Good news: Hansbrough Will Return to UNC
Let's hope nothing changes his mind between now and draft day.... "I never really considered leaving for the NBA after this season," said Hansbrough. "However, Coach Williams still provided me information he learned from his contacts in the league and after listening to that information I still think it is best for me to come back and be with my teammates again and hopefully have another fantastic season. The NBA is definitely a goal of mine down the line but right now I am enjoying college a great deal and feel I can improve in every phase of my game. I enjoy school, my teammates and being part of the Carolina Basketball program." Continue at InsideCarolina.com
Noel to Compete in Dunk Contest
"North Carolina senior David Noel will compete in the nationally-televised College Slam Dunk Contest this Thursday in Indianapolis, a UNC official confirmed to IC." Continue at InsideCarolina.com
Heels to Celebrate 2006 Season on April 11
The Heels are going to celebrate the 2006 Season on April 11 at the Smith Center. Admission is free and open to the general public. Unfortunately I'm going to be out of town, so I can't attend.
Hansbrough Makes Third Team AP All-America
I thought he might make the Second team, but Third team isn't bad ;-) FIRST TEAM ADAM MORRISON, Gonzaga, junior, 28.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 43.7 3-pt fg pct (72 first-place votes, 360 points). J.J. REDICK, Duke, senior, 27.4 ppg, 42.1 3-pt fg pct, 87.7 ft pct, (72, 360). RANDY FOYE, Villanova, senior, 20.1 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 3.2 apg (55, 311). SHELDEN WILLIAMS, Duke, senior, 18.4 ppg, 10.3 rpg, 3.7 blocks (49, 305). BRANDON ROY, Washington, senior, 19.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.1 apg (20, 235). SECOND TEAM DEE BROWN, Illinois (10 first-place votes, 162 points). RODNEY CARNEY, Memphis (13, 157). RUDY GAY, Connecticut (8, 154). P.J. TUCKER, Texas (10, 127). LEON POWE, California (4, 121). THIRD TEAM CRAIG SMITH, Boston College (9, 115). GLEN DAVIS, LSU (9, 103). TYLER HANSBROUGH, UNC (4, 100). NICK FAZEKAS, Nevada (2, 88). ALLAN RAY, Villanova (3, 86). Via TarHeelDaily.com
Felton plan to undermine NBA dress code hits snag
"Felton is still feeling the effects of a February car accident and he was sore Sunday. That didn't matter to him; he still wanted to play. And he figured he would because -- as is his practice -- he didn't pack suitable clothes to wear on the bench that would pass the NBA's dress code." Continue at Charlotte Observer.
Hansbrough Named First Team All-America By Rupp Award
"The Commonwealth Athletic Club of Kentucky announced today its selections for the 2006 Adolph Rupp All- American Team. The field of 5 Division 1 players includes: Tyler Hansbrough (North Carolina), J.J. Redick (Duke), Adam Morrison (Gonzaga), Brandon Roy (Washington) and Rudy Gay (Connecticut)." Continue at TarHeelDaily.com
Lucas: Right Now
Adam Lucas is right. It is hard not to be upset about the season being over Right Now.
UNC 60, George Mason 65 (SEASON OVER)
It was a painful game to watch. The first five minutes we looked like the team that beat Duke at Duke. For the final 35 minutes, we looked like the young team that struggled for stretches during the year. We had a couple of nice spurts, but we never were in control of the game after scoring our first 18 points. It was an ugly game. Unlike the game against Murray State, these refs called next to nothing. We shot the fewest number of free throws in a game all season. A whopping 4-4 all from Reyshawn Terry. Speaking of Reyshawn, he had a great defensive game and bad offensive game. David Noel came out aggressive and was the only player that kept us in the game. He scored a game high 22. Hansbrough had, perhaps, his worst game of the season scoring 10 points on 5-13 shooting. He played well at times, but couldn't do it consistently. Danny Green is one of the few players that played his best ball in the last couple of games. Bobby Frasor had an ok night, but nothing great. Wes Miller had his worst shooting night of the year going 3-9 from the 3 point line. Quentin Thomas played decent. George Mason's extended pressure hurt us. Turnovers killed us. We had problems with their zone. We couldn't stop them on the offensive end in the second half. Even after all of this, we were tied at the 3 minute mark. However, we couldn't stop GM from scoring down low. They seemed to score at will. It is sad to see the season come to an end, especially after playing like this. It was a pleasure watching David Noel lead this team. Byron Sanders also has a lot to be proud about considering how much he improved this year. Both men can hold their heads high as their Carolina career winds down.
