NCAA Tourney on CBS has too many commercials
During the game against Villanova, I remembered what I disliked about the NCAA Tourney. CBS airs way too many commericals during the games. Every 4 minutes is a TV timeout and every team timeout even if it is just a 30 sec timeout goes to commercial. The halftime is also longer. It makes the game really choppy and less enjoyable. I know CBS needs to get their money's worth for the rights to the NCAA tourney, but if I was casual fan (which I'm obviously not), I wouldn't watch because of all the commercials. Maybe I should just buy a Tivo ;-)
Final Four Bound
I haven't blogged in a few days because I'm recovering. Recovering from two games that drove me to the brink of insanity. In the first and second rounds, Carolina was unstoppable. Offense was strong, defensive intensity was strong. All around solid performances. Then came Villanova and Wisconsin. Sure the competition was better, but our defensive intensity was noticeably weaker. I just don't get it. It is like sometimes we don't want to play defense. Even against Wisconsin, our offense was unstoppable, but our defensive let them stay in the game. And of course it goes without saying that both teams had at least two players that had career games. I've grown accustom to that now, but it amazes how many wide open looks from 3 both teams got. We HAVE to turn up the pressure to win the next two games. The Villanova coach tried to pull a fast one. In the pre-game interviews when asked about the tempo of the game (Villanova likes to run the ball), he said they are going to do what they've always done. Now he didn't come right out and say he was going to run with Carolina, but he gave the impression they would. What did his team do? Walked the ball up the court the entire time. What frustrated me is that we didn't press them at all. The few times this season we pressured the ball up the court or trapped at half court, it generally forced turnover. Regardless it is going to speed up the game. We didn't do that at all against Villanova. Wisconsin tried to do the same thing at certain points and when we broke out the trap we forced turnovers. We have a deep enough bench. If the pace of the game is too slow, we should be pressing. On a similar note, I don't think we should be playing zone. Maybe if we want to mix up looks on the defensive end, but history tells us that when Carolina plays zone, the opponent's shooters eyes light up and start nailing them from all corners. We have the most talent on the floor and should be able to go man-to-man with anyone. But I understand Coach Williams going to zone because sometimes our guys just lose interest on the defensive side and the other team runs by us. Sean May has showed the whole country that he is arguably the best center in college. He has been unstoppable. He goes to the hoop strong, has Antwain Jamison like touch, and is running the court like a guard. Michigan St is up next. I watched them get beat by Duke earlier in the year. They were grossly underperforming for much of the first half of the year. I watched them against Kentucky this weekend and they looked sharp and athletic. We have to get them in a running game. They are going to be tough. Paul Davis has been playing lights out. May vs Davis is going to be quite a show. I'm ecstatic we are in the final four. This team will finally get the credit they deserve. A week from now and it will all be over. Let's just hope my heart can take it.
Two down
North Carolina isn't fairing so well tonight in the sweet 16. Duke and State both lost. State had a complete breakdown after leading at the half. Duke just wasn't sharp. If Carolina isn't sharp, they could lose too against Villanova. If they win, they'll play Wisconsin on Sunday.
NCAA Tourney Update
Remember when I said that Carolina hasn't been playing dominate ball lately? And that they have had to come from behind in the last several games to win (and with Ga Tech, lose)? Well that hasn't been the case with their first two games in the NCAA Tourney. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well everyone played and how intense they were on defense (for the most part). Needless to say, if they can keep this up, we'll go far. But you never know when that lacksadasical bug will come back to bite them. The only question at this point has been Jawad's play, but reports are he is still hurting from a hip pointer.
Marvin Williams has been playing lights out. Outside shooting has been pretty good. Defense and fast break offense has been unstoppable. Iowa St is another team that thought they could run with UNC (although I'm not sure why since they had such a short bench). I don't know much about Villanova, but I've heard they like to run as well. Bring it on!
If UNC and State win their next game, they'll meet up in the elite 8 on Sunday.
