North Carolina Basketball: 2017-18 all about defense for the Tar Heels

By John Woodcock | Jul 31, 2017

CHAPEL HILL, NC - JANUARY 16: Head coach Jim Boeheim of the Syracuse Orange reacts to a call during their game against the North Carolina Tar Heels at the Dean Smith Center on January 16, 2017 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (Photo by Streeter Lecka/Getty Images) /

North Carolina Basketball needs a great defensive effort to make the 2017-18 team work.

One of the things that made the North Carolina Basketball team of 2016-17 special was its ability to win games when its offense went into the doldrums. That was because the team was one of the better defensive units in college basketball last year. Players who were offensive questions could give the team good minutes on the other end.

Think of Nate Britt applying ball pressure or the comfort that Coach Roy Williams had sticking wing Kenny Williams on any perimeter player in this vein. Theo Pinson was probably the defensive captain on defense and might have drawn assignments on four or five different positions in a single game. They were supported by a rebounding machine down low to clean up the other teams’ opportunities and get the ball back.

Much has been made of the turnover this Tar Heel team will have gone through by the time next season starts, but defense is one of the places that the team has retained most of its weapons. Pinson and Williams are back, and defense is the easiest thing to translate that athleticism into. That means second-year guys like Seventh Woods and Brandon Robinson could raise their games defensively even if their offense does not come on right away.

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The team will miss Justin Jackson helping on the perimeter. His size allowed him to bother opposing wing players (Duke’s Jayson Tatum was the same size as Jackson and forced to defend the post). Cameron Johnson replaces Jackson, and he comes from a Pitt program that used more a Big Ten mentality until last year. That should mean that he understands what defense is since the Panthers were looking to create lower scoring games.

Then there is the Golden State effect. The Warriors of the NBA utilize a ‘lineup of death’ where center Zaza Pachulia is pulled in favor of perimeter defender Andre Iguodala. That lineup maximizes the defensive pressure while sacrificing size in the post where Draymond Green becomes the center.

The Tar Heels could do a similar idea with their own roster. Kenny Williams and Pinson are the best perimeter defenders, but they share similar positions with each other and with Johnson. If you took a post out, you could play them all together. This would be okay against most college teams not named Duke or last year’s Gonzaga team.

Obviously, the biggest hole to fill is the rebounding one. No longer do the Heels have Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks to lean on in the post. They don’t even have Tony Bradley. Last year’s team suffered the most problems when it was out-rebounded or lost the second chance points battle. A defense can look a whole lot better if it just has to play one shot rather than multiple looks.

Rebounding will partially be handled by Luke Maye and the series of freshmen big men that he will play with. Maye has had some big rebounding games but will have to do it on a consistent basis. Meanwhile, the three freshman bigs will be question marks until we see them play. Tar Heel teams have relied on rebounding advantages to erase mistakes on both ends and losing that edge would be bad for a team of uncertain offensive firepower.

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The path of this year’s Tar Heel team will be a decidedly blue collar one. The team will rely on defense and just enough Joel Berry to beat teams. After an NCAA Tournament full of strange and weird ways of winning basketball games, it will be a whole season of the like. The margin for error will be slimmer. The need for luck may be greater, but the result should be a tougher brand of basketball to make it all work.

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