We Ain't There Yet

I'm already into my processing phase of the loss to Kentucky on Saturday and it is only 15 minutes since the game was concluded. The processing phase is that period of time after a game when I try to determine what I saw in the game that indicates what we might expect in future games.
Some might accuse me of trying to explain away the game, if it is a loss, but I've been doing it so long that I think I have been able to remove excuse making from the process.

There are many things about UNC's play so far, that pleases me. I'm sure Roy Williams will be relieved to hear that I approve of what he is doing. :-) We have multiple weapons at our disposal but, in my opinion, we will not be a great team until we utilize all of them.

Everyone realizes that Sean May is an outstanding player, but until we have someone who can hit the 15-17 foot jump shot consistently, we are not going to be able to fully utilize his offensive skills. No more than I know about xs and os, it is obvious that opponents are going to clog up the middle until someone proves they can hit that shot. We have people who can hit it, but I'm not sure they feel free to take it in the system that has been installed. We will succeed or disappoint this year based on the performance of Melvin Scott. He is a good shooter, but he is going to have to hit outside shots frequently enough for the defense to slack off of May.

Rashad McCants is a real puzzle and after the Kentucky game, Rashad had better be careful or he may disengaged from Coach Williams' plans.
Billy Packer, as usual, overly emphasized the point, but Rashad did have a terrible game Saturday. It took guts to do what Coach Williams did by removing the starters, but that is probably a one time thing regarding the effect it will have on the play of the team. I never played basketball at this level but I have always been unable to understand a lack of effort on the part of players in a big time game. I have talked with coaches and they don't understand it either, but they don't have the luxury of saying they don't understand it. They are paid big bucks to figure these things out and RW doesn't have unlimited time in which to do it. If this problem is not solved soon, we will be better off with McCants on the bench or somewhere else. And this after a 28 point performance on Tuesday night.

Enough about McCants. Terry hit a clutch shot and with time will be able to contribute. Williams probably shouldn't have played, but it was a big game. We had Ky. on the ropes in the first half but couldn't put them away. What else is new. I had even forgotten that we led at halftime last year until Vern Lundquest mentioned it and I was at the game.

I'll get to see the Heels on Wednesday night for the second time this year and I expect an energized performance from them.
I wasn't nearly as upset with them this year as I have been in the games we played against them in the last few years. We still lead comfortably in the series but I'm getting tired of losing to the Wildcats.

I'm not ready to throw in the towel, but we would be wise to accept the fact that we aren't a well oiled machine....yet. We've got plenty of time to improve, but the clock is ticking.