# data[].attributes.body
Going off this article I can do more topics on college basketball and the way teams go into march madness feeling and who is predicted to win.

# data[].attributes.body
My opinion of this article was great because I like the way it states what the teams the Tar Heels versus playing styles are like and how the Heels are looking so far coming up on March Madness.

# data[].attributes.body
In the article, they were comparing 9th ranked North Carolina against teams that they have already played. Also were talking about where the Tar Heels matchup up in the final four.

# data[].attributes.body
How North Carolina basketball ranks among other schools.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
How good is UNC Basketball? More than most teams, the answer to this question might depend on the individual matchup.

At 19-5 and ranked 8th in KenPom, North Carolina has had a solid season thus far. But if you ask someone for their top 5-7 teams in the nation, UNC Basketball seems to often be on the outside looking in of this discussion. If this perception is true, I think it's fairly warranted. The Tar Heels have had some solid home wins over Gonzaga and Virginia Tech. But on the other hand, UNC wasn't too competitive in a 13-point loss at Michigan, looked underwhelming in an 8-point neutral court loss against Kentucky, and had a good chance to win yet fell short at home against Virginia.

Is UNC just not quite good enough, or did some of these losses come down to poor matchups? As I looked into the results, there seemed to be certain opponent profiles that UNC has faired better and worse against this season.

My hypothesis was this: North Carolina, with its 9th ranked offense, is at its best when its offense is clicking. With the 5th quickest tempo in the nation, UNC's offense is most comfortable when it can play fast. Playing at a quick tempo allows UNC to take advantage of its passing ability ( 7th in assist rate) and get good looks from three ( 40th in 3P%). Therefore, it seems UNC would play best against teams with worse defenses (duh, I know), higher tempos, and the highest amount of defensive 3PA's allowed.

It would play worse against teams that defend really well, slow the game down, and allow less 3PA's. It felt to me like this was the case, but has this actually played out? The below charts reflect UNC's best wins and losses thus far this season. I excluded Louisville, as UNC has had both a good win and bad loss against the Cardinals, effectively canceling each other out.
(All statistics used in this article were found via KenPom and are up to date through the games completed on Feb 13.).
Gonzaga: Being at home helped UNC, in addition to the fact that Gonzaga's defense was significantly worse than its current 21st ranking when it played UNC. Gonzaga's fast pace of play may have improved UNC's odds of victory. The Tar Heels pushed the ball and put up plenty of threes, shooting 13-25 from downtown. For these reasons, Gonzaga might have been a decent matchup for UNC.

North Carolina St.: With only the 67th ranked defense, the Wolfpack weren't in a great position to slow UNC's offense down. Their 31st ranking in pace of play may have only made things easier for UNC.

Virginia Tech: At first glance, Virginia Tech might actually seem like a tough matchup for UNC, as it's both strong defensively and doesn't play at a fast pace. I liked the Tar Heels' chances, however, as almost no team in the country has allowed more 3PA's than the Hokies. Against a great three-point shooting team like UNC, I wasn't sure this would go well.

Wofford: The Terriers' strength isn't on the defensive end, and the fact they also give up quite a few 3PA's likely didn't help their cause.

Texas: The Longhorns posed a challenging matchup for UNC, as its interior athleticism and 34th ranked defense didn't make things easy. Texas's defense doesn't allow a ton of threes, and maybe most importantly, they play at the 297th tempo in the nation. The UNC-Texas matchup was actually played at a pretty fast pace, but maybe there was something about Texas's style of play that still favored them.

Michigan: The Wolverines arguably pose a tougher matchup for UNC than any other team in the country. Not only do they have the 2nd ranked defense and allow 3PA's at the 2nd lowest rate, Michigan plays at the 304th fastest rate in the country.

Kentucky: The Wildcats boast the 9th ranked defense and are 249th i n tempo. I was surprised by how UNC's performed in this game. Perhaps its just came down to the matchup.

Virginia: If Michigan's the toughest matchup for UNC, Virginia is likely right up there. The Tar Heels actually had a good chance to win, but the Cavaliers proved too much. Their 3rd ranked defense and 353rd pace of play may have provided a tough matchup for UNC.

