UNC Basketball: Georgia Tech Preview
?Carolina opens its ACC slate tomorrow, in Atlanta as the Tar Heels take on Georgia Tech. Carolina compiled an 12-2 record during the non conference portion of the season. In November Carolina, won the prestigious? Maui Invitational as its highlight of the non conference play. Carolina also dropped high level games at Indiana and to Kentucky in Las Vegas, even though they lost those two high profile games, the Tar Heels proved they are among the nations elite.
The Yellow Jackets are going through a transition phase in Atlanta. After last season 20 win season Georgia Tech fired Brian Gregory and brought in Josh Pastner from Memphis. Along with coaching change, Georgia Tech also lost 78% of its scoring from a season ago. Quiton Stephens is the only returning starter from a season ago. Ben Lammers leads the team averaging a respectable 14 points and 10 rebounds per game. This team is young and inexperienced, expect a long season in ACC play this season.
Tomorrow Carolina will look to improve upon its 52-11 record in ACC openers in Atlanta. Under Roy Williams the Tar Heels are 9-4 in ACC openers, including 4-2 on the road. To improve on this mark let's look at one thing to watch on offense, defense and a player to watch in tomorrow's matchup:
??1 Thing To Watch On Offense: Post Play
?The Tar Heels are still one of the few in college basketball that loves to play inside-out. As conference play begins many teams in the ACC will look to double team Carolina's big men. Both Kennedy Meeks and Isaiah Hicks are great passers for their position but have really struggled at times when being double teamed. They will have to get better at handling those situations, nonetheless Carolina should still dominate points in the paint, offensive rebounds, etc.
??1 Thing To Watch On Defense: Can the Heels force Turnovers?
?The Yellow Jackets are a young team hoping to get a signature win tomorrow. I expect that they will come out full of a lot of emotion and energy as they try to upset the Tar Heels in front of their home fans. What I want to watch tomorrow is can the Tar Heels force the young Yellow Jackets to commit turnovers that lead to easy points in transition. If so, expect an lopsided game in Atlanta.
??1 Player To Watch: Justin Jackson
?Wednesday night in the Smith Center, Jackson was sensational scoring a game high 38 points while hitting 6 treys. It's his fourth game scoring 25 points or more already this season. The problem has been that Jackson hasn't been able to put back to back good games whenever he goes off. You'd have to imagine that GT will try to take away the post and Joel Berry which leads to the offense running through Jackson. Can he step up again?
???Prediction:
?Georgia Tech will be ready to play when the ball tips off tomorrow at noon. It'll probably be the most packed game of the season for them. The Yellow Jackets will play with a lot of heart and give it their all. At the end of the day though, the Tar Heels have to much for them. Carolina is clearly better at every position, better on offense, better on defense. This has the ability to get ugly. 91-67 Tar Heels.
