Tuesday Talking Points
This week's facts and figures about the Heels.
Dec. 7, 2004
By Adam Lucas
The Tar Heels have an eight-day break between games for exams this week. Although weeklong breaks used to spell trouble (the Heels lost two of three games in that situation during the 2000-01 season), Carolina has won three of their last four games after a 7+ day break.
It's still early, but the Heels' 87.1 points per game would be their highest figure since averaging 87.6 during the 1990-91 campaign. Carolina's best teams have always played at a fast tempo: since the beginning of the Dean Smith era, UNC's Final Four teams have averaged 81.5 points per game.
Jawad Williams is well above his career numbers so far this year in field goal percentage (61.4 this year compared to 46.7 career), three-point field goal percentage (41.2 this year compared to 33.6), free throw percentage (79.3 compared to 69.6), and scoring (16.6 this year compared to 12.6 career). But before his concussion last year against UNC-W, he was averaging similar numbers. He posted 19 points per game, 8.1 rebounds per game, and was making 56.3 percent of his shots through his first seven games as a junior.
David Noel has missed only seven shots all year and is leading the team with a 68.2 field goal percentage. He missed seven shots in one game as a freshman, a 6-of-13 performance against Wake Forest.
Rashad McCants is scoring more (20.3 ppg compared to 20.0 last year) but doing it while shooting much less. He's taken 89 shots through the first seven games, compared to 106 through seven games as a sophomore. He averaged 15.6 shots per game last year; that figure is 12.7 so far this year.
A measure of Carolina's depth: despite playing some stiff early-season competition, the minutes per game for every member of the rotation except Jackie Manuel are down at least three minutes.
If the rankings hold, the Tar Heels will go at least 35 days without facing a ranked opponent before they take on Maryland on Jan. 8. That's the longest stretch in two years--the Heels went 42 days between a Dec. 7, 2002, loss to Kentucky and a Jan. 18, 2003, win over Connecticut. Carolina hasn't won three games in a row against ranked opponents since 2001 and has won back-to-back games against ranked teams just twice in that span. The longest winning streak in team history against ranked foes is nine (Jan. 13, 1993-Nov. 19, 1993 and again from Feb. 3, 1994-Jan. 28, 1995).
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