This is my critique of the 2019 UNC basketball team. It lacked post play.
First of all let me say this tho. Coby White is a stud and did an amazing job this year as a freshman to handle the responsibility of running the team and being the teams best offensive option and most reliable player this year. This kid sound be the first PG taking in this years NBA draft.
UNC traditionally has a post player they can throw the ball to in the post to get a bucket when needed. This year team did not have that. So when teams like Auburn went on a run UNC couldn't just throw the ball in the post and get a bucket or FT to stop the bleeding. They would come down and jack up 3's too. When they were off the routes were on. I thought Sterling Manley could possibly develop into that this year but after his knee injury Roy didn't play him at all. I didn't see him get more than 2 consecutive possessions after returning from injury. Maybe he was still injured and couldn't pay to many minutes.
Garrison Brooks definitely isn't the answer. He is a back-up big at best. This just shows the late of talent they had in the post that he was the starting center this year. He lacks ability to score in the post with his back to the basket, hands are suspect, struggles against length and scoring in traffic. Plays below the rim and lack the explosion of catching that backside lob UNC fans were use to seeing guys like R.Wallace, A.Jamison, Brandon Wright and Brice Johnson catching. Defensively he struggled with size and athletic bigs and was more of a position defender and not a shot blocker.
Luke Maye is what he is. He had a great UNC career and out performed any and all expectations anyone had of him. He could score in the post but lacked the size and struggled to score over length to much for that to be a reliable option.
Cam Johnson is a very good shooter. He is streaky. He lacks the ability to drive left. He is a straight line right hand driver that has no change of direction. His handles is suspect, he struggles dribbling in traffic and against pressure and turns the ball over a lot in these situations. He also struggled finishing at the rim on his drives. He struggled on defense against wings and couldn't defend guards penetration. He can possibly make an NBA team with his shooting but needs to work on all other aspects of his game if in is going to stay on an NBA roster.
Nasir Little needs to work on everything. He lacks shooting, ball handling, touch around the basket, finishing with the off-hand, decision making, post game, mid-range, change of direction you name it. For anyone else it would be a no-brainer to come back to school but whenever you are projected as a lottery pick you need to enter the draft. He just needs to stay motivated to improve and work on his game once all the money come. I never understood when people say someone should come back to school when they are promised to get drafted. You have alot more free time to work on your game as a pro than you do as a college student. You just have to be committed to using all that free time to work on improving.
Overall this UNC team overachieved. After watching them lose to Texas early on I never expected them to share the ACC title this year. To go 16-2 in conference play this year was an awesome coaching job done by Roy Williams this year. I just new the lack of a presence inside would eventually come back to bite this years team.
