UNC 84, Georgetown 96
We scored 3 points in overtime and that came with only 7 seconds to go. This is a bad way to lose. We couldn't hit the side of a barn over the last 11 minutes of the game. We had a 10 point lead with 6 minutes to go in the game and ended up losing by 12. First and foremost, we lost because of our shooting (35% on the game) and Georgetown's ability to hit pretty much everything they put up, but I'd be remiss without highlighting the role the refs had in the game. Personally, I'm fine with refs calling touch fouls or fouls for certain situations as long as they are CONSISTENT. The way the refs called the game fell exactly into Georgetown's hands. They called so many in the first half that it gave their key players time to rest in the first half. If they played the whole half like normal, it is likely they would be much more tired at the end of the game. The problem is they didn't call the same fouls in the second half. Maybe they ran out of their allotment? Again, I don't mind fouls not being called as long as they are consistent. I'd love to see a chart of the fouls called throughout the game. I guarantee the teams would show the opposite trends. The result? Georgetown's players were rested by the end of the game and even though they had 3 or 4 fouls, the refs weren't calling anymore against them. What happened to Ty Lawson's aggressiveness? He got blocked once or twice in the first half and in the second he seemed scared to take the ball to the hoop. Roy said in the post game that he was looking tired toward the end of the game. Maybe that was it. We needed a little leadership down the stretch and a key basket or two. I would have much preferred our chances as time ran out in the second half with Ty driving to the basket than Wayne Ellington shooting a 3 pointer. If we are going to set up a 3 pointer, I would have much preferred for Terry to shoot it. Oh well. It is easy to second guess now. The key was Georgetown picked up the momentum and a Mack truck couldn't have stopped them. The season is over now. It always comes so suddenly even when you know it is right around the corner. We couldn't possibly live up to the hype behind this team unless we made it to the final four. We got close. This was a painful way to go out and I hope it will serve as incentive for the younger guys to stay around another year. Overtime notes:1:17. 81-89. This game is over. 1:38. 81-87. I just don't know what to say. The refs are only allowed to call fouls against UNC. Hansbrough picks up his 4th on a BS call. 3:14. 81-81. HOLY SHIT! What are refs not allowed to call fouls against Georgetown anymore??? Hansbrough got mugged and no call. 4:25. 81-83. Georgetown's first lead since early in the first half. Second half notes:0.00. 81-81. They didn't get a shot off. We are going to overtime. 0.01. 81-81. Ellington got a good look at the basket for a 3 pointer, but missed. Georgetown has 1.4 secs for one last shot before we go to overtime. 0.24. 81-81. Oh shit. Georgetown comes down and nails a 3 to tie it. Roy calls another timeout. We can hold for the last shot. 1:04. 81-78. We get a stop! Roy calls a timeout so we can set a play. 1:40. 81-78. We end a 8:12 drought without a field goal after Hansbrough makes one down low. There should have been a foul called, but maybe they are tired of calling so many against Georgetown (even though they are valid). 2:21. 79-76. Georgetown calls a timeout after Hansbrough makes 2 free throws. 2:35. 77-76. Georgetown brings it down to 1. Ugh. Too close for comfort. 3:48. 75-72. Foul on Hibbert to prevent a Wright dunk after a nice pass by Lawson. That's his 4th. 4:12. 75-72. There goes the lead again. We are cold now. Georgetown has scored 7 unanswered. Not looking good right now. You know things are bad because Roy called a timeout. 6:02. 75-65. Wright picks up his 4th foul. 6:51. 75-65. Georgetown has finally went cold missing their last 8 shots. 7:51. 73-65. Lawson is not being as aggressive this game. He's not looking to take a shot. He just caused a turnover by stepping out of bounds after rethinking a drive to the hoop. 9:09. 73-65. Georgetown calls another timeout. You'd think Georgetown might try to conserve timeouts. 9:47. 73-65. Thompson having a monster game. He got another tip in. 11:23. 69-63. A little flurry by Georgetown brings the lead back down to 6. 12:15. 69-58. Largest lead of the game for UNC after a Lawson drive. 13:22. 65-56. We get the lead back to 9 after 4 straight points by Deon. Georgetown has to call a timeout so they can get Hibbert back in the game. 15:37. 59-53. Georgetown is making about everything they put up. 16:09. 59-51. Ellington with a 3. 19:01. 52-46. Hansbrough draws a foul on Hibbert! That's 3 for the Georgetown big man. Hansbrough makes both shots.
UNC 50, Georgetown 44 (HALFTIME)
Not a bad half for the Heels. We were very good offensively and mediocre on the defensive end. We beat Georgetown in pretty much every category except field goal percentage. They had 59% to our 50%. The big difference so far has been fouls. We shot 20 free throws (made 17) compared to 5 free throws for Georgetown (they made only 2). Georgetown starter J. Sapp and reserve P. Ewing Jr. picked up 3 fouls. Roy Hibbert picked up 2. We have to keep the pressure on these guys in the second half. Hansbrough and Wright led the way in the first half with 12 points each. Reyshawn Terry gave us a spark scoring 8 off the bench as well as did Deon Thompson who played strong against Hibbert. Georgetown's opponents average only 57 points for a game and we have 50 at the half. We are positioned well, lets see if we can execute! 0:0.8. 49-44. Ewing picks up his 3rd foul against Stephensen. He made one. 3:52. 42-35. Georgetown's Sapp picks up his 3rd. We are making it too easy for Georgetown on the offensive end. Open back door cuts and Hibbert easy buckets. 6:00. 37-28. Hansbrough and Wright both have 2 fouls. 8:16. 35-26. UNC already in the bonus. Hansbrough goes to the line. 8:42. 33-26. Terry with another 3! 9:22. 30-26. Terry with a 3. 9:58. 26-24. Stephenson draws a foul against Hibbert. That's two. I imagine he'll sit for a bit, which is a good thing because he skys above all of our players when going after rebounds. 10:39. 26-22. Georgetown has to call a timeout because his guys are already dragging. He can't wait for the under 12 official timeout. 11:22. 26-22. Deon scores again on Hibbert. 12:00. 24-22. Lawson drops a dime for a Deon slam. We have the lead back! 12:43. 22-22. Coach Thompson from Georgetown called with a Technical!! Danny Green made both. 13:11. 18-22. Miller with a 3. 14:02. 15-22. 11-0 run by Georgetown. 15:29. 13-11. Hansbrough back to the line for the 3rd time already. The pace is fast which is good for us! 16:17. 11-11. Reyshawn Terry makes his first appearance. 16:54. 10-8. Another Ginyard offensive rebound which led to a Wright layup and foul shot. 17:21. 8-6. Hansbrough already off to a quick start with 6 points. 19:25. 2-2. Hansbrough picks up a quick foul on Hibbert. Made both free throws. Tip-off. Ginyard starts again in place of Reyshawn Terry.