Coach K(ommercial) is at it again thanks to Chevy
Last year during March Madness we had to sit through the innumerable airings of the Coach K commercial. It was the "I want you armed for life" AMEX commercial that could have doubled for an ad from the Duke Athletic department. Just when we thought the misery was behind us, now Chevy is airing very similar commercials this year. Questions to ponder: Did Chevy not read all the negative press last year about the Coach K commercial? Do you know of any other college coach that would do these kinds of smarmy commercials, especially during March Madness when so many college fans from around the country are watching? Does Coach K really think this is good for his already battered image? Does he need the money? If so, let's start a Coach K charity fund. I would certainly pay not to see anymore of his commercials.
UNC 69, Murray State 65
I was a little concerned going into this game not only because Murray State had a lot of success during the season (highlighted by winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament) but also because they had a lot experience (they started 3 seniors, 1 junior and 1 sophomore). We've had difficulty this year against the few experienced teams we played. We didn't play that well in the first half, but were able to pick it up over the last 4 minutes of the game to eek out a win. By the half, we had a 1 point deficit. Neither team was shooting that well, but Murray State had taken 37 shots (shooting 32%) while UNC had taken only 23 shots (shooting 39%). They were out-hustling us to the ball. We have to get back the intensity we had at the end of the ACC season or we won't be going much further. Interesting note: for all 4 Friday evening games, the low seeds were winning at the half. I hate talking about the refs, but they deserve a mention. They were terribly inconsistent during the game (on both sides) and some of the calls were comical. They replayed a few of the calls and the refs were wrong on several occasions. It was made worse by one of the announcers, Len Elmore. Even when there was a bad call, he wouldn't acknowledge it and instead critiqued the player in which the bogus call went against. For example, Tyler Hansbrough was fouled after a steal at half court but the refs called a travel. Elmore said Hansbrough was out of control which is why he traveled (the replay showed an obvious foul). Ugh. He did this several times throughout the game and it was very annoying. Hansbrough was the high scorer on the game with 24. Murray State didn't have an answer for him. Danny Green was a huge spark off the bench scoring 15 points. David Noel had a quiet game and during the second half he was very timid on the offensive side of the ball. He passed a couple of wide open looks. Reyshawn Terry had some good moments including an awesome dunk in the first half. With 1 minute to go, the game was all tied up. Hansbrough made a clutch jumper to put UNC up by 2 with 38 seconds to go. Murray State wasn't able to convert and we sneaked out of there with a win. We play Wichita State Sunday at 2:20pm.
Hansbrough Named Sporting News First Team All-America
"University of North Carolina forward Tyler Hansbrough was named first-team All-America today by The Sporting News, becoming the first Tar Heel men's basketball player to earn first-team All-America honors as a freshman. Hansbrough was also named a third-team All-America today by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and was named the National Freshman of the Year by The Sporting News. No other Tar Heel freshman had ever made first- , second- or third-team All-America. Antawn Jamison was an honorable mention pick by Basketball Weekly In 1996. " Via TarHeelBlue.com
Interview on SportsBloggersLive
Last night I had a short interview on AOL SportsBloggersLive where I discussed UNC's tourney outlook. It was part of the DC region anaylsis. I come on at about the 22:25 mark. They also had segments for Oakland, Atlanta, and Minneapolis.
