Now that's what I am talking about.
Several things I saw tonight which seems to show that this team may have arrived at the level we all expected them to be when the season started. Ty Lawson racked up nine assists with zero turnovers which included an incredible bounce pass over his head while laying on his back. Having Lawson fully in charge of the offense at point can only mean the offense is close to being fully gelled. Brandan Wright is sick, sick, sick. Wright is smooth as glass and grabbed some incredible rebounds with that wingspan he has. Tyler Hansbrough was his usual bullish self in the lane and hit that sweet hook show a couple of times. Wayne Ellington was on fire from behind the arc hitting five of six threes. This was an utterly balanced offensive attack and if UNC can come out running the physical/slashing tandem of Hansbrough and Wright in the paint with Lawson breaking down defense and distributing the ball along with Ellington opening up the lane by shredding the zone from the perimeter. Add to these efforts the supporting cast for UNC hitting shots when needed and it will make slowing down the UNC offense very tough.
Another aspect of the defense which stuck out to me was the how intense the pressure defense was tonight. There was an expectation UNC would bring serious pressure defense as a part of their extended depth. So far this season that did not appear to be the case until tonight when it seems like Roy Williams flipped a switch and had the Heels play that vaunted jump pressure more often in this game as in the first 11 of the season. The defense had been a bit of a bugaboo early on but now it seems like the players are getting a handle on the defensive schemes as well as the idea of playing with high intensity. Also, for the second straight game, UNC worked it's way through first half but came out in the second half to impose it's will and style on it's opponent to completely dominate the rest of the game.
Aside from all of that, this is a fun team to watch on so many levels. Then again winning is always fun but I would venture to say this is far more entertaning than the winning going on in Durham right now.