Busting Brackets
Fansided

ACC Basketball: 5 biggest takeaways from first month of 2019-2020

By Bryan Mauro

LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - DECEMBER 03: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrates during the 58-43 win against the Michigan Wolverines at KFC YUM! Center on December 03, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images)
LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY - DECEMBER 03: Jordan Nwora #33 of the Louisville Cardinals celebrates during the 58-43 win against the Michigan Wolverines at KFC YUM! Center on December 03, 2019 in Louisville, Kentucky. (Photo by Andy Lyons/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit
Prev
4 of 6
Next
Cole Anthony NBA Draft
CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA – NOVEMBER 06: Cole Anthony #2 of the North Carolina Tar Heels (Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images) /

3. Cole Anthony

North Carolina is one of the nation’s best programs and a program that fans either love or they hate. There is no in-between when it comes to the Tar Heels. Over the first month of the season, North Carolina has been the team many expected them to be. A top-10 team who is beating the teams they are supposed to. Outside of an absolute whitewashing at the hands of Michigan. North Carolina has been as advertised.

The one thing North Carolina has struggled with this year is producing offense. That is every single player except for Cole Anthony. Anthony was a highly touted recruit coming out of High School and when he committed to North Carolina he instantly made the Tar Heels better. Everyone imagined a team that was running through Anthony and big man and fellow freshman Armando Bacot. Even Tar Heel fans must be impressed with how good their star point guard is. He may be to good, he is often seen providing the only source of offense for a Tar Heel team that still may be trying to find their identity.

Bacot has been much better lately, but if North Carolina wants to reach the lofty expectations they have set for themselves, the Tar Heels are going to have to provide some added scoring punch to go along with what Anthony provides. North Carolina started to come alive as a unit in the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament. They did not need to rely as much on their super freshmen to win them games in that tournament.

If North Carolina’s other pieces continue to develop especially Bacot and if Leaky Black and Christian Keeling can continue to develop North Carolina will be very good. Anthony has been the best Freshman in the country over the first month. It doesn’t appear that is going to change any time soon.