UNC 74, USC 64
This game was the tale of two halves. We looked lethargic and lost in the first half, but after a short spurt by USC in the second half, we took over. Much as we have all year, we are wearing teams down in the second half. Teams that come out fast against us are like distance runners that jump out of the gate sprinting. They may look good early on, but falter by the end of the race because they are so tired. That was USC in this game. On our end, the story was Brandan Wright's 21 points and 9 rebounds and Marcus Ginyard's 10 points and 10 rebounds. Ginyard missed some open shots early in the game, but had several offensive rebounds and put backs at critical points. He served as a key spark that aided our second half domination. We ended the game on a 25-5 run. Hansbrough was not a big factor. He only scored 5 points and 3 rebounds. I was a little surprised he didn't seem more aggressive because he's been on such a tear lately. USC did a good job of double and triple teaming him when he got the ball. Next up is a lucky Georgetown team. Regardless of what Billy Packer says, Georgetown's Jeff Green traveled on the final play of their game against Vandy. They should have lost that game. It doesn't matter, I'm glad we are playing them. The vast majority of analysts have Georgetown beating UNC so it will be all that much sweeter when we send them packing! Second half notes:0.40. 74-64. Ginyard fouled and makes both. This game is over! 0.48. 72-64. USC's Gibson gets charged with an illegal screen. He's out of the game. Doh! USC Coach Tim Floyd throws some papers on the court and gets called for a Technical Foul! Danny Green makes both free throws. 1:00. 70-64. Third straight possession where we come up short. 1:29. 70-64. We need to get a stop and we do! We get the ball back and call a timeout with 1:16 to go. 2:13. 70-64. USC is pressing and it is hurting us. We had two bad possessions in a row. 4:08. 69-62. You know things are going our way when Wright makes two free throws. 4:36. 67-59. Ellington scored on a reverse. This looks like another team compared to the first half! 6:17. 64-59. USC looks tired. Wright scored again. 15-0 run by UNC! 6:44. 62-59. Another steal and layup!! 7:06. 60-59. UNC takes the lead off Danny Green steal and put back after an Ellington failed dunk. 7:18. 58-59. Somehow Green got called for a foul while boxing out. He's had a horrible game. 7:36. 58-59. Ginyard is a monster! He got another tap in. 8:29. 56-59. Momentum has finally swung in our direction!! 16 point lead down to 3. Here we come! 9:15. 54-59. Wright was fouled on a lay-up and it wasn't called! Wright missed it so USC got possession. 9:36. 54-59. Ginyard scores a second straight put back. He was fouled and made the free throw. 11:36. 49-57. Wright has made two straight put backs. 12:25. 45-57. USC's Gibson picks up his 4th foul. He's has been schooling Hansbrough I hate to say. 12:47. 45-57. USC makes 5 straight points. 13:12. 45-53. Terry with an easy bucket followed by a Lawson steal and bucket. 13:49. 39-51. Green threw the ball away for the 2nd time under the USC basket which led to an easy USC bucket. Terry is coming in for Green. Damnit Green! 14:30. 39-49. Lead down to 10! Horray! 15:31. 35-49. I rarely look forward to a TV timeout, but this is one of those times. 17:00. 35-49. We finally scored! We went 7 minutes since our last bucket. 17:35. 33-49. USC scores 6 straight to start the game. We are sucking.
UNC 33, USC 42 (HALFTIME)
This was our worst half in several games. USC was quicker than us and we played ZERO defense. The buckets looked like they came easy to USC. They finished the half on a 8-0 run. While we had a couple of good offensive spurts, we missed a lot of open shots. We are shooting an anemic 37% from the field. From behind the arc we are 2-11. What do we need to improve in the second half? Pretty much everything. Let's hope we wake up soon. A sick Reyshawn Terry is probably playing the best out of anyone for UNC. First half notes:0.01. 33-42. Ellington got an open look from 3 to end the half....but missed. 0.54. 33-42. USC with a layup and Frasor fouls him for no reason (it was actually a bad call by the ref --- it wasn't a foul). 1:22. 33-38. Miller misses another. 1:47. 33-38. Hansbrough drew another charge! 3:00. 33-38. Miller misses from deep. It is amazing how wide open we are leaving USC players. 3:57. 33-34. Terry with a 3! There isn't much defense being played on either end. 4:30. 28-32. Green gets a great block but then throws the ball away, fouls the guy who makes the bucket and the subsequent foul shot. 5:35. 26-26. Ellington ties the game! 6:00. 24-26. Green misses another 3 but Wright is there to put it back in. 6:41. 22-24. Wright gets an easy one. Lawson picks up his 2nd foul and comes out of the game. 7:53. 20-24. Ellington makes a tough shot. USC scores easily again. Hansbrough gets called with a travel. 8:38. 18-22. Hansbrough gets a charge! 8:42. 18-22. Hansbrough back in the game after just a couple of minute rest. 9:39. 16-22. Terry with a turnaround shot (made) and foul! 9:53. 14-22. Our defensive is non-existent at this point. 10:19. 14-20. Wright makes a turnaround in triple coverage. 10:52. 12-18. Two fouls on Hansbrough. Terry in for the first time. 11:17. 12-18. Finally! Miller makes a 3. 12:00. 12-18. There is an extremely annoying lady behind the commentators (Packer and Nance) that is making a loud whining noise every time UNC gets the ball. Can CBS get her to shut up!?!?! 12:38. 7-18. USC makes a wide open 3. 13:01. 7-15. Miller with a miss from 3. 13:25. 7-15. Green with his shot blocked. We are shooting a whopping 30%. 14:26. 7-14. Ginyard with another miss. USC #22 scored on the other end and was fouled. Danny Green and Wes Miller come in the game. 15:54. 5-10. Lawson airballs a 3. We aren't looking very good on the offensive end right now. USC gave Ginyard an open 17 footer and he missed. They want Ginyard shooting the ball. 16:54. 5-7. Hansbrough made a 16 footer. 18:05. 1-6. USC looks quicker than us right now. 18:38. 1-4. Hansbrough not playing with is mask. He missed his first shot. Ellington just shot an air ball. 19:38. 1-0. Ginyard with a good cut to the basket, fouled, made one free throw. Tip-off: Reyshawn Terry is not starting but is expected to play. Ginyard starting in his place.
Terry Questionable for Tonight
During Roy's press conference yesterday, he mentioned that Reyshawn Terry isn't doing much better despite earlier reports that he was improving. Q. Any updates on Reyshawn, how he’s feeling if his status has changed?Not really. He didn’t do much of anything this morning at practice. I don’t think he will do much out here today. We’re hoping, but I am not real, real encouraged.
Welcome to the UNC Bandwagon
In a recent Harris Poll, UNC was voted the most popular team in the nation! Surprisingly, Duke had been the top team for the past 4 years. Now they are #2. With the Gerald Henderson fiasco, they are lucky not to be lower. There is always next year ;-) Everyone, welcome to the UNC Bandwagon! Thanks for the tip Chuck K.
