I really hope Roy Williams talked some sense into his players, because Georgia Tech is a really good team, and I don’t want to see a second straight blow out especially not in the Dean Dome. Georgia Tech is kind of a Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde team. They beat Duke at home, but them lost to Virginia on the road. What I do know is that they can match the size of Carolina and that is the only basic advantage Carolina has had on teams throughout the season. Rebounding will be a huge part of this game. The team with the most rebounds in the box score will win this game I can say with confidence. Carolina must not turn the ball over. A good day handling the ball for the Heels is like 15 turnovers. If they can keep it at the 12 or 11 range, I think that Carolina will have a really great shot at winning. Another X factor is toughness and heart. Against Clemson, most of the players showed no heart, toughness, or perseverance. I know this Carolina team is young, but they have to gain some mental toughness somewhere down the road. They’ll also have to face the Yellow Jackets without Tyler Zeller who is out 4 to 6 weeks. A Perfect time for a player like John Henson to step up and play well. Which player should the Heels concentrate on? Gani Lawal. He’s averaging 15 point and 9 rebounds on the season, a near double double. Carolina cannot let him get inside position and bully them in the post. The Heels have to be aggresive. They should also push the ball upcourt. Carolina would like to get the game into the eighties. I don’t Georgia Tech is fast enought to keep up with th Heels. If it’s a half court game, the guards for Carolina will have to take care of the ball. It is vital for Strickland and Drew to make wise choices when passing the ball. There should be no “no look” passes or behind the back passes, just fundamental basketball. The big men for Carolina need see the ball into their hands and try to keep from dropping the basketball. Big men like Deion Thompson and Ed Davis sometimes let the basketball slip out of their hands. All in All the Heels will be in for a fight. If they put effort into every play and scratch and claw for every rebound and loose ball, the Heels will end the afternoon with a win.
I honestly have never ever seen my Tar heels play so poorly. I am sick and tired of using the “their a young team” excuse. Carolina has two seniors on their team, Deion Thompson and Marcus Ginyard. Their leadership skills this season has been nonexistent. Each player had 5 turnovers each, adding to the total of 25 turnovers. It was like watching a high school team at times. Carolina has no answer for the Clemson’s full court press. The Tigers came in the game hyped, smacked us in the face, and never looked back. Where is the energy and desire of the Carolina players? Where is the competitiveness? It’s either they think too much, or not enough. It was pointed it out several times in the game that some of the turnovers were not even pressure related. Early in the season when the Heel’s were throwing the ball away, I just shrugged it off to the players not being used to each other. Now it has become a real issue that needs to be taken care of. There is no doubt in my mind that Roy Williams will take care of this. He’ll spark a fire in them before the Georgia Tech game this Saturday.
They were hard to find, but there are some bright spots I saw in the Carolina vs. Clemson game last night.
1. Dexter Strickland is the best freshman on the team and he showed it last night. While the whole team was struggling, Strickland never lost his edge. He put in 17 points for the Heels. The next highest scorer had nine points. It is clear to me that Strickland deserves the starting spot of Larry Drew. They both make poor decisions, but Strickland is lesser of two evils.
2. Roy Williams is a great coach. He literally turned his back for 5 minutes of the game, trying to get his starters mind right. He pulled all of his starters and put in 5 freshman. How many coaches would have enough confidence and trust in his young players to put five (like Dick Vitale says) diaper dandies in? Like I previously stated, he didn’t even watch them, and you know what? The youngsters were doing excellent for time they were in. Actually they performed better than the starters. Williams should have kept the freshman in, because the starting 5 turned the ball over instantly after they came back in.
Usually I hear college basketball analysts say “Carolina doesn’t rebuild, they reload”. This year, they are wrong. Carolina lost 75 percent of their scoring last year. I saw that statistic several times toward the beginning of the year, because I didn’t think it meant anything. I believed that the freshman would bring youth and quickness. I also thought that Larry Drew practiced hard during the summer to prepare for filling Lawson’s shoes. I’m glad that the Heels have size, but the guards can’t get the ball to them without turning it over. I guess we Carolina fans just have to take our frustration one game at a time.
Tonight will be a true test. The Tarheels will travel to Little John to face the Clemson Tigers. History shows that the Heels do very well against the Tigers. You just might as well through that out the window. Everytime UNC plays Clemson, my heart beats rapidly. I can never relaz when the Heels play these guys. Everytime it seems like the Tigers get closer and closer to beating Carolina. Last year UNC beat them 94 to 70. Of course they did, last year’s team was the national champions! To really discover my phobia of Tarheel games vs. Clemson you have to go back a year or two.
January 6 2008: North Carolina 90 Clemson 88 F/OT- I probably paced back and forth at least a mile while watching this game. The score was 87 to 88 with Clemson on top. 05.4 seconds to go Hansbrough inbounds to Lawson he dribbles passes it to Ellington for the three and SWISH; with .004 left. One of the happiest moments of my tarheel fan life……..probably top ten. What made it so much better was looking at the stunned faces of the Clemson fans. I loved it.
