Originally Posted by
Bluealum
The other story…
Carolina has a hall of fame coach with two National titles in half a dozen years. They have one of the only athletic and coordinated 7 foot centers in the county. This young man has a world of potential with excellent touch and footspeed for a man his size. With experience and a focus on his health, he is ready for a breakout season. Carolina also has one of the most celebrated high school stars who will man his natural power-forward position all year. He is freakishly long and athletic, has great hands, and is a natural shot blocker with excellent timing and the look of a leader. Carolina also brings in the most celebrated new freshman in the country at the small forward position. He is touted as a game changer, leader, and NBA ready player who is perhaps only stopping by college because of the NBA imposed freshmen ineligibility rule. They will have perhaps the longest and most atheletic front court in the nation at 7-1, 6-11, 6-8 which is certainly from a high-school perspective, the most celebrated and ‘talented’ trio that any team can sport as a starting front court. To add to this trio, their veteren senior wing, a burly 6-6 Will Graves who has the experience and physicallity to guard bigger players down low and shoot over those players on offense can play either of the forward positions, a more natural fit than the shooting guard postion he was often forced to play in last years front-court laden team. Carolina’s backcourt is loaded with depth. They have a veteren point guard that has been through the rigors of 2 ACC seasons, has shown a decent shooting touch despite the extra focus other teams have given with with last years dearth of shooters. He handles the ball well and his experience and better supporting cast are sure to have a notably positive impact on his playmaking In the coming year. Alongside him they bring back Leslie McDonald and Dexter Strickland, speedy athletes who appeared to only lack the good decision making that comes with experience, as well as two highly touted big freshmen guards in Reggie Bullock, who brings noticible swagger to the team, and Kendall Marshall who had a great high school reputation and purported leadership skills.
With the enthusiasm and confidence of Bullock, Barnes, Henson and Marshall and the cool headed experience of Zeller and Drew, along with the firey Graves the chemistry is sure to be better than the privious team with the sulking, emotionless Ed Davis, and the gritty but overmatched Wear twins occuping minutes and coaching attention. The lack of excessive depth will be a boon to a coach who tends to overuse his bench to the detriment of developing team chemistry and identity.
With a plethora of all americans and as little pressure as is possible for such a collection of talent, coaching, institutional support, large fan base and fawning media, the team is poised to vastly exceed artificially low expectations and gain further energy from a misplaced ‘underdog rising’ story.