Hansbrough A Finalist For Naismith Player Of The Year Award
Tyler is up against Kevin Durant (Texas), Acie Law (Texas A&M), and Alando Tucker (Wisconsin) for the Naismith Player of the Year Award. The four finalists will attend the National Association of Basketball Coaches Awards program in Atlanta on Sunday, April 1, where the winner will be presented with the Naismith Trophy. The Men's College Player of the Year winner will be featured on AT&T "At the Half" during CBS Sports' coverage of the NCAA championship game on April 2.
Reyshawn Terry has Strep Throat, but is getting better
By UNC Athletic Communications University of North Carolina men's basketball senior forward Reyshawn Terry has been diagnosed with strep throat, but his condition is improving and he is expected to play Friday in the East Region semifinal against the University of Southern California.
Terry did not have a fever Wednesday. He had been unable to practice the past two days after running a high temperature and having migraine headaches beginning last Saturday prior to UNC's 81-67 win over Michigan State.
UNC 81, MSU 67
UNC won a scrappy game on the back of Tyler Hansbrough's season high 33 points and Ty Lawson's 20 points and 8 assists. Both had all-star calibur games, which made up for anemic offensive performances by the rest of the team. There is one glaring exception. Reyshawn Terry was 0-5 from three point range until the 5 minute mark when he caught fire. He scored 10 points in the final 4 minutes of the game. According to Dick Enberg, Terry has been suffering from flu-like symptoms before the game, which might explain his poor play early on. Drew Neitzel kept MSU close, scoring 26 points including 6-17 from beyond the arc. Fortunately, he and the rest of MSU stopped making shots in the final minutes. Despite MSU's rebounding prowess, we out-rebounded them 40-29. Hansbrough led the team with 9 rebounds. I was very happy with our toughness throughout the game. We had a couple of soft periods, but overall we played with a lot of intensity. Next up we play the winner of tomorrow's USC/Texas game. Bring 'um on! Second half notes:1:11. 77-67. This is all but over now! Hansbrough at the line. 1:26. 77-67. MSU is starting to foul on every UNC possession. Lawson made both. 1:28. 75-65. Neitzel lowers his shoulder and got a foul called against Ginyard. It should have been a charge. 1:34. 75-65. Wright with a rejection. Hansbrough fouled. Walton fouled out. 1:43. 74-65. Terry drives and was fouled. He made one. 1:51. 73-65. Neitzel air balls a 3 pointer. Good defense by Ginyard! 2:21. 73-65. Terry drilled a 3 pointer!! 2:58. 70-63. Huge two pointer by Terry! 4:03. 68-61. Terry fouled and made one. Double bonus now for UNC. We shoot 2 from here on out. 4:23. 67-61. Extremely questionable hooking foul against Wright. He has 4 fouls and goes to the bench. 4:49. 67-61. LAWSON WITH A HUGE 3 POINTER!!! He has 18 points and no turnovers. Credit Marcus Ginyard for getting a steal off Neitzel. 6:00. 62-59. Hansbrough scores again on a great Lawson feed. He has 31 points! 7:25. 58-59. Terry missed another 3. He's 0-5 from deep. 8:07. 58-59. Neitzel is killing us like Hansbrough is killing MSU. 8:25. 58-57. This game is going to come down to who can make their free throws. UNC is already in the bonus and MSU will be in the bonus on the next foul. 8:46. 54-57. Neitzel with another f**kin 3 pointer (his 6th!). We have to stop him!! 9:46. 54-54. Hansbrough with a dunk for his 24th and 25th point! We need some other players to step up offensively other than Hansbrough and Lawson. 10:41. 50-51. Dick Enberg mentioned that Reyshawn Terry has been ill and not feeling well today. That would explain his play which has been less than stellar. 11:33. 50-51. This game is waaay too close for comfort. 12:22. 50-49. Hansbrough scores (again) and is fouled (again). 4th foul on Walton. 13:12. 47-46. We've finally picked up our defensive intensity. 13:45. 46-46. MSU is really starting to collect fouls. They have 5 team fouls so far. 3 Spartans with 3 fouls. 15:00. 43-44. MSU takes their first lead since the opening minutes. We've lost our intensity. 16:15. 43-42. And there goes the 8 point lead. 19:32. 41-25. Wright is having an off night.
UNC 41, MSU 33 (HALFTIME)
Tyler Hansbrough has been the story of the first half. He has played like a man possessed. He started off playing with a mask, but took it off at the 12 minute mark. He leads all scorers with 19 points. Overall, we are playing pretty well. MSU going 5-10 from the 3 point line has kept them in the game. MSU started racking up fouls toward the end of the half. They have 2 players with 2 fouls and 1 with 3. Minute-wise, both teams are playing their players about the same minutes, so I don't think we'll wear them down in the second half (except for maybe Neitzel and Walton who played all but 1 minute each). MSU is touted as a good rebounding team, but we are beating them 21-14 on the boards. We need to keep it up. Reyshawn Terry didn't have a good half. We'll need him to step up like in previous games to pull this out. I have a feeling this one will go down to the wire. First half notes:0:10. 41-33. We get a steal and a fast break Hansbrough dunk to close out the half! 2:26. 36-33. MSU has a spurt of their own to cut the lead to 3. 5:03. 34-26. A little spurt gets us our biggest lead. 9:39. 25-20. Hansbrough is pumped! 11 points so far. I wish we could get Wright into the game too. 11:28. 19-18. I love our scrappiness! We just got 3 offensive rebounds before Hansbrough was fouled. We have to stop MSU's Neitzel. He has 8 points already. 12:21. 19-15. Hansbrough comes back in with his MASK OFF and scores. 13:19. 17-12. Wright picks up his second foul and comes out. 14:06. F**kin CBS!!! They cut to the Pitt game! I hate CBS this time of year. 15:11. 12-7. Followed by Ellington for a 3! 15:33. 9-4. Lawson from deep! 16:03. 6-4. Hansbrough is 2-2 so far.
