Jan 14, 2026; Stanford, California, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels guard Kyan Evans (0) looses control of the ball while dribbling against Stanford Cardinal guard Jeremy Dent-Smith (25) and forward AJ Rohosy (4) in the second half at Maples Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

North Carolina Legend Concerned About Recent Trends

Originally posted on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI
By Logan Lazarczyk | Last updated Jan 17, 2026 10:00 AM ET

The North Carolina Tar Heels have been showing glaring weaknesses in recent games, which have thoroughly exposed teams that are not viewed as top-end teams in the country.

As ACC play continues, these trends could continue to present themselves for the Tar Heels, who, at this point, must figure these things out in short order.

Former North Carolina player Tyler Hansbrough shared his feelings about the team's recent performances, which have left a lot to be desired.

Hansbrough's Thoughts

Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

"I would be pretty concerned because we're starting to see a trend, and for me right now, it just seems like every, every team that has like an efficient wing score is starting to have their night against us," Hansbrough said. "I've given a lot of credit. I think we fixed a lot of flaws from last year, but we've [got to] figure out how we can guard these pick-and-rolls just a little bit better."

Over the last three games - against SMU, Wake Forest, and Stanford - the Tar Heels have allowed 27 points to Boopie Miller, 28 points to Juke Harris, and 36 points to Ebuka Okorie. All of these players are prolific and athletic guards who can create shots for themselves and teammates. Wednesday night was extremely concerning, as Stanford would would predominately run iso or pick-and-roll with Okorie as the main ball handler. The Cardinal did that over and over again in the second half, which led to the Tar Heels' collapse.

Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Freshman forward Caleb Wilson expressed his frustrations with that development.

“They ran the same play, pretty much every time down the court,” Wilson said. “[They] brought the three and the four up, came off the right side, and basically just played isolation basketball.”

Hansbrough also brought up how the Tar Heels ebbs and flows on the offensive end of the court is a major reason for teams climbing back into the game after facing double-digit deficits.

"My main issue with Carolina is that right now we go through lapses in games where we get stale," Hansbrough said. "I want to see us get to the point where we start winning games and we start stepping on teams' throats once we get a little bit of a lead and start ending games instead of letting teams just hang around and build a little lead, then come back, get hot, and now we're in a dog fight to win the game."

This article first appeared on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

More must-reads: