3 Unc

POS.	PLAYER	HT.	CLASS	KEY STATS
SF	Reyshawn TERRY -- RETURNING STARTER	6'8"	Sr.	14.3 ppg	6.2 rpg
PF	Tyler HANSBROUGH -- RETURNING STARTER	6'9"	Soph.	18.9 ppg	7.8 rpg
PF	Brandan WRIGHT*	6'9"	Fr.	22.4 ppg	5.1 bpg
SG	Wayne ELLINGTON*	6'4"	Fr.	21.9 ppg	8.3 rpg
PG	Bobby FRASOR -- RETURNING STARTER	6'3"	Soph.	6.4 ppg	4.4 apg
G-F	Ty LAWSON* -- KEY RESERVE	5'11"	Fr.	23.8 ppg	9.1 apg

Just as Moore's Law states that computer chips double in speed every two years, Ol' Roy's Law does more or less the same for the Tar Heels. At the end of last season coach Roy Williams gathered his troops and issued a challenge: The 2006--07 team would play faster than any of the 18 he has coached. "I really think we should," says Williams, who adds the country's best recruiting class to a roster headlined by national player of the year candidate Tyler Hansbrough. "We have the ingredients to do that, so the only thing left is the will. And I have the will, so they've got to have the will."

Turbocharging North Carolina's already relentless attack will 1) let the players do what they love to do, which is run; 2) increase the number of possessions to maximize the Tar Heels' talent advantage; and 3) allow Williams to use what he calls "potentially the best depth I've ever had," a lineup that could go (no lie) 12 deep. Like a Michelin-starred chef who flies in lobster from Maine and grass-fed beef from Kansas, Williams has scoured the land for players who fit his vision and "can run like crazy," none more so than his top three freshmen: 5'11" point-guard blur Ty Lawson, 6'9" forward Brandan Wright and 6'4" guard Wayne Ellington, a dead-eye shooter. "No one will want to leave Wayne open," Hansbrough says. "I already learned that over the summer."

Of course Williams's strategy could have its pitfalls, not least because 12 men can't play at the same time. "Guys' minutes will go down," says sophomore Bobby Frasor, who started every game at point guard last season and will keep his spot (for now) while Lawson comes off the bench, "but Coach wants us playing at such a fast pace that hopefully everyone's [scoring] numbers will be the same or more than last year."

Williams won't hesitate to start three freshmen, as he did at Kansas in 1999--00 with Nick Collison, Drew Gooden and Kirk Hinrich. Yet the tasks facing a rookie point guard in Williams's system can be monumental. Can Lawson handle the burden? "Ty's really gifted," says Williams, "but can he get out of his comfort mode and push, push, push--10 out of 10 possessions--in addition to calling the sets, deciding which plays we'll run on the break and calling the defenses?"

Still, North Carolina won't try to match the hyperpace of the '80s Loyola Marymount teams coached by Paul Westhead. "I have a great deal of respect for Paul, but he always wanted a shot within seven seconds," Williams says. "I want the first really good shot, and it's up to me to make sure we understand what a really good shot is." After all, if someone's going to enforce Ol' Roy's Law, it might as well be the man himself.

[This article contains a table. Please see hardcopy of magazine or PDF.]

*HIGH SCHOOL STATS

BIG QUESTIONS

Will the battle for playing time disrupt team chemistry? ... Can they develop enough threats to prevent Hansbrough from being double- and triple-teamed? ... Will Lawson be able to avoid turnovers while running at Williams's breakneck pace?

SCHEDULE *NIT Season Tip-Off, Charlotte