College Hoops Video

Among the most surprising lines in college basketball this season, none has been more shocking than the decline of North Carolina, normally one of the powerhouses of the Atlantic Coast Conference and the NCAA in general.

Their defeat against a fairly limited Boston College team on Saturday was their 10^th in the last 13 games, a run that started with an 82-79 collapse against the College of Charleston, one of their most embarrassing reverses in years.

The Tar Heels started the season ranked sixth in the nation and although they lost three games in their non-Conference schedule, those losses came to top teams in Syracuse, Kentucky and then ranked No 2 Texas, who have been on a similar slide since mid-January.

And it is no real excuse that North Carolina had been without Tyler Zeller for the last 10 games, since the key bench player had only been on court for 16 minutes per game until suffering a stress fracture of his foot, and Ed Davis for the last three games because of his broken wrist – things had already gone awry before then.


Zeller returned against the Eagles but managed to hit only two of his nine shots from the floor as poor shooting affected both teams, as would befit a matchup between schools who had won only six games combined in ACC play so far this season.

Nothing has gone right on court for the Tar Heels for most of the campaign as well, down to sloppy shooting and poor defense, and the defeat at the weekend made sure that Roy Williams’ men moved into their worst stretch in the last eight years.

Worse at the weekend was that the Tar Heels played themselves into a winning position early in the second half when they took a 46-39 lead, but BC rallied straight away to score 10 straight points and hold on when challenged in the final minutes.

So now there is little choice but to look forward to next season, when Basketball Bets might expect North Carolina to come in under the radar a little.

The problem? They will always have a reputation with Basketball Tips as one of the ACC’s giants, and if Davis goes to the NBA they will need freshman Harrison Barnes to be the real deal or it could be another season of struggles on Chapel Hill.

I have to admit, I thought Patrick Patterson would go pro in the 2009 NBA draft when he started being projected to be a first round pick. He stayed in college for one more year to finish his degree and spend a year under new Kentucky Coach, John Calipari’s tutelage to help enhance his “away from the rim” skills. Patterson may see his overall numbers dip a bit now that the Wildcats have a few more options than have Jodie Meeks shoot the 3ball and Patterson shoot it inside, but he enters the 2009-10 season as one of the best inside-men in college basketball. The defending champion North Carolina Tar Heels, however, have Ed Davis coming back to help lead their national title defense. Two freshmen make my “top ten ” of power forwards based on their pedigrees entering their freshman seasons: Kentucky’s DeMarcus Cousins, and Georgia Tech’s Derrick Favors. Yes, Cousins would be labeled a center at most colleges, but don’t be surprised to see him listed as a second PF on the lineup. Favors will get more touches at Tech, and look out for these two highly touted Frosh.

Top 10 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forwards

#1 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward - Patrick Patterson, Kentucky

Now that Kentucky has two big time post players to complement Patrick Patterson in DeMarcus Cousins and Daniel Orton, we’ll finally get a chance to see what Patterson can do this season. Not that his 17.9 points per game last season were any small effort, but by making Patterson free to not have to guard the opposing center every game, Patterson could quickly become one of the Naismith Player of the year candidates this season at Kentucky. Expect to see him go high in the 2010 NBA draft.
#2 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Ed Davis, North Carolina
For the Tar Heels to have a decent shot at defending their 2009 NCAA Tournament title, Ed Davis will need to have a huge year. He’s capable of doing so, and now that he’ll be one of the primary focuses of the North Caroline offense, regular double-doubles out of Davis may become the norm when watching the Tar Heels play this season.

#3 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Al-Farouq Aminu, Wake Forest
It was surprising to see both Aminu and Patterson pass up a chance to go to the NBA in the 2009 draft. WIth Aminu returning for another season at Wake, expect to see his numbers increase and for Wake Forest to be in the thick of the ACC race.
#4 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Devin Ebanks, West Virginia

Devin Ebanks really started to grow-up as a basketball player last season at West Virginia. Over the last third of the Mountaineers season, he averaged more than 10 rebounds a game. He’ll be playing a key role in West Virginia’s Big East title hopes this season.
#5 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Craig Brackins, Iowa State
Craig Brackins has continued to increase his scoring and rebounding production over the past two seasons. Now he just needs to show he can help his team win more ball games this coming season.
#6 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Derrick Favors, Georgia Tech
One of two incoming frosh on my top ten. It was a toss-up to me on whether to list Favors or Cousins in this spot, but since Favors figures to get more touches on offense, at first glance it apears as though his numbers will be higher this season than Cousins.

#7 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -DeMarcus Cousins, Kentucky
If you keep up with Kentucky basketball news, then you’ll know that Coach Cal has nothing but great things to say about Cousin’s inside game. Since it doesn’t seem to be “en vogue” to be listed as a center now-a-days if you’re under 7′ tall, expect to see Cousins listed as a second PF on Kentucky’s roster this season next to Patterson in the starting lineup.

