...needs to see more time. Is Dez that much better at things other than pass rush than Beau?

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....and look who is in the midst
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Discussion
Saturday night the Heels bounced back from a disappointing loss with a huge win over a really good tournament team. It was the most complete game of the season, and on offense, the Heels checked almost every box you could ask for as a fan!

The Heels scored 1.13 points per possession in an outstanding first half. The better news is they finished the game with 1.12 overall. It was the 88th most efficient offensive game by a Tar Heel squad in the last 1012 games, and the third highest of the season (short of Tennessee and Charleston Southern).

UNC shared the ball well, too, with 0.55 assists per field goal. That's a stat that is definitely trending in the right direction, as they have eclipsed the season average of 0.50 in 4 of the last 6 games.

One of the most interesting stats was with turnovers. UNC only lost it on 6% of their possession. It was the 8th-cleanest game in the last 1012 games. Maybe UNC could have made a couple more threes??? but on the offensive end it was about as good as anyone could hope for against a good team.

Defensively it wasn't a great night. Duke scored 0.90 points per possession in the first half, but ended the game with a disappointing 1.00 point per possession. Duke shot 51% from the field, which has been eclipsed by 104 of the last 1012 opponents. Inside the arc, however, it was worse, where Duke shot 60%. We've only seen 60 of the last 1012 opponents shoot better inside. Duke turned it over on 13% of their possessions, which is below the UNC program's average for opponents.

With a raucous home crowd, it felt like a fast-paced game, and to a degree it was. There were 167 possessions, making it the 9th-fastest game of the 22 games thus far. Duke got one more possession than UNC, so Duke won the rebounding battle by a hair.

Looking forward UNC gets Clemson, @MIA, @Syr, and VT. To be honest, VT probably is the team that gives us the toughest battle of those four. Thankfully the game is here. As far as the ACC looks, it really looks like UNC, Duke, and maybe UVA would get NCAA bids. That means that there are probably only 2 remaining tournament teams in these upcoming 9 games; hardly a murderer's row. Gotta put this great game behind us an prepare for Clemson in 2 days, though.

Are you content with the changes that Mack made with the staff, especially when factoring in the replacements? And keep in mind, Mack has a defensive analyst position he can still fill as well.

If so, why? If not, why?

I know it doesn't matter much at this point, but just for fun where do you think the Tar Heels will be in the new rankings this week?
With Kansas beating Houston and TN beating Kentucky, does our victory at home over Duke keep us at 3 or does Kansas or TN leap above us due to the GT loss?

I very rarely start a game thread 6 hours before tip off but the FIRST time these two Basketball blue bloods (the key word here is First) is something that happens only once. It is a day like your birthday, Christmas, Thanksgiving ,your anniversary of your marriage and the birthday of your children that you circle on the calendar to make sure you do not miss it because it MEANS so much to you.

I must admit as I get older (70 now) I am not as amped up as much as I use to get in my previous 60 plus years but I can tell you everything around my house that needs my attention today will be addressed way before game time.

Both teams have tremendous outside shooters and for that reason I believe the winner of this game will be determined in the paint. Last year Flipowski hurt both Bacot and Washington and because Washington was still battling his injury and had absolutely no lateral movement the seven footer for Duke wore him down and out.

With the record setting rebounds that Ingram is collecting game in and game out I do believe Bacot will be free to leave the lane and cover Flipowski straight up and that is what Clemson did so successfully last weekend.

My biggest concern will be who Proctor has to cover. If he is assigned to Davis I fully expect Cadeau and Trimble will attack Roach and go constantly to the hole.

I would like to also see Ryan and Ingram attack the basket instead of being happy launching three pointers from all over Chapel Hill.

Finally I want to see Bacot (EVEN if he is trying his best to play with some discomfort) (the key word here is EVEN) and Washington play like they have a point to prove to Duke and some fans here and just go off both offensively and defensively…Take no prisoners and leave no doubt because this day only comes once year and everybody wants it to be one to remember…

If anyone has some lowers they’re interested in selling or if you know someone that has some, please let me know. We’re interested in making the long trek to Chapel Hill as an early birthday present if we can get decent seats. TIA.

that honestly might be the worst call i've ever seen. thankfully ball dont lie and dook only got 1 point out of it. but wow.