UNC a 3 seed in the Washington, DC Region
Some major surprises in this year's bracket! To start, the ACC only got 4 teams in. UNC got a 3 seed and will play 14 seed Murray State followed by the winner of the Michigan St (6 seed) and George Mason (11 seed) game. Somehow Tennessee got the 2 seed over UNC in the Washington Region. UConn got the 1 seed in Washington and have a fairly tough road with Illinois (only a 4 seed?), Washington, and Kentucky in their side of the bracket. Duke got the 1 seed in Atlanta and have arguably the toughest region. I know George Washington doesn't play ACC-level competition all year, but they are ranked 5th in the nation and somehow they got a 8 seed in Atlanta. Duke will play GW in the second game if they both win their first. Streaking Syracuse is a 5 seed, Big Ten tourney winner Iowa is a 3 seed, and Texas is a 2 seed. Struggling NC State is a 10 seed in Atlanta. Boston College got a 4 seed in Minneapolis. What?? They beat UNC yesterday and almost beat Duke today. There are no other ACC teams in Minneapolis and none in the Oakland region. Overall, I'm pretty pleased with UNC's position. Michigan St is tough, but they like to run so it should make for a good game if they play. I haven't followed Tennessee too closely so I'll have to do a little research to find out how much of a problem they present.
What seed will UNC get?
After the Duke game I thought UNC could get a 2 seed with a strong showing in the ACC tourney (i.e., making it to at least the finals). With a second round loss to BC, I think the best we can hope for is a 3 seed and I've heard many pundits predict a 4 seed for UNC. I think Duke deserves a 1 seed, BC deserves a 2 seed, and UNC deserves a 3 seed. We'll see at 6pm EST if that happens.
William Graves Wins State Title
Another UNC recruit wins a state title: "Behind 28 points and eight rebounds from MVP William Graves, Greensboro (N.C.) won its second straight state 3-A title by beating Concord, 79-75, Saturday at the Dean E. Smith Center." Via InsideCarolina.com
UNC 82, Boston College 85
The experience of Boston College proved to be too much for UNC as the Eagles calmly won by 3 after being in control for much of the game. Craig Smith is a load inside and easily deserves his first team All ACC recognition. He also is worthy of a first team All American spot. However, I think the real game changer for BC was Jared Dudley. Dudley is a 6-7 junior that can shoot the 3 just as easy as he can score down low. He made the 2nd team All ACC and next year he's a no-brainer for the first team and potentially a candidate for preseason ACC player of the year. So what went wrong for the good ol carolina blue? We started off the game with good intensity, but it was clear that we weren't as sharp as before the tournament. I saw a long clip of the Duke game and we didn't play nearly as well against BC (or UVA) as we did against Duke or State or UVA before the tourney. We made a lot of turnovers to start the game but calmed down eventually. The biggest problem for UNC was BC's shooting. It seemed like they could not miss, shooting 63% on the game! At times our defense was shaky, but even when it wasn't, BC would score. It is hard to win when your opponent is shooting that well. On the offensive side of the ball, Wes Miller was tearing things up in the first half. At the half, he was still perfect shooting-wise for the tournament scoring on several really deep 3 pointers. His first shot in the second half was an airball and we never could get him open looks (and it didn't look like we were trying very hard either). When a player is on fire the way Wes was, why not try to manufacture some more shots? Our free throw shooting was a problem, particularly for Hansbrough in the first half. In the second half he did better and ended up going 7-11 for the game. The team went 10-16 on the game from the charity stripe. Hansbrough played well overall leading the team in scoring with 23. It was clear though that Craig Smith and Sean Williams were giving him problems down low. They blocked a few of Hansbrough's shots and he was never able to get in a rhythm. We went into the half down 1 thanks to a deep 3 by BC with just a second left on the clock. This wasn't a good sign for the heels. To start the second half, we didn't come out fired up. Coach Williams made 5 substitutions after just 3 minutes to wake the starters up. We were down 4 and when Roy put the starters back in just a couple minutes later, we were only down 2. I thought he should have left the subs in longer because they were playing well and with much higher intensity. Reyshawn Terry had a good game, but got in foul trouble. He picked up his 4th foul with 15 minutes to go in the second half. We missed his scoring presence. David Noel made a couple of big-time 3s to help us stay in the game. Another sign that it wasn't our night was the number of times we got beat up the floor by BC. I can't even recall a game (maybe USC a couple of months ago) where we got beat up the floor so much. BC is supposed to have a slow, methodical game, so when they started beating us up the court I started to get concerned. BC had a 9 point lead with 12 minutes and led by as much as 14 with over 8 minutes to go. We made a run and cut the lead to 5 with just over 3 minutes, but BC's experience and accurate shooting was too much to overcome.
