off his pass lanes if he gets too predictable and doesn't occasionally score a bucket or two on his drives. He had a really nice, unique scoop shot late in the game.

- Deon Thompson looks very good. He looks more fit, and he played with that aggressiveness he had when Tyler Hansbrough was out early last year. He finished with 2o points and 10 rebounds - and was the best player on the floor whenever he was in. He should be a work man for us. He's not very athletic (comparing him to the freaks around him), but he always gets incrementally better - and in his senior season - it really could pay off.

- Marcus Ginyard with the three pointers! He was 2 for 4 from three point range - and his shot has lost that hitch and looks so much more relaxed. He was a constant threat on the 3-point line - here's to hoping that he maintains that to replace some of the long-range scoring we lost from the early departure of Wayne Ellington. He also looks VERY strong. If he can add some strength to his finishing skills, along with some outside shooting, to his lockdown defensive abilities - we've got another Danny Green this year. In a play that perfectly illustrated the potential of the new Marcus Ginyard - he stole the ball and batted it around, trying to wrest it away from another FIU player battling for possession. Will Graves was streaking from behind - but instead of trying for an awkward pass off to his more offensively-minded teammate, he simply grabbed the ball under the hoop and went up high and strong for a monstrous dunk.

- John Henson really impressed me tonight. That kid is athletic! I'm more impressed with him than I was after seeing Ed a few times last year. I don't know if he'll ever the be strong inside presence Ed Davis is threatening to develop into - but he could be a versatile shot-blocker/scorer in college and at the next level. He'll struggle against bigger guys when UNC plays tougher competition - and when playing the SF spot as Roy has put him in so far - he'll probably get beat by smaller perimeter plays. But I'm very excited about watching him develop.

- Ed Davis didn't blow me away. Probably just wasn't time for him to do anything that amazing - though he did have a really nice rebound and dunk from a position a little bit too under the basket, showing off his wingspan. He also had 4 blocks (though this is FIU we're talking about).

- We're gonna block a lot of shots this year. The team blocked 8 total tonight.

- I'm not really worried about all the turnovers. We had 26 - which is awful - don't get me wrong. But Roy was just messing around with the lineup, and will continue to do so. Larry Drew finished with 6 assists to 2 turnovers, which is perfectly fine. It was a lot of new guys trying to do the ballhandling who committed a lot of the TOs, and that's OK. When we settle on a starting lineup, most of our offense should flow through Drew II. He's a good floor general. A lot of those turnovers were our guys experimenting - they don't know each other yet. If you noticed, after some heinous TOs, Roy was clapping for that effort. It has to improve - but it will. I rarely saw the same lineup twice - so embrace the sloppy play like you enjoy watching a puppy tumble clumsily around.

These guys are going to be some seasoned veterans. The only thing than can keep the Heels from a likely National Championship in the next 2-3 years is too many early departures that stagger our talent enough so that we never quite peak.

On that note, I hear Harrison Barnes is going to Duke. That's too bad - because I hear some crazy things about this guy, like he's the best basketball player since Lebron etc etc. We'll see about all that.

I also hear that this John Wall kid at Kentucky is at the very least the next Derrick Rose.

Dammit - I'm glad the selfish one-and-dones who are AMAZING don't usually come to UNC - but I hate hearing how good these two guys are knowing they're gonna play against us.

Harrison Barnes officially committs Friday - and it's down to UNC and Duke. Here's to hoping we get Lebron II.

Go Heels!