North Carolina Basketball: How good are the Tar Heels?

North Carolina basketball is the most dangerous unit left in the NCAA Tournament.

I’ll admit it: I underestimated the North Carolina Tar Heels.

I was one of those people who doubted their mental toughness, who didn’t think they were good enough defensively, who didn’t think Marcus Paige was suddenly going to snap out of his shooting funk and who didn’t think that they were going to defeat an Indiana team that was riding high after a win over Kentucky.

Boy was I wrong.

The Tar Heels’ thrashing of the Hoosiers on Friday night wasn’t just impressive, it proved that there is no team that is more dangerous left in the Big Dance than Roy Williams’ club.

Kansas, Villanova, Oregon, Virginia and Oklahoma have all been overly impressive in their own right.

Kansas has incredible balance and Wayne Selden has finally found his rhythm in the postseason.

Villanova is proving that veteran experience and chemistry matters, as they are playing lock down defense while shooting the lights out on the offensive end.

Oregon is showing off their versatile lineups, their great length and their offensive explosion.

Virginia is a complete team, playing Tony Bennett’s Pack Line defense to perfection while maintaining their efficiency and effectiveness offensively.

Oklahoma can shoot the lights out and Buddy Hield is the superstar of the Big Dance that can take over any game on any night.

But no one is capable of beating North Carolina when they play like they did on Friday.

No one.

We all know the Tar Heels are relentless on the offensive glass and they have one of the strongest front lines – if not the strongest – in the country, but when they knock down perimeter shots, it’s lights out.

The Tar Heels exploded in the Sweet 16 as they drilled 11 threes and shot 55 percent from beyond the arc. Tom Crean’s game plan was clearly to pack it in and force UNC to jack up outside shots, but from the opening minutes, that had no chance of working.

Paige, who has been mired in a shooting slump for the majority of the season, finally broke loose, scoring 12 points on four threes in the first five minutes of the game. It was like the switch finally turned on and Paige suddenly had all the confidence in the world.

And in turn, that helped open up shots for Joel Berry II and Justin Jackson while giving Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks more room to operate in the paint.

It didn’t matter that the Hoosiers had turned the corner defensively and it wasn’t like they played awful defense. This was just UNC unleashing their talent, making plays and proving that they are the best team in the country.

This is the Tar Heels team that most experts expected to see throughout the regular season. This is the team that was ranked number one in the AP Poll in the preseason. And this is the team that was projected by many to cut down the nets in Houston in April.

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The doubting is finished and there truly might not be a team in the country that can stop the Heels.

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