Posted by BillFromTampa

After having played its last game last Saturday in Boston, the Florida State Seminoles were given eight days to prepare for the North Carolina Tar Heels. The game, to be shown on FSN, tips off at 6:30.

As everyone knows, UNC is the defending national champions of college basketball. Also well known following that victory over Illinois, head coach Roy Williams lost his top seven scorers mostly from early departures to the NBA. That left David Noel with his 3.2 ppg last season as the top returning scorer from that squad.’,'However, Williams brought in a stellar recruiting class that included Tyler Hansbrough, Bobby Frasor, and Marcus Ginyard. Before the season, no one quite knew how the inexperienced squad would respond. Ranked 24th it would seem that the 10-3 Tar Heels have done pretty overall with wins over Kentucky and North Carolina State and a close loss to Illinois in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.

But the Tar Heels are now faced with a two game losing streak coming into the game with the Seminoles having lost in a disappointing effort to Miami and was physically outplayed by Virginia Thursday night.

North Carolina uses a nine man rotation with three freshmen in their starting lineup.

Noel starts at one forward spot. The 6-6, 232 pound senior is the team’s third leading scorer dramatically improving his average to 12.8 ppg shooting 54.6% from the floor. He is also reliable from the perimeter knocking down 14 of his 30 three point attempts. Noel is second in rebounds pulling down seven boards a game. More important than his stats, Noel provides some stability out on the court Williams needs to compliment the rest of his young unit reflected in his 34 assists also good for second on the team. Noel also has shown an ability to beat players off the dribble and slash his way to the rim.

Junior Reyshawn Terry is at the other forward spot. An athletic 6-8, 228 pound player, Terry is like Noel in that he was a role player last season and now must adjust to a starter’s role. Averaging 13.0 ppg Terry shoots 48% from the floor, a decent 38% from behind the arc, and is second on the team in free throw percentage connecting on three of every four attempts. A decent defender, Terry has 12 blocked shots to his credit to go along with 15 steals.

Earning four ACC Rookie of the Week honors already, Hansbrough (6-9, 235) appears to be headed towards Rookie of the Year honors in the conference. Another in a long line of McDonald’s All Americans for UNC, Hansbrough has played nothing like a freshman in nearly every one of his games this season. Second in the ACC in field goal percentage (63.1%), Hansbrough is first on UNC in scoring with 17.7 ppg as well as leading the team in rebounding with 7.2 rpg. Not the best post defender, yet anyway, he still is a disruptive factor in the paint with 10 blocked shots and 17 steals. The freshman is also a deadly shooter from the charity stripe with a team leading 77% average. More importantly he has displayed coolness at the line in tight games down the stretch. His 14 of 14 versus the Wolfpack helped to clinch the game for the Tar Heels. Hansbrough will be a handful for the Seminoles’ post players.

Ginyard and Frasor fill the backcourt.

While not putting up the offensive numbers as the other two starting freshmen, Ginyard is considered to be Williams’ defensive stopper. The 6-5 swing guard averages 7.5 ppg, 38% from the floor, 74% from the line, and 2.9 rpg. He is not a threat from the arc with just 4 three pointers out of 23 attempts. He leads the team with 19 steals.

Also a McDonald’s All American, the 6-3 Frasor has performed fairly well most times handling the point guard duties. Along with his 7.2 ppg and 2.1 rpg, Frasor has just under a 2:1 assist to turnover ratio. With his size, Frasor has good speed and ball handling skills to push the ball up the floor but at times has been tentative driving the ball inside.

Forwards Danny Green (FR, 6-5) and Byron Sanders (SR, 6-9) along with guards Wes Miller (JR, 5-11) and Quentin Thomas (SO, 6-3) round out the rotation for the Tar Heels.

The quartet combines for 19.1 ppg and 10.5 rpg. Williams has not been afraid to give his subs extended time on the floor as all average double digit minutes.

If there is one problem for UNC, the offense becomes somewhat shaky when Thomas handles the point.

With the inexperience, turnovers have been a problem for North Carolina. The ‘Heels are committing 17.6 miscues per game.

As a team, the Tar Heels are shooting 48% from the floor averaging 78.6 ppg, are mediocre from the arc with a 34% average, and shoot 69% from the line although the ‘Heels have been far better than that in conference play with a gaudy 83%.

Defensively they have held their opponents to 66.1 ppg on 40% shooting. They hold an 8.1 rebounding margin as well.

By comparison, Florida State is averaging 80.9 ppg (75.8 ppg in the ACC) on 50.6% from the floor, 37.8% from behind the arc, and have less than a one rebound margin over its opponents although lately has been improving on the boards. The ‘Noles are forcing opponents into 20 turnovers a game.

How FSU handles Hansbrough and puts pressure on the ball will be key. Virginia did an excellent job not allowing penetration by the guards. And when the ball did go inside the Cavaliers doubled teamed and tripled teamed Hansbrough every time he touched the ball. Florida State doesn’t necessarily have the same kind of post players Virginia has. But expect an active aggressive Seminole defense to disrupt and confuse the North Carolina freshmen.