UNC 79, Virginia 67
Despite a sluggish start, the Tar Heels, led by Reyshawn Terry, proved too much for Virginia's two man show of Sean Singletary and JR Reynolds. UNC came back from an early 10 point deficit to claim the lead midway through the first half. UNC never trailed after that point. With a win by Boston College in the nightcap, UNC will get a rematch against the only team in which it did not get a chance to revenge a previous ACC loss. The game is at 4pm. UNC looked rusty. Much was made about having 6 days off since their last game, but I didn't think it would matter much. I guess I was wrong. However, it didn't take long for UNC to pick up where they left off. After going 0-3 from behind the 3 point line early, Reyshawn Terry went 8-13 from the field and 7-7 from the free throw line to score a game high 24 points. Tyler Hansbrough had a relatively quiet game in comparison to his recent performances (primarily because he was double and tripled team), but he still scored 17 points on 5-10 shooting. Wes Miller had a perfect shooting game. He was 3-3 from behind the hard, 1-1 from inside the arc, and 4-4 from the free throw line. I like those numbers! Let's hope he can keep that up against BC. Bobby Frasor got in foul trouble early and with .1 second left in the first half, committed his 3rd foul. He played very little in the second half on the way to fouling out with 2:15 left in the game. That means Quentin Thomas got a lot of PT and he continued his improved play of late. He had 6 assists, 2 steals, and only 2 turnovers. He was 0-3 from the floor, but he brought a quickness to the game when guarding Singletary and Reynolds that Frasor just doesn't have. The refs called a ton of fouls (27 against UVA and 25 against UNC), many of which were questionable touch fouls. I hate to see little fouls like that called when they should just let the teams play. This was especially bad for UNC because UVA made 26-29 free throws. Fortunately, the game didn't come down to a free throw shooting match as we were able to maintain a small advantage until the end. I'm looking forward to the BC game, but after watching the first half of the BC/Maryland game, it is clear that we have our work cut out for us. BC presents some matchup problems for us and we are going to have to play our best defense of the year to win. I can see BC winning the whole tournament if they continue to play like they did against Maryland. Let's hope that doesn't happen.
Virginia it is
Virginia beat Virginia Tech 60-56 in the 7pm game tonight. Carolina will face Virginia in the 7pm game Friday night. The teams are 1-1 against each other, both winning at home. There has been a lot of hype around UNC in the last couple of weeks -- let's hope they don't have a let down in the first round in Greensboro.
Desperation
This was too good to pass up: 
Coaches choose David Noel to ACC All-Defensive Team
"North Carolina has a top defender for the second straight season, but only the fourth time in 11 years. David Noel, said one coach, "is pretty damn good." Led by Noel, the only senior with meaningful experience, the '06 Tar Heels have been surprisingly effective on defense, ranking second in the ACC at suppressing opponents' field goal shooting (41.1 percent) during the regular season. " Continue at TarHeelDaily.com
Bill Simmons on the Heels
Bill Simmons, the Sports Guy, had some nice things to say about Carolina: "If you missed the UNC-Duke game, not only is UNC for real, but Tyler Hansbrough is the first 2005-06 college player who makes me feel, 'All right, there's a guy who's a mortal lock to be an excellent pro.' I know he's not coming out this summer … but it needs to be said. The guy never stops hustling. He can create his shot going left and going right. He already has a post-up move. He can use his body in traffic. He has 3-point range. He even seems to play bigger in big games. I love this kid. Twenty more players like him, LaMarcus Aldridge and Adam Morrison and I'd really be excited about the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Anyway, when you're filling out your bracket next week, watch out for the Tar Heels -- maybe they're a little young, but they keep getting better and better, they're athletic as hell, they have a very good coach, they're road-tested, and they have a franchise guy." Thanks to Chuck Kramer for the link!
