Everyone needs to keep their expectations for this team on a even balance…

[IDUNK4HEELS]

There is a tendency for fans to jump on the bus when things are going well as they are now but we all must realize the team is now in the real portion of their schedule and there are bound to be some bumps and bruises as they get ready for the big dance in March so every one must stay on a even keel.

Fortunately Carolina has not had any major injuries to the top 8 players in the rotation and that is the result of the bench players being able to give good minutes and contribute while the starters get a blow..

The schedule for the next two weeks looks pretty manageable but then there is Duke twice, Wake Forest, Florida State, Miami and a return date with NC State..So I would expect a couple of hiccups in that gauntlet of games.

If Carolina loses a couple of those contests no one should walk the plank or jump off the bus but continue to enjoy the ride and not lose sight and perspective because it is a long season…

 

[TPFKAPFS]

My expectations have not changed one bit! I have said from the jump that this team had the tools to be special and I expect they will be! I still think we are a FF level team that is one of many with a chance to put a deep run together in the Dance! I fully expect them to lose a game or two, but my main concern is that they maintain the level of intensity they have been playing with! When we play with passion and attention to detail, we are hard to beat so I feel pretty good!

 

[superstar57]

Expectations! After last year, I only expect to see a quality product.

I definitely see us loosing a few more games, but with what we got and EC growing.

I don't think anyone walks away. Last year we didn't have a great product and people walked away from message board, because talking about that team was not fun!

Heels fans ain't left, but we know bad basketball.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

People may have walked away, but Family did not!

I cheered us on as hard as I could until the last whistle, but I agree that that wasn't the ball I was used to. What I knew was, this type of team was on the horizon!

Go Tar Heels and Go Hubs!

 

[Kool1234567]

This team is different…The poison is gone..We don’t have a guy jacking up 25 shots a game and not getting back on D…That was 1 of my biggest frustrations last year with Coach Davis..that poison should have went to the bench…

Oh yea he went 10-25 the other day in a L for Zona…I am interested on how there season goes…

 

[vikandpirate4christ]

There is a tendency for fans to jump on the bus when things are going well as they are now but we all must realize the team is now in the real portion of their schedule and there are bound to be some bumps and bruises as they get ready for the big dance in March so every one must stay on a even keel.

Fortunately Carolina has not had any major injuries to the top 8 players in the rotation and that is the result of the bench players being able to give good minutes and contribute while the starters get a blow..

The schedule for the next two weeks looks pretty manageable but then there is Duke twice, Wake Forest, Florida State, Miami and a return date with NC State..So I would expect a couple of hiccups in that gauntlet of games.

If Carolina loses a couple of those contests no one should walk the plank or jump off the bus but continue to enjoy the ride and not lose sight and perspective because it is a long season…

Great post! I’m sure there will be a few slip ups, but we have a quality team this year, and having guys giving it their all is certainly a breath of fresh air.

 

[Agsmith9]

There is a tendency for fans to jump on the bus when things are going well as they are now but we all must realize the team is now in the real portion of their schedule and there are bound to be some bumps and bruises as they get ready for the big dance in March so every one must stay on a even keel.

Fortunately Carolina has not had any major injuries to the top 8 players in the rotation and that is the result of the bench players being able to give good minutes and contribute while the starters get a blow..

The schedule for the next two weeks looks pretty manageable but then there is Duke twice, Wake Forest, Florida State, Miami and a return date with NC State..So I would expect a couple of hiccups in that gauntlet of games.

If Carolina loses a couple of those contests no one should walk the plank or jump off the bus but continue to enjoy the ride and not lose sight and perspective because it is a long season…

I hear you. But Wake is at home, so is state. They ain’t losing those games, especially state.

Fla st on road and actually bc on tish could be tough.

 

[IDUNK4HEELS]

This team is different…The poison is gone..We don’t have a guy jacking up 25 shots a game and not getting back on D…That was 1 of my biggest frustrations last year with Coach Davis..that poison should have went to the bench…

Oh yea he went 10-25 the other day in a L for Zona…I am interested on how there season goes…

I really felt bad for Love last season as so many times with neither Black or Nance NOT willing to take a shot with the clock running out instead they preferred to deferred the responsibility to Davis and Love who ended up having to shoot from Franklin Street just to beat the shot clock. They could not pass to Bacot because he was double and triple all of the time. I am sure of you could rewatch a game from last season you would understand what I am saying.:.As a upperclassman Love and Davis try to lead by example but playing 38 minutes a game just wore them down. Also remember Trimble was scared to even try and shoot and Dunn was like zero for the spring.

