UNC Basketball: Clemson Preview
Carolina returns to action tomorrow night Clemson, 2 days after dropping their conference opener at Georgia Tech. The game against the Yellow Jackets is one of those games where you honestly just want to throw it away and forget about it. The Tar Heels shot an abysmal 32% from the field, and committed a season high 20 turnovers, in the 75-63 defeat. My bet is that head coach Roy Williams didn't allow his team to do that. I. Carolina simply looked uninterested in playing basketball and thus let an inferior opponent beat them. Carolina will be in the same position tomorrow night in LittleJohn Coliseum.
While Clemson is on paper a much better team than GT, they aren't as talented as Carolina, nor do they have the size the Heels have. The Tigers are led by Jaron Blossogame, a player whom will much likely be a first round pick in June's NBA Draft. Clemson like many teams in the ACC will look to slow the game down and make Carolina beat them in the half court. As much as Carolina struggled against GT's zone on Saturday, you'd expect Clemson coach Brad Brownell to throw zone looks at the Tar Heels. Offensively look for Clemson to work the clock until they get the shot they want.
Now that we have some background info about tomorrow's opponent, let's take a look at one thing to watch on offense, defense, and a key player to keep an eye on:
??1 Thing To Watch On Offense: Shot Selection:
?Saturday in Atlanta the Tar Heels jacked up 26 three pointers. Problem is that they connected on only 5 of them. Entering the game, UNC was shooting a respectable 38% from behind the arc. With that being said, this team is built to score inside with Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks. What caused so many of those three point attempts was a zone that GT played. Carolian for some reason never attacked the zone and didn't try getting the basketball inside, and settled for missed 3's. I'm pretty certain in the two days since Roy Williams has had his team work on zone offense, and more importantly getting the ball inside.
??1 Thing To Watch On Defense: Intensity:
?On Saturday, while the Carolina offense was struggling the Heels still played good on defense. They limited the Yellow Jackets to 42% shooting from the field and 27% from behind the arc. The test tomorrow will be can Carolina keep their defensive intensity for a full 30 seconds. Clemson is going to milk the clock and work until they get the shot they want.
??1 Player To Watch: Joel Berry
?The junior poly guard is going through one of his worst stretches of his career. In the last two games Berry has combined to score just 14 points, only making 3 field goal attempts. Saturday in Atlanta, Berry committed 6 turnovers while only handing out one assist. As proven when Berry missed a couple games earlier in the season, this goes as Joel Berry goes. If Berry doesn't return to form, Carolina could be facing an 0-2 deficit in ACC play.
