Felton Key to Breaking Tigers' Zone

It's out there, lurking, waiting for them at nearly every turn of the ACC schedule.

Although it won't always pop up, it certainly has caused its share of problems.

The zone defense, particularly of the 2-3 persuasion, is seemingly always prepped to hassle members of the North Carolina men's basketball team.

Why should tonight be any different?

Clemson enters tonight's 7 p.m. game at the Smith Center with a huge front line and a gaudy record (10-1, 0-1 in the ACC).

The Tigers have never beaten the Tar Heels in Chapel Hill -- they're 0-48 at the Old Tin Can, Woollen Gym, Carmichael Auditorium and the Smith Center -- but as always will look to abuse UNC inside.

And without the quickness to deal with the likes of Raymond Felton and Rashad McCants, Clemson likely will play zone against the Tar Heels (9-5, 1-1).

UNC has seen the ol' 2-3 many times this season, with varying success, and at Virginia on Saturday, the Tar Heels looked like two different offensive teams before and after halftime.

In the first half, UNC dribbled and passed around the zone and was unable to get anything accomplished.

In the second half, the Tar Heels put McCants inside the zone to generate interior offense. More importantly, they penetrated to the foul line to attack the zone.

"We do need to take the ball to the meat of the defense," said UNC coach Matt Doherty in a teleconference Monday.

Instead of watching them jack up long-range jumpers, Doherty said he wants his wing players, and Felton, get into the lane to make the defense react.

Doherty said Felton has done a good job of being aggressive against opposing defenses, and at times he has been too aggressive in trying to get to the basket.

But the responsibility of attacking the zone, Doherty stressed, shouldn't fall solely on his freshman point guard.

"I think part of the zone is that people work on containing him," Doherty said. "I think it's the responsibility of the team to flash to the lane."

-- Compiled by Ian Gordon