I am now officially a believer in this current Carolina team.

When the season began, I thought the Tar Heels could be pretty good. Not quite as good as last year’s NCAA down-to-the-last four seconds finalist, mind you, but close. The reasons being that Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige could not be replaced by anyone on the 2016-17 roster. Turns out the whole dad gum roster is doing it.

The Tar Heels notched their 19th win by routing a dangerous and athletic Virginia Tech team in the Smith Center. Whether or not it happens, Roy Williams’ 14th Carolina club indeed can be that 4.7 seconds better than a year ago, for the following reasons – that don’t even include scoring machines Justin Jackson and Joel Berry, who combined for 41 points.

The Tar Heels entered the game best in the nation in rebounding, offensive rebounds and rebound margin at a plus-14.2. They out-boarded the Hokies, 43-22, and grabbed 19 offensive rebounds, which was one more than Virginia Tech’s total off the defensive glass. That resulted in 22 more shots and 20 second-chance points, the 12th time this season and the sixth time in the last seven games UNC has scored at least 20 points off offensive boards.

Kennedy Meeks posted his eighth double-double of the season with 15 points and 14 rebounds, 7 and 7 off each backboard. He leads a bunch of ball-hungry hawks, getting their hands on everything.

Assuming Theo Pinson’s rolled right ankle is not serious, Carolina now has a deep and athletic rotation that goes nine deep in guys who average double digit minutes, plus freshmen Seventh Woods and Brandon Robinson at just under 10 a game. Before leaving the floor and not returning until the final minutes, Pinson exploded off the bench for a near-perfect 6 minutes that included 5 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists and 1 steal and no turnovers. He shot and made one regular basket and one three-pointer.

Theo has made a huge difference. He can be the missing catalyst that carries the rest of these lethal weapons to defense of their ACC regular season and tournament titles, and all the way back to the Final Four and championship game. I, for one, never thunk it.

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