UNC-Duke was ESPN's Most Watched Ever
"Coverage of North Carolina’s 83-76 win at No. 1 ranked Duke on March 4 set a record for the largest audience for a men’s college basketball in ESPN history (more than 26 years), according to Nieslen Media Research." Continue at source.
Hansbrough: 3 point sharp shooter?
Tyler has a pretty high opinion of his 3 point shooting skills, but would you bet against him? ;-) From Tuesday's Press Interview: What's your three-point record in practice out of 50? "Ever? Probably about 41. But that's just once. I try to always make at least 30." So that shot against Duke was no fluke then, huh? "Yeah, I'm pretty confident with my outside shot and it's something I work on. I feel like if I'm put in that situation I'll make it."
North Carolina's Roy Williams Named ACC Coach of the Year
Coach Williams pulled in the Scout.com Coach of the Year and ACC Coach of the Year awards. I especially liked these quotes: "Williams received 94 votes from the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association while Coach K got six." "Last year was easier on game nights," he said. "I knew we could lose by three or four, or we could win by 30. This year, I thought we could win by three or four or lose by 30. Game nights weren't quite as easy emotionally, but it's really been a wonderful group of kids."
Quentin Thomas articles
Q has been playing much better the last few games. This is going to make for an interesting point guard race at UNC next year (with the addition of phenom Tywon Lawson). No doubting Thomas as backup's game improvesThomas finally gets his act together
Hansbrough, Noel, and Terry Named All-ACC
David Noel made 2nd team All-ACC (I predicted he'd make the 3rd team). Reyshawn Terry made 3rd team All-ACC which was a little surprising, but I think he deserves it. That shows just how far he has come since last year. Of course Tyler made the first team. Read more. Not only did Tyler make the first team: "Hansbrough is the first freshman in Atlantic Coast Conference men's basketball history to earn unanimous first-team All-ACC honors." Tyler has made so many records do we have any chance of him staying next year???
Hansbrough and Frasor on ACC All-Freshman Team
One prediction that I didn't make that I should have is that Bobby Frasor would be on the ACC All-Freshman team. This year's team was just announced and Bobby and Tyler were on it. Tyler was the only unanimous selection to the team.
Heels Up to No. 10 in Both Polls
Moving on up. Heels Up to No. 10 in Both Polls. Who would have ever imagined?
Hansbrough Earns More Weekly ACC Honors
As predicted, Hansbrough earns his 10th Rookie of the Week honor. This ties him with Kenny Anderson (1990) for the most in one season.
ACC Tourney Bracket
 The ACC Tourney Bracket is all set. Carolina will play the winner of the Virginia/Virginia Tech game on Friday night (7pm). If we win that game, we'll play either Boston College, Maryland, or Georgia Tech at 4pm on Saturday. We have our work cut out for us! Even though it would be a tough game, I hope we get a rematch with Boston College. They are the only ACC team we didn't get a chance to avenge a loss against.