Hansbrough named to All-America Team
Congrats to Tyler! He beat out the likes of Greg Oden and Joakim Noah (not to mention ACC POY Jared Dudley). National Association of Basketball Coaches Announce 2007 Division I All-America Teams | Kevin Durant | University of Texas | FR | Forward | 6-9 | Suitland, Md. | | Alando Tucker | University of Wisconsin | SR | Forward | 6-6 | Lockport, Ill. | | Acie Law IV | Texas A&M University | SR | Guard | 6-3 | Dallas, Texas | | Arron Afflalo | UCLA | JR | Guard | 6-5 | Compton, Calif. | | Tyler Hansbrough | University of North Carolina | SO | Forward | 6-9 | Poplar Bluff, Mo |
UNC 86, Eastern Kentucky 65
Eastern Kentucky gave us a good scare when they cut a 27 point to 4, but UNC regained composure and cruised to a victory in the opening round of the NCAA tournament. All five starters were in double figures with Hansbrough leading the way with 21 points on 9-11 shooting. This was his best game since he started wearing a mask. The new, better fitting mask he wore tonight suited him much better. You could tell it didn't bother him as much. We shot extremely well all game -- 65% from the floor for the game. Reyshawn Terry continued his hot streak scoring 18 points on 8-9 shooting. Turnovers killed us. We had 22 to EK's 16. The extended defensive pressure really gave us a hard time. At this point in the season, it really shouldn't have been a big deal, but it was. The first 10 minutes of the game gave as much hope as the second 10 took away. I'm not exactly sure where things stand now. It is what we've come to expect out of this team. We played extremely well at times, but ran into a couple of dead spots where we lost intensity and looked lost on the offensive end. Needless to say this kind of inconsistency won't get us by the likes of Texas or Georgetown. But I don't want to get too far ahead yet, we face Michigan State on Saturday. Second half notes:5:01. 77-56. Reyshawn Terry continues to give the team a lift. He can't miss! 7:01. 71-52. Finally, the UNC team that won the ACC Tourney decided to show up again after a 10 minute hiatus. 13:28. 55-44. A couple of good transition buckets and we finally start playing again. 17:43. 47-42. Wow, EK has it down to a 5 point lead.
UNC 47, Eastern Kentucky 35 (HALFTIME)
We started off playing our best ball of the year, but then EK started getting a bunch of backdoor shots and pressured us on the offensive end. The result? EK ended the half on a 23-8 run to bring a once 27 point lead down to 12. We are beating EK in every stat category including turnovers. We have 12, they have 10. We need to do a better job of handling the extended pressure on the offensive end. We should be able to get Wright or Hansbrough open down low. We are a little too eager to get in the passing lanes which is making it easy for EK to go backdoor. They've also gotten a couple of wide open looks from 3. First half notes:4:10. 41-24. We are getting sloppy. We are not defending the backdoor cuts well at all. And EK's pressure is disrupting us. 11:26. 26-8. 10 of Eastern Kentucky's 12 shots have been 3 pointers! Many of which from really deep. Most have missed. 12:48. 24-6. Hansbrough is a monster, leading UNC with 8 points. 16:14. 15-3. I hate to say this, but this is the best this team has looked in a long time! 16:41. 11-3. Hansbrough seems to like his new mask. He's already made two shots. 17:00. 7-0. UNC off to a great start!
Hansbrough gets a new mask
 Roy mentioned they called in a specialist to create a custom mask for Tyler and here it is!
So much for Drexel
Part of the bubble whining contingent cried over 23-8 Drexel not getting in. They beat some quality opponents, yadayada. Well NC State beat them last night in the first round of the NIT. No one said anything about NC State not getting in the NCAA tourney. Unfortunately, ACC teams get penalized for beating up on each other despite being better than teams in lesser conferences.
Heels unbeatable -- except when they're not
Gregg Doyel thinks UNC is perfect: The Tar Heels are one of four No. 1 seeds -- but the closest thing this 2006-07 NCAA Tournament has to perfection. No team can match the Tar Heels' combination of inside-outside balance, depth of talent, size and quickness.
Enough with the bubble teams that didn't get in!
I've seen a lot of coverage on ESPN, ESPN2, and CBS about the NCAA Tourney seeding. It inevitably boils down to 20% of the time spent listing the 65 teams and their seeds followed by 80% of the time spent on the 4 or 5 bubble teams that didn't get in. Now I feel for the Florida State's and Drexel's of the world, but come on, let's focus on the 65 teams that did get in!
UNC gets #1 seed and tough(est) region
The 2007 NCAA Tourney seeding was set yesterday and UNC got a 1 seed in the East as expected. That's where the good news ends though. All the analysts I've seen have agreed that the East is by far the toughest region. First, Marquette could have been a 5 or 6 seed. They ranked 20th in this week's ESPN poll. To compare, Duke, which received a generous 6 seed in the West isn't even ranked in the top 25. If we get past our first two games, we will likely face a Texas team that took Kansas down to the wire in the Big 12 championship game. They also have the best player in the country in Kevin Durant. Many analysts were saying Texas could have been a 3 seed. Lastly, Georgetown is the 2 seed in the East and they have been on fire of late. They won the Big East championship. I've heard more analysts predict Georgetown to win the East. Out of all of the 1 seeds, UNC seems to be the biggest underdog to win their region. There is a lot of concern about Carolina's inconsistency, but the ACC Tourney just showed we can put a string of tough games together.
Three UNC Freshmen on ACC All-Tourney team
FIRST TEAMBrandan Wright, UNC* Brandon Costner, NCSU* Ty Lawson, UNC Wayne Ellington, UNC Gavin Grant, NCSU * unanimous selection SECOND TEAMCourtney Fells, NCSU Ben McCauley, NCSU Engin Atsur, NCSU Al Thornton, FSU Tyrese Rice, BC
Brandan Wright named ACC Tourney MVP
Congrats Brandan on an outstanding tournament!
UNC 89, NC State 80
NC State showed a lot of heart and determination but it wasn't enough to hold off the deeper and more talented Carolina team. This is UNC's first ACC Championship since 1998. This should help make the case for UNC getting a #1 seed in the upcoming NCAA Tourney. State's Brandon Costner set an ACC record with 90 points in the ACC tourney including 28 against UNC. The red-shirt freshman was a monster and will be a handful next year. We also had a couple of freshmen that played extremely well. Brandan Wright scored 16 points on 7-11 shooting, Wayne Ellington had 16 on 6-8 shooting including 2-3 from beyond the arc. Ty Lawson did a great job leading the team and closed the game with a dunk! I believe that is his first dunk of the year :-) and it really got the bench going. As far as the upper class, Hansbrough had some trouble scoring from the low post, but that was partially because he got hacked so many times. He was 11-11 from the free throw line. Reyshawn Terry had an outstanding second half and nailed several critical shots down the stretch (he scored 8 straight at one point). That's the kind of senior leadership we've been needing out of him. A big difference in this game was free throws. We shot a remarkable 23-24! That is our best performance from the charity stripe in a long time. Bring on the NCAA Tourney! Second half notes:0.56. 82-75. State missed the shot, Lawson got the rebound and was fouled. He made both! 1:14. 80-75. Ellington fouled and makes both! 1:28. 78-75. Wright has missed two from close range. We have the ball, it is ours to lose. 3:03. 78-75. To be honest, I don't think things look good for us. We look out of sorts. We just missed 2 point blank layups. 3:15. 78-74. F*ckin refs missed a charge against Costner and call it on Hansbrough (his 4th). 3:24. 78-72. Terry with a 3!! 4:25. 75-69. Terry has made a couple of clutch shots. 6:00. 68-65. This is starting to make me sick. State has climbed all the way back. 7:18. 66-58. We are letting State hang around. We don't want to go down to the wire with this team. They have the cinderella karma. 11:37. 56-48. State has scored 8 straight. 11:54. 56-47. Hansbrough picks up his 3rd foul. The paced has slowed down a lot. We need to pick it up again. 17:23. 50-36. Lawson with two straight buckets and State calls a timeout. 18:06. 46-34. We look pretty good to open the half. Hansbrough misses a shot but gets his 4th steal of the game.