 

[39 Feet Above Sea Level]

No matter WHAT Carolina Nation thinks about this Tar Heel season, Hubert and his staff will
keep coaching them up to beat their next opponent. So…beat Louisville!
No pomp, no circumstance, no “Wow, we’re ranked fourth in AP.” None of that is part
of that locker room, and it shouldn’t be. GDTBATH

 

[Bubspub88]

After the disappointment of last season I did not have any real expectations for this group. My "hopes" were/are the following:

Do NOT be on the damn bubble in late February
Play as a TEAM the way I am used to seeing UNC play
Split with dook and sweep state
ACC tournament semi's
Second week in NCAA tournament

Anything after that is house money for me. Numbers aside (I am always skeptical of statistical analysis, I prefer the eye test) I am still not sold on the defense. I do not really think of any of the last few teams they played as having dominant offenses, with the possible exception of Clemson at Littlejohn. Dook, Miami and Wake have all looked more impressive on the offensive end according the eye test (although I have not watched all their games).

No question the defense is MUCH improved and we are not seeing some opponent light us up for 30 every game like we did in that earlier stretch this season but I do want to see us in another game against big, physical guards to measure the improvement.

The ACC is there for the taking and a high enough seed to get a friendly draw is very possible. There does not seem to be a juggernaut team this season so anything can happen in March but that is still a long way off.

 

[imajericho]

The defense is a fools gold right now. Teams are missing a ton of wide open 3s against us. We are likely a like 23-7 team or so and a 3 seed right now. If Cadeau comes to life and becomes a viable perimeter threat also, we might exceed this. We can excel with 4 relatively strong threats and another viable player on the court. I expect we could be better in March than we are now. And we aren't bad right now at all.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

Our D is real and the misses by the other team were created by our pressure. Once you get into a team's head (and their legs) even the "open" looks are rushed due to expecting the challenge or short due to tired legs/mental fatigue! If we play with intensity like I have been seeing (which I haven't seen in years) we can and will beat anyone in the country! This year a team must beat us since we are not beating ourselves. Why would anyone believe we can't beat Wake and State at home? We can run the table in the ACC and we could lose a few, but this D travels and our O will click soon!

 

[ChiShankCity]

For March I think it will largely depend on the draw. I do think the defense is a little bit overstated because Pitt, NC State, and particularly Syracuse are pretty anemic offenses. But the Clemson game showed me they can grind out a 60-55 kind of win against a really quality offense. I think that means something and I have to give them more credit for that.

Regardless of everyone's March expectations, it's fun to have an entertaining regular season and imagine what this team can accomplish in the regular season.

When was the last time regular season games had a lot of meaning for UNC? 2019? It's nice to be relevant again.

Enjoy the ride! What a fun season it's been so far. Hopefully, it continues and there are a lot of things we could be playing for. Been too long since UNC has added a year to its list of regular season and conference championships.

 

[DSouthr]

Prior to the start of this season I felt we would be much better than last season, we brought in to many really good college players with huge experience to not be. I felt like our ceiling was top 3 ACC regular season and in the NCAAT we would play in an elite 8 game. Some things have happened I did not expect would, most of them things I HOPED would happen but didn't think would. First Hubert shows no hesitation using the 10th guy on the bench, that has been a very welcome surprise for me thou if Hubert was going to get us out and running he had to go deep bench.

While I knew we badly needed to I had no idea that Hubert could or would tweek our defensive approach to result in the level of defense we have played as of late. So glad that Hubert watched the switch everything defense he devised was not working like it should and addressed it very early in, rather than wait till the season was toast, as happened last season. Our defense now is causing opponents nightmares. I fully believe results like we have now seen, tuff trapping defense, high octane tempo, rebounds, jump shots at the end of halves dropping, steals, shot clock violations, CORRECTLY CALLED FOULS, are ALL functions of quality depth. Take the depth away and you are 1 bad call from a game hard to win. We have not just depth, we have quality depth and we do because they are all getting playing time, they have to play in real games to develop and now finally they consistently are.

But when combined with the fact that as I type this, outside of blue steel, we have in my view 2 guys that get any real playing time, only 2 that are on scholly that didn't just get their scholly because we had an extra one to give, only 2 that I don't see as offensive threats, those 2 being High and Okonkwo. That means in my view we have 8 guys that would not shock me to see score double digits in a game. We are not playing 3 on 5 on the offensive end now, we are playing a full 5 on 5 and I may even be to hard on High. And to think that this team so far has not played anything close to their potential but seem to be getting better each game, you have to wonder if this is not better than I expected when I said elite 8 was our top end.

 

[TPFKAPFS]

The only things you got "wrong" D were:

1. We have 9 guys who can score and contribute everytime they get on the court and 1 who can contribute in spurts
2. Hubs has proven throughout his career that he can and will reflect and make appropriate changes during off-seasons
3. Hubs proved he wanted a deep bench last year, but the guys weren't ready
4. Hubs has grown into the type of coach that doesn't surprise when he pushes the correct buttons!

 

[FlaTarHeel]

I am sure of you could rewatch a game from last season you would understand what I am saying.:.

Don't give that fool any credit at all, his ridiculous post says it all.