All five of UNC's losses (including Louisville) have come against teams with a tempo ranking of 233rd or lower. No game is easy in March, but a tough matchup can make things even worse. It's worth keeping this in mind when figuring out how far to send UNC in a bracket.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
UNC Basketball: How matchup dependent are the Tar Heels in 2018-19?

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
At 19-5 and ranked 8th in KenPom, North Carolina has had a solid season thus far. But if you ask someone for their top 5-7 teams in the nation, UNC Basketball seems to often be on the outside looking in of this discussion. If this perception is true, I think it's fairly warranted.

# data[].attributes.body
For laters I could do history of sports teams but just specific category like scoring leaders, etc. I can also just look more in to sports teams and comparing them to their rivals.

# data[].attributes.body
My opinion of this article is, that it is well organized. It explains who and what their stats were to contribute for them being one or the top freshman in North Carolina history.

# data[].attributes.body
This article is about how the North Carolina Tar Heels basketball team ranked their best freshman. In the article the top freshman can go back all the way back until the 1970's and includes former and present NBA players.

# data[].attributes.body
Ranking the North Carolina Tar Heels best freshman.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.readable_text
With Coby White's terrific and, in some respects, historic play through the ACC schedule thus far, it begs the question: If he can keep this up, where would Coby's season rank against the great freshman seasons in UNC history? To qualify his terrific present, we must go back and take a look at the past.

Here are the 10 Greatest Freshman Seasons in UNC History:
James Worthy- 1979-80 Walter Davis- 1973-74 Raymond Felton/Rashad M*****s- 2002-03 Jerry Stackhouse- 1993-94 Ed Cota - 1996-97
10) Brandan Wright - 2006-07
Stats: 14.7 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 65% fg, 57% ft
The rare Roy Williams one-and-doner, Wright came to Chapel Hill as the crown jewel of a terrific recruiting class that included Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Deon Thompson. Wright lived up to the hype: He formed a dominant frontline duo with Tyler Hansbrough and provided efficient interior scoring to go with disruptive rim protection on defense. He also was one of the first players to cause Jay Bilas to go ga-ga over "wingspan" on Draft Night. Wright helped lead the Heels to an ACC Regular Season (shared) and ACC Tournament Title, as well as an Elite Eight berth.
Stats: 15.6 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 47% fg, 34% 3-pt, 75% ft
The most heralded recruit Roy Williams has ever brought to Chapel Hill, Barnes was hailed as the next great Tar Heel, even being named a 1st-Team Preseason All-American. Though he never quite measured up to THAT preposterous standard, Barnes had a very strong year, particularly in ACC play, that featured several terrific performances in the clutch, notably with a buzzer beater against Florida State and against Clemson in the ACC Tournament when he tied the UNC freshman record with 40 points.

8) Mike O'Koren - 1976-77
Stats: 13.9 ppg, 6.6 rpg, 1.8 apg, 58% fg, 73% ft
On a Dean Smith team as loaded as the 1977 Tar Heels were, you wouldn't have thought a freshman would get much shine. That wasn't the case with Mike O'Koren. The freshman guard had a terrific rookie campaign, providing floor-stretching shooting that opened things up for stars Phil Ford and Walter Davis. When the infamous injury bug smote the Heels in the postseason, O'Koren was there to pick up the slack. He scored 31 points in Carolina's thrilling win over favored UNLV in the National Semifinal, the signature moment of one of UNC's most underrated players.

7) J.R. Reid - 1986-87
Stats: 14.7 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.8 apg, 58% fg, 65% ft
In 1986 the Tar Heels were looking to recover from the loss of #1 overall pick Brad Daugherty. Thanks to J.R., they hardly missed a beat. Reid was one of Dean Smith's most highly sought after recruits and paid dividends the minute he hit the floor. Along with Joe Wolf and Kenny Smith, he formed a dominant trio that had the Tar Heels ranked in the top 5 all season long, nearly making the Final Four before being upset by Syracuse.

6) Joseph Forte - 1999-2000
Stats: 16.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 2.6 apg, 46% fg, 36% 3-pt, 75% ft
Lost at times during the whacky-waving-inflatible-arm-flailing season that was UNC's 2000, was just how good of a season Joseph Forte had. That all changed when the Tar Heels hit the NCAA Tournament. Bill Guthridge's Heels, maddeningly inconsistent all season long, suddenly locked into fifth gear and went on an unlikely tournament run, reaching the Final Four. No one was more important to that run than Forte, who came up with big games against Stanford, Tennessee, and Tulsa to send the Tar Heels to the National Semifinal.