UNC 42, NC State 34 (HALFTIME)
Carolina went on a 10-2 run to close out the first half behind Wes Miller's back-to-back three pointers. Our defensive effort wasn't spectacular, but at around the 9 minute mark we turned it up and got a couple of steals which led to easy buckets. One big concern is State outrebounding us 13 to 11. We haven't done a good job boxing out. Fortunately, State has 10 turnovers to our 5, which has helped even things out. The State players looked fatigued at the close of the half so let's hope we run them out of the gym in the second half. Costner has 16 points for State and if we could shut him down in the second half, we'll be in good shape. He's been unstoppable so far. On our end, Brandan Wright has been unstoppable, scoring 14 points on 6-7 shooting. He even made both of his free throw attempts! The whole team is shooting good at 61%. One other note: before the game Ty Lawson said he felt a slight pop in his groin area. Let's hope it is nothing serious. It doesn't seem to have affected him in the first half. First half notes:1:26. 40-32. Miller for another 3!! 2:00. 37-32. Miller for 3! 3:11. 32-32. State is out rebounding us (13 to 10) which isn't a good sign. They've got 5 offensive rebounds so far which has led to some easy buckets. 7:20. 23-25. Refs missed an obvious double-dribble on Costner. We can't stop Costner so far! 8:40. 23-21. We didn't have much defensive intensity early, but after notching it up, we got 2 steals and got the lead again. 10:40. 17-18. 4 turnovers already by the Heels. We don't look very crisp on the offensive end. 12:57. 12-18. Jeez someone stop Costner please. He has 10 points already. 13:10. 12-16. We aren't getting rebounds. One and done most of the time. 15:48. 8-9. State making their early shots. 3 three pointers already. 18:36. 6-3. Looking good early. Wright and Hansbrough have already scored.
UNC 71, Boston College 56
UNC led most of the way against BC and proved to be too much down the stretch. This will be Carolina's first ACC championship game appearance since 2001. Brandan Wright was silky smooth and efficient on his way to 20 points on 10/12 shooting and at least 4 dunks. I wonder what his stats would look like if he took 20 shots a game? Hansbrough had 9 points and played much more aggressively, but the mask still seems to be affecting him on the offensive end. While Roy is still playing 11 players more than 5 minutes, the starters are playing more. Hansbrough, Wright and Lawson all played more than 30 minutes. Next up is either State or Virginia Tech. I'm mixed on which one I'd rather see. I'd like to see Virginia Tech because it would give us a chance to avenge their regular season sweep of us. I'd like to see State because I think they'd be a little easier for us, especially playing 4 straight games with a short bench. Second half notes:0.37. 71-56. Roy clears the bench. Game over! 2:40. 69-56. Wes Miller with a steal on Reese which turned into an easy basket for UNC. 3:47. 67-54. BC made 2 straight 3s. They aren't out of it yet. 5:11. 64-48. Roy is really getting after the team. He yelled "Everybody wake up" 7:55. 62-44. For every run BC makes, UNC counters. 11:46. 55-41. Terry nails a 3 and Wright gets another fast break dunk to stop the BC run. 12:54. 50-41. BC goes zone, slows it down, makes some shots, and that's how a 20 point lead can get down to 9 in 3 minutes. 16:55. 46-28. 4 subs in for UNC. 19:13. 40-23. UNC starts with an easy transition dunk for Wright.
UNC 38, Boston College 23 (HALFTIME)
The name of the game for the first half has been defense. We're playing team defense unlike we have in several games. BC's two best players, Dudley and Reese, are 2-15 from the field. I still don't get why Dudley beat out Hansbrough (or even Al Thornton) for player of the year. He has done nothing in the last few games and perhaps worst of all, he is a FLOPPER! That's right, he spent about as much time on the floor as he did standing up in the first half. Unfortunately, the refs called a couple of fouls when he flopped. Offensively we are doing good, but not great shooting 50% from the floor. Hansbrough only has 3 points. He's playing much more aggressive than against FSU, but he hasn't many opportunities. If we can keep up our defensive pressure and rebound margin (currently 10 more than BC), I think we are in good shape. First half notes:3:45. 30-18. We are letting them back into the game. 5:22. 30-14. These refs have just been lousy. Oats pushed Ginyard down on the ground and Ginyard got called for the foul. 6:45. 27-11. We are really taking it to BC! Hit 10 of our last 13. 8:03. 23-11. Both teams are heating up and we are really starting to get our transition going. 12:08. 15-5. Bobby Frasor with a 3 to go up by 10! 15:21. 6-3. Refs missed an intentional foul by Reece on Lawson to prevent a fast break layup. 15:43. 4-3. No one will say Hansbrough isn't playing aggressive this game. He has been a monster so far though he is 0-2. We've missed a few shots which has kept the score down (2-7 from the field). The refs have already made a couple of questionable calls (on both ends).
UNC 73, Florida State 58
UNC broke the streak of four straight games with the lower seeded team winning in this year's ACC tourney. It wasn't easy though. While we led most of the game, FSU hung in there until the last part of the 2nd half. Tyler Hansbrough made his masked debut. He said after the game he hates the mask, but the doctors really wanted him to wear it. It affected him throughout and his stats show it. The ACC leader in free throws shot only took 2 against FSU and scored 6 points total, a career low. His shooting percentage wasn't horrible (3-7), but you could tell he wasn't as aggressive as normal. Wayne Ellington had a good shooting night going 6-12 from the field and 4-4 from the line to tally 18 points. Brandan Wright had a highlight reel alley oop from Q where 3/4 of his arm was above the rim. He also had 3 blocks in a solid defensive performance. Ty Lawson led the team in minutes played and served as the glue for the team. He has a knack for driving to the basket and finding the open man or going strong to the hoop for the score. He had 3 steals on the game. Overall we played much better defense this game than in some of our recent outings. Let's hope we can keep it up against Boston College! I didn't take my usual notes on the game because I was at a fellow Carolina fanatic's house watching the game on a 100 inch HD projector. Thanks Chuck!
Who is that masked man?
New sponsor: TicketCity
I'm pleased to welcome TicketCity as a sponsor of the UNC Basketball Update Blog. If you are looking for tickets to any of the March Madness games or any other sporting event for that matter, you might want to check them out.
