There is no upside to Joel Berry’s broken right hand.
Some pundits were saying this week that if Joel Berry was ever getting injured, the first month of the season is the best time. While that may be so with some players on some teams, such an assertion is complete, unadulterated hooey.
The perimeter is the strength of the 2017-18 Tar Heels, with Berry, Theo Pinson, Kenny Williams, transfer Cameron Johnson, Brandon Robinson and Seventh Woods all having experience. Berry, the Most Outstanding Player in the 2017 Final Four, is the clear leader of that group, and there is no proven point guard to step in and no back-up.
How can his absence not matter in a new season in which Carolina’s only chance to return to the Final Four is finding a post presence from Luke Maye and four freshmen who have never played a college game? For any of those kids to develop, they have to get the ball in the right position, and Berry is the man who can teach them the best spots.
Does Roy Williams want to rely on the sophomore Woods to do that, or to move a shooting guard like Kenny Williams or a swing man like Pinson to the point? How about freshman Jalek Felton, perhaps the most talented kid on the entire team but also the one with the most growing up to do? Despite a preseason No. 9 ranking, it is no slam dunk for the Tar Heels to be a high seed in the NCAA tournament this year, especially if they get off to a slow start. Without Berry and someone to get some rebounds, there are losable games in the first month for a team with a target on its back.
Northern Iowa has already beaten UNC once, and there is a trip to Stanford, where former Roy assistant Jerod Haase won’t have any trouble putting a scouting report together. Then come tough three games in Portland and the Big 10 Challenge against Michigan, all falling in the month window of Berry’s rehab. And how long will it take the senior leader to get his hand and shot back into shape when he does return?
There is no good time to lose a player of Berry’s ability and leadership, but certainly to start the season when more depends on him as a coach on the floor is one of the worst.
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That have to be one of the most dumbest things I ever heard
I think this is a blessing in disguise. With every injury requires someone or multiple players to step up that we necessarily wouldn’t have the chance. Fortunately for our team we have two extremely talented young man one of which already has a year under his belt, not to mention Pinson which is a point forward totally capable between the three of them of getting the job done. There will be no detriment and for the most part only benefit they will come from this. Obviously an injury especially to our leader in March would be detrimental. I’m looking forward to seeing the progression both woods and Felton can make in the next four to six weeks