North Carolina = Defending National Champion Fail

It’s looking more and more like North Carolina will get a shot at raising the school’s first NIT banner since 1971.  And that’s getting to Roy Williams.

The dude’s always been a little bit on the sensitive side, but his team’s slide into mediocrity really has him on edge.  It started when he had a Presbyterian (Presbyterian?!?) fan shown the exit at the Dean Dome last month, and he’s been awfully testy in his press conferences as of late.

Hey, you’d be pissed off too if you were coaching a team that’s dropped double digit decisions to Clemson and Wake Forest in the last week and a half.  Those losses sandwiched a furious comeback attempt against Georgia Tech that came up two points short.

He's mad as hell and he's not gonna take it anymore

So the defending national champs are a weak 1-3 in the ACC and face the very real possibility of not going to the NCAA Tournament.   How did it get to this point?

As good as Williams recruits, he couldn’t bring in enough instant impact blue chippers to make up for the loss of studs like Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson.   And really, how many programs can just plug in new pieces and keep winning 30 games a season in perpetuity?  That would be none, and I’m sure Ben Howland would back me up on that.

That’s not to say that North Carolina’s returning talent isn’t any good, it’s that the current guys on the roster are either too green or just not quite talented enough to do what Roy really wants to do.

Take Larry Drew, for example. Is he a good point guard?  Most definitely, programs like Auburn, Oklahoma or Florida could really use him right now.

But is he the type of point guard to really run an offense at the breakneck pace that Williams prefers?   Not quite.   And while I understand that Ty Lawsons and Raymond Feltons don’t grow on trees, there are probably other point guards out there much better suited to do what Williams wants to do.

North Carolina currently ranks in the 200’s in turnover percentage.  Last season, the Heels were 10th in the nation in that category.   But I’m not going to put that all on Drew, it takes a village to fail like this.

At times, big men like Ed Davis and Deon Thompson look nice and relaxed on the court, as if they didn’t have a care in the world.  The Cool Breeze Brothers don’t have the fire and passion that was the hallmark of Hansbrough’s game.

And while people wanted to knock Hansbrough for a perceived lack of polish and skill, the spotty performance of the Tar Heel bigs this season has opened my eyes to how important it is to PLAY HARD.  If Davis and Thompson had Hansbrough’s sense of urgency, this Tar Heel team wouldn’t be staring at the NIT right now.

Can this be fixed in time to get an NCAA bid?  Well, there’s always the possibility of a run in the ACC Tourney that would lock down an automatic bid, but that seems unlikely.

To get an at-large bid, the Heels will have to make up some ground and finish with a winning record in ACC play and cobble together at least 22 wins overall.  Unfortunately for Carolina fans, I see that scenario being just as unlikely.