In a press conference a couple of weeks ago, North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams was asked to name his team's "glaring weakness"
from last season.
"You know, we won 36 games and got everybody back,"
he said, relaying the story again recently, "so there shouldn't be any 'glaring weakness' out there."
The coaches agreed, unanimously naming the Tar Heels their No. 1 team for the first time in the history of the USA Today/Coaches preseason poll.
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The media agreed, unanimously dubbing UNC No. 1 in the Associated Press poll, and unanimously choosing North Carolina to win the Atlantic Coast Conference for the second straight year.
So it begs the question: Can any team keep the Tar Heels from winning the league title this season?
"Can they be beaten?"
asked ESPN analyst Jay Bilas. "Yes. But it's going to take an extraordinary effort, with the talent they have. Yet I don't think anyone has pronounced them national champion, no debate."
Or ACC champion, for that matter.
After all, there are many teams that will make their best cases on the court against UNC, which is carrying so many expectations on its shoulders that Nike should have stitched a bull's-eye on the back of its uniforms.
More-muscular Duke is ranked eighth and has the bodies to use a deeper rotation. No. 17 Miami returns guard Jack McClinton and his sharpshooting approach. No. 21 Wake Forest is a year older, and boasts a lethal combination with point guard Ish Smith (once his broken foot is fully healed) and forward James Johnson. And then there's Maryland (one of only two teams to beat UNC before last season's NCAA Tournament) and Clemson.
"[The league] is going to be pretty strong this year, so anybody could go out there and beat them and get first place. Anybody,"
N.C. State point guard Javi Gonzalez said. "It's a league where you've got to go play hard, every night."
That includes North Carolina, which returns all five starters and its top six scorers - including defending National Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough - but can't afford to have a lackadaisical night. The Tar Heels might not have any "glaring"
weaknesses, but there are potential dents in their armor, including:
Injuries | Hansbrough, out indefinitely with a stress reaction in his right shin, and starting small forward Marcus Ginyard, out until at least December because of knee surgery, should be back before the ACC schedule begins. But even with a team that is double-digits deep, it would be difficult to sustain a winning streak if a couple of starters get hurt in 2009.
The NBA | Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Green all "tested the waters"
of the NBA before opting to return to college.
Williams said he isn't worried that they might put showcasing their individual skills to scouts ahead of playing in the Tar Heel team concept. But if they do, they would likely see the bench more than the court - and opponents might see more W's.
Defense | North Carolina's opponents made only 42.6 percent of their shots last season, but that's never enough for Williams - whose top two tenets are pushing the pace and being stick-to-itive. Green pointed out that UNC's defensive statistics sometimes look inconsistent "because teams are giving us their best shots ... everyone wants to beat us."
But who can do it? And how many times? UNC may not having any "glaring" weaknesses, but can they exploit those of their opponents night in and night out?
"I think Wake Forest has a real shot to challenge ... plus Duke, Miami, Clemson's got a chance to beat them,"
Bilas said. "But can they be consistent enough week-in and week-out?"
