Outside shooting will carry the Tar Heels early on

By Derrick Clyburn

I still believe that Tony Bradley should have come back for his sophomore season, but it’s time to move on. We must focus on the players that will make up our 2017-18 season. Let’s start by position and potential starters and impact players:

Point Guard / Shooting Guard

We know that Joel Berry is a constant at the starting point guard spot. Berry must work on his moves to the basket; floaters and pull ups. He must become a better playmaker, getting the other players involved increasing his assist/turnover ratio in the process. Berry needs to be the vocal leader and start the defense with his pressure on the ball. He needs to increase his scoring to at least 17ppg and be an ACC and NCAA Player of the Year performer.

Now we have the backups at point guard. I believe that Seventh Woods will have a break out season. He was injured most of the 2016-17 season. I expect to see his explosion come back to YouTube form. Woods needs to work on his shot selection and better consistency with his shot. He needs to stay in Chapel Hill over the summer and play with the Carolina Alumni and play in the Pro-Am Summer League to get his confidence back. Staying in the gym will pay off big for his improvement going into his sophomore campaign. He should split time with Berry and maybe play off the ball on occasions.

Jalek Felton is an intriguing prospect. Felton has size at 6’3-6’4, and he is very athletic, finishing strong around the rim. He can play point guard and shooting guard. He won the 3-Point Shooting Contest at the Allen Iverson Camp last month. Learning the system and getting acclimated to the Carolina point guard position will need to be his major focus. If he can defend, hit the open shot and spell minutes at the guard positions. That will bode well for this year’s team.

Kenny Williams should be the favorite to start at the shooting guard position. He was a defensive stopper for the 2016-17 team. Kenny showed some promise with his 3-point shooting. He must come back strong from the season-ending injury and become a more complete player. The Tar Heels will need his scoring to increase to around 10-12ppg. He needs to be a gym rat, play with the Carolina Alumni and play in the Pro-Am Summer League.

Brandon Robinson, Felton, and Platek will see time at the shooting guard position. They all need to get stronger and learn the system to contribute in a significant way this season. Pinson can give spot duty here also.

Small Forward / Power Forward

Theo Pinson should have the small forward spot locked down. The Tar Heels need a break out year from Pinson. He must work on his shot big-time. Pinson needs to get up at least 500 shots per day all offseason. He needs to work closely with Hubert Davis on his shooting.. Pinson has all of the intangibles to be a great player. He needs his scoring to increase to around 12-14ppg. Shot selection and staying healthy is key. We know what he can do on the defensive end.

Williams, Robinson and Rush, Yes Rush! Will be backups for Pinson. Rush has the size, he just needs to get in the gym and fight to become a better player. His family has NBA pedigree. Maybe some of that will rub off on him.

The power forward spot belongs to Luke Maye at the moment. He showed glimpses of greatness during the Sweet 16, and Elite 8. We all remember him hitting that “game winning shot” against Kentucky. Maye needs to become more consistent on both ends of the floor. He’s not the quickest guy, so he needs to play more positional defense. Hopefully he will be pushed by the freshmen Brooks and Huffman. Maye needs his scoring to increase to around 10-12ppg.

Center

 

The Freshmen Bigs: Garrison Brooks, Brandon Huffman, and Sterling Manley need to come to Chapel Hill hitting the ground running. The loss of Tony Bradley to the NBA will need to be replaced. I hear that Rasheed Wallace has taken Huffman under his wing, and that they work out together. Hopefully that can translate into a solid contributor in Huffman. He likes to dunk everything around the basket.

This basketball team will be fun to watch in their development and growth.

Here is my pre-season starting lineup for 2017-18:

Berry PG, Williams, SG, Pinson SF, Maye PF, Huffman C.

Share your thoughts.