UNC is 3-0 to start the year but concerns are beginning to grow
The North Carolina Tar Heels are a perfect 3-0 to start the 2022-23 season as the No. 1 team in the nation. UNC got that mark with a narrow 72-66 win over Gardner-Webb.
But even with a 3-0 record, there are some growing concerns about the performances by this team. And mainly it’s on the offensive end of the floor.
There are a number of things not to like through three games so far:
Rebounding
Lack of scoring
Being beaten in the post
All three of those things are areas in which the Tar Heels need to get better at, starting now.
The schedule toughens up here starting next week and if UNC isn’t careful, a good James Madison team will give them a tough test Sunday in the Dean Dome. After that, they have the PK80 Tournament and games against Indiana, Michigan, and Ohio State looming before the ACC schedule gets going.
Now, why is UNC struggling in those areas?
They have the talent on the roster to go out and dominate, especially in non-conference games they are supposed to win. But it’s been a struggle early on for them in key areas mentioned above.
Right now, there are a lot of things that head coach Hubert Davis doesn’t like about his roster and he made that clear in the postgame following the win over Gardner-Webb.
“There’s some yellow flags in terms of our toughness,” Davis said via Brendan Marks. “Our sustained effort … our commitment to defense … and our commitment to the scouting report and doing the things you’re being asked to do.”
In two of the first three games of the year, the Tar Heels have been out-rebounded and it was almost a third-straight game on Tuesday as they barely out-rebounded Gardner-Webb 40-38.
Armando Bacot had a monster year last season for UNC and with his return, many believed he could be that force again. So far that hasn’t been the case as Bacot hasn’t recorded a double-double and while he’s averaging 18 points per game, the rebound number is at just 8 per game.
As a team, UNC is averaging just 34.6 rebounds per game compared to 41.3 a year ago.
That’s something UNC preached all season long. They preached that they were one box out away from winning a national championship and so far, they appear to be more than just that away from getting there this season.
The play on offense has been the biggest question mark as the Tar Heels are getting production from the starting five. The bench has struggled this year including just three points in Tuesday’s win.
When they are on offense, there’s no rhythm, there’s not much spacing, they look out of sorts and the flow isn’t there for what they want to do. There are times when the ball movement is poor and they either have to force up shots and go into traffic and take difficult shots.
The hope is that it’s just rust through three games and it can be fixed.
However, if it’s not fixed soon enough, the Tar Heels will see that No. 1 ranking disappear and they could put themselves in a hole. The good news is that there is time to fix this and make corrections, similar to what they did last season. We’ve seen it before with a very similar roster and the trust in Hubert Davis to correct it has to be there.
Don’t panic just yet but have that button on standby..
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