Struggling UNC tries to Fuel the Fire against Duke

The greatest rivalry in college basketball may not have the same luster this year. The Duke Blue Devils are having another solid year behind the leadership of head coach Mike Krzyzewski. Duke is currently the #7 team in the country according to the coach’s poll, and are leading the ACC conference with a 7-2 record. Their counterparts, the North Carolina Tar Heels, seem to be a shell of the team that won the title last year. However, like many rivalry games, you can throw records out the window when these two teams square off each year.

Generally both of these teams are in contention for an ACC Championship, the #1 ranking or a National Title when they meet, but this year is a little different. After beating the Michigan St Spartans in the National Championship game last season, the Tar Heels lost the majority of their starters to the NBA draft. This has left them in a position of relying on several unproven and young players. Regardless of how highly touted a player is coming out of high school, they still need time to get acclimated to the speed and size of the college game. Almost all of UNC’s roster is filled with “Blue Chippers”, but none of them has established themselves as a leader.

Deon Thompson is the only player on the current Tar Heel roster that contributed a significant amount of minutes to last year’s squad that won the National Championship. He is leading the team in scoring with a 14.4 point per game average, and is second on the team in rebounds per game. Thompson is an above average talent that may make it to the next level, but he isn’t the type of player that can inspire his team mates. Forward Ed Davis has made his presence felt in his sophomore season. With his playing time increased, he has more than doubled his scoring average from last season. At almost 10 rebounds per game, Davis has proven to be a force in the paint.

There are several young players that are getting their feet wet off of the bench, but as a whole this team is lacking the fire-power that it normally has year after year. Expect big things in the next few seasons for North Carolina as their younger players develop, and recruiting get this program back to the top of the college basketball world.

Duke’s trio of Jon Scheyer, Nolan Smith and Kyle Singler lead the country in scoring as a group. This should be no surprise to HC Krzyzewski as they were all highly recruited scorers out of high school. A couple of embarrassing losses over the last couple weeks against North Carolina St and Georgetown has shown some weaknesses in the Blue Devil defense. They will need to correct this problem before the end of the regular season if they expect to make a serious run at another National Title.

Tuesday’s game doesn’t look as though it will have the same intensity as in years past, but don’t be surprised if the struggling Tar Heels find a way to get up for this one.

Related posts:

1. Final Four Preview: Duke vs. W. Virginia
2. ACC Battle: Duke vs. Clemson Re-Match
3. ACC’s Best Battle: Georgia Tech vs. Duke
4. Final Four Review: Duke Pounds W. Virginia in Semi’s
5. Handicapping the Final Four

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