It’s the end of what was ultimately a really fun year for the Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels went into the Sweet Sixteen as one of the hottest teams in the country. Yes, they lost to Duke back in Charlotte, but their first two games of the NCAA Tournament showed that they were on the upswing to do some great things in the second weekend. What did we get instead? A dangerous Auburn team, illness plaguing the team, and really, a game that will be hard to forget for a really, really long time. Yes one could say that about the Texas A&M game last year, but this one for sure has a different feel. The feel that thing really could’ve been different, but we will simply never know if that’s true.
This one was a tough one to watch knowing that Luke Maye, Kenny Williams, Cam Johnson, and whoever you may believe is a one-and-done player will never put on a Carolina uniform again. It stings a lot, but the silver lining with Maye and Williams is that they’ve reached the top of the college basketball world before. They wanted more, we wanted more, but destiny had other plans.
With that said, let’s take a look at a few things that were catastrophic in Carolina’s final game of the season.
Auburn’s Master Plan was UNC’s Biggest Weakness
All year long, we’ve talked about the turnover issues that have caused a lot of problems for the Tar Heels. It was hard to shake the feeling that ultimately that very issue would be what ended up hurting them in a big way at some point, and that point arrived last night.
Auburn is notorious for forcing turnovers, and they managed to do just that against Carolina. While 14 turnovers is far from their worst this year, 19 of Auburn’s points came off of those turnovers. Given that the Heels lost by 17, one could say the problem literally gave the Tigers the win. Is that oversimplifying things? Possibly, but it’s hard to deny that it’s very difficult to give teams that many points and find a way to win games.
Truth be told, however, a lot of credit for what happened has to go to Auburn. They were causing all kinds of chaos on the defensive side of the ball, attacking the dribble in ways that we in ACC country have really only seen from Duke. They were fast, they were determined, and they made it really difficult for the Heels to find any kind of sustainable rhythm. It’s more and more understandable how they managed to win the SEC Tournament championship.
The Elephant in the Room
While fans and analysts don’t like to consider these types of things, primarily because of that one guy that used to wear number 23 for the Tar Heels decades ago, the truth is the Tar Heels weren’t 100% healthy. No, not injury-wise, but it appears that some kind of illness made its way around the team. Nassir Little reportedly had “flu-like symptoms” when Roy Williams spoke with the media a couple of days ago, and he said that it was so bad that Little was barely able to pick up a fork. It was a wonder that he managed to play last night, especially considering what he said in the locker room after the game:
To continue reading this article click on the link below….