Let's hope today isn't a repeat of yesterday
Every lower seeded team won yesterday in a marvelous day of college basketball in the ACC. I enjoyed watching all the games (especially the Duke loss). I must admit I didn't watch the Wake/GaTech game after halftime. I thought there was no way Wake would pull that out and look what happened. In my local ACC tourney pool, I picked the NC State and FSU upsets, but not the other two. In fact, I had Ga Tech going all the way to play UNC in the final, but that won't happen now. Go Heels!
Team send off (update)
The team send-off is happening today at 5:30pm. More details available here. Wednesday, March 7 Time: 5:30 p.m. Meet at Smith Center Entry D Team is expected to depart at 6 p.m. Public parking in Manning Lot --- UPDATE: Over on TarHeelBlue, you can view a few pictures from the send off. At least Hansbrough hasn't lost his since of humor... 
UNC Fans have spoken and CBS has not listened: More Packer on Friday
In this article, Billy Packer defends his comments about the Henderson incident. I'm not even going to comment on that. However, I will comment on this little tidbit: Packer's on-air comments riled some North Carolina fans. "I don't care about that," he said. "This is just one man's opinion. If someone doesn't like it, that's OK."
He will be seeing the Tar Heels again soon. Packer said he has been assigned to broadcast three games at the ACC tournament - two Thursday and North Carolina's first-round game at noon Friday. Oh great, more Packer on Friday. CBS must not monitor the blogosphere or else they would have seen the flood of comments over the last few days on this blog and others regarding Packer's sensitivity to Henderson and lack of sensitivity to Hansbrough. The trick will be to see if it is possible to align the recording of the game (via DVR) with Woody Durham's radio delay broadcast. Woody's a much better announcer anyway!
We won't have the Rookie of the Year next year (correction)
Coach Williams and Brandan Wright mentioned during today's press conference that we won't have the Rookie of the Year next year. I knew we hadn't signed anyone yet, but with Reyshawn leaving, that leaves 1 open scholarship. I guess Roy didn't find anyone he liked in time to give it out. Either that or he likes a couple of players in the 2008 class more. After next year, we'll have 2 open scholarships (with Quentin graduating). I imagine we'll have even more with at least Brandan and Tyler in strong contention to jump to the NBA (if they don't do it this year). CORRECTION: It dawned on me yesterday that we will have 1 scholarship player next year...namely William Graves, the Greensboro standout that red-shirted this year. Even though he came in with this year's freshman class, he'll be considered a freshman from a basketball eligibility perspective next year.
Wright Named ACC Rookie of the Year
No surprise here. This is the 3rd year in a row Carolina has the ACC Rookie of the Year. Wright follows Hansbrough and Marvin Williams. From InsideCarolina: "I have team goals of winning the ACC Tournament and then looking at the national championship," Wright said, minutes after learning he'd won the award. "But the awards on the side are always kind of nice, especially in a conference like this and on a team like this. ... The league was very deep - even on my own team it was very deep." The 6-9 power forward has averaged 14.9 points and 6.3 rebounds per game while leading the conference by shooting 66 percent. It's the third straight year that a Tar Heel has won the award. Vote Totals Brandan Wright, North Carolina (49) Javaris Crittenton, Georgia Tech (27) Brandon Costner, N.C. State (23)
More from Doyel on Coach K
Gotta love Gregg Doyel. Yesterday I wrote about his exchange with Coach K during the ACC Teleconf. I've been checking his site today because I smelled an article brewing. And not to be disappointed, here it is: Real 'bad' guy -- self-made -- in Duke-UNC fracas is Coach K . Definitely worth a read.
Who is the best in the ACC?
The next big award to be announced is ACC Player of the Year. The two front runners are Jared Dudley of BC and our man Hansbrough. Al Thornton and Sean Singletary are also in contention, but the best they'll do is 3rd and 4th. If you listen to reporters and TV commentators, Dudley has had a slight edge in the last couple of months. However, Hansbrough has been playing very well lately, not to mention the legendary performance against Duke which may have pushed him over the edge for the top spot. If I look at the stats, Dudley has a slight edge: SCORING
## Player-Team Cl G FG 3FG FT Pts Avg/G
------------------------------------------------------------
1.Al Thornton-FS........... SR 30 210 30 152 602 20.1
2.Jared Dudley-BC.......... SR 26 168 36 129 501 19.3
3.Tyler Hansbrough-NC...... SO 31 193 1 197 584 18.8 REBOUNDING
## Player-Team Cl G OFF DEF TOT Avg/G
-------------------------------------------------------
1.Jared Dudley-BC.......... SR 26 79 143 222 8.5
2.Tyler Hansbrough-NC...... SO 31 98 149 247 8.0 FIELD GOAL PCT (Min. 5.0 made per game)
## Player-Team Cl G FG FGA Pct
----------------------------------------------------
1.Brandan Wright-NC........ FR 30 186 282 .660
2.Ben McCauley-ST.......... SO 29 177 300 .590
3.Jared Dudley-BC.......... SR 26 168 290 .579
4.Kyle Visser-WF........... SR 29 175 304 .576
5.Tyler Hansbrough-NC...... SO 31 193 362 .533 However, if we look at one more stat, it will shed light on Dudley's advantage: MINUTES PLAYED
## Player-Team Cl G Minutes Avg/G
-------------------------------------------------
1.Jared Dudley-BC.......... SR 26 996 38.31 That's right, Dudley led the ACC in minutes played. Hansbrough is not even in the top 10. If Hansbrough played as many minutes as Dudley, he would have easily beat him statistically. And this is exactly Chip Alexander's point from the N&O when he assessed who was best. The News & Observer developed an efficiency rating based on a formula used by the NBA. The NBA version takes a player's good statistics, subtracts bad ones and divides by total games. The only difference is the N&O's rating is figured by dividing by total minutes rather than total games. Hansbrough's 67.03 efficiency rating is the highest of the four candidates. Thornton is next (64.03) and Dudley third (62.01). You have to take into account minutes played or you are not comparing apples to apples. You also have to consider other factors than just the efficiency rating because if you just went by efficiency, Brandan Wright would be the POY since he has the highest rating in the league, even ahead of Hansbrough. He isn't quite POY caliber yet (although he would be next year if he stayed, which he won't), he's a lock for Freshman of the Year. You also have to consider head to head play. While Dudley scored more points (22) than Hansbrough (17) in the UNC v BC match-up, Dudley missed vital free throws and shots at the end of the game. My money is on Hansbrough, but then again I'm biased ;-)
All-ACC Teams announced. Hansbrough, Wright, and Lawson earn honors
