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Roy Williams is at wit’s end. He’s tried everything from zone defenses to NBA-style offensive sets. He says nothing has worked. Here’s what he’s likely to do about it:

* Scrap the zone. The trademark Carolina defenses through the years have been traps on inbounds plays with harassing man-to-man defense played behind it. Remember the run-and-jump? The plodding Heels need to get speed into the backcourt to play a more up-tempo defense.

* Rebound and outlet. The past few seasons, with players like Ed Cota, Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson running things, the offense, has been jump-started by a simple ploy. Rebound the ball and get it into the point guard’s hands immediately. Carolina has lost that element of its game; in part because of rebounding, in part because it has yet to turn the offense over to the speedier guards.

* Quicker offensive sets. The half-court game, which Carolina has been forced to play this season, has broken down because of a lack of dribble penetration and a hesitancy to shoot the 3-pointer early in the possession. Williams hates this, but he has a deadly shooter, Will Graves, who can stretch defenses and mask offensive woes with deep jumpers.

* Change the starting lineup. With injuries to Tyler Zeller and Ed Davis, Carolina has struggled to establish much flow inside. But still, the Heels have the depth to recover inside. What they need is speed in the backcourt, where two fast freshmen would make Carolina quicker offensively, allowing Williams to put his old offense back in. He might see this as tantamount to giving up and playing for next year.

* Play for this year. Three more big-time recruits will come in, and the team we see now might not even exist next year anyway. If Harrison Barnes is as good as they say, he’ll replace about three inside guys next season. If the incoming backcourt of Reggie Bullock and Kendall Marshall is as impressive as they say, every guard on this year’s team will be watching from the bench anyway. Then again, we heard John Henson was going to be great, too.

Contact Ed Hardin at 373-7069 or ed.hardin@news-record.com