All is well at North Carolina, where the Tar Heels are thriving again
Not every subplot is obvious from the beginning of a season. No sport or team is perfectly tailored to deliver a narrative on command.
On occasion, though, things unfold in such a perfect way it feels almost serendipitous.
Do you remember that mess? The one anointed the No. 1 team in the land after reaching the NCAA tournament final in 2022 that tottered through the season, accomplished virtually nothing besides beating Virginia and College of Charleston at home, missed the NCAA tournament and mercifully said, “Thanks, but no thanks,” to the NIT after finishing 20-13.
This year’s Tar Heels are superior in pretty much every way. On offense, they’re better shooters, vastly better perimeter shooters, better at taking care of the ball, better at generating second chances, better at getting to the foul line, better at converting free throws and better at sharing the ball.
At the other end of the floor, Coach Hubert Davis’s team defends two-pointers better, defends threes considerably better, forces more turnovers and blocks more shots. For those inclined to quibble, opponents are doing a slightly better job of offensive rebounding and getting to the line against North Carolina.
Of course, seven opponents in a row have gone down by a double-digit margin to the Tar Heels. North Carolina hasn’t pulled that off since the first seven games of 2016-17, and that season ended up all right, with a bunch of confetti and a shiny trophy.
Should the Tar Heels handle Boston College on Saturday by double digits, it would be the first time they accomplished that eight times in a row since the first 13 games of the 2008-09 season. That year also ended swimmingly for Carolina.
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