Wow. Shows what the heck I know.
Having said that, I bet Roy won't mind it too much, as Carolina's best chance for success next year is to run, run, run.
Not only that, but the lack of frontcourt depth will make it tough for Roy to run his preferred run-and-gun style. You can't ask two big guys to sprint back and forth across the floor for an entire game. So does Roy slow things down in order to limit the number of possessions (as we did this year)? Or does he have Barnes play extended minutes at the 4? If Zeller and Henson play 30 minutes each (which is a lot), then that leaves 20 minutes for Barnes to play the 4. And 10 of those minutes will be with Henson at the 5.
There are plenty of teams in college who play without much size (Purdue comes to mind) and without much depth (Butler?)... we're just unaccustomed to seeing it at Carolina.
Wow. Shows what the heck I know.
Having said that, I bet Roy won't mind it too much, as Carolina's best chance for success next year is to run, run, run.
While I agree UNC should be an NCAA team next year, and also agree one of UNC's biggest issue is a lack of a PG who can run Roy's high octane system, there is a big difference between having no frontcourt depth and having no backcourt depth: foul trouble. It's a lot easier for opposing teams to draw fouls from an interior defender than a perimeter defender.
Which is why the reason that next year's UNC team will not be an elite team is they will be a poor defensive team. Their frontcourt will have to be wary of foul trouble and their perimeter players are freshmen, sophomores who haven't played that much, or players who have not shown a predilection for bearing down on the defensive side of the court.
Hi,
"Roy Williams." If he can get the players he has to play like a team and make good use of their talents the Tar Heels will (unfortunately) be fine. If he coaches like last season and tries to shove square pegs into round holes--I think the Heels will have another long season.
Why are these UNC threads so long anyway? I would rather talk about our kids and what Duke will do next year.
GO DUKE!
Henson, I think, is enormously talented. Better upside than anyone who has played at UNC than the Jamison days. In my view, much bigger upside than Davis.
You put him and HB up front and you have a formidable half court and full court game. Drew will be more than competent as a lead guard with those two out there. Zoller gives Carolina a three-man big rotation that is not to be underestimated.
Both Henson and Barnes will be terribly difficult to guard in the half court, especially inside, especially off of controlled breaks in which they catch in the middle without help defense set.
I haven't given any thought to what else Carolina has but both these guys are likely to be dynamite on the college level, probably next year. It won't take much else.
Now there is rumor that UNC might take a look at Kadeem Jack. He's a mobile power forward or even center in a pinch. He was a late bloomer, who can run the floor and rebound despite being thin. Supposedly he was thinking of going prep so that he could maybe catch some offers from elite programs. UNC might be exactly what he's looking for without having to prep a year.
If they pick up this kid, and get to use the other Wear scholarship next year... that will possibly be more than a little annoying.
God forbid they should get Terrance Jones somehow, the Jacks kid would be bad enough.
Will it be? I mean, I'm not saying it won't. There's the potential for them to be better. Who knows how this will play out? Maybe Roy will comb the country for a passable replacement and they will excel next year. Maybe he won't and they will suffer in late-game scenarios because of it. Or maybe he won't find someone and they'll still be better or he will find someone and they'll be worse. But this transfer (these transfers?) puts a gigantic question mark in the middle of their frontcourt. They could still improve, or this could be the beginning of a long and deep slide (let's hope so). Losing four players for two positions in one off-season is not easily replaced.
Among many insightful posts in this thread, I nominate Kedsy's for some follow-up praise and/or commentary, as most have not said much about defense.
Including me. I've posted several times recently that I still have Heels at ACC #2, but on "IC funny" thread, I admitted to "wobbling" at latest news. Kedsy's point wobbles me ever more, as it's a big ?-mark. Henson is certainly a shot blocker, but fundamentally sound D? Doubtful. Roy able/willing to coach fierce D? Doubtful. Graves willing to play every play on D? Doubtful. Marshall able to defend opposing PGs of big-time talent? Doubtful.
Allow me also to commend, for those of you who won't read every post on this schadenfreuede-filled thread, post #169 by Bluealum. Very thoughtful.
I agree with that, assuming that UNC doesn't find a last-minute recruit that is a decent third big. However, I'll say a couple of things:
1. There is always the chance that they find a last-minute recruit to be an adequate third big, which would alleviate some of the foul concerns.
2. One of the knocks on Williams is that he is too liberal with the use of his bench (basically the opposite of Coach K). If he has bodies, they'll play, even if it means fewer minutes for the better players. By removing the Wears from the equation, he'll have to go with his two big guys for extended minutes.
Point #2 may mean that UNC is that much more likely to win games in which Henson/Zeller don't get in foul trouble. Of course, your point stands that they are that much less likely to win games in which those two do get in foul trouble.
And of course, any frontcourt injuries would be devastating to them.
I actually think that the opposite is true. It will be much easier for Roy to run his fast-paced system with this lineup. Presumably, he will play a smaller lineup at least some of the time. As you said, you could see Barnes at the 4 for up to half of the game. With this lineup, the last thing Roy would want is to slow the game down. With that lineup, they will have a speed advantage on most teams despite being undersized (especially in the bulk part of size). A slow game would become more of a physical contest, which UNC would lose almost every time.
