For most teams, suffering injuries to key personnel would cause a setback in team chemistry and would possibly stunt the development of a team for when the games matter most.
Some people might think that is crazy, but when you think about the roll that the Virginia Cavaliers were on before guard Justin Anderson got hurt last season, and then the end result of their NCAA Tournament run, you have to wonder if things would have been different if he had not gotten hurt.
The North Carolina Tar Heels have been fortunate in that the injuries their squad has incurred happened early in the season, but also have allowed for other players to step up early in year to make major improvements to their game and contributions to the team.
North Carolina Tar Heels
When Marcus Paige broke his non-shooting hand to start off the season, it added to the already existing concern about where the outside shooting was going to come from for the Tar Heels.
UNC fans have no need to worry about that anymore.
The injury to Paige allowed for Nate Britt to improve his game to where he is shooting 40.2% from the field and 42.5% from beyond the three-point arc this season.
It allowed for Joel Berry to make an eight point jump in scoring average to 12.1 per game this season while improving his outside shooting as well.
Sophomore guard Theo Pinson has even hit 42.9% of his three-point shots this season and Justin Jackson’s 13.4 points per contest is third best on the team.
The Marcus Paige injury made it to where the other backcourt players had to step up and deliver which is exactly what they did.
Now with Paige back in the mix and having a great season putting 15.0 points per game through eight games on 50% shooting, the North Carolina Tar Heels easily have one of the deepest and most productive backcourt rotations in the country.
The same thing is taking place in the frontcourt with big man Kennedy Meeks having to sit out over the last few games with a knee injury.
With the exception of North Carolina’s conference opener against the Clemson Tigers, Brice Johnson had been posting solid numbers since the Meeks’ injury including three consecutive 20-plus point games and two double-doubles.
The Kennedy Meeks injury has also given Joel James, and Isaiah Hicks more playing time and they have both made solid contributions to the team in his absence.
This is going to be a scary team by the time March rolls around because of the fact that so many players have been able to get a decent amount of playing time.
It was already thought that North Carolina from top to bottom could have one of the deepest lineups in the nation.
But the fact that the depth is getting quality minutes early on is only going to make this team that much more dangerous once money time rolls around in the Spring.
It is going to be very hard to take out an experienced team that can go 10-players deep.
The two losses that the North Carolina Tar Heels took on the road at Northern Iowa and Texas were simply necessary speed bumps the team needed to hit along the way.
The Northern Iowa loss happened with Marcus Paige injured and the Texas loss happened when Marcus Paige was getting back into the swing of things.
Overall, North Carolina has always been one of the best five teams in the nation regardless of where they are ranked in the polls.
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In the end the North Carolina Tar Heels have actually benefited from the injury bug hitting there team, and for those who don’t believe that, watch what happens in March.
North Carolina will be one of the most dangerous teams in the NCAA Tournament because of their depth and will make the Final Four.
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