So what’s gonna happen tomorrow night guys..

[UNC Blue Hup]

I think we win but we need to play well and locked in on D -I think it comes down to EC and rebounding.. He’s been good on both sides of the ball lately and the O flows much better through him. You guys may kill me but I think he hits a 3 tomorrow night. If he does it’s over, but he can still penetrate, score and assist. He’s on the floor all the time guys! Cormac and Harry need to play well and I see that happening, effort is always there with those guys..We know Mondo will show up..They like to run so bring it on ! I need to say I love Seth too! He changes the game in sprints. Go Heels! 1 at a time !!

 

[DaSheed]

If this game drags on to four overtime’s, I’ll need a defibrillator.

 

[Lewis&Miller]

Straight up man to man defense is going to be the key as they are such an offensive juggernaut. It must deliver. More specifically, it is all about the plan Hubert has for guarding Sears because if that becomes an issue, it will effect UNCs offense. We must contain Sears straight up. He sees his role as the leader in all aspects of Alabamas success. If you deny him the 3, he will attack the basket for shots, dump offs, and kick out 3s. So a complete defense is needed, not just denying the 3.

Sears may be to strong for RJ and could get Cadeau in early foul trouble(we have to have EC contributing at a high level). If we go to Trimble on Sears early, he has to deliver as that puts the ball in RJs hands on offense, without Cadeaus presence.

Bacot needs to give us an edge and not sure that materializes unless Cadeau stays on the floor to facilitate the offense. We need the good decision making of EC to continue tonite as the pressure ramps up.

 

[Bubspub88]

Defense has to be SMART and physical from the jump. UNC cannot let Bama get comfortable in their offense they way State did. If Bama gets confident they are more likely to get hot from deep and I do not want to see a game in the 90's. Run them off the line and make them work for the shots. They are weak on the glass so transition should be available and for fart's sake PLEASE let Harrison give it to a guard - I am tired of his dribbling in traffic.

 

[NathanFielder]

This game will be pretty simple. If Alabama makes its 3s, they'll have a good chance to win purely because they shoot so many 3s. They've attempted 30+ 3s in like half of their games. So the question for me will be will their bad percentage 3PT shooters shoot it better than their season averages? Aaron Estrada is a 30.8% 3PT shooter, yet he's attempted 146 3s. They have 2 other sub 30% 3PT shooters who have attempted 90+ 3s. So everyone on that team has the green light to shoot 3s. Hopefully they're defended well and hopefully they miss some quality looks.

The other thing is Alabama attacks the offensive glass aggressively and are good at it. So rebounding will be important. UNC has been an elite defensive rebounding team. But this will be a different game because the rebounds will be longer from jump shots. Will our perimeter guys box out?

I know I'll be in the minority here, but I wouldn't mind to see UNC make this a grind fest. I don't think Alabama can win a game that's in the 60s in possessions. That's not Alabama's DNA. It isn't necessarily UNC's either, but we've shown we can win grind fests. If you force Alabama to defend for 25 seconds, I think they will breakdown more often than not.

This is obvious but stay out of foul. Alabama can absorb foul trouble. I don't think UNC can in this game. Not enough shooting on our bench IMO.

I think we win if we play smart. Take good shots. I worry about shot quality because of tempo. Make them defend. You know what they're going to do offensively. Shoot 3s and try to shoot layups. They're going to make Bacot defend high ball screens to get him away from the rim.

 

[dtodd4475]

Vegas has the over/under at 174. They are expecting a 90 - 85 type game.

 

[NorCalTarheel]

I woke up this morning and put on my lucky Carolina sweatshirt, the one reserved for game day. I poured my coffee into my lucky Carolina mug. I picked Alabama in Steats contest to continue my reverse mojo and have my wooden egg with hand-painted Ramsey and the UNC logo to hold during the game.

Alabama has no chance!

Go Heels!!!!!

 

[montana_heel]

Thank you for your efforts NorCal.

