Premature Hoops BlogPoll: No. 1, North Carolina
This week, FanHouse is taking a way too early look at the top teams heading into 2007 with a BlogPoll decided on by our college hoops bloggers. It's a time-honored filler for the off-season, and who are we to buck tradition? Today we look at teams 5 through 1.
The North Carolina Tar Heels tops our pre-pre-season poll, mainly because a young team that was a late game meltdown from getting to the Final Four will have marinated to coach Roy Williams' liking for 2007-2008. Tyler Hansbrough and Tywon Lawson are back and should continue to wreck havoc on the ACC. Tyler Hansbrough will continue to get his 18 points and 8 boards while being a pest for teams to deal with. Tywon Lawson, however, could vault this team to greatness. His confidence rose as the season wore on last year and made the Heels title contenders.
Talent isn't the problem in Chapel Hill. Sweet shootin' Wayne Ellington is back, as are role players Danny Green, Marcus Ginyard and Bobby Frasor. Deon Thompson [who's performing very well for the Under 19 team] and Alex Stephenson will pick up the slack from departed Brandan Wright. Those heralded recruiting classes are growing together.
The problem is intensity. The team was labeled as 'soft' last year, which was plainly evident in that final stretch against Georgetown in the Elite 8. Two of their top defenders, Wright and Reyshawn Terry, have gone to the NBA [Wes Miller, another really good defender, graduated]. That leaves Tyler Hansbrough alone again to try to do his thing and could wear him out as the season goes along.
Why They Should Be Ranked Here: This was an elite team last season that had a legit shot at the title last year. This was one of the nation's deepest teams last year and return a ton of that talent. Losing Wright will hurt, but replacement Thompson showed quite an offensive arsenal late last year, has reportedly lost the "baby fat" and has had a great summer. For the first time since UNC's 2005 title team, Ol' Roy won't have to spend so much time teaching a big crop of freshmen what he wants them to do. He can use that time to fine tune the team.
Why They Should Be Ranked Higher: There is no higher than #1.
Why They Should Be Ranked Lower: They lost important defenders in Wright, Terry and Miller and have replaced them with no one. Yep, the only real addition to this team will be William Graves, who redshirted last year. The team won't be as deep as last year's, which could end up being a blessing in disguise. But that softness label won't go away until they finish (weird to say that about a team with Psycho T on it). Remember, the only games that UNC lost last year were close ones.
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