As for some much needed good news, Tyler Hansbrough was a unanimous selection to the All-ACC First team for the second year. Brandan Wright made the second team. Brandan was also a unanimous selection to the All-Freshman First team and was joined by Ty Lawson. One disappointment was that Reyshawn Terry didn't make All-ACC this year after being named to the third team last year. Also, we didn't have a single player on the All-Defensive squad -- not because we don't have some good defenders, but because none of them were consistent enough throughout the season. More details available from theACC.com. All-ACC TeamFirst team *Jared Dudley, Boston College (106), 318 *Tyler Hansbrough, North Carolina (106), 318 *Al Thornton, Florida State (106), 318 Sean Singletary, Virginia (100), 312 Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech (90), 302 Second team J.R. Reynolds, Virginia (20), 232 D.J. Strawberry, Maryland (2), 180 Tyrese Rice, Boston College, 177 Josh McRoberts, Duke, 159 Brandan Wright, North Carolina, 150 Third team Kyle Visser, Wake Forest, 120 Javaris Crittenton, Georgia Tech, 104 Brandon Costner, N.C. State, 94 Jamon Gordon, Virginia Tech, 61 Jack McClinton, Miami, 48 Honorable mention (20 or more points) Ben McCauley, N.C. State, 36 James Mays, Clemson, 34 DeMarcus Nelson, Duke, 34 James Gist, Maryland, 28 Ekene Ibekwe, Maryland, 22 All-Freshman Team*Javaris Crittenton, Georgia Tech, 106 *Brandan Wright, North Carolina, 106 Brandon Costner, N.C. State, 95 Ty Lawson, North Carolina, 64 Jon Scheyer, Duke, 54 Honorable mention (20 or more votes) Thaddeus Young, Georgia Tech, 42 Greivis Vasquez, Maryland, 37 All-Defensive TeamJamon Gordon, Virginia Tech, 96 Ekene Ibekwe, Maryland, 65 Zabian Dowdell, Virginia Tech, 59 D.J. Strawberry, Maryland, 55 Josh McRoberts, Duke, 46 Honorable mention (20 or more votes) Mario West, Georgia Tech, 33 DeMarcus Nelson, Duke, 25 James Mays, Clemson, 24 Vernon Hamilton, Clemson, 20 * unanimous selection
Coach K inserts foot in mouth again
From the ACC teleconference today, Coach K had this to say when asked if the referees did a good job of handling the Henderson situation: Yes (pause) I think they did a good job. There’s a lot going on in a short period of time – the blood, the crowd. I'm not blaming anybody, but it's just unfortunate, and the person it's most unfortunate for is 'G' because, that wasn’t his intent and that's not what he was doing during that play. I believe that with all my heart, head, and whatever. Did he really say it is most unfortunate for "G" (as in Gerald). How about the guy with the broken nose? Then CBS' Gregg Doyel really let him have it! Check out this exchange: How many games did you suspend Christian Laettner for when he stomped on the Kentucky player? (Gregg Doyel, CBS Sportsline)
First of all, would you call that a stomp?
Absolutely, I’ve seen it over and over.
Well then my judgment and yours differ.
I’ve got some glasses. Are you serious?
I’m not going to get into it with you, because you would always want something controversial.
I would just like the truth sometimes, that is all.
No, believe me. There’s nobody that likes the truth more than me. After the season we’ll talk about 1992. I would rather talk about 2007 right now. I wish I had a youtube of Laettner's stomp which was as close to a stomp as you can get. But I'm sure Coach K's judgment differs from mine.
Fire Billy Packer Petition
A lot of people have been commenting on this blog about Billy Packer's handling of the Hansbrough-Henderson incident. He seemed to be more concerned about who was going to shoot the free throws and whether Gerald Henderson was going to be suspended than on Hansbrough's well-being. The ol' Fire Billy Packer petition has been resurrected. Quite a few people have signed it since yesterday. My brother told me that some folks are actually calling CBS directly to lodge a formal complaint against Packer.
Hansbrough will likely need a root canal too
During the weekly ACC coaches teleconference, Coach Williams said that Hansbrough injured a tooth earlier in the game and will probably need a root canal after the season ends. I thought I saw him take a shot or two to the face and looked pretty pissed early in the game. I saw him wearing a mouth guard later and didn't think anything about it (although he doesn't normally wear a mouth guard). After this weekend, Hansbrough went from a Carolina great to a Carolina legend. If you haven't seen it yet, I highly recommend this Adam Lucas piece. Here is an excerpt: He was standing in the Smith Center training room with his father, trainer Marc Davis, a dentist, and sports information honcho Matt Bowers. The first move was to have him cough into a trash can, which send blood streaming. Finally, the blood stopped streaming from his nose. The front of his jersey, from the neck to the waist, was covered in bright red blood. Hansbrough's blood. And this is what he said:
"I want to go back out there. Like this."
Imagine if that had happened. Imagine if Hansbrough had walked back onto the Smith Center court with his jersey covered in blood, a plug in each nostril, and a menacing glare.
They could have retired his jersey--not the one he wore Sunday afternoon, because that one has already been washed--right on the spot. A man gets 26 points and 17 rebounds against Duke, that's banner-worthy. A man gets 26 points, 17 rebounds, and supplants Eric Montross as the all-time image of a bloody Tar Heel against the Blue Devils, that's something that needs a statue. He'd already had a memorable game. But as soon as he stood up after the foul, it became legendary.
2007 ACC Tourney Bracket
We play either Clemson or Florida State on Friday at 12pm. Not an easy assignment either way. But now that I look over the bracket, no one has an easy assignment. 
Tyler's nose is broken
From InsideCarolina.com: "It's not completely broken," Williams said. "His nose did not have to be set, straightened out or anything like that." They are calling it a small nondisplaced fracture.
The injury occurred in the final minute of Sunday's game when the forearm of Duke's Gerald Henderson smashed into Hansbrough's face as Hansbrough attempted a put-back.
Hansbrough is expected to play Friday when the Tar Heels face the Clemson/FSU winner in the ACC Tournament at noon. He'll wear a mask in practice this week and may wear it on Friday.
"I'm going to ask him to wear it the next couple of days," Williams said. "Whether we ask him to wear it in the game or not, we don't know yet."
Hansbrough update
Tyler's dad (who is a pediatrician) and Coach Williams said they don't believe Tyler's nose is broken. Tyler's dad said his son's nose was still straight, which is a good sign. Tyler wanted to come back on the floor after the incident, but they wouldn't allow it because his jersey was bloody from top to bottom.   Hansbrough has had a rough week; he was hospitalized earlier in the week due to an illness and now this. Gerald Henderson's forearm came down directly on Tyler's nose so I'd be very surprised if it isn't broken. Best wishes Tyler!!