#8 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Trevor Booker, Clemson

If Clemson can reliably get him the ball game in and game out, we’ll see a huge season out of Booker this year in the ACC.

#9 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Lance Thomas, Duke
I know, if you’re not a Duke fan you might be like ? Well, Lance Thomas didn’t crack the 6 ppg mark last season, but he nailed over 60% of his field goals and now that he’s entering his senior year, he’s primed to have a big season for the Blue Devils at the PF position.

#10 2009-10 NCAA Basketball Power Forward -Lazar Hayward, Marquette
Hayware averaged 16.3 points per game last season without ever really being the primary focus for the offense. Expect a big year from him this season.

Close to Making my list:

Renardo Sidney, Mississippi State - If we ever get to see him play alongside Vernado, then he enters the top 10 somewhere near Favors and Cousins….but we’ll just have to wait and see.
Daniel Orton, Kentucky – Its just not right to list 3 bigs from the same team. I don’t see Cal getting all three of his premiere bigs enough touches this season to list Orton, Cousins, and Patterson on the same list. It won’t surprise me, however, to see some big games out of Orton this season.

North Carolina Tar Heel Coach, Roy Williams, followed up his 2009 NCAA Men’s basketball championship with a top 5 2009 NCAA recruiting class. Although North Carolina will miss Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and senior Tyler Hansbrough who will all be playing professionally next season, Coach Williams returns a talented crop of players from last season to go with John Henson, Travis and David Wear, Leslie McDonald, and Dexter Strickland who comprise the 2009 recruiting class.

Many pre-season rankings hold the Tar Heels a bit lower than their usual pre-season nr 1-3, however, most agree that Coach Williams has more than enough talent returning next year to achieve 30 wins, compete for the ACC title, and just maybe make a deep run in the 2010 NCAA tournament.

Projected 2009-10 Starting Lineup for the North Carolina Tar Heels

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Point Guard – Larry Drew II

Larry Drew averaged just under 10 minutes a game last season with his most minutes coming with star point guard, Ty Lawson, was out with a toe injury. Drew played in all of North Carolina’s games last season. Drew didn’t really get enough FT and 3PT attempts for fans to see what he is capable of, so you shouldn’t really look hard at the 41% free throw or 35% field goal clips he achieved over the course of the season. Dexter Strickland also looks to see some minutes behind Larry Drew as he picks up the offense and adjusts to the college game. Look for Drew’s playing time to increase as the season progresses.

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Power Forward –Deon Thompson

Deon Thompson comes off a season where he averaged 10.6 points a game to go with 5.7 rpg. He’ll be expected to up his production a bit with the loss of Hansbrough for his senior year and gives the Tar Heels an experienced front court presence heading into the 2009-10 season. Star recruit, David Wear will compete for playing time with Thompson and will likely see increased minutes as the season proceeds and the Tar Heels get deeper into ACC play when Coach Williams will need added depth in the front court.

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Center – Ed Davis

A huge win for Tar Heels fans was Ed Davis choosing to return for the 2009-10 NCAA season vice declaring for the NBA. He finished the second half of the 2008-09 season extremely strong. Davis led the Tar Heels with 65 blocked shots and pulled down 6.6 rebounds per game. Look for Davis to be the defensive lead of the Tar Heels next season with a bit more offensive production than we saw out of him last season. He’s not likely to pull down 20 points a game, but 13-15 a game is not out of the question.

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Small Forward – William Graves

William Graves heads into the summer time as the leading candidate for starting at the SF role for Coach Roy Williams next season. Star recruit, John Henson, will be battling for playing time and could see time behind either Graves or Deon Thompson. John Henson looks like he can play naturally in either the 3 or 4 position in Coach Williams’ offense next season, so his minutes may very likely will just depend on how quickly his defensive came gets up to ACC level competition.

2009 North Carolina Tar Heels Projected Starter – Shooting Guard – Marcus Ginyard

Marcus Ginyard received a medical redshirt for last season after only playing three games. He’s started 55 times in his career as a Tar Heel and was also voted the team’s top defender his sophomore and junior years. He’ll bring experience to the backcourt which should help North Carolina jell more quickly as a team as the Tar Heels get into the 2009-10 NCAA basketball season. As the season moves along, expect to see recruit Leslie McDonald start to see an increase number of minutes as Coach Williams gets his team ready for another post-season run in 2010.

Projected 2009-10 North Carolina Tar Heels Starting Line-Up:

PG: Larry Drew, II

SG: Marcus Ginyard

SF: William Graves

PF: Deon Thompson

C: Ed Davis

Refs:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/81568, http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/2009/05/2009/05/top-5-2009-ncaa-basketball-recruiting-classes/, http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/players/60116, http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/player/profile?playerId=27016, http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/2009/04/did-i-mention-i-really-like-this-ed-davis-kid/, http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/2009/04/john-henson-is-awesome, http://www.tarheelfanblog.com/2009/06/four-heels-get-drafted/, http://www.collegehoopsvideo.com/2009/06/2009-north-carolina-basketball-recruiting-john-henson/,