What is up with the 10pm game time on Friday? What kind of dumb scheduling is that? Villanova has been playing really well and I'm sure it will be a tough game.
AP All-America team
We didn't end up with anyone on this year's first team AP All-America team. May made second team, Felton made third team, and McCants made honorable mention. I think it is debatable as to whether Wayne Simien was better than Sean May or Chris Paul better than Ray Felton. How about for the tie breaker, we see who lasts longer in the big dance? Oh, that has already been settled ;-)
Freshman of the Year: Gay shined for UConn
I'm sorry, but Mike from the Sporting News should have his press pass revoked. He picked Rudy Gay of Uconn over Marvin Williams for rookie of the year because Gay's team "needed him more". Rookie of the year is suppose to signify the best rookie of the year, right? Just like player of the year is suppose to be for the best player of the year? Mike's reasoning is right in line with why Julius Hodge won ACC POY last year...not necessarily because he was better than McCants (because Hodge's numbers weren't) but because his team "needed him more". This is hog wash. With this line of reasoning, a team with two or three excellant players won't ever have a player or rookie or coach of the year because their team doesn't need them as much.
Bracket
I, unsurprisingly, picked UNC to take it all. As a UNC fan(atic) how could I pick otherwise? Even last year I picked them to go pretty far (which was a joke). This year, I decided to fill out a second bracket and tried to be as unbiased as possible and I still chose UNC to win it all. Now if you asked me what are the odds that Carolina will win it all, I'd tell you pretty slim. Especially with the way we played over the last several games needing to come from behind to win. We haven't been dominate lately and we aren't peaking right now. Sean May has been playing lights out, but the other starters have been off and on.
I also picked Illinois, Wake and Duke to go to the final four. Duke has been playing really well and Wake has the capability to. Illinois goes without saying. But alas Wake had a tough time in their opener last night. At this point, I'm doubtful I'll be winning my pools this year...
2nd
Sean May was 2nd in ACC POY Voting and Coach Williams was 2nd in ACC COY Voting.
Article: McCants should 'play more'
I sure hope he does. He should be ready to start again. Continue source.
Dick Vitale - All-Rolls-Royce
I don't agree with many of Dickie V's All-Rolls-Royce selections. Redick POY?? Come on, how about Dee Brown or Deron Williams from Illinois? And then he put Sean May and Felton on his second team. If anyone deserves to be on the first team, it is Sean May. Wayne Simien on the first team instead? Come on. McCants on the FIFTH team? Really now Dick. Then the biggest snub of all, he didn't make Marvin Williams his freshman of the year. What? Marvin is a lottery pick baby. Texas' Daniel Gibson is good, but not that good.
Dick Vitale ACC Conference Awards
I can't really argue with Dick Vitale's ACC picks. Most agree that May and Felton deserve to be on the first team. I'm willing to concede JJ Redick as POY, but I really would like to do a stat comparison with Redick this year and McCants last year. I betcha they are real similar (yet McCants got the shaft with trash talking Hodge getting POY last year).
Marvin Williams is ACC ROY
The Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association named Marvin Williams ACC Rookie of the Year. Good job Marvin!
ACC Tourney Recap
It was a painful tourney to watch. UNC has not played well for an entire game in a few weeks. They are starting to become a "second-half team" that apparently can only get motivated during the second half of games, which is troubling.
With the Clemson game, we played lethargic the whole first half. If it wasn't for Felton carrying the team on his back with 29 points, we would have lost to a overmatched opponent. For some reason after the second half started, we played much more aggressive (probably due to a good Coach Williams chewing out session). Sean May had his first down game in a while, but came out strong to start the second half. But I think the spark in the second half that got us going was when Rashad hit 2 three pointers real quick. All of the top 5 teams have at least one outside shooter that can be counted on to lite things up at some point during a game. McCants obviously did that for us all last season and not as much this year. We didn't need it as much earlier in the season because we had more talent than most teams. But when you get to the post-season and everyone is bringing their A-game, a deep threat is critical. McCants nailed 2 threes and got UNC back into the game. Then Felton led the way and made some spectacular shots down the stretch.