February 10 2008: North Carolina 103 Clemson 93 F/2OT- Carolina was down for the most part of regulation. Halfway throught the second half they decide to play some basketball. Later in the 2nd half both teams exchange some threes and Clinton Thomas, of all people, drives into the lane with the game tying layup to send the game into overtime. In overtime Clinton Thomas sinks to clutch free throws to send the game into the second overtime. (One of Clinton Thomas’s best performances) So in the second overtime North Carolina starts to pull away, thus the score being 103 to 93. A very huge scare, but like before, the Heels survived
March 16 2008: North Carolina 86 Clemson 81 (ACC Championship)- Fresh off a game winning shot by Hansbrough against Virgina Tech, the Tarheels faced of versus the Tigers for a third time. It was either the Tigers or play Duke for a third time. So it didn’t really matter who the Heels faced I would have been equally as nervous. The game was close all the way through. Clemson had a three point halftime lead, but gave it up in the second half to Carolina. The Heels win the ACC, but go on to get demolished by Kansas in the Final Four. Anyways……..
This Carolina team is full of youngsters. They are nowhere near the best of their ability. The team turns the ball over way to much, terrible free throw shooting, and not enough three point field goals to take away the zone defense that Carolina can never seem to figure out, but I have seen shots of brilliance in this team. They beat a very good Ohio State team, a well coached Michigan State team looking for revenge, and almost beat a spectacular Kentucky team. What do I expect? A very close game. Will the Heels pull it out. I have no idea. I just know that my palms are sweaty with anticipation just thinking of tonight’s game.
Can I get a smile, Leonard Hamilton?
Florida State’s coach entered the year somewhat embattled and at least on the “warm seat” after last year’s season once again failed to live up to many fans’ expectations.
He finds himself a bit more comfortable after a solid start to the year, but life could still be a bit better for the Seminoles. Hamilton’s young men seem to be a bubble team year after year, and 2008-09 is looking no different. Read the rest of this entry
This is a somewhat painful article to write as a devoted UNC graduate living and working in Chapel Hill, but I feel it is the truth. Read the rest of this entry
For North Carolina, the way to spell relief after an 0-2 start in ACC play was V-I-R-G-I-N-I-A.
Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Danny Green were the key elements in an 83-61 victory in which UNC returned to playing “Carolina basketball,” and a collective sigh of relief was released by the fans in Chapel Hill and Tar Heel coach Roy Williams, to be sure.
The formula is not difficult:
1. Ty Lawson, take care of the ball and get back to the form that allowed you to lead the nation in turnover to assist ratio. Get the ball to Hansbrough (see No. 2). Please, please move your feet on defense.
2. Tyler Hansbrough, flail that gigantic booty around as well as your sixteen arms and elbows. Get in the lane, grab rebounds, act like the opponent stole your favorite childhood toy out of your garage (the basketball), and get it back. Keep going up and grabbing the ball until they can do nothing more than hack you and then punish them by hitting more than 80% of your free throws. Read the rest of this entry
At least the ridiculous talk of an undefeated season can end.
UNC joined the likes of Oklahoma, Connecticut, and Duke in losing a stunner to fall from the ranks of the unbeaten.
North Carolina reverted to the poor form it displayed in losses last year at home to Maryland and Duke, as well as the devastating loss to Kansas in the Final Four.
They also showed that no one will breeze through the ACC, including a team that returned all five starters from a national championship contender in 2007-08.
Don’t take anything away from Boston College; they played better than the unanimous No. 1 team on this night, and they fully earned and deserve this victory.
Let’s look at what I listed as the keys to a North Carolina victory, see how well the Heels did in achieving them. Afterward, I’ll hand out some offensive and defensive grades. Read the rest of this entry
Conventional wisdom has it that three conferences (the ACC, Big East and Big Ten) have separated themselves from the rest of the pack.
Bleacher Creatures appear to see it differently, clearly tiering the conferences into just two at the top and three more a significant step behind. Read ahead to find which conferences fall where in the first installment of the Conference Rankings, compiled from lists submitted by fans from coast to coast.
If you would like to read the original version of Conference Rankings (which were my own rankings only), you can read the long version here or the short version here. If you like a good background story, it will get you up to speed on most of what happened in November and December. Read the rest of this entry
Aw, shucks, Roy Williams. It’s time for some dadgum Atlantic Coast Conference play.
Unanimous No. 1 North Carolina (13-0) opens play at home against Boston College (12-2) on Jan. 4, and the Tar Heels would be wise not to underestimate this potentially dangerous team.
The Eagles have slipped up just twice this season, with consecutive losses late in November. The loss to St. Louis was embarrassing for BC, but they have poured it on since then, losing a hard-fought 71-64 contest to then-No. 10 Purdue before reeling off nine in a row, including close wins over Iowa, Massachusetts, UAB, and Providence. Read the rest of this entry
North Carolina (12-0, 0-0 ACC) continued what could be a fairy-tale season by drubbing Big East foe Rutgers (9-4, 0-0 Big East) 97-75 Sunday evening. Rutgers closed within 12 points in the second half, but could not sustain enough momentum to get the lead to single digits.
Senior All-American and Player of the Year candidate Tyler Hansbrough led the way with 26 points on 10 of 15 shooting (.667) and 10 rebounds, his second double-double of the season. He was also perfect from the charity stripe, hitting all six of his free throw attempts.
Read the rest of this entry
