From A Duke Fan: UNC to Final Four

This could be a classic Brett Boyer knee jerk reaction but I have a hard time right now seeing the Tar Heels as a "pretender" going into the tourney. At the beginning of the season Roy Williams' squad started out in a rut but of their last 13 games they've won 12, and one of those coming against rival Duke for the right to be named regular season ACC champs.

As I watched the Duke game I became more and more impressed by this Marshall kid who is a freshman and was plugged into the starting line up half way through the year. Against Duke it tore up Coach K's notoriously tough Duke team defense for 15 points and 11 assists. It's amazing watching this kid play with the idea of pass first in the half court game, he reminds me a lot of a younger Jason Kidd, born to be a leader. Marshall isn't the only reason why I'm high on UNC though.



The emergence of the young phenom in Hairson Barnes has finally come about and it's everything people thought they'd see out of him. He's finally come into this own and playing much more comfortable and it shows. At the beginning of the year I think he may have had the "whole world on my back" mentality and for a freshman that is just simply too much to ask of yourself. Only player I can think of that didn't suffer with that is one Carmelo Anthony, and we know how that story ended. His size, strength and athleticism is something to awe at and admire. Barnes can now be looked at a guy to go to when the game is on the line and you need a bucket to score.

Maybe the most important aspect when looking at a team to make a deep run is depth, particularly in the 4 and 5 position. Look at Duke last year, they had Zoubek, Lance Thomas, Miles and Mason Plumlee and Ryan Kelly, probably not the most intimidating scorers or even defenders for that matter but what matters is when one goes down they have many else to go to. To have a chance to make a run, being able to rebound and bang down low with the big guys is way overlooked in my opinon. Last years Duke team, no matter what the foul situation was with the big guys was, had guys to fill in an do a good enough job on defense and offense. UNC fits this category better than any team I've watched this year (not much a statement) but they kept rotating and Roy went deep into his bench. They have no players that avg over 30 min a game. Being a Duke fan I have no idea what that is like because Singler and Smith avg well over 30. The Tar Heels have Zeller, Barnes, Knox (Grad student who played for Bama but had eligibility left), and John Henson. To have four viable forwards to plug in well help in a game with a team which relies on points in the paint.

Last nugget that impressed me was their fast break offense. Holy Hannah. I remember one highlight after Singler had scored and in less than 3 seconds the Tar Heels had passed the ball up the court for a dunk. There really is no defense for a fast and efficient fast break offense, especially at the pace they do. And this brings me back to the previous point of depth. The Tar Heels go balls deep in their bench and Roy isn't afraid to do so.

It took awhile for the Tar Heels to get their ball rollin' but it's rollin' and it's rollin' fast. Unfortunately this doesn't please me because of my love for Duke, but I'm a realist and I can atleast recognize when a team is playing well no matter who.

Should make for an interesting conference tourney and of course an interesting NCAA Tourney. As much as it kills me, right now I can see the University of North Carolina Tar Heels making a serious run. Gee dangit.

Seth