The Georgia Tech game was more of the same. In the first half we didn't play well. We were down most of the game. McCants had a good look at the basket to send the game into overtime, but it bounced off the rim short. I have to point out that Jackie Manuel had horrible tourney. He had 8 fouls, 6 turnovers, 5 points and 2 assists in 2 games. Yeah yeah Jackie is a defensive specialist, but he had 8 fouls, several of which weren't "good" fouls. He also had several turnovers that were unforced. Secondly, he is too much of an offensively liability. The other team is more than happy to let him take open shots. Heck, I cringe when he goes to the foul line. At this level it is hard to give up one offensive player. He wasn't driving or trying to create shots as he sometimes does. Back to the game...we had 3 players score 17 points for the game: McCants, Felton and May. McCants was a respectable 4 from 9 from three. He needs to be starting over Melvin who also didn't have a good tourney. We need every bit of McCants' firepower. But the story of the game was Will Bynum. He couldn't miss and was shooting every chance he got. He ended with a career high 35 points. This was all that much more painful as I watched parts of the Ga Tech/Duke final and Bynum couldn't hit the side of a barn. Ga Tech's Coach Hewitt made a point of saying that beating Carolina wasn't an upset, but the fact of the matter is that Carolina shot horribly (36% from the field and 33% from three) and even though Ga Tech didn't shoot much better, we had an off night shooting.
Manuel Shares All-Defense Honor By ACC Coaches
"University of North Carolina senior swingman Jackie Manuel and Duke junior center Shelden Williams share the honor of receiving the most votes on the All-ACC Defensive Team as selected by the league's head coaches. Manuel and Williams were selected by 10 of the ACC's 11 head coaches to easily earn spots on the 10th annual coaches' team, which was announced by Barry Jacobs, editor of the Fans Guide to ACC Basketball."
Continue at source.
Good news: McCants Cleared to Practice
He's missed the last four games and may play on Friday depending on how well he practices. Continue at source.
Cants Win It All Without Rashad
Ken took the more analytical route, but came to the same conclusion as me: UNC needs McCants to go all the way. You really don't need to look any further than Carolina's second half performance against Duke. They had zero fire power from outside. They need one consistent deep threat. Even though McCants is getting the shaft from this year's post-season awards, he is still the shooter that led the ACC in scoring last year.
All-Freshman, All-Defensive ACC Teams Announced
Marvin Williams was a unanimous first team All-Freshman selection and Jackie Manuel made the All-Defensive first team.
Continue at source.
Scout.com All-American Team
Sean May made the first team for Scout.com's All-American Team. Ray Felton made the third team and Rashad McCants made honorable mention.
2005 ACC Champions T-shirt - ordered
You better get one too before they run out!
2005 ACC Tournament - Washington, D.C.
In case you haven't seen it yet, the ACC Tournament bracket has been finalized. It turns out that UNC may have a tough road. They play the winner of the Clemson/Maryland game first. Oh great, Maryland in Washington, DC. What are the odds UNC can beat Maryland 3 times in one year with 2 of those in Maryland territory? Let's go Clemson! :-)
May, Felton Named First-Team All-ACC
It is good to see UNC well represented in the All-ACC team. Felton and May made first team while McCants and Jawad made third team. Marvin got honorable mention.
This was definitely an off year for McCants who made the first team last year. I suppose the same could be said of Hodge from State who made first team and POY last year.
Marvin will undoubtedly get ACC Rookie of the year when that comes out later this week.
I think a strong case can be made for Sean May for player of the year in the ACC. I know a lot of people have been talking Redick, Paul, or Shelden Williams, but we need to look at the #1 team in the conference. Who had the biggest impact? Down the stretch it was Sean May. Redick should NOT get POY for the same reasons McCants didn't get it last year. Don't tell me that leading the league in scoring means you should get the title. McCants did last year and he didn't get it. And they won a bunch of games on his last second shots so he did have a huge impact on the Tarheels. We need to look at the best player that had the largest impact on his team and played the best against top competition. It was a close matchup, but I think Sean May beat Shelden Williams in both head-to-head matchups. Alas, I'm sure UNC will get snubbed again when they announce the POY...
