After one round of the ACC schedule the Heels have certainly made a name for themselves as a tough team to face. The team has done an admirable job thus far, though lapses in scoring have allowed teams to erase the sometimes head-spinning offensive ability of this UNC team.

The Heels’ biggest concern coming into the season was depth, especially in the frontcourt where Sean May is the only true big man. Rotating into the 4 and 5 positions, Jawad Williams, David Noel, and Byron Sanders have done a reasonable job of scoring in the paint. The biggest weakness with the frontcourt, however, is its defense.

Thus far Carolina’s opponents have shot 50.2% inside of the 3-point arc. This percentage is way too high, and good interior defense should alter enough shots to bring it down. For the sake of arguing, Duke’s opponents have shot 41% from inside the arc. Opponents have (mistakenly) taken 35% of their shots against UNC from 3-point range while the Heels have taken 27% from behind the arc. Finally, UNC has taken 522 free throw attempts to the opponents’ 398 attempts. Therefore, UNC is doing a good job of getting the ball inside and driving to the basket while opponents are ignoring their own interior success and opting for lower-percentage 3-point shots. Perhaps this is due to UNC’s getting into position to deny interior passing lanes, leaving them out of position to alter shots. Better weakside help defense by May, Williams, and Noel would seal the deal.

UNC is still playing breakneck basketball. The total number of possessions in each game has inched down to the 160-possession range from the blistering 190-range in the non-conference season, but this is to be expected. Still, 160-possession games are faster than UNC has played in recent years. Raymond Felton is the key to this quick style that has led to about 6-10 easy points per game.

Compared to the parody-filled ACC, UNC is doing well. Strong areas are assists, turnover margin, offensive rebounding, steals, and field goal percentage (47.2%). Weak areas are field goal percentage defense and 3-point percentage defense. So, defensively, UNC is doing a good job of generating opponents’ turnovers, but doing a poor job of denying good shots. Perhaps more of the 1-3-1 zone would offer more of a challenge to opposing shooters while allowing them to pass the ball easier.

The rest of the season looks promising. Even though the Heels were just 3-5 in the first round, a 7-9 conference finish would assure a NCAA Tournament bid. After beating Wake Forest, UNC must find 3 more conference wins, most likely against Clemson, @ Virginia, Maryland, and @NCSU.

Enjoy this second pass through the league, because it will be the last. What a crying shame that the ACC will lose games like yesterday’s second meeting between UNC and Wake. The conference loses so much in basketball due to expansion. We should never let John Swofford hear the end of it.