Tar Heel Fan

Well, UNC is officially off to a better start to this season than they were last season, as the Heels cruised to a fairly lopsided win over Jerry Rice’s alma mater.  I specifically say that the Heels cruised, because despite the 26-point margin (with a high of 30), the game was really more of a methodical dismantling then some of the drubbings Roy’s teams of the past have administered.  In fact, the Heels were able to build their sizable lead without the benefit a single run of 10 points or greater, which is usually a hallmark of UNC squads.  While the lack of a “kill shot” could be viewed as concerning, it should also be pointed out that the Heels did not yield anything more than a 6-0 run, so while they may not have stomped on the gas, there certainly was no let up, either.  I think it is important to remember that for most basketball teams, the “killer instinct” is not so much an instinct as it is a learned behavior, and we can certainly point to recent champions ,like the 2005 and 2009 squads as examples of teams who learned to put teams down after struggling through difficult losses in prior seasons.  As for the stats, to borrow from Doc’s “Good, Bad and Ugly,” there was a lot of “good”, a little “bad”, and one fairly stark, “ugly.”  We’ll discuss on the other side of the break.

Continue reading UNC vs. MVSU: Beyond the Box

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