Tennessee's Mr. Basketball
"He may be the best player to ever play in the state of Tennessee." That's what the high school coach of Brandan Wright, one of the highly acclaimed recruits in next year's UNC freshman class, had to say about his star pupil. I think he can make a pretty good case considering Brandan accomplished the following: - First player to be named Tennessee's Mr. Basketball for 3 years in a row - Led his team to four straight state titles (first time in state history) all of which they won by double figures - First player to win state tournament MVP four years in a row Source: InsideCarolina.com
What we know
* Tyler Hansbrough will get ACC Rookie of the Year * Hansbrough will get National Rookie of the Year * Hansbrough should receive his 10th ACC Rookie of the Week award this week to tie Kenny Anderson for the all-time record * Hansbrough will get First Team All ACC Honors * Hansbrough should get Honorable Mention All American honors * David Noel should get 3rd Team All ACC Honors * Coach Williams will get ACC Coach of the Year * Coach Williams should get National Coach of the Year * UNC should end the regular season in the top 10 in all polls * UNC finished 2nd in the ACC * UNC should get a 2nd seed in the NCAA tourney * If the ACC had a Most Improved Player award, Reyshawn Terry should get it * Duke will crash and burn in the NCAA Tourney (thanks Dave)
Sean Dockery has no class
I mentioned in the last post how the refs in the UNC/Duke game were horrible. Nothing highlights it more than the fact that they didn't do anything after Sean Dockery pushed Tyler Hansbrough to the floor. The refs at a minimum should have called an intentional foul on Dockery and maybe even a technical.  It was also interesting to see how Coach K likes to run his timeouts. ESPN showed one timeout where Coach K never even talked to his team. He just barked in one ref's ear while he glared at another ref. He did this for the whole timeout. Yeah right, Coach K doesn't try to intimidate refs. Why would you think that? [UPDATE] Coach K had this to say about the refs after the game. This is a riot. With all the calls his team got, I bet he thought it was well officiated. “I thought the game was really well officiated. Those guys had a good demeanor. It was one of our best officiated games that we’ve had. I thought they were really in control of the game, and in this type of atmosphere, that was nice to see.”
UNC 83, Duke 76 !!!
What an unbelievable win for the Tar Heels!! It was senior night for Duke, Redick and Williams last game in Cameron, and Duke was coming off a loss at FSU. Duke couldn't have had anymore reasons to win, but it wasn't to be. The Tar Heels continued to play as they have for the last several games: as a team. Tyler Hansbrough was unstoppable even though the "defensive player of the year", Shelden Williams, guarded him all night. Well I shouldn't say Shelden guarded him all night because Tyler had Shelden in foul trouble for most of the game. Duke started on fire. They had an early 11 point lead to start the game. UNC fought back and took a 23-22 lead with 5:42 to go in the first half. We weren't very sharp in the first half -- missing at least 3 open layups, turning the ball over 12 times, and shooting 1-8 from the 3 point line. Every time we got a lead, Duke would come back. At halftime, Duke had a 37-38 lead. The second half was a different story. We had an 8 point lead with 7:33 to go and never gave it up. Hansbrough was the man scoring 27 points and pulling down 12 rebounds. Marcus Ginyard had a very nice game scoring 12 and holding Redick to only 18 points (along with Terry who also played good D). Despite constant pressure from Duke, Bobby Frasor had a good game as the floor general. Quentin Thomas also continued to play well. We had a 10 point lead with 4 minutes left to go. The play of the game came on a Hansbrough 3 pointer. Time was running out on the shot clock, Bobby Frasor passed it to Hansbrough who swished a deep 3!! On the season, Hansbrough is now 2 for 3 from behind the 3 point line. The guy can do it all. I thought we were in trouble in the final two minutes. Duke scored 8 points in 51 seconds. However, we made a couple of defensive stops and made our free throws to finish the game with a 7 point lead. With this win, we finish 2nd in the ACC and get the 2nd seed in the ACC tourney. We'll be in the opposite side of the ACC bracket from Duke. There is also talk about Carolina getting a 2nd seed in the NCAA tourney. That would be very cool. Now a couple of gripes. First, the refs were horrible. They were inconsistent and even though I may be a bit biased, many calls that were called against UNC weren't called against Duke. Case in point was a palming call against Frasor in the first half (which I thought was suspect). Shortly thereafter Greg Paulus had an OBVIOUS palm and the refs didn't call it. They gave Redick a 3 when his foot was on the line. They missed a couple of fouls against Shelden that should have sent him out of the game. The worst was at the end when Sean Dockery pushed Tyler in the face to the ground and he didn't get an intentional foul. He should have been kicked out of the game for that kind of behavior. Second issue is Dick Vitale and Brad Nessler. Those guys need to focus on calling the game, not talking about how great Duke is, or how Coach Williams should get Coach of the Year (which he should) or anything else not related to the game. There were several important calls (like Shelden picking up his 3rd foul early in the second half) that they didn't mention at all because they were too busy talking about other stuff not related to the game. Stat of the game: the 5 UNC freshmen scored 61 points versus the 6 Duke seniors which scored 51 points
Nothing like a cold bath
In Friday's media event at the Smith Center, Marcus Ginyard had an interesting quote: "Yeah [I've taken ice baths like Tyler does after games]. It's a little shocking when you first get in there, but I try to do it every day, but I won't lie to you - his is definitely at least 10 degrees colder than mine. He can handle it but I can't. I keep mine around 50 degrees, but I've seen him down around the 40s." They don't call him Psycho T for nothing!
