Saw something on twitter very positive. With Harris classified as a freshman, UNC had 4 freshmen (Love, Sharpe, Davis and Harris) score in double figures against state. Last time that happened was in '07 with Lawson, Ellington, Thompson and Stephenson. Throw in Walton's 8 and definitely a sign of good things ahead.
Love is not going to a typical facilitator at pg, he just does not play that way. If he can cut his to's down to about 3 per game and Davis can boost his 3 point % a bit this team is near it's ceiling in my opinion. If Brooks can get anywhere close to last season's efficiency playing fewer minutes and Leaky can continue to play solid perimeter D while filling his stat line in areas other than points the Heels can make noise in March.
If two of Love, Davis, Harris and Walton are hitting outside and 2 of Bacot, Brooks and Brooks are solid inside UNC can score around that 75 to 80 ppg Roy wants. The key is to figure out early who those guys are and let them get the shots. The play we are seeing now should have been what was happening in early December in terms of rotations and identifying roles. This would have been a great year to return four starters but that didn't happen. Is UNC in the tournament, too early to tell but definitely felling better than I did a month ago.
I would suggest we should not have anyone leave early, at least based to the season to date, could change but it is how I see it right now. There are 3 guys that several may challenge my view on, lets look at those 3 fellas.
Sharpe, really nice blend of power, motor, and length, I needed only about 30seconds and the IQ of an egg to see that. Problem is the kid is completely raw, for now his game is all about that power, motor, and length, the refined skill that the NBA covets is not there yet, it will be in time but not there right now. With those assets he now has, added skill will have him slow down once the ball gets to him so that he can both finish and draw a ton of and 1 ops. Right now he rushes when the ball gets in his hands and throws up something that he did not fully control. Needs to refine scoring go to moves and punish defenders. Really needs to show a consistent mid range game and work on his defensive footwork. BY all that is right, this kid has lotto level potential, maybe even over all #1 pick level potential but that will not happen in the next draft, could very well be the case after a soph season given the soph bump we are so used to for UNC big men.
Bacot, has really helped his case by working hard this past off season, added strength is showing but his motor and will to battle physically has shown as a huge soph bump. Thing is I am not sure the NBA gets all that excited with those things, he isn't that physical mismatch the NBA loves (like the huge physical attributes Sharpe has), he isn't that knock down jump shooter even in the mid range, what I am saying is for the NBA, the question is does he have the "it" factor because my take so far is he would be more of a deep bench NBA guy at best. Come back, work on at least a consistent mid range and get even stronger in the weight room. The general feeling I believe is the kid does a lot of things good but what does he do that is great and not sure there is a good answer for that.
Love, huge talent but raw doesn't seem strong enough to describe him. He has good measurables for a PG, really good length, and is now showing the will to play defense. But those TOs, not just the shear numbers of them but the type of TOs we see him giving up, sorry but that is a no go for the NBA, till that gets vastly cleaned up and the no brain stuff stops, the NBA is not going to be interested. Kid drastically needs to work on his ball handles this off season, that is more important than any other single aspect for the kid, he is a VERY shaky ball handler right now. One thing that would help would be for someone to tell him how to use a 2 handed pass, his next 2 handed pass may be the first I have seen from him.. Next, really needs to work on passing the ball, in every aspect, not just in to the post but under pressure as well. The guy he should really want to pattern his game after IMO may be John Wall. Really focus on being an assist man more than a scorer, score just enough to force respect but he has the ability to be a great assist guy and I think could ride that to a long NBA career, I don't see him as ever being a huge scorer in the NBA but he could be a huge assist guy and your mega stars love a guy that can get them the ball in a spot they can finish it. That means Love would have to totally retool his mindset, from that of scorer to that of master set up guy. That may be asking to much but it is the difference for his being a 2 contract at the most guy in the NBA to his being a 10+ year NBA player.