Michael Malone isn’t hiding where he wants North Carolina to start.
The Tar Heels added scoring punch this offseason, and Terrence Brown and Matt Able give them plenty of offensive upside. Brown, in particular, stands out as the newcomer worth watching on that end of the floor. He could, at minimum, put up 15-plus points a night, and there’s even a path for him to get close to 20 if everything clicks.
But Malone made it clear that none of that matters much if North Carolina doesn’t hold up defensively.
That’s the foundation he keeps coming back to as he looks ahead to his first season with the program. When he spoke with reporters about the style he wants his team to play, he pointed straight at defense as the biggest priority.
“For the style of play, defending is going to be the most important thing,” said Malone, per Rodd Baxley.
He expanded on that idea by stressing that the Tar Heels have to commit on that end if they want their offense to work the way they envision.
“If you ask our players right now what they spend a lot of time on, it's defense. I'm a firm believer that defense wins championships.
To play the way we want to play offensively, you have to defend, you have to rebound. I don't want to be a team that's trying to run, and you're taking the ball out of the net every time.”
Malone also said he wants the identity of the team to be obvious every night inside the Smith Center, where the crowd can top 21,000.
“More important than the style of play is I just want to make sure every night in the Smith Center, when there's 21,000-plus in there, that everybody says our team plays hard, they play together, and they have a toughness and a discipline about them that is going to lead to great things,” Malone said.
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Belichick Turns UNCs Clemson Collapse Into A Bigger Tar Heels Concern
Bill Belichick came away from North Carolinas loss to Clemson sounding less interested in the final score than in the late-game details that slipped through the Tar Heels fingers. Afterward, he pointed to missed chances on both sides of the ball in the closing minutes, gave Clemson credit for making the decisive plays, and framed the defeat as the kind of game his team has to learn from quickly if it wants to keep moving forward.
Belichick also walked through several of the turning points that shaped the finish, including a key fourth-and-one pass attempt and the penalties that helped stall UNCs effort. Those are the kinds of moments that tend to linger after a close loss, and for a Tar Heels team trying to tighten things up, the bigger concern may be how many of them came in the same stretch of the game. [Read more 🡒]
Jordon Hudson Keeps Adding To UNC's Biggest Off-Field Distraction
Jordon Hudson was again a visible presence around North Carolina football on Sept. 19, when she attended the Tar Heels game against Clemson alongside head coach Bill Belichick. Her presence has become a familiar part of UNC game days since Belichicks first season on the sideline, and it has only added another layer of attention to a program already trying to keep the focus on football.
Belichick has publicly denied reports that Hudson has been involved in managing the football program, making clear that she has no official role with the university. Even so, her continued visibility has kept her tied to one of the more unusual off-field storylines surrounding the Tar Heels, with the conversation around UNC stretching beyond wins and losses and into who is actually part of the programs orbit. [Read more 🡒]
Michael Malone's First UNC Team Faces Doubts Fans Won't Ignore
Michael Malone has spent the spring and summer trying to put his stamp on North Carolina, reshaping the roster since taking over in April with a mix of transfer additions and recruiting work. The early outlook is respectable but not exactly settling for a fan base that expects more, with ESPN slotting the Tar Heels fifth in the ACC and projecting a wide range of outcomes that starts with 28 wins and a Sweet 16 run.
There is enough talent to make the conversation interesting, with transfers Terrence Brown and Neoklis Avdalas joining returnee Jarin Stevenson and freshman Maximo Adams as players expected to help offensively. Still, the projection leaves plenty of room for skepticism, and for UNC the bigger question is whether Malone can turn a newly built roster into something that looks like a true contender before the season starts answering it for him. [Read more 🡒]