For those intested, here are some thoughts I came away with after watching the Heels first hand last night...
- Deon Thompson was easily the best player on the court last night, but despite one second half lineup, he's no small forward
- Tyler Zeller, had a nice game, but would have had 2 or 3 more baskets if he had been tougher with the ball down low
- This UNC team will NOT have the same tempo as previous teams with Ty Lawson on the floor. One big change is that Lawson could advance the ball when needed to Ellington or Green to stretch teams in their transition defense, this year that isn't the case.
- John Henson looked like a freshman last night, but when he's around the basket he gets his hand on the ball due to his length. On offense he just doesn't fit in at the small forward yet.
- In the first half, Larry Drew looked unsure of himself and it showed on both ends of the floor. In the second half, Drew asserted himself first on defense and then started to penetrate on the offensive end and created a few easy baskets.
- Of the freshmen, the Wears (its impossible to separate them) impressed me the most. They are both comfortable away from the basket and content banging down low. Both are good passers and can knock down the open jumpshot, even out to three point range. Dexter Strickland had him moments and showed a more versatile offensive game than Drew.
- Marcus Ginyard and Ed Davis were simply solid calming influences on the floor. Davis did have one drop-step left hand dunk that he threw through the basket right off of the top of a Belmont Abbey defender's head.
All in all, it was a sloppy disjointed effort from the Heels. This could be from Roy Williams rotating 11 players for most of the night or it could just be from an unbalanced roster. We will learn more when the Heels kick things off on Monday night.
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