UNC 75, Duke 73
What an unbelievable game! I admit it, I was not very optimistic at the 5 minute mark. With 3 minutes to go, we were down by 9 points after a 9-0 Duke run and we couldn't seem to find the basket. We ended the game by going on a 9-0 run ourselves including some incredible plays. I thought at the 2 minute mark that everything would have to go right for us and everything go wrong for Duke for us to win. That's pretty much what happened.
Redick started off on fire, but went 0'fer in the second half. He had a good look at the basket for the final play to win it, but it rattled out.
Highlights:
Player of the game was no doubt Sean May. He has been putting up some All-American performances lately and this one topped it off. 24 rebounds! 12 defensive and 12 offensive. On top of that he scored 26 points. All while Sheldon Williams, one of the best defensive centers in the country, guarded him. And what I especially liked was that Sean didn't get blocked like he has in the past. (Marvin Williams on the other hand got stuffed several times.)
On the whole, the team had an off night shooting, except for Jackie Manuel whom went 5 for 6. He did an excellent job of driving to the basket. It was some of the most aggressive offensive I've seen from him.
Lowlights:
Our shooting in the second half was horrible. We only made 1 three pointer the whole game. Jawad was 3 for 10 and Felton was 3 for 13. We obviously miss an outside presence like McCants. The good news is that McCants is suppose to start working out today and could possibly start playing again in the game on Friday. We need him in the upcoming tourneys.
The refs were confused all night. They started off calling everything in the first half and loosened up considerably in the second and called hardly anything. They also made a couple of bad make up fouls. This is the tangled web refs weave when they call things close and try to keep things even throughout the game.
This was one of the most exciting games in recent memory for UNC. And best of all, we are ACC CHAMPIONS!!!
UNC 47, Duke 41 (HALFTIME)
Sean May dominated in the first half with 17 points. (Redick also had 17 points and made just about everything he shot.) May was all over the place. The refs are calling it really close (too close). Noel has 3 fouls. Shavlik and Sheldon from Duke have 3. Duke was 6/13 from three while UNC was only 1/4. We played extremely aggressive defense.
If we can keep them in foul trouble and keep up our intensity, we'll be in good shape in the second half.
Now #7 has lost
Missouri beat #7 Kansas as the top ranked teams keep falling today.
Carolina is behind early against Duke...
#1 and #3 have lost today
Both Illinois and Kentucky lost by 1 today. Let's hope that doesn't happen to #2!
Beating Duke Will Give Tar Heels Outright ACC Title
T minus 30 minutes and counting. This will be Carolina's biggest game in several years. A win will give them the ACC regular season title outright and a #1 seed in the ACC tourney. A loss and they share the title with Wake and get a #2 seed in the ACC tourney (due to the UNC loss to Wake earlier this year).
Amazingly, it has been 12 years since Carolina has won the title outright. They shared it in 2001 during Doherty's first season.
In other news, Illinois lost today to unranked Ohio State! I saw the dramatic ending. #3 Kentucky is having a tough time with Florida too.
May Named First-Team ESPN.com All-America
This is well deserved. I've not always been the biggest fan of May, but the during second half of this year, he has lived up to his potential and played as good as any big man in the country. Averaging a double-double at Carolina is not easy.
Chris Paul made the first-team over Felton. That is a hard call. They haven't announced the second or third teams yet.
Article: McCants likely out for Duke
It doesn't look like McCants is going to play against Duke. I really wish they'd provide more information about McCants' illness. "Intestinal disorder" just isn't very descriptive. Not to mention the fact that anytime Coach Roy is asked about it, he doesn't want to talk about it much. I'm not sure what is going on. I think we can still beat Duke on Sunday, but it will be much tougher to win the national (and maybe the ACC) tourneys without him.
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