North Carolina Basketball: 2017-18 Grades for the Tar Heels

Saving the veteran guard for last. Joel Berry got to spend two seasons as the top North Carolina guard. This was his season as the top player though. Berry already appeared in two National Championships and was named Most Outstanding Player of one.

When a team makes back-to-back trips to the title game, expectations can get a little ridiculous. That’s what I feel like happened with this team. Everyone started to panic when Berry and Maye weren’t performing to their All-American status. The other problem was that they were the only guys scoring at times during the year.

Berry didn’t shoot the three ball with as high of a percentage as we’re used to seeing. He attempted over seven per game. Granted 2.6 made per game is quite nice, but that’s under 35 percent. He also saw his point guard duties in a timeshare as well. The great attitude Berry has prevented him from doing anything not smart, but he wasn’t the lead floor general everyone was hoping for.

Berry still had a great season. He increased his points per game by almost three. Berry was a smart, defensive juggernaut and he rarely would ever do anything mentally to hurt you. His shot wasn’t always on, but at least he was a great leader and could hit the big shot from time to time.