State-UNC Concerns
CHAPEL HILL – At the risk of being redundant in this space here it goes, again: The Tar Heels need to do something about their work on the defensive glass.
The numbers simply do not lie, and unlike many previous games in which opponents were snagging long rebounds on missed 3s, that wasn’t the case Saturday when N.C. State grabbed 17 of its 33 missed shots leading to 23 second-chance points in the Heels’ 67-55 victory at the Smith Center.
This is a real problem, and even with Carolina (16-2, 5-0 ACC) winning games despite the issue, it can’t be ignored, much like the rushing defense issues couldn’t be ignored this past football season when the Heels were reeling off lopsided victories.
“I thought they were first to the loose balls, and they killed us on the offensive backboards in the first six minutes of the game,” UNC Coach Roy Williams said. “After that in the first half, it was fairly even.”
State rebounded 6 of its first 7 missed shots leading to 10 points, and for the rest of the first half the Tar Heels did a solid job. But they allowed 7 for 13 points after the intermission, often giving up second-chance points right at the rim after a miss right at the rim.
For the game, Carolina out-boarded the Wolfpack 38-37, including 21-17 on the offensive glass, which led to 24 second-chance points for the Heels. But this remains an issue, and if improved Carolina will establish itself as an even more capable contender to win the whole thing.
Marcus Paige – This isn’t picking on the senior All-American, but it can’t go without mentioning, but Paige has scored just 3 points in each of the Tar Heels’ last two games – that’s 6 points in the last 80 minutes of UNC hoops.
And for the first time, Paige showed just a little bit of frustration when a missed 3 attempted from just in front of the Carolina bench with about 7 minute left bounced a couple of times before falling off the rim.
But you’ll never see that frustration when taking to him after a game in which he was 1-9 from the floor and saw an impressive streak come to an end.
“I’m always concerned with how our team’s doing, and at that point we had gotten into a little bit of a groove, getting the ball inside to Kennedy and stuff,” Paige said. “I’m not one to worry too much about how I’m doing individually. I just realized my (41-game) 3-point made streak got ended today.
“The way we played today in the second half I’m very pleased. I was not happy with our effort, and my effort especially, in the first half. Even though I only scored 3 points, I’m not too worried about it. And the shots feel good, so I’m more about feeling – if they’re feeling good and missing I know I’m right around the corner om making some shots. If I felt funny I’d be concerned.”