University of North Carolina Athletics
Turner's Take: Potential
October 8, 2014 | Men's Basketball, Featured Writers, Turner Walston
by Turner Walston
CHAPEL HILL - Early in his annual Media Day press conference on Wednesday, Roy Williams was asked if his 2014-15 team had the “ideal makeup” of a college basketball team. “It's not ideal,” Williams responded. “If it's ideal, I'd have Marcus, Marvin and Tyler, Tyler and John. That'd be a really ideal team, because we could do everything.” Beyond Paige, the 2014-15 Tar Heels don't have players proven to be on the levels of Williams, Hansbrough, Zeller and Henson, but they do have potential.
Williams loves this time of year: early to mid-October, with intense practices as a team and its players try to find their identity. Last season's team found the right mix in January and into early March, when it became clear that Paige was the group's leader and the complementary pieces, like James Michael McAdoo and Meeks, began to understand their roles. It took time. Williams believes this year's team has the talent to be “pretty doggone good,” but it's all the better if this team can define itself now and not midway through conference play.
Being pretty good starts with Marcus Paige, the proven leader of this team. Last year's Tar Heels won 12 straight down the stretch when Paige took over. He led the team in most offensive categories last year and earning All-America honors in the process. “He's a complete basketball player,” Williams said of Paige on Wednesday. “He's our best shooter. Probably the best driver. Best defender. If I had five of him at the same size, we'd be really good.”
In addition to Paige, the Tar Heels return fellow junior J.P. Tokoto, who played 20 more minutes a game as a sophomore than he did as a freshman. Tokoto became an elite matchup defender (he led the team in steals) and a dangerous slasher with the basketball. His ability to elevate for rebounds and blocked shots kept him on the floor. Center Kennedy Meeks became a regular in the starting lineup toward the latter half of his freshman season. Now down 40 pounds from a year ago, Meeks can be more impactful and stay in the game longer due to better conditioning.
Beyond that trio of returning starters, much is yet to be decided about who these Tar Heels are going to be. Junior forward Brice Johnson presumably will start at the power forward position, bringing his length and energy at tip-off as opposed to as a sixth man.
Despite not being a regular starter a season ago, Johnson averaged nearly 20 minutes and was on the floor for important possessions in tight games. Whereas Meeks has lost weight, Johnson has added bulk to his frame. With the weight gain, one hopes that Johnson has retained the explosiveness he's displayed in two years on campus.
And so Johnson and Meeks will battle in the post with Isaiah Hicks, Joel James, Desmond Hubert and Jackson Simmons. There is opportunity there for a post player to step forward, and, according to Williams, there are plenty of guys who want it. “Our practices right now are pretty vicious inside. There are some guys wanting to play. They're not taking many names,” Williams said. “That part, I like. The competition is really heated.”
Carolina adds a trio of talented freshmen in wings Theo Pinson and Justin Jackson and point guard Joel Berry to a maturing group of sophomores in Nate Britt, Meeks and Hicks, now noticeably more comfortable at his more natural power forward position.
On paper, this Tar Heel team is balanced, with the right mix of inside and outside scoring, long and capable defenders and with a prototypical Roy Williams leader on the floor in Paige. On paper, that is. “We still don't have anybody that's proven that they can be an inside scorer, whether it's Tyler Hansbrough or Tyler Zeller or Sean May. I don't think anybody on this team has proven that they can score against quality opponents every night. We haven't proven yet that more than one guy can step out to the three-point line and make the shot,” Williams said. “Nobody's proven all of those different things.”
Not yet. Williams wants a player or two or three to step forward and decide that they're going to be a big-time player, as Paige did. As of right now, beyond Paige, much is unclear. But it is October, and while there is much to be determined, there is plenty of time. And having a motivated Hall of Fame coach at the helm certainly doesn't hurt. “I love this time period, I really do,” Williams said. “The teaching, trying to mold the guys. I've always said coaching is trying to get my guys to do what they can do better than you can get your guys to do what they can do. If I have more talent and can get them to do that, then we can be pretty good.”
