Heel Tough Blog: Charlotte Exhibition - What 2 Watch 4
For the final time, the Tar Heels will take the floor in preseason exhibition competition tonight, as they host the Charlotte 49ers, before next Monday’s season opener. Carolina has gone 1-1 in the preseason, with an impressive win over USC two weeks ago and a lopsided loss to Indiana a week ago. This is the final tuneup before the home opener against Western Carolina next week, which will officially kick off the Michael Malone Era in Chapel Hill.
Charlotte will arrive tonight with two familiar faces on their bench, as the program hired former UNC player Wes Miller as their head coach last off-season, after two previous stops at UNC-Greensboro and Cincinnati. Shortly after Miller was hired, he added former UNC standout and, at the time, UNC assistant Marcus Paige to his coaching staff, paving the way for both to make their return to their alma mater tonight, a big reason why the exhibition was scheduled in the first place. Miller’s revamped 49er program was picked to finish 5th in the AAC this season, and a player to watch tonight is former top-50 recruit Keyshuan Tillery, who made the jump to Charlotte from Cincinnati, just like his head coach.
The Tar Heels will continue to be without Cameron Fens, who is still seeking a 5th year of eligibility from the NCAA, after transferring to North Carolina from South Dakota earlier this summer. After playing the Indiana game without backup point guard Isaiah Denis, it appears that Denis will be available to play tonight, after appearing in a social media post and taking part in the practices leading up to tonight’s exhibition.
It might be the preseason, but there is some pressure for the Tar Heels to respond after the Indiana loss, where they struggled to take care of the basketball and were dominated on the glass, being outrebounded by 22. With this being the final time they take the floor before the games start to count, style points aren’t necessary, but would go a long way for confidence in a team that will start the season unranked for the first time in over 20 years. Here’s what to watch for tonight, as Carolina hosts Charlotte in the first unofficial home game under Michael Malone:
Evolution of Backcourt Play: There’s no denying that Terrence Brown needs to look like the player that Carolina recruited out of the transfer portal, where the former Utah guard averaged nearly 20 points per game. But it’s not just him; Neo Avdalas has been inconsistent in his first two games as a Tar Heel, outside of a strong second half against USC. Michael Malone has put the ball in Avdalas’s hands more often, and maybe after the Indiana debacle, he shifts and puts the ball in the hands of Terrence Brown, who is naturally more aggressive attacking the basket, both in the half-court and in transition. With the return of Isaiah Denis from injury, we could see those three on the court at the same time as well. Charlotte isn’t the same level of competition that USC and Indiana provided, and with a number of home games against mid-major schools to start the season, it’s okay to expect the guards, the strength of the team, to play to their potential.
Do the Bigs Hold Their Own?: Outside of Sayon Keita, neither Jarin Stevenson nor Alexandros Samodurov did anything to help Carolina win, the last time out against Indiana. Keita looked every bit the player we were told he was, producing 12 points, 9 rebounds, and 5 blocks in the loss. Stevenson, after a 25-point, 10-rebound double-double against USC, only produced 3 points and 3 rebounds against the Hoosiers. That was a nice reminder that the player we saw against USC isn’t what Stevenson can be on a game-by-game basis, but he needs to give this team more than he gave the last time out. As for Samodurov, he has yet to look like the offensive player he was recruited to be, and hopefully playing at home will help him get more comfortable and provide the floor spacing and perimeter shooting this roster needs.
Real Game Situations: With this being the last exhibition, how does Michael Malone treat it? We haven’t seen a player play starter-like minutes yet, with multiple different lineups being utilized in the first two contests. With the top-8 members of the rotation believed to be known, does Malone deploy the minutes as such? Furthermore, do we see more half-court offense in an effort to get both Terrence Brown and Neo Avdalas in their respective flows? Lastly, Malone hasn’t been afraid to use his timeouts, but how many in-game adjustments do we see tonight if Carolina were to struggle in a certain area? All of that will give us an even better idea of what we’ll see next Monday night, when the games start to count.
KenPom (Preseason Rankings)
North Carolina - 37th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 116.8 (37th); Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 97.5 (42nd)
Charlotte - 147th overall. Adjusted Offensive Efficiency: 107.1 (136th); Adjusted Defensive Efficiency: 106.6 (162nd)
TV Info:
Tonight’s game will air on ACC Network Extra, with a tip time scheduled for 7:30 PM.
The Four Corners Podcast:
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