Kentucky, North Carolina, and a New York State of Mind (Part 2)

We have discussed Kentucky and the struggles they have endured while trying to find a leader and also find their way to the NCAA tournament. Next stop on our two-team mid-season assessment is North Carolina.

Chapel Hill is used to rockin' and rollin' all the way into the end of March. With Roy Williams taking the program to three final fours in his tenure at North Carolina, while also coaching two recipients of the Player of the Year award (Shawn May, 2005 and Tyler Hansbrough, 2009). In a word, UNC has been successful to say the least. After being so spoiled by success, it's easy to see why North Carolina fans may be a little flustered this year at how the unranked Tar Heels season is shaping up. At 13-5, which clearly is not a bad record by any means, the Tar Heels have seldom made any noise and the NCAA tournament is starting to be a question mark. Joe Lunardi last had them at a nine seed but with a 3-2 record in conference and 5 games against ranked opponents (at press time) North Carolina definitely needs to come out ready to finish strong.

But is it fair to assume that North Carolina should be performing better than they are? As I have said, 13-5 is not a record to be ashamed of and they don't boast the recruiting class that Kentucky does. Not to mention they lost four HUGE parts of last year's team in Kendall Marshall, Harrison Barnes, John Henson, and Tyler Zeller. Yet what North Carolina does have that Kentucky doesn't are guys with more experience and more opportunities to step up. Though the Tar Heels lost their four studs, sophomore stand-out James Michael McAdoo and junior veteran Reggie Bullock are each averaging fourteen points a game, and sophomore PJ Hairston is chipping in eleven points a game. The Tar Heels have shown that they have what it takes to attack from any position, so why is this team so different than last year's?

At this time last year, UNC was 15-3, not much different than the Tar Heels' current record. Yet what IS different about this year's team is the inability to win big games. Last year's squad beat nationally ranked teams such as Michigan State and Wisconsin while losing at Rupp Arena to the number one Kentucky Wildcats by one point. An Anthony Davis block saved what could have been a game-winner for the Tar Heels. This year's team has struggled to perform on the big stage. After trailing by seventeen at the half to the then-unranked Butler Bulldogs, North Carolina eventually fell 82-71 which dropped them from their national AP ranking of ninth in the country. I won't dwell on the butt-kicking they were given at Assembly Hall by Indiana because the Hoosiers were number one at the time and play in one of the toughest venues in the nation, so that loss was one to expect. But the near-twenty point loss to Texas? That definitely doesn't help your tournament resume.

Ultimately, I think the Tar Heels may just squeak into the tournament. And let me say this, in no way am I implying that this North Carolina team should be performing to the same level as last year's team. I'm not saying that at all. But I am saying that North Carolina does have guys who should know what being successful takes; they have guys that got meaningful minutes last year. There is still plenty of time left in the season to rise from their current fourth place standing in the ACC. In order for a run into late March, though, Reggie Bullock and the boys will need to step up or they'll find themselves playing in Madison Square Garden.

Fun Fact: There has not been a year in which both North Carolina and Kentucky have NOT made the tournament since the seeding era began in 1979.