Five Good Questions with Jack Daly about North Carolina Basketball

Today's Five Good Questions is with Jack Daly of the Durham Herald Sun....Jack took the time to respond about this year's North Carolina Tar Heels.....

Q1. What are the Tar Heels strengths?
A. UNC has perhaps the best college player in the country in Tyler Hansbrough, who goes all out on every play. The Tar Heels have the fastest point guard in the country in Ty Lawson. They have one of the better scorers in Wayne Ellington. And they have sixth-man extraordinaire Danny Green coming off the bench. So UNC doesn't lack in talent, which means they have little trouble scoring. UNC has the second best offense in the country.

Q2. What area(s) must North Carolina improve upon?
A. Defense. Focus to a certain degree (Losing to Maryland at home? Really?), but defense is the obvious one. This has been a recurring problem and has flared up especially in recent weeks. UNC's opponents have shot at least 50 percent in one half in six of the Tar Heels' last seven games. The only team not to do that was Maryland, which, of course, beat the Tar Heels. With Bobby Frasor's injury (he tore his ACL on Dec. 27 and will miss the rest of the season), UNC's depth isn't as overwhelming as it's made out to be.

Q3. Most of the country knows Tyler Hansbrough (photo) and Wayne Ellington, but who are some other players on this team that people should not overlook?
A. Ty Lawson and Danny Green. Most of the country probably knows Lawson as well. But Green's a key player for the Tar Heels, giving the team an offensive threat off the bench. And he's a really good dancer.

Q4. What has Hansbrough done over the last year to improve his game? Is he an all-around player now?
A. I think you could call Tyler an all-around player. His defense is the only thing may cause hesitation. Hansbrough generally doesn't shut down an opponent's big man if that player is talented and as tall as Hansbrough (6-foot-9).

Q5. How good is this North Carolina team compared to the team that won the title a few years ago?
A. We'll see. I'm not trying to be flip, but UNC still hasn't played enough top-25 teams to have a great idea. Once the Tar Heels play Duke on Feb. 6, we'll have a much better handle. Considering the way this team plays defense at the6 moment, I think the logical conclusion is this team isn't as good as the 2005 team. That doesn't mean the Tar Heels won't improve and reach the Final Four. When you have a nucleus of Hansbrough, Lawson and Ellington, you have the necessary pieces to be considered an NCAA title contender.

Once again, I would like to thank Jack for his time....