5) Antawn Jamison - 1995-96
Stats: 15.1 ppg, 9.7 rpg, 1.0 bpg, 62% fg, 53% ft
The Tar Heels were fresh off a trip to the Final Four and were hoping to replace All-American studs Jerry Stackhouse and Rasheed Wallace with Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison. Carter, it turned out, would need some time to develop. Jamison, however, was ready from Day One. A hyper efficient scorer and a monster rebounder, Jamison wreaked havoc on opponents on the offense end and would only get better throughout his career at Chapel Hill. The crowning achievement of his rookie campaign was his terrific 31-point performance in an overtime win over Maryland, a game he won at the buzzer.

4) Michael Jordan - 1981-82
Stats: 13.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg, 1.8 apg, 53% fg, 72% ft
Hard to rank Michael Jordan #4 at anything, but with star players James Worthy and Sam Perkins playing alongside him, there wasn't an opportunity for Jordan to be the star we all came to know...yet. Nonetheless, MJ was a terrific freshman, providing mature-beyond-his-years offense and terrific defense in Dean Smith's tight and efficient system. He was a vital cog of arguably the greatest team in UNC history. Oh yeah, he hit a kinda big shot against Georgetown as well...

3) Sam Perkins - 1980-81
Stats: 14.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.8 bpg, 63% fg, 74% ft
As great as Jordan was in 1982, what his frequent co-star Sam Perkins did in 1981 was even better. Perkins provided to Dean Smith what his team had been missing ever since the graduation of Tommy LaGarde: A dominant post player. Coupled with James Worthy, Perkins lit it up on the interior right away, scoring, rebounding, and defending efficiently. His play was noticeably mature for his age and he proved himself equal to any challenge, squaring off three times with the mighty Ralph Sampson. Indeed, by the end of his freshman campaign, some believed it was Perkins, not Worthy, and not incoming frosh Jordan who would be Carolina's great star.

2) Tyler Hansbrough - 2005-06
Stats: 18.9 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.3 apg, 57% fg, 74% ft
What Psycho T did his freshman year at UNC has already been chiseled into the stone of Carolina lore. We all know the story by now: The 2005 Championship, the mass exodus of Carolina seven top scorers, the unranked start to the season. Hansbrough led arguably the scrappiest teams in UNC history to an unexpected 12-4 ACC Season, a #3-seed in the NCAA Tournament, and a certain victory on a certain court against a certain team on a certain player's Senior Night. Throw in the 40-point game against Georgia Tech and you've got one of the best frosh seasons ever by one of Carolina's finest players.

1) Phil Ford - 1974-75
Stats: 16.4 ppg, 5.2 apg, 52% fg, 78% ft
Here's all you need to know about Phil Ford's freshman season: Dean Smith, in his then 14 years as the head coach of North Carolina, had never started a freshman who hadn't been a junior varsity player. Phil Ford started from Day One. The first star freshman in UNC history was also the best: Ford assumed command of a talented UNC team that featured Walter Davis and Mitch Kupchak and led them to new heights. Ford was a lethal threat both as a scorer and playmaker and ran Dean's dreaded Four Corners offense to perfection. The Tar Heels won the 1975 ACC Tournament (one of the best tournaments the ACC has ever had), knocking off mighty NC State and wrapping up the career of the legendary David Thompson. One of the great images in Tar Heel history is the image of Ford, his neck draped with the game net, holding the ACC Tournament Championship plaque in one hand, and the Tournament MVP plaque in the other as the crowd chanted "Three More Years! Three More Years!"

So where will Coby rank? Only the next two months will tell. But one's thing for certain, if he can find a place on a list like this, he'll be in some mighty strong company.

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.title
Ranking the best freshman seasons in UNC basketball history

# data[].attributes.attachment_link.description
With Coby White's terrific and, in some respects, historic play through the ACC schedule thus far, it begs the question: If he can keep this up, where would Coby's season rank against the great freshman seasons in UNC history? To qualify his terrific present, we must go back and take a look at the past.