For as long as Roy Williams has been at North Carolina, the Tar Heels have been famous for winning games on the interior.
UNC has long excelled at pounding the ball inside and crashing the offensive glass on any misses. It's an approach that has netted Williams two national championships at Chapel Hill, and, if not for a rather famous shot by Villanova's Kris Jenkins last April, it's possible that number would be three. This is most definitely a proven approach.
This season, however, Carolina is showing opponents a new look. The Heels are shooting more 3s than they ever have before under Williams. In ACC play, 33 percent of UNC's shot attempts have been launched from beyond the arc. By comparison, the program's 13-year average under Williams heading into this season was just 26 percent in conference play.
In fact, as recently as the 2014-15 ACC season, North Carolina devoted just 20 percent of its shots to 3-point attempts. This season marks a decided change in direction for the offense. The 3-pointer used to be this team's choice on one out of every four or even five shots. Now it's one in three.
My colleague C.L. Brown asked the staff and players about the new look for the offense this week, and Williams indicated he's happy to do what works.
"You have to ask where your strength is," the coach said. "Justin Jackson is shooting a much higher percentage from 3 than he shot last year. Joel Berry is doing the same thing."
For his part Berry sees the new emphasis as a case where North Carolina's simply responding to what opponents are doing on defense.
"Everyone wants to stop us from getting the ball inside," Berry said. "They know we have an advantage in there. So I think a lot of teams try to pack it in, and that leaves open opportunities for me, Justin and Kenny [Williams] to be able to knock down some 3s."
Even with this change in approach, the Tar Heels still aren't what you'd call a perimeter-oriented team. In ACC play an average offense is devoting almost 36 percent of its shots to 3s. Still, UNC's much closer to that average than at any time since 2006.
Jackson is averaging 2.7 made 3s per game, a number that makes the junior the most prolific outside scorer that Williams has ever had in Chapel Hill. Carolina has had no shortage of productive 3-point shooters before, ranging from Danny Green and Wes Miller to P.J. Hairston and Rashad McCants. Still none of those players equaled (or perhaps had the same green light that is fueling) Jackson's numbers this season.
Berry's not far behind his teammate, averaging 2.5 3-point makes per contest. With Jackson and Berry shooting a combined 40 percent on their 3s, opposing defenses are presented with what can only be termed a thankless task. The Heels have multiple perimeter threats and, of course, the likes of Kennedy Meeks, Isaiah Hicks and Tony Bradley in the paint. Defending all of those guys is one tall order.
Indeed, even forcing a miss on Carolina's first shot is just the beginning of the challenge for opponents. In addition to being Williams' most prolific 3-point shooting rotation, this might turn out to be the best offensive rebounding team he has ever had.
In conference play thus far, UNC has rebounded 44 percent of its missed shots. That remarkable number would qualify as the highest level of offensive rebounding we've ever seen from a Williams team in ACC play. (The record here is 43 percent, set by Tyler Hansbrough, Deon Thompson and the aforementioned Green in the 2007-08 conference season.)
Meeks and Bradley in particular are fearsome on the offensive glass, and the Heels' ability to erase misses has powered this offense's rise to the top of the ACC. North Carolina has scored 1.16 points per trip in conference play, the best mark in the league.
Perhaps the most impressive part of all of the above is that it doesn't really make basketball sense, so to speak. Carolina's newfound perimeter prowess should, at least in theory, work against its traditional excellence in the area of offensive rebounding. Missed 3s are the most difficult shots for an offense to rebound, yet somehow UNC's shooting more treys and putting up unprecedented numbers on the offensive glass.
There's no way this can be good news for opponents. If Berry is correct, and opposing defenses think the way to beat the Heels is to pack the paint, well, good luck with that. Williams' men are hitting 37 percent of their 3s against ACC opponents. The pack-the-paint strategy speaks more to UNC's past than to what this present group is capable of doing.
When asked about his team's new fondness for 3s this week, Williams said he'd "like to score 820 or something." No problem, Coach. This offense requires a mere 707 possessions to reach that number. That's about 10 games, and, with 2017-version North Carolina making defenses pay from the perimeter, the Tar Heels have a shot at winning them all.