Lucas: Green Means Go
"Green is a shooter, but he's also something more important--he's a scorer. He boasts one of the most complete offensive games on the team and is as comfortable slashing to the basket as he is taking a shot from the perimeter." Continue at TarHeelBlue.com.
Quentin Thomas isn't going anywhere
It is refreshing to see a player look beyond pure playing time as the sole reason for staying at a particular college. Quentin Thomas was recently quoted as saying: "I never considered leaving North Carolina. That's the problem with a lot of players. If things don't go their way at first, they bail out. I've never been one of those players." "For one, I just feel blessed to come here and win a national championship my freshman year," he said of his experience on the 2004-05 Tar Heels squad. "I don't see why I would run away from that. Coach Williams is great. I love my teammates. Continue at InsideBayArea.com.
UNC #2 in Preseason Coaches Poll
If you'll recall, we weren't even on this list this time last year. It is amazing what 6 highly touted freshmen will do to expectations ;-) USA TODAY/ESPN Top 25 College Basketball Poll | Team (First-place votes) | Record | Points | Previous Rank |
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| 1. Florida (30) | 33-6 | 772 | 1 | | 2. North Carolina | 23-8 | 728 | 14 | | 3. Kansas | 25-8 | 714 | 22 | | 4. Ohio State (1) | 26-6 | 595 | 13 | | 5t. Pittsburgh | 25-8 | 583 | 18 | | 5t. UCLA | 32-7 | 583 | 2 | | 7. LSU | 27-9 | 556 | 3 | | 8. Georgetown | 23-10 | 538 | 16 | | 9. Wisconsin | 19-12 | 530 | NR | | 10. Arizona | 20-13 | 478 | NR | | 11. Duke | 32-4 | 477 | 7 | | 12. Alabama | 18-13 | 420 | NR | | 13. Texas A&M | 22-9 | 335 | NR | | 14. Memphis | 33-4 | 328 | 6 | | 15. Boston College | 28-8 | 284 | 11 | | 16. Washington | 26-7 | 240 | 12 | | 17. Marquette | 20-11 | 203 | NR | | 18. Connecticut | 30-4 | 200 | 4 | | 19. Texas | 30-7 | 172 | 9 | | 20. Syracuse | 23-12 | 138 | NR | | 21. Georgia Tech | 11-17 | 137 | NR | | 22. Kentucky | 22-13 | 119 | NR | | 23. Creighton | 20-10 | 113 | NR | | 24. Tennessee | 22-8 | 106 | 20 | | 25. Nevada | 27-6 | 101 | NR | Others receiving votes:
Gonzaga (29-4) 88; Wichita State (26-9) 78; Louisville (21-13) 77; Southern Illinois (22-11) 70; Illinois (26-7) 52; Xavier (21-11) 44; Villanova (28-5) 39; Air Force (24-7) 26; San Diego State (24-9) 24; Hofstra (26-7) 20; Oklahoma State (17-16) 19; Michigan (22-10) 17; Michigan State (22-12) 15; Maryland (19-13) 12; DePaul (12-15) 11; Florida State (20-10) 9; George Mason (27-8) 6; Indiana (19-12) 5; Houston (21-10) 3; Brigham Young (20-9) 2; George Washington (27-3) 2; Winthrop (23-8) 2; Bucknell (27-5) 1; New Mexico State (16-14) 1; Saint Louis (16-13) 1; Utah (14-15) 1.
Terry, Hansbrough on Wooden Award Watch List
North Carolina senior Reyshawn Terry and sophomore Tyler Hansbrough were among the 50 candidates selected for the Wooden Award Watch List, announced Wednesday by its selection committee. Continue at InsideCarolina.com.
Frasor not going down without a fight
"For someone allegedly about to lose his job, Bobby Frasor seemed as agitated as a house cat on Xanax. Never mind that when the Tar Heels began practice Oct. 13, a dynamic freshman named Ty Lawson was supposed to begin a siege on the starting point guard spot Frasor inhabited for all of a surprising 23-victory season a year ago." Continue at ChicagoSports.com
Lucas: Loss Hits Home For Ginyard
This article is part of a multi-part series by Adam Lucas covering the UNC basketball team. This time he gives an inside look at Marcus Ginyard and the impact the George Mason game had on him. Continue at source.
