North Carolina presents difficult challenge for Pitt
It has not been a great year to be one of the blue blood programs of college basketball. In this week’s AP Top 25, you will not see Duke, Kentucky, or North Carolina in the updated rankings.
The Tar Heels, however, appear to be bouncing back in recent weeks. After a slow 5-4 start, North Carolina has now won five of six, including back to back wins over in-state rivals Wake Forest and NC State.
North Carolina has a talented freshmen class, and that group is finally starting to piece it together on the court. Jeff Capel has seen a great deal of growth from the Tar Heels’ freshmen, and that is why the team has been winning more of late.
“Well just watching them on tape, they are certainly a lot better than they were earlier in the season, which is to be expected because you’re dealing with a lot of young guys,” he told reporters on Monday. "They’ve had a chance to get acclimated to the college game, the speed, the pace, the things that are required to be good and they have one of the best coaches ever teaching them."
The Tar Heels might not have the familiar ranking next to their name, but they do carry a lot of the similar traits that have made them one of the elite programs through the years under legendary coach Roy Williams.
The Tar Heels play with great pace, like usual. Capel said the can ‘punish you’ in transition. The offensive attack is led by a trio of first-year guards. The star of the show is Caleb Love, who is averaging 10.5 points per game. The former five-star recruit can get out of control at times, but the talent is evident and the athleticism is there.
Another characteristic of a classic North Carolina team is great length in the front court, and being able to hit the offensive glass as well. Well, this version of the Tar Heels leads the ACC in offensive rebounding, pulling down 15.7 per game.
The record might be a little different than a classic North Carolina team, but the talent and style of the play is still there.
North Carolina boasts the ACC preseason player of the year in Garrison Brooks up front. The 6'10" senior averages 10.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. He is one of four reliable big men that North Carolina can run out onto the court almost interchangeably, along with Armando Bacot, Day’Ron Sharpe, and Walker Kessler.
“They play until they’re tired, they come out, and they bring fresh bodies,” Capel said of the Carolina big men. “So for us, we don’t have a lot of front court depth. We’re going to have to have everyone ready, some guys that maybe haven’t played as much this season are going to have to be ready and be ready to come in and be physical, to block out.”
Pitt’s rotation has shrunk recently. The Panthers kept the rotation down to eight guys in each of the past two games, but with a North Carolina team that likes to run and possessing serious front court depth, Capel may need more players to be ready to play tonight.
Freshmen forwards William Jeffress and Noah Collier have not appeared in recent games, but have logged important minutes earlier in the season, and both could have an important role tonight.
“It’s a lot that we have to do, but with their physicality of always going to the offensive glass and that being a major strength of theirs, averaging 16 offensive rebounds a game, it’s a tremendous challenge for us,” Capel said.