UNC Scouting

Thanks to TiVo, I could catch No. 2 North Carolina's walloping of a fairly strong Dayton team by 30 on their New Year's Eve game. Much like Andrew's last post, here are some notes.

The UNC paint is a black hole: once an opponent comes in, it doesn't get out. Countless times Dayton drove into the lane, only to either throw an errant pass or get rejected. This was a major factor in Dayton's shooting percentage of 30.5, and why it only hit 7 of 32 attempts in the first half. The Tar Heels had 8 blocks (all of them emphatically swatted) and forced 21 turnovers.

But Dayton was not the only team having trouble holding onto the rock. UNC also gave the ball up 21 times. The Tar Heels make very ambitious passes, often resulting in easy layups (and they had tons) but some passes go right into the hands of an unsuspecting defender. Six players for UNC coughed it up multiple times.

Roy Williams' squad played a man defense, that didn't switch off of screens and often trapped in order to force a turnover. To beat these double-teams, Dayton passed the ball with confidence, and often found the open man for layups or threes. UNC also pressed for a couple possessions, but Dayton did a fairly good job breaking it.

UNC is deeeeep. Ten players played double-digit minutes, and none were as a result of garbage time. Tyler Hansbrough, Brandan Wright, Reysawn Terry, Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson start for the Heels. Off the bench are forwards Deon Thompson (6-8, 245) and Alex Stepheson (6-9, 225), swingmen Danny Green (6-5, 210) and Marcus Ginyard (6-5, 218), and guard Wes Miller (5-11, 190). Bobby Frasor started five games at point guard, but has missed the last six with a foot injury. Green had the best game out of the bench players. He went 1-for-5 from the field, but had 8 rebounds and 7 assists, many coming on slick passes into big men for layups. Miller hit one three from way out, and also had 3 steals. Stepheson had 6 rebounds and 2 monster blocks in limited action.

Starters

#50 Tyler Hansbrough, (6-9 245) sophomore, forward

Key stats: 18.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg

Dayton game: Kind of disappeared for stretches, but when he was involved was unstoppable on offense. He probably had five thunderous dunks, and when he wasn't able to throw one down could muscle up a solid inside jumper that he made over several defenders (one as the buzzer sounded in the first half). The sophomore likes to live in the paint, but can step out and hit a jumper. His defense wasn't bad either, he took a nice charge early.

#34 Brandan Wright, (6-9 205) freshman, forward

Key stats: 67.2% FGs, 6.5 rpg, 22 blocks

Dayton game: Wright was the best player on the floor for UNC on Sunday. He went 8-for-9 from the field on almost all dunks, for 16 points and 6 rebounds. Just as importantly he kept Dayton guards terrified of entering the lane. Thanks to his 7'5" wingspan he sent back a Warren London layup while standing well behind the Dayton point guard. Wright is only a freshman, but he might be the best all-around player on this team.

#3 Reyshawn Terry, (6-8 232) senior, forward

Key stats: 45.7% 3PT, 5.8 rpg

Dayton game: He's the senior leader on the team, and the only upperclassman starting. The forward is a good defender; he drew multiple charges on the Flyers. Is a slick passer who can thread the defense, but also committed a few bad turnovers (3 in total). He can also knock down the open three.

#2 Wayne Ellington, (6-4 195) freshman, guard

Key stats: 12.9 ppg, 44.4% 3PT

Dayton game: In the first half he had 11 points, and 9 of them came on three-pointers -- if he has any room he can knock them down. He's also a good perimeter defender. The Philadelphia area native played at The Episcopal Academy last year, in the same class as another freshman standout -- Duke's Gerald Henderson. Ellington has started all 13 games for UNC.

#5 Ty Lawson, (5-11 193) freshman, guard

Key stats: 1.54 spg, 2.85 asst-TO ratio

Dayton game: Coming into the starting lineup for the injured Frasor, Lawson is a classic point guard. He is reliable and a great passer -- since becoming a starter, he has 58 assists to only 11 turnovers (7 and 1, respectively on Sunday). Lawson is very aggressive in a Dwyane Wade sort of way, going hard to the hoop while either drawing a foul or hitting a tough layup. When UNC was struggling on offense he could also step out and hit a 15-footer.