Thoughts on N. Carolina 78 – 59 Syracuse

1. Outside of a just over 6 minute stretch in the 2nd Half where the Tar Heels did not score, that was about all you could ask for to open the ACC Tournament. The Heels played great defense and shared the ball exceptionally well to put together a solid win against Syracuse.
2. Carolina’s defense was stifling all night. Cuse shot the ball well from 3 point land in the first half despite a hand in the face for the most part, but Carolina’s defense forcing 9 early turnovers made a big difference. To my count, Carolina forced 4 shot clock violations ending with a whistle, and left Syracuse with at least 3 more shots in the final 2-3 seconds. Syracuse’s naturally slow pace contributed some to that, but the solid on-ball defense was a bigger factor.
3. Carolina’s toughness also played a big role, putting Syracuse in very early foul trouble, putting their short rotation in a difficult spot. Chukwu fouled out with 16 minutes in the second half (the earliest foul-related exit I’ve ever seen). A few and-1 finishes from Pinson and Johnson will go on the highlight reel, and a powerful dunk after an offensive rebound from Sterling Manley going into halftime will end up there as well.
4. Andrew Platek quietly put together some good minutes in the first half. Other than the bigs, Platek has played more minutes than any of the other Tar Heel reserves. In the middle chunk of the 1st half, Platek had an offensive rebound and assist to Luke Maye, a steal that led to a transition bucket, and a backdoor cut for a layup late in the shot clock.
5. The Carolina transition offense was crucial to the Tar Heels’ success from start to finish. One of the keys to beating any zone defense is to get out in transition and score before the other team has a chance to set that zone up. In a 6+ minute scoring drought in the 2nd half, it was a full court inbounds pass from Pinson to Williams that ended the streak and got the Carolina offense rolling again to close out the game.  As well, it is more difficult to rebound out of a zone than in man (for the reason that more often than not, in a man defense, one simply boxes out their man), and Carolina ended with 17 2nd chance points in the 1st half and a slew more on the game.
6. One thing might stick out to the coaches more than casual viewers, and it’s something I’ve at least thought about a lot this season. During the regular season, Carolina looked great breaking the press, rarely turning the ball over and rarely taking ill-advised shots. In both games against Syracuse and last Saturday in Durham, the Heels looked a little shaky against the full court press, something I’m sure the coaches will address.

Overall a great win to build some momentum going into the Thursday night matchup against Miami. The Tar Heels presumably will have revenge on their minds, and can hopefully build on their best points-based defensive performance to slow down Miami’s athleticism and ball screen-heavy offense.