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#44 North Carolina
Tar Heels
Atlantic Coast
Conference
2004-05: 33-4, 14-2, 1st
2004-05 postseason:
NCAA
By
Joel Welser
The top seven
scorers are gone from North Carolina’s
National Championship squad. The returning players had a grand
total of one start last season. The talent coming in is
tremendous, but the lack of depth may force Coach Roy Williams
to do a little less running than he would prefer.
Who’s Out:
The Tar Heels don’t lose anybody of importance, except Sean May,
Rashad McCants, Jawad Williams, Raymond Felton, Marvin Williams,
Jackie Manuel and Melvin Scott. That is an amazing 81.4 points
per game right there and does not even count the departures of
C.J. Hooker, Charlie Everett and Jesse Holley. Needless to say
things will look a lot different in Chapel Hill.
Who’s In:
The newcomers are all talented
enough to start right away and there is no doubt they will get
the opportunity. Tyler Hansbrough is the most talented and will
most likely be starting from day one. The 6-9, 235 pound forward
is a passionate, intense player and will quickly become a leader
at UNC. Bobby Frasor, Marcus Ginyard and Danny Green will battle
for minutes at the shooting guard spot. Frasor is a great
shooter and a solid ball handler who can run the point if need
be. Ginyard, a 6-5 wing, is a versatile, athletic player who
will see plenty of minutes for the Tar Heels. An injured wrist
during the offseason may slow his progress. Danny Danny Green might
be the most dynamic scorer of the bunch. He’s a tremendous
shooter from long range and already has a solid build for big
time ACC hoops.
Who to Watch:
The development of the freshmen
will be very important for any tournament hopes, but David Noel
is suddenly the senior leader. Noel, a 6-6 forward, averaged 3.9
points, 2.6 boards and 1.5 assists last year, the returning
leader in all those categories. As the only returning player to
average over five minutes per game, Noel is the only piece that
will carry over from the NCAA Championship squad and will need
to provide a great deal of leadership in order to come close to
repeating last year’s success.
Projected
Conference Rank:
Obviously this will be nothing like
last year’s team, but it won’t take long for the freshmen to get
into the swing of things. In any event, a 7th place
finish in the ACC and a trip to the NCAAs isn’t bad at all
considering what is lost. Forward Reyshawn Terry only averaged
4.5 minutes per game last year, but is talented enough to step
into a starting role. Sophomore point guard Quentin Thomas never
was able to see many minutes last year, but a year of getting
used to life at UNC should have him prepared to run the show for
the Heels.
Projected
Post-season Tournament:
NCAA
Projected Starting
Five:
Quentin Thomas,
Sophomore, Guard, 0.8 points per game
Bobby Frasor,
Freshman, Guard, DNP last season
David Noel, Senior,
Forward, 3.9 points per game
Reyshawn Terry,
Junior, Forward, 2.3 points per game
Tyler Hansbrough,
Freshman, Forward, DNP last season
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