Was it just a bad day in Miami, or a blueprint of how to play Carolina?
You can chalk the Tar Heels’ dreadful loss at Miami up to a few things: short turnaround from the Thursday night game against Virginia Tech, another injury to Energizer bunny Theo Pinson, or possibly the worst first half of Roy Williams’ coaching tenure and perhaps the history of UNC Basketball.
Days – or nights – like this happen in something called the ACC, where every road trip is a trap game for a program with the pedigree of Carolina. Back in 2012, when the Tar Heels were arguably the best team in the country before injuries to John Henson and Kendall Marshall soured their season, there was an even worse defeat at Florida State. The No. 3 Tar Heels lost to the unranked Seminoles by the score of 90-57. That’s right, 90-57.
However, losing that way at the U was troubling for how the Hurricanes exploited Carolina’s defense off-dribble penetration by Miami’s athletic guards and its 2-3 zone defense which quickly erased an 11-2 deficit and gave the Tar Heels fits for the rest of the game. Zone has always been the blueprint how to play inside-oriented Carolina, but this season the Heels have shot the ball better from outside than in recent years. What can opposing coaches take from this game tape that could shut down UNC’s high-powered offense?
The way Miami played faster, more physical and tougher than the Tar Heels was also on display on national television. The old questions will come back about the Carolina bigs, who have been dominating rebounders so far but now will have to man up versus betters foes that might have seen a chink in their armor.
Just when we thought this team was on the verge of establishing its own identity and proving it could overcome the losses of Brice Johnson and Marcus Paige, Joel Berry goes home to Florida and lays an 0-for-8 egg and the rest of the team gets panicky and impatient on the offensive end. Will the rebounding edge and scoring efficiency return or will the better competition in February further expose Carolina to athletic guards and zone defenses? We will see.
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