Dare I weigh in? Ok why not.
Carolina, on paper, is very very good and deserving of the early season #1, but far from unbeatable. I have concerns about their rebounding and outside shooting and wish they were more physical underneth. They will certainly benefit from everyone coming back this year, especially Barnes who is legit. Zeller and Henson are very solid but I was hoping to see more bulk on both, especially Henson. The freshman, Mcadoo and Harriston will need to contribute. Both have looked pretty good these first few games. Marshall is a fantastic college point guard and the main reason for Carolina's turnaround last year. To me, he is the key to their success. The Carolina championship teams all had top notch point guards leading the way so Marshall must continue to play at a high level.
Next week, Carolina has Wisconsin at home and their annual battle with Kentucky next weekend in Lexington Even though its still early in the season, these two games should give us a very good idea how good/great this team really is. I am hoping the Tarheels can exact some revenge for last year's tournament loss to the Wildcats but winning at Rupp is never easy.
I expect Carolina to lose two, maybe three conference games. That's OK as long as they are rolling come tournament time.
Chuck mentioned the Jordan, Worthy, Perkins team. Obviously a great team who won a national championship. But for my money, the most talented Carolina team I ever remember was a few years later in the mid 80s. The 85-86 team was stacked. Kenny Smith at the point. Forwards Joe Wolf (6 11), Dave Popson (6 10), centers Brad Daugherty (7ft), Warren Martin (7ft), freshmen McDonalds all-americans Jeff Lebo, Kevin Madden and Steve Bucknall. On paper, this team should have on a championship but for some reason, finished the season poorly and got knocked out in the sweet sixteen.
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