ALL THREE.

(okay so I know this picture is old and from Wayne’s freshman year [note the number], but it shows the “emphaticness” that I’m going to try to display in this post)

 

So it’s been two days since the announcement, and I bet most readers of this blog were wondering when I was going to get around to this post. In case you have been living under a rock or don’t follow NCAA basketball, all three UNC players who declared for the draft have decided to return to school.

This makes us the OVERWHELMING favorite to win the national title next year. Just yesterday, the boys on PTI were arguing during “Toss Up” of who they wanted to bet on for the NCAA title next year, UNC or the Field. Crazy. This does, however, put an immense amount of pressure on our boys as well as Roy to get the job done. Anything less than a National Championship will be seen as a HUGE disappointment in the eyes of fans, the coaches, and ESPECIALLY the players. That being said, I honestly feel like we can get it done this year.

What hurt us last year against Kansas was our horrible defense to start the game, as well as our inability to play from behind (which some Carolina teams often have shown in the past). I think both of these things can be rectified for next year. Getting Bobby Frasor back is huge. Not only will his leadership on the court be huge, but he is a great defensive precense on the floor. Our maturity should help the “playing from behind” mentality, as everyone on the roster but the 4 freshmen (1 of which, Justin Watts, will almost certainly be redshirted) are tournament tested.

Another shocking part of the return in my opinion, is our “Second Team”. Our Second Team will be comprised of Bobby Frasor, William Graves, Danny Green, Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller. Sure, Davis and Zeller will be young, and it isn’t forseen as to if Zeller will actually be able to play the 5…..but in what should be another down year for the ACC even our second team could compete for 3rd place. The only ACC teams I think that have a better lineup than that next year are UNC’s First Team, Dook (sorry, but true), and Wake Forest (watch out for those Demon Deacons next year, they could give us trouble in the Joel if they come correct).

Having Larry Drew being able to learn under Lawson and Frasor for a year instead of just Frasor will be crucial to his understanding of the system. His Dad was a NBA player for like 10-12 years, and is now an assistant coach in the league. He also ran the point on the AAU team with Travis and David Wear (who you will see in UNC Blue on the 09-10 team). He will also get minutes this year for sure, Roy has always been good about that, and we will be playing so deep and beating some teams down so bad that he will inevitably get his time to shine.

 

Should be a great year. Hope we bring it home. I’d LOVE to hear everyone else’s thoughts, so drop those bad boys in the comments!