Leading the attack will be Larry Drew II, who is entering his third season in Williams’ fast-paced offense.
Last year’s statistics suggest Drew was passable. Nonetheless, the numbers hide the fact that it appeared Drew struggled to give UNC any consistency in half-court sets.
“This year, Larry’s more experienced,” Williams said. “He’s gone through a lot. He’s gone through a lot of hardships, in my opinion, also being falsely blamed too much for our lack of success.”
He will most likely be flanked by sophomore Dexter Strickland.
“Well if you put them all three together, we’ve got the Michael Jordan of point guards,” Williams said. “Larry Drew with his length and his quickness, and Dexter with his speed and his toughness. Kendall (Marshall), with his ability to understand the game and be a true quarterback out there, may be as good a passer as I’ve ever coached.”
Strickland showed flashes of awe-inspiring athleticism in his rookie season, but part of the problem was his propensity to be careless with the ball.
Another year of experience and a summer of studying last year’s problems can only help Strickland as he moves back to his natural position at shooting guard.
“I never played point guard before last year,” Strickland said. “To go back to my natural position was good.”
“I think last season helped me a little bit because I never played the 1 before,” said Strickland.
Leslie McDonald was too often the lost man in the perimeter group, as he struggled to get any minutes behind now-graduated Marcus Ginyard and now-dismissed Will Graves. As the year went on, he received more and more time as he got stronger on defense.
“You know, at the beginning of the year, I was a little nervous, shy, didn’t know what to do,” McDonald said of his defense. “By the end of the season, I was out there ready to go, knew what my assignment was to do.”
With more minutes, McDonald will probably showcase the kind of stroke that made him the all-time leading scorer in Memphis private high school history — and not the anemic 30.9 percent he shot from the field last season.
To get the day's news and headlines in your inbox each morning, sign up for our email newsletters.
New blood
Most of the reason for excitement about North Carolina basketball isn’t that the heart of a 20-17 crew is largely intact.
It is the freshmen class. The group has been hyped ad nauseam since Harrison Barnes’ “Decision-esque” press conference last November to announce that he was taking his talents to Chapel Hill.
Barnes, a 6-foot-8-inch small forward, has the ability to handle the ball, score and distribute to teammates.
The teenager from Ames, Iowa, is already expected to be the No. 1 pick in next year’s NBA Draft. More importantly, Barnes is also a leader.
“You don’t see a game as developed as his at such a young age,” sophomore forward John Henson said. “Being that I see him everyday play, he never ceases to amaze me. So I can’t wait to see him help us out on the court.”
Barnes alone would have been a coup for the Tar Heels, but on top of that, Williams was able to woo fellow All-Americans Kendall Marshall and Reggie Bullock.
Bullock will provide more explosive scoring with range to help replace Graves’ shooting.
“He looks athletic, and he goes out on the court and plays like that,” Williams said. “He can shoot the ball in the basket, wonderful kid, but long arms. He looks like a basketball player.”
That said, Marshall may just be the most significant of the three, because not only will he provide stability at the point guard position, but he will also allow Strickland to get back into his comfort zone on the wing.
If he can wrest the starting position from Drew, or at least give him a little competition for it, the team will undeniably be better for it. So far, Marshall has received rave reviews from his teammates for his vision and passing ability in the half-court.
“Kendall’s pushing Larry. Larry’s pushing Dexter,” Henson said. “They’re all pushing each other, so I think it’s going to be a good year this year for point guards. We’re going to have fun.”