 

[TarHeelMark]

I woke up this morning and put on my lucky Carolina sweatshirt, the one reserved for game day. I poured my coffee into my lucky in Carolina mug. I picked Alabama in Steats contest to continue my reverse mojo and have my wooden egg with hand-painted Ramsey and the UNC logo to hold during the game.

Alabama has no chance!

Go Heels!!!!!

Go where you go and do what you do

 

[gunslingerdick]

Sears may be to strong for RJ and could get Cadeau in early foul trouble(we have to have EC contributing at a high level). If we go to Trimble on Sears early, he has to deliver as that puts the ball in RJs hands on offense, without Cadeaus presence.

Bingo. This is it for me. We need Seth on Sears as much as possible but because we're going to have score a lot of points, we need Cadeau too. I think it comes down to how Hubert manages the minutes when we go offensive and when we go defensive.

 

[DSouthr]

This game will be pretty simple. If Alabama makes its 3s, they'll have a good chance to win purely because they shoot so many 3s. They've attempted 30+ 3s in like half of their games. So the question for me will be will their bad percentage 3PT shooters shoot it better than their season averages? Aaron Estrada is a 30.8% 3PT shooter, yet he's attempted 146 3s. They have 2 other sub 30% 3PT shooters who have attempted 90+ 3s. So everyone on that team has the green light to shoot 3s. Hopefully they're defended well and hopefully they miss some quality looks.

The other thing is Alabama attacks the offensive glass aggressively and are good at it. So rebounding will be important. UNC has been an elite defensive rebounding team. But this will be a different game because the rebounds will be longer from jump shots. Will our perimeter guys box out?

I know I'll be in the minority here, but I wouldn't mind to see UNC make this a grind fest. I don't think Alabama can win a game that's in the 60s in possessions. That's not Alabama's DNA. It isn't necessarily UNC's either, but we've shown we can win grind fests. If you force Alabama to defend for 25 seconds, I think they will breakdown more often than not.

This is obvious but stay out of foul. Alabama can absorb foul trouble. I don't think UNC can in this game. Not enough shooting on our bench IMO.

I think we win if we play smart. Take good shots. I worry about shot quality because of tempo. Make them defend. You know what they're going to do offensively. Shoot 3s and try to shoot layups. They're going to make Bacot defend high ball screens to get him away from the rim.

You just shared the main point in this game, the other than Sears jump shooting. Other than Sears they just to me are not very impressive, they look like Miami without Omeir to me, with Nigel Pack playing the Sears role. Now of course we have seen guys that shoot poorly but see us and out of the blue get white hot from outside, you can not let bama jump shoot warm up level jumpers, guard them, get a hand in their face, don't let them get comfortable. If this bama team was ion the ACC this season, I don't think they would have got the NCAAT invite.

 

[Tarheelsman71]

This was the game in the bracket that scared me the most. I think we should win easy. If we dominate the rebounds (which we do a lot of) and even the long rebounds. We need to hustle like crazy for loose balls on those long rebounds. Ingram and Bacot have to make that their focus tonight. If Cadeau shoots more than 3 3's and misses we will probably lose the ball game. it is a shame that we really only have 3 outside shooters. In the last game Mich St was giving cadeau the leaky treatment and he went 0-4. Basically a turnover. Just cuz you are open doesnt make it a good shot. If RJ does his thing, Bacot and Ingram get close to double doubles, Cormac get 10, and Seth gets after on Sears, we should win. But if we get in a track meet with them, and as Nathan eluded to earlier, some of their mediocre shooters get hot...could be a tough night. Even then I think we can hang if we dont get in foul trouble. Seth in a run n gun game could be a difference maker. I dont think alabama has anyone that can jump with him. Withers on help defense is really doing well. So maybe force sears off the 3 pt line and attacking the rim and let withers length affect the shot selection. So lets hope for some lockdown defense.

 

[NorCalTarheel]

Effort and attitude.

We need both to win!

 

[tarheels0015]

Guard the 3 point shot .. force them to drive & don't double down .... I'd make them beat us on 2's not 3's .. they launch over 30 per game

 

[UNC Blue Hup]

Pissed it away !