WRAL Sports Fan

North Carolina

Former Tar Heel big man says send it down low to beat Wildcats

By Tim Hall

Apr 2, 2009

Famous ESPN basketball broadcaster Dick Vitale graced the North Carolina faithful by stamping the Tar Heels as his pick to win the Final Four this weekend in Detroit.

Former North Carolina big man Eric Montross would know all about it.  He was a part of the 1993 NCAA championship team that beat Michigan at the Superdome in New Orleans  Now the color analyst for the Tar Heel Sports Network, Montross joined 99.9 The Fan and said the plan should be to consistently dump the ball down low.

"I think it has to be I think you have to take advantage,"  Montross said Thursday. "If you don't take advantage of Hansbrough, Thompson,  Ed Davis, even Tyler Zeller when he would come in, then I think you're losing your great advantage as a team."

Dante Cunningham is Villanova's biggest body and leading scorer at more than 16 points per game.   At 6-8 and 230 pounds he is the biggest and tallest option in the Wildcats' starting lineup.  But Montross doesn't see him as enough to match the Heels' big men.

"There is not a great inside presence," Montross said. "Cunningham - and I say that out of respect - is a great player, but he is not your inside post player that lives and dies in only the block situations.  This is a team that is guard-oriented."

The key to this game could come down to Villanova's shooters against North Carolina's paint production.  The Wildcats are equipped with scoring guards and they will not be afraid to run with Ty Lawson and the North Carolina offense.

Also not to forget, the Wildcats just beat one of the most bruising team's in America in Pitt.   Sam Young and DeJaun Blair combined for 48 points and 17 rebounds and still lost to the smaller Wildcats.  Pittsburgh only outscored Villanova 32-30 in the lane.