Tar Heel Born, Tar Heel Bred
Please join me in welcoming the latest addition to the Carolina Basketball Blogosphere: Tar Heel Born, Tar Heel Bred
Happy Birthday Coach Smith!
I want to interrupt the parade of Duke debasement to wish Coach Dean Smith a happy 75th birthday this week (Feb 28th). Let's hope he has many more in front of him!
The Anti-Duke Manifesto
Wow, there is even an Anti-Duke Manifesto. And we aren't talking a short bulleted list. This thing goes on for pages and pages. (thanks again Chuck)
The Shaming of Reggie Love
Oh my sides are hurting. This is pretty funny.
Doomed Dukes
This is officially my Anti-Duke Day. Here is a story passed on to me from Chuck about all the Duke failures in the NBA. Good stuff.
Duke-Sucks.com - Love Sport. Hate Duke.
I'm on a roll today! The anti-Duke links keep rolling in. The Duke-Sucks.com site hasn't been updated since last year, but it is worth checking out.
More Coach K Fodder
If the Coach Kommerical wasn't enough to get you going, take a look at From 'To Hate Like This': Part II. It is a story about how Coach K cussed out a group of reporters from The Chronicle because he didn't like the way they were portraying his team.
UNC 99, Virginia 54
"They’re 1,000 times better." That's what Virginia coach Dave Leitao had to say about UNC after his Cavaliers received a 45 point drubbing in Chapel Hill. Leitao was comparing the Tar Heels with his first encounter when Virginia beat them earlier in the year. UNC is so much better now it is hard to compare. In fact, I don't know if I've ever seen a Carolina team make this much progress in one season. They are fundamentally sound, they have a high level of intensity on defense for most of the game, they aren't turning the ball over nearly as much, and they are making open shots. Even though it will be Senior Night for Duke on Saturday, this is a great time for UNC to play the number one team in the nation. Speaking of Senior Night, David Noel did not disappoint on his Senior Night by scoring a career high 26 points. He was on fire shooting 5-7 from behind the arc. Reyshawn Terry struggled in the first half, but improved in the second to end with 17 points. The rest of the team had a very good night too. Hansbrough had 13 points on 5-10 shooting. Bobby Frasor scored 8 points on 3-3 shooting. Ginyard got into double-digits with 10 points. Quentin Thomas played well too. In total, 6 tar heels made at least one 3 pointer. We shot an unbelievable 55% from behind the arc. I can only pray that we shoot that well on Saturday night. Carolina had a 25 point lead at the half and everyone knew the game was over. The UNC subs (Burke, Wilkins, Copeland, Wood, and Robinson) got a full 4 minutes of playing time because the lead was so large. Mike Copeland was unstoppable for his short stint in the game scoring 6 points on 3-3 shooting. I can't say enough about how well we are playing right now. It is obvious we have chemistry like last year's team could only read about. Carolina hung in with Duke last time they played and now we are significantly better. That should make up for the emotional night Duke is surely to have with Redick and Williams last game in Cameron (not to mention coming off a loss at FSU). Ohhh, it is going to be a good one! Other key stats: + Turnovers: 10 (UNC), 12 (UVA) + Rebounds: 45 (UNC), 28 (UVA) + Assists: 24 (UNC), 12 (UVA) + Blocks 8 (UNC), 2 (UVA) + FG %: 59% (UNC), 32% (UVA)
Coach Kommercial
Interested in a little Duke humor before this weekend's big game? Check out the Coach Kommercial from the News & Observer. Funny stuff. (Thanks to Jeff for forwarding the link.)
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