Look at Duke '08 for an example. Duke basically had 3 big guys, two of which were undersized in the bulk department. Could you imagine that team trying to play a slowdown type of game. It wouldn't have worked. Ultimately, that team didn't have the right blend of skills to keep it up into the tourney. I actually think the Duke '08 team might be a good comparison team. Both will have a center who hasn't shown his potential because of injuries. Both have a star freshman who may be forced to play out of position at the 4. Both have a starting pg who has struggled in the past backed up by a freshman. Both have a slashing type 2-guard. Both have a 6-6 forward who could steal minutes at the 4 if he has to and both have a pf who is too thin and may have to play some center. There are a few differences. UNC will have some of these guys be more offensive and perimeter oriented compared to their Duke counterparts (Graves/Henson) compared to (McClure/Thomas). Having the more offensive oriented guys might actually help in this type of system. Both teams have only one senior, but Duke's (Nelson) played a position that was easier to be a leader on the court from than UNC's (Graves). Almost forgot, both lost an underachieving, highly rated F/C to the draft. I know a couple of comparisons aren't quite perfect, but considering all of the circumstances, this might be a good bar for which to compare next year's UNC team. Duke was 11/13 in the preseason polls, and I wouldn't be surprised to see UNC start the year out in a similar position.
With the NCAA field expanding by 3, I am sure the heels will have a higher seed in the NIT next year.
Better players does not mean better people ...
This is the truly encouraging part of the saga ... It sounds like there is something still rotten on the hill. The guys that are left (Deon - apparently the voice of reason in the locker room is leaving) are into "talent," which means they consider themselves to have "talent" and to be above those whom they consider to have "less talent." Sounds like this is a team of individuals who are looking out for their draft prospectus.
Should be fun for ol' roy to get this group to play together, or to listen to him talk about sacrifice for the team.
If UNC is the second best team in the ACC next year, it is only because the rest of the ACC is not good. This team, at least on paper, should be not very good. Yes, Barnes and Henson are tough to guard, but who will they guard? Barnes is a good rebounder, but you can't really expect him to rebound with 6'10 and 6'11 guys at the same rate. Carolina still has the same issue at PG they had last year. They want to run, but their PG can't do it effectively. For LD II, it is because of decision making. For Marshall, at least from what we have all heard, he just isn't a fast, push the ball type of PG. They get a major upgrade in talent on the wing, but they lose a ton in rebounding and post presence. I don't see why everyone thinks they will be much much better next year. I think they will be better, top half of the ACC, but certainly not a team I would expect to beat us. Anything can happen in a given game, but if I were betting, I'd bet heavily on Duke to win in both Cameron and Dean Dome by >10 points.
Also, what is Henson's problem? That is a really inappropriate thing to say about a teammate past, present or future. Its even worse to say it on a public forum. Is Roy Williams really ok with this? I can't imagine he would be.
I don't mean to insult Josh McRoberts, but is it possible that Henson is causing the problems that everyone said Josh caused for us? Bad attitude, stand-offish and leading to issues with recruiting and team chemistry? Just a thought.
We've been in this position with transfers, but I don't think any were of this significance, do you guys agree? I think maybe when Chris Burgess transferred to Utah leaving Brand? Boozer? I don't remember exactly, but I digress.
I think this is huge for them in a very negative way. Henson is solid and so is Zeller, but they have no depth and with Zeller's propensity to get injured, they could be in real trouble. It's possible that they can snag a big guy late sometime this summer, but I don't know who is left on the board that they would want to give a scholly to. Anyone know?
I feel badly for them a little, they get a huge commitment from Barnes and it is almost going to waste now because of this. They'll still probably get to the tournament, but with an early exit. Long live Duke's dominance!!
They ain't getting Jack.
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/201...dwayne-collins
So Zeller is injury prone, couldn't the same thing have been said about Brian?
HB is the real deal and will be a major impact player for UNC. The only reason his ability is suddenly downplayed/questioned is because he decided to go to UNC instead of Duke. Henson is an extremely talented big, who made major strides once shifted to his natural position. The PG's will be solid, but as others have pointed out not really suited to Roy's style. The rest of the team has talent and the only question will be can they gel as a unit.
Frontcourt depth could be a problem, but then that was also said about our backcourt last year. Hanstravel managed to avoid foul trouble throughout his career and in Roy's system, which doesn't stress defense, their bigs should have little trouble avoiding fouls.
Will they challenge us? No, but they definitely won't stink up the court like they did last year.
I also wish Travis and David the best of luck and hope things workout for them.
I apologize for repeating what I said in another thread, but it looks to me like this announcement was a surprise to everyone on the UNC team and they found out like we did-- friends, bulletin boards, and the news. A few not-so-ebullient "good lucks" and some catty remarks seem kind of par for the course in that situation.
But I like how you think.
while most of the discussion and speculation in this thread has been, understandably, about the remaining talent at UNC, this transfer might be a symptom of a greater problem. Also, there seems to be at least some acceptance that the team might be better off now and that Williams wanted them to leave. If Williams has the sense that God gives a goat, he cannot like the timing here.
I look at this situation from a different perspective. From what I have read and heard, the Wear twins, talent aside, come from a pretty solid family background. Maybe the true significance of this event is that the Wears, including the Dad, are tired of Roy. What if this is indicative of further underlying tumult and chaos within the program? I have NO inside information and don't claim to, but I just get a feeling that things are worse in Hole Land than we might see. When allegedly good solid kids and their parents don't want to be associated with the program, my ears perk up.
Just my .02.