Coach Williams at Operation Basketball
Listen or read Coach Williams' remarks at a Sunday press conference. A few highlights: - He's pleased so far with practice, but wants better concentration - He's tired of the "chemistry" question. - He doesn't mind being ranked #1 in the ACC. - This year is one of the better recruiting classes he's had
ACC Media Picks Heels No. 1; Hansbrough POY
"The preseason ACC voting was conducted Sunday afternoon, and the conference media members voted North Carolina No. 1 and picked Tyler Hansbrough as the preseason Player of the Year." Reyshawn Terry was picked to the second team All-ACC. Tywon Lawson came in second for preseason ACC Rookie of the Year. Continue at InsideCarolina.com
Late Night with Roy Recap
 The crowd at this year's Late Night with Roy was overflowing. I was present two years ago (the year we won the national championship) and it wasn't nearly as frantic then. Doors opened at 6pm and by the time I got in at 6:15pm, almost all the good lower level seats were taken. Finding a good seat wasn't a problem two years ago. Perhaps the earlier starting time drew more people out, but I tend to think is the hype surrounding this year's team. The early crowd was treated to an impromptu game of horse by William Graves (in the white tank top below) and Wayne Ellington (shooting below).  They put up all sorts of crazy shots, mainly shooting from behind the NBA 3 point range. I was extremely impressed by Wayne Ellington. He has the smoothest shot I've seen in a while, perhaps even smoother than recent UNC marksmen Rashad McCants and Joseph Forte. Late Night began with the UNC Ladies taking up the first hour with a mix of dancing, skits and a short scrimmage. Then the men took the stage. They also did some dancing as seen here:   The night wouldn't have been complete without Wes Miller bringing back his popular Roy Williams impersonation (mimicking Roy's previously ailing back and famously funny crouched urging position). You can see Wes here in the wig:  The night also wouldn't be complete without the grand finale where all the players dance at center court one last time before pulling the coaches out to do a little dance. Roy said during the Media event that this is the part he likes the least:  Then we were finally ready to get the famed blue-white game underway:  I noticed Tyler immediately. His muscles are much more defined and ripped in a way they weren't last year. He was a beast all over the court scoring a couple of dunks and even stealing the ball. He stood out above everyone else, however, most everyone looked pretty good. Bobby hurt his ankle early and didn't play much. Quentin played well. Tywon looked fast, but at times out of control. Danny Green had an excellent scrimmage. Brandan Wright looked good. It was a good start to the year. First exhibition game is Nov. 1st against St. Augustine's!
Late Night with Roy Media Event
Both InsideCarolina.com and TarHeelBlue.com have excellent coverage of Friday's media events. I've listened to all the audio which was informative and entertaining. Lots of questions about chemistry came up. I guess I'm not the only one that has been worried about it. Most of the players shrugged it off (what else would you expect really). There was some talk about the new jerseys. It sounds like seniors get to have a hand in designing the jerseys every year (can anyone confirm?). Several players said they didn't like the latest modifications, but Reyshawn Terry liked them (which isn't surprising considering he is a senior). The other topic that came up over and over is the issue of how much UNC will run this year. Everyone seems to agree Coach Williams is going to push this team harder than ever. With all the new players, he expects to run more and have a fresher team. It is going to be an exciting year! Here are my notes from some of the press conferences: Bobby Frasor: Gained 10 lbs and feels quicker Favorite Tyler story: Tyler likes to make up stories about people Tyler Hansbrough: Gained 8 lbs Tries to stay away from french fries, chicken fingers, and fried chicken Likes steak, chicken, eggs If he wasn't an athlete, he'd eat a lot more donuts Won't need to worry about foul trouble as much this year - Decided to come back after talking with Coach and deciding he had a lot of things he needed to work on. Plus he wanted the team to go farther. "Never known a player that spent another year with Coach Wiliams and got worse. So I can only get better." - Really enjoys going to UNC (English is one of his favorite classes) Roy: - Reyshawn is not naturally a leader, but he and Wes will be leaders for the team - Chemistry is the last thing he worries about - He'd feel comfortable taking any of his kids home - Wants this to be the highest scoring team he's ever coached - Everyone wants to run until they have to do it - Going to enjoy watching Bobby and Tywon competing against and with each other - They ran side by side during the running test and he felt they pushed each other - Like to have Tyler play a few minutes less, but get more opportunities while he's in there - Quentin may have had the best off season of anyone - Going to be extremely hard to take playing time away from Tyler and Reyshawn
Lucas: Maturation Continues For Thomas
"Quentin Thomas was one of the most buzzed-about players during the early part of the 2006 offseason. Continuing the monumental improvement he showed during his sophomore campaign, he was a confident floor general, a savvy passer, and an occasional scorer." Continue at source.
North Carolina coach excited about season
"All of us are real excited right now," he said. "Some of us are more excited than others. I'm one of those guys that's real excited." Continue at The Augusta Chronicle.
Woody's Word: UNC Hoops Highly Rated
Article from Woody Durham on the high preseason rankings for the UNC men's and women's basketball team.
Lucas: Wes Miller Relishes Senior Status
"Wes Miller is ready to prove people wrong again as a senior. Wes Miller has watched plenty of pickup games during his Carolina career. Not played in them. Watched them. There's a certain code to the summer pickup games in the Smith Center, and a transfer walk-on quickly learns his place in his first months in Chapel Hill. Pros and seniors first. Everyone else waits their turn--which may or may not come, depending on the amount of alums in town. This summer, with senior status, Miller has enjoyed a new role in the pickup games." Continue at source.
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