CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Kennedy Meeks and Brice Johnson are quick to admit they were the brunt of the majority of Roy Williams’ verbal lashings a year ago.

“We didn’t run the court well enough,” they both said.

Williams isn’t one of those guys who welcomes change. He is traditional in his approach, and that was clear two seasons ago when he refused to go the small-ball route late in the season when it became painfully obvious that nothing else would work.

But the preference is to play with true big men, and that’s why the emergence -- and consistency -- of both Meeks and Johnson is critical to the Tar Heels' success in 2014-15.