We are at the end of February which means March Madness is getting very close. There are still some regular season games left but conference tournaments and the NCAA tournament are right around the corner. This season has been tough to predict but there are a few teams that seem to be more likely to cut down the nets in April than others. One of those teams is North Carolina, who entered the season as the preseason number one team in the nation. North Carolina has had their ups and downs this season but they have the second best odds of winning the championship, according to VegasInsider.com. Here are three keys to the Tar Heels taking home the national championship this season.
1) Get The Ball Inside Consistently: The strength of this Tar Heels team is their frontcourt. Forward Brice Johnson is one of the top contenders for ACC Player of the Year this season and is clearly their best player. Johnson is averaging 17 points per game and is doing so very efficiently (62 percent from the field). Johnson needs to be featured more often than not because when the ball is in his hands good things typically happen. In the heartbreaking loss to Duke a couple of weeks ago North Carolina went completely away from their inside game which was dominant early on. The Tar Heels cannot afford to do that in the tournament and they need to stick to their strengths. Johnson is their main presence down-low but Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks are also guys that can get it done on the block.
2) Dominate The Glass: This North Carolina team is not very good at shooting from the perimeter as they shoot 31 percent from three as a team. They are, however, a very good offensive rebounding team and that is where they need to dominate. Johnson spearheads their rebounding dominance but they have a bunch of guys who can get the team second shots. Getting extra possessions will be huge for UNC in the tournament considering they don't make many jump shots. UNC is 17th in the nation in rebounding margin this season and 19th in offensive rebounds per game so that is an area they need to dominate to make up for their shortcomings in other areas.
3) Get Marcus Paige Going: This season for the senior has not gone quite as planned as he missed the first six games with a broken bone in his hand. Since coming back Paige has struggled as he is shooting just 40 percent from the field and 34 percent from three. The Tar Heels' strength is inside but they still need an outside presence for the inside game to be more effective and Paige is more than capable. Paige has shot 39 percent or better from three in his past two seasons and has also shown he is capable of scoring with anyone in the nation in previous years. If Paige can find his shooting and scoring touch come tournament time the Tar Heels will be nearly un-guardable and will have a great shot at bringing home their first championship since 2009.
