The Tar Heels officially begin ACC play Tuesday night against Florida State. It’s a golden opportunity to start conference play 1-0 because the Seminoles have been a really bad team against quality opponents
this season. So far they have lost to every Power 4 opponent that they have faced, and on top of that they lost to both Dayton and UMass. Meanwhile, UNC has only dropped one game so far this season and look like a team on the rise now that Seth Trimble has returned. This should be a pretty easy win for Hubert Davis’ squad, but we all know that any game in ACC play cannot be taken lightly regardless.
With that in mind, let’s discuss three keys to Tuesday night’s game in the Dean Dome.
Limiting offensive rebounds
Considering the fact that UNC has one of the tallest teams in the country, they have been dealing with some bizarre issues in the rebounding department. Over the last couple of games, the Heels have allowed their opponents to pull down 10+ offensive rebounds, but the East Carolina game was easily the most frustrating — the Pirates were able to grab 20 offensive boards, and only lost the rebounding battle by six. UNC was able to win regardless, but it’s still a pretty big problem that Hubert Davis is try to solve.
Dealing with rebounding struggles when you are more physically and athletically equipped than the other team really comes down to effort, which is something that both Davis and Roy Williams have been saying for years. There isn’t a particular strategy or secret sauce, here: box out, play with more toughness than the other team, and once you grab the rebound, execute the break. UNC will likely out-rebound Florida State, but keep an eye on the offensive rebounding in this one. Hopefully they won’t make it three games in a row allowing 10+.
Can Kyan Evans turn it on against the Seminoles?
Field of 68 recently discussed the struggles that UNC point guard Kyan Evans has been facing, and ultimately they were saying that UNC fans should have patience with him. At Colorado State, they ran a couple of sets but they allowed players to find gaps in the defense, read, and react. In Hubert Davis’ system, though, it is a bit more set-based, and usually it is known where the ball is going to be shot from. Because of this, they said that they can understand that there’s an adjustment period and that he will eventually figure things out. It’s realistic that he can, but the question is when will this happen?
The nice thing is that despite Evans not performing as advertised so far this season, UNC is still in a really good position. Even better is the fact that Seth Trimble is back, and while he’s not ideal to run at the point guard, he could step into that role if the solution is to let Evans cook a bit off the ball. It’s probably unrealistic to expect him to magically figure things out against Florida State, but it’s possible that he could take a measurable step forward. Hopefully he can, because he’s really the only player in the starting lineup having a hard time cracking double digits consistently.
The defensive game plan for the Seminoles
We have seen teams do everything they can so far this season to stop Caleb Wilson and Henri Veesaar from doing whatever they want in the paint, and there hasn’t been a great solution for it. We’ve seen 2-3 zone, 1-3-1 zone, double-teams, triple-teams, and yet neither player has failed to score in double figures. Zooming in on Wilson, and he’s only scored less than 15 points once this season.
Florida State will have to figure out how to stop the two-headed monster in Wilson and Veesaar, and how they plan to do that is anybody’s guess. It wouldn’t be surprising if they tried zone to make the Heels make threes, but Veesaar has been able to stretch the floor really well lately, and he’s been getting a little help from his teammates. He’s probably been the most reliable three-point shooter for the Heels lately, which is a nightmare scenario for the Seminoles. Knowing that Veesaar can pick-and-roll or pick-and-pop off ball screens is unfair when you’re dealing with a 7-foot center, and that’s not even factoring in the fact that Wilson is usually somewhere near the paint waiting to attack himself.
This is an awful matchup for the Seminoles, but any chance for them to win starts with them figuring out how to stop what at this point of the season feels unstoppable.
