Originally Posted by
SCMatt33
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.