Unlike the North Carolina championship teams of the past decade, this Tar Heel squad’s calling card is defense. And John Henson is smack in the middle of that.
Against Michigan State, the Tar Heels started hot, then fell behind as the offense fell into a funk as night fell on the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego. Blame the offensive woes on the players adjusting to darkness during a game played outdoors if you’d like. But really, this is what the Tar Heels do.
After the Spartans established a lead midway through the first half, North Carolina jacked up the defensive pressure, with Henson and Tyler Zeller daring anyone to attack the rim. Henson finished with nine blocks, and at times, he looked intent on swatting the ball into the Pacific Ocean. With the post on lockdown, Michigan State turned to the perimeter, where the Spartans made only two 3-points out of 20 attempts. Despite the strong effort against Michigan State’s initial attacks, the Tar Heels played a little soft on the boards, allowing the Spartans to grab 19 offensive rebounds, or 38 percent of their missed shots. The 67-55 final would have been a much bigger blowout if North Carolina had done a better job boxing out Draymond Green, Derrick Nix and Branden Dawson.
The scoring stats won’t always reveal the game changers for North Carolina in 2011-12. The 2005 and 2009 championship teams used a high-octane offense to mask some defensive flaws, especially when teams forced North Carolina to play a primarily half-court game. This year’s team can play defense with the best of them, regardless whether the game flow is sprinting up and down the court or methodically working through half-court sets. As usual, the Tar Heels’ offense is at its best when the team is running and Kendall Marshall has an opportunity to slice and dice opponents with laser-guided passes.
But it will start and end with the defense, led by Henson. Against the Spartans, Harrison Barnes led the team with 17 points and five rebounds. That line is respectable, but was a little less impressive than Henson’s, despite the higher points total. Like Barnes, Henson logged 31 minutes, and in that time, he filled his stat sheet with 12 points, seven rebounds, nine blocks and two assists. Turning to the Total Impact Quotient rating system, Barnes had a Real TIQ of 19.6 points for the game compared to 22.3 points for Henson. By isolating the defensive side of that formula, Henson’s work on that end prevented 12.3 points, while Barnes’ defensive effort saved 4.3 points. Yep, that’s what Henson does.
