UNC's Long Road to New Orleans
After holding off Butler at Reliant Stadium in Houston last April, Connecticut barely had time to celebrate its national championship. The experts on television were talking the next morning about North Carolina and their belief that it would be the favorite to win the title in New Orleans in 2012.
Without question the Tar Heels deserved the hype. With nearly their entire team back, including freshman sensation Harrison Barnes, a championship seemed like a reasonable expectation. And it is still within reach for the No. 7 Tar Heels. Sure, they were smoked by Florida State, 90-57, in the Dean Dome on a Saturday afternoon in January, suffering their third loss of the season. But hey, every team, even the best of the best, has a bad day.
It’s how you respond to those bad days that matter most. And it appears the Tar Heels are doing just fine. They bounced back with an 82-68 win over Virginia Tech last Thursday and they probably won’t lose too many more games before the season is finished.
Barnes has been vital to the success of the Tar Heels. He is the reason UNC is dreaming about a national championship again. When he opted to pass on the NBA for a chance to return to school, the Tar Heels became an instant favorite for the championship. Barnes is averaging 17.4 points per game and is also pulling down 4.8 rebounds per outing. He also has 22 steals, 19 assists and eight blocks.
John Henson (14.5) and Tyler Zeller (14.4) have been steady contributors as well for UNC, which is pouring in 85.1 points per outing. If the Tar Heels are going to live up to their hype, all three will have to take their games to another level, especially with starter Dexter Strickland done for the season because of a torn ACL.
The presence of Strickland was one of the reasons the Tar Heels were a favorite for the national title. Without him, it doesn’t mean you can toss the national championship hopes of UNC into the trash can. It just means the Tar Heels need to make up for the loss by playing with a little more effort, defending a little bit harder and running its offense a little more efficiently.
My guess is the Tar Heels are going to respond to the adversity. They have a brilliant coach in Roy Williams and a cast of players that have the talent to live up to the hype that was placed on its shoulders last April.
Does that mean UNC is a lock for the championship in New Orleans? No. I don’t think there is a dominant team in college basketball this season. What I do think is that if UNC plays up to its potential, it has the best chance of any team in America to hoist up a trophy in the Superdome this spring.
The Tar Heels have already won two titles in New Orleans. There is no reason to think they can’t win another one there.
