Plenty of Talent

Stress reaction probably never caused so many stressed reactions.

The phrase crawled across the bottoms of television screens and plopped down at the tops of newspaper pages in late October, when North Carolina announced that Tyler Hansbrough would stop practicing while doctors monitored the stress-reaction condition in his right shin.

Carolina fans and ACC promoters immediately asked two questions.

No. 1: What's that?

Answer: Carolina defined the injury as something similar to shin splits. The condition isn't a stress fracture now, but the bone could break if Hansbrough doesn't let it rest. There's no word yet on Coach Roy Williams' condition.

No. 2: What does this mean down the road, in March?

Answer: Nobody knows, which creates long-term anxiety for the Tar Heels and ACC drum-beaters intent on reestablishing the league's superiority.

The NCAA committee selected only four members for the 2008 tournament. ACC coaches remain publicly perplexed and privately dissed.

The top-ranked Tar Heels advanced to the Final Four in San Antonio, where Hansbrough accepted various awards as the national player of the year but didn't celebrate anything else. Kansas shredded Carolina in the semifinals.

Duke (2001), Maryland (2002) and Carolina (2005) won championships fairly recently, and Georgia Tech reached the 2004 title game.

On the flip side, the ACC didn't even play for a regional title in 2003 or 2006. The league's NCAA Tournament record was 26-10 in 2004 and 2005 combined but slipped to 19-15 over the past three seasons.

With all five starters and several reserves back, the current Tar Heels rank head and shins above the crowd, unanimously No. 1 in the AP poll. Point guard Ty Lawson, shooter Wayne Ellington and sixth man Danny Green retreated from the NBA cattle call at the last minute.

Guard Bobby Frasor returned from injury, joined by well-regarded freshmen. Defensive ace Marcus Ginyard probably will recover from a stress fracture in his foot before the first league game.

The lingering question: Is Hansbrough's injury serious?

Answer: Any Hansbrough injury is serious, because Carolina can't win it all without all of him.

Opportunity knocks?

That precondition could open windows of opportunity around the league. Duke is the most likely challenger, although the Blue Devils obviously need certain changes to sustain their way of life deep into the playoffs.

Virginia Commonwealth evicted Duke in the first round in 2007. Last season, Belmont nearly upset the Blue Devils the first night, and West Virginia pounded them in the second half of the second round. The missing element: power, especially inside.

While Olympics kingpin Mike Krzyzewski traveled to China, his undergrads visited the weight room and the buffet. Kyle Singler, the ACC's top freshman, added 20 pounds to his 6-8 frame. Lance Thomas managed about the same increase. Brian Zoubek, possibly a key element, checked in at 7-1, 280. Two freshmen pushed the scale beyond 230 pounds.

They will join dual point guards Greg Paulus and Nolan Smith, high-flying Gerald Henderson, gritty Jon Scheyer and 6-4 freshman Elliot Williams in a vast cast of trophy hunters. Will the legs and minds go the distance?

Wake Forest and Miami look like NCAA teams, followed closely by Clemson and Virginia Tech.

The Deacons (17-13) relied on the younger two classes last season, when All-ACC rookies James Johnson and Jeff Teague led the scoring. The arrival of Skip Prosser's final recruits -- especially forward Al-Farouq Aminu -- pumped up the preseason noise.

Cool reality tempers the hot expectations surrounding a team with 100 percent of its points returning. Coach Dino Gaudio could use a reliable backcourt shooter to counteract sagging defenses, and the Deacons would prefer to feel comfortable with point guard Ish Smith in tense stretch runs.

Smith's late field goals won a couple of games, but his 29-percent foul shooting caused consternation and prompted special summer instruction. Smith is going with the natural approach rather than technical modifications, but first he must recover from a fractured foot bone.

Miami has the No. 2 foul shooter in ACC history, senior Jack McClinton (90.8 percent, trailing only J.J. Redick's 91.2 percent). Miami (23-11) has four returning starters, muscles and depth. Miami also has 6-8 Dwayne Collins, who sometimes shows up and sometimes doesn't.

Tigers, Hokies hopeful

Coach Oliver Purnell crossed off two Clemson milestones last season: first ACC final in 46 years and first NCAA bid in 10. The Tigers seem poised for more relentless defense, the interchangeable parts flying off the bench.

As replacement parts go, Clemson needs another version of powerful James Mays (preferably with two good hands). Demontez Stitt will strive to succeed departed point guard Cliff Hammonds, a considerable chore.

Virginia Tech's Seth Greenberg was voted ACC coach of the year in 2005 and 2008, when his teams didn't make the NCAA Tournament. He wasn't coach of the year in 2007, when the Hokies made it. Odd. Does that say more about Greenberg or awards?

Greenberg doesn't need honors this year as much as his team needs an honest personality implant with hyperactive instigator Deron Washington gone. Shooter A.D. Vassallo joins 6-7 Jeff Allen and point guard Malcolm Delaney in another act of potential bubble drama.

Nearly every ACC team opens every schedule with NCAA dreams. Achieving them will tax the rosters of Maryland, Florida State, Boston College, Georgia Tech, Virginia and N.C. State.

The Wolfpack (15-16 overall, tied for the ACC bottom at 4-12) struggled through J.J. Hickson's blow-by season. Frontcourt operatives Brandon Costner and Ben McCauley should spring back to their former vigor, but Coach Sidney Lowe, once the formidable floor leader of a national champion, still lacks a dependable point guard. Talk about stress.