UNC 86, Duke 72
UNC beat Duke by 14 at the Smith Center, but that isn't the story of the game unfortunately. With 14 seconds left in the game, Hansbrough got one of his career high 17 rebounds and Duke guard Gerald Henderson came in after the ball aggressively and hit Hansbrough in the nose with his forearm. Hansbrough immediately went to the ground. After a few seconds Hansbrough got up and was bleeding profusely (it was dripping on the court it was so bad). Hansbrough was pissed and the UNC trainer escorted him off the floor because he likely has a broken nose. After several minutes of reviewing the play, the refs ejected Gerald from the game and he'lll be suspended for the next game. He was walked off the court and the fans really let him have it. The bad thing about all of this was the game was over. Coach K said repeatedly in the post game that the foul wasn't intentional. After seeing it about 20 times, I don't think it was "intentional", but the refs had it right when they called it a "combative foul". There is no way with 14 seconds left in the game with it being out of reach should Henderson go in swinging his arms to get a rebound. He absolutely deserves to be disciplined. Regardless if it was "intentional", his aggressiveness was intentional which led to the foul. Unfortunately, the Henderson foul will be the headline of this game, but Hansbrough deserves the attention. He scored 26 points and 17 rebounds and was unstoppable. Reyshawn Terry had a very solid game to close out his regular season career with 15 points and 8 rebounds. Brandan Wright went 5-6 from the floor for 10 points. We really should have gotten Brandan the ball more. Ty Lawson bounced back from a rough week and played extremely well. Thanks to Virginia and Virginia Tech losses and the UNC win, UNC shares the regular season title with Virginia and will be the #1 seed in next week's ACC tourney. After the game, the Carolina seniors spoke to the crowd before the team cut down one of the nets. (They didn't cut down both nets because they shared the ACC title.) Second half notes:1:27. 79-64. UNC is making free throws down the stretch. 2:31. 75-59. Duke trying to run with us which isn't very smart. 4:34. 68-54. Lawson picks up his 4th foul. 5:53. 66-52. McRoberts picks up his 4th foul. Things are looking good for us right now. 7:00. 62-50. Both Lawson and Wright pick up their 3rd foul. 7:48. 60-50. Paulus picks up his 4th foul! 8:09. 60-50. Duke starting to look a little tired and is accumulating fouls. 8:49. 58-50. McRoberts picks up his 3rd foul. A no call on the next call saves McRoberts from picking up his 4th. 10:16. 58-50. Hansbrough is having a game with 21 points already and 14 rebounds 12:08. 52-48. Hansbrough scored on McRoberts and 1. 15:41. 46-42. UGH. Danny Green fouls Scheyer while shooting a 3 pointer! He makes 2 of them. 16:03. 46-60. Paulus picks up his 3rd. 17:57. 44-33. Wright is 5-5 from the field. 19:01. 42-29. Hansbrough starts off with 4 points.
UNC 38, Duke 29 (HALFTIME)
Overall, we played much better than the last several games. We came out with an intensity that was hard for Duke to match up against. Rebounds are still a problem for us though, especially on the offensive end where Duke pulled down 9 to our 3. If it wasn't for Gerald Henderson's hot hand, Duke would be in even worse shape. Let's see if we can keep up the energy (and defensive pressure) in the second half. First half notes02.8. 38-29. Ugh, Thompson fouled on the offensive end sending Duke to the line in the double bonus. Argh!!! McRoberts make one. 1:00. 38-25. Largest lead of the game for UNC! 2:55. 34-24. Hansbrough with a dunk as the shot clock wound down which CBS nicely replayed 3 times. 4:41. 32-22. Duke is in the bonus. 6:50. 29-22. Gotta love McRoberts. He got called for travelling and the camera caught him several time saying "That was bullshit". 7:53. 27-22. Thompson missed a wide open layup and then Frasor throws away a pass on a break away. Offensive rebounds are still killing us. Duke has 9 and we have 2. 9:10. 27-19. Two fouls on Hasnbrough :-/ 10:18. 25-14. Hansbrough is racking up the rebounds with 4. 10:50. 23-14. Terry with a 3! 13:43. 14-10. Duke's Henderson has gone 4-4 to get Duke back in the ballgame. 15:35. 12-2. Where has this Carolina team been? The question is if we can maintain. 16:28. 10-2. The crowd is really in to it! 17:27. 6-2. Starting off with a lot of energy. The seniors Dewey Burke, Reyshawn Terry, and Wes Miller all start.
Coach isn't happy about his radio show
From a FayObserver.com article: "It really is something I'd rather not be doing," he says. "If there was anything that I do weekly that I would like to get rid of, there's no question it would probably be that. Because I could use that time to relax. I could go to dinner with my wife. I could sleep. I could watch tape. I could practice an hour longer. I can think of a lot of other things I'd rather do." I can't say I blame him, but getting paid $350k for his radio and TV shows should make it a little more bearable (granted he probably doesn't need the money). Coach has a good point about the Monday morning quarterbacks. How would you like it if random people questioned your job performance every week?
Things got a lot more complicated
Adam Lucas was kind of enough to describe in detail every possible ACC seeding situation UNC could find itself in. We could be anywhere from 1st to 5th, but I imagine we will be somewhere in between. Could you imagine us getting the 5th seed after being the pre-season favorite??
Lucas: Handle With Care
Yikes, Adam Lucas' most recent story doesn't sound good for the young Heels. In short: - Marcus Ginyard said on Tuesday that he thought last year's team could beat this year's team, which spurred a team meeting. - Ty Lawson can't recall if we've lost 2 or 3 games in a row. - Hansbrough was hospitalized on Wednesday. Lucas nailed it when he said: "But right this minute, they are as fragile as your grandmother's antique vase." And the season is almost over!
Last night
After the game last night I couldn't bring myself to blog my notes like I usually do. We stunk it up and it was painful to watch. The comments have been interesting to watch today. Some people want to blame Coach Williams (the National Coach of the Year for the past two years) for our team's performance while other people want to blame the players. I can't say I agreed with Coach Williams not calling a timeout during Georgia Tech's run in the first half, but that is his MO. He doesn't like to call timeouts because another team is making a run. He likes to save his timeouts like they are a precious commodity. He's always been like that, right or wrong. Also, despite every commentator saying that Coach Williams will stop rotating so many players, HE WILL CONTINUE TO DO IT. He's said that all year. Coach believes if our 8th, 9th, and 10th guy is better than the other team's 8th, 9th, and 10th guy then why wouldn't we try to run and make it so those guys get in the game? The problem with Georgia Tech is that the guys they brought off the bench manhandled us. The biggest issue I see with this team is their lack of intensity and fortitude when the going gets tough. I don't know who to blame for that. Is it the coach not inspiring the players or creating an environment that doesn't inspire? Or is it the players just don't want it enough? I tend to think it is the latter, but I just don't see why. If you were a top prospect coming out of high school, wouldn't you find it be a privilege to play at one of the most storied programs in the country? Would you really need extra motivation to go out and perform? Maybe the extended rotation has something to do with it. Maybe it is harder for the players to really get into the game since they are being swapped out a lot. I don't have any answers. At the beginning of the year, everyone was wondering how the team would gel. It didn't really seem like that was a problem, but maybe it is. As I'll write about in my next post, Adam Lucas clues us in that all is not well within the team.
UNC 77, Georgia Tech 84
We lost and looked bad doing it.
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