Heels Aren't Shying From Stated Mission: It's Title Or Bust
UNC's players have a clearly stated mission for the coming season, and that's to win the national championshiip.
northcarolina.rivals.com
This team, speaking more about the core team of Love, RJ, Leaky, and Bacot have had a penchant of reading their own press clippings, not always showing up if the stakes were not in their view high. That effort you saw in the post season was just not there in any consistent fashion for half of that season and it has to be there for every game we play, treat every team as if they were duke. Now of course to be able to treat every game as if it were a duke game, not going to happen but there should just not be a MAJOR fall off from 1 game to the next effort wise either, effort wise from the open tip to the final buzzer. You can only achieve that by having a deep bench and playing it.I hope the 22/23 Tar Heels embrace that pressure with the attitude that hard, hard work = positive results.
Practice with determination every single day and support your teammates. Listen to your coaches. Go to class and enjoy the Southern Part of Heaven. Have fun and keep those sharpened scissors handy.
Basketball can be and is a game of runs at times. This years team will need to bust it each day in practice and all else will take care of itself. A very good returning core along with some quality newcomers will indeed have a chance at winning the whole thing...I hope they win it all but my mark of a successful season has not changed, final 4 is a successful season for me, winning it all has so many variables (good luck being just 1) but if we get to the final 4 again this season but advance no further, in my book it will be a successful season, anything past that is sweet icing on an already great cake. I would LOVE for Hubert to get one early in to his tenure to take that pressure off down the road. Dean getting so close but not winning one till rather late in his career or Roy not ever winning one until he came back to UNC, had to be a ton of pressure on them to have come so close but not able to seal it. I would love for us to win one this season and not have last season mount pressure on Hubert to win one, coming that close, having a 15pt lead going in to half time to watch it all disappear is hard to handle.
Play to win...The motivation to be able to point to the rafters during Summer pickup games is very strong. I think we have the leadership to overcome complacency and hold each other accountable. I would hate to be the one who looked at Bacot and all he sacrifices and tried to explain not giving 150%! (Or Leaky, Or Caleb, Or RJ, or even Nance!)
Those who have seen "live action" flinch less!
Play to win...
There are people who cannot manage to keep a job and work up in it. So they hope that winning the lottery will save them from poverty.