With No. 2 Syracuse (15-0, 2-0 Atlantic Coast) hosting North Carolina (10-5, 0-2) on Saturday at noon, The Daily Orange spoke with Michael Lananna, sports editor and UNC beat writer for The Daily Tar Heel, about the game.

The Daily Orange: It’s no secret that North Carolina has one of the more confusing resumes in the country. The Tar Heels have beaten then-No. 1 Michigan State, then-No. 3 Louisville and then-No. 11 Kentucky, but lost to five unranked opponents, most recently Wake Forest and Miami back-to-back. What is the biggest factor surrounding the team’s inconsistency this season?

Michael Lananna: It is very tough to pinpoint one. A lot of people have pointed to them getting up to play ranked games and then taking others too lightly. A lot of players have backed that up. (UNC head coach) Roy (Williams) sort of backed that up today. I think part of it too is just by nature. A lot of players on the team are really streaky. They don’t have, besides Marcus Paige, a consistent scorer. I look at it almost as a team of role players.

The D.O.: Is James Michael McAdoo the guy that needs to step up most to help Paige, is there another player or is it more of a team effort?

M.L.: I think a lot fans do point to McAdoo. He hasn’t really lived up to a lot of the high expectations that surrounded him as a top recruit after his freshman season. He’s a guy who is very inconsistent. One game he’ll put up a double-double, the next he’ll shoot horribly. He’s someone who could definitely carry the team on an off game when Marcus isn’t playing well. They need to be able to rely on him. J.P. Tokoto has also been able to, at times, carry the team this year.

The thing about this team is that it really doesn’t have shooters outside of Marcus. McAdoo is not consistent with his jump shot, and has no post game either. He’ll get a steal and a dunk, and is a good defender, but they can’t rely on him to get his own shot. When Paige isn’t going, they’re in a lot of trouble and need McAdoo and Tokoto to be on top of their games to beat Syracuse.

The D.O.: Tokoto’s left-handed dunk in transition against Miami got a lot of attention. How important is it for the team to get out on the break, especially against SU’s zone?

M.L.: They really struggled against Miami’s zone. They weren’t getting out in transition, committed unforced turnovers, had sloppy ball-handling. Carolina basketball has always been built around the idea of fast break, getting out in transition. They’ve dominated in games, looked like top-15, top-10 teams, in games they’ve been able to (get out in transition).

The D.O.: Has the team emotionally moved on from P.J. Hairston?

M.L.: I don’t think it’s effecting them much at this point. After the early-season loss to Belmont, Roy did say that you can’t wait for the cavalry to come in. Early, yes, but at this point I don’t think it bothers them. I think they had an inkling of what was going to happen.

The D.O.: So all things considered, what do the Tar Heels need to do to have a chance to upset Syracuse?

M.L: I think Paige needs to have a rebound game for sure, and they need to get out in transition. Another key point for them has been rebounding and especially offensive rebounding. That’s something they’ve done better lately, but those are the keys, along with focusing on coming out with intensity.

With all that said, it’s a tough team to predict. I don’t look at this game and think they’re going to beat Syracuse. SU is the clear favorite. It’s just a really tough team to predict because one game they play like a top-10 team, one game they play like an unranked one.

Published on January 10, 2014 at 8:07 pm

Contact Stephen: sebail01@syr.edu | @Stephen_Bailey1