Did you catch the Carolina game the other day?
The now legendary UNC vs Former Players game that takes place during the Summer UNC Basketball camp was caught on video (most of it anyway). Jawad, Jackie, Melvin, and Stackhouse were just a few of the former players that played.
You can watch it or download the whole thing here:
http://gallery.mac.com/benlora#100341The video is a little shaky at times, but considering it is June with the regular season still 5 months away I'm not complaining!
Thanks much to benlora for
posting it over on the InsideCarolina board!
Most talented team in college basketball ever?
That's a pretty bold question, but I think next season's UNC team ranks among the most talented collection of college players ever to be assembled. Let's look at the facts:
- This past season UNC made it to the final four
- UNC is losing two players (Quentin Thomas and Alex Stepheson) who averaged just 16 and 15 minutes per game respectively.
They ranked 7 and 8 among minutes played.
- We are gaining 4 players.
Two of which are ranked among the top 15 incoming freshmen and one that is in the top 50.
Three were McDonald's All-Americans.
- We lose a backup point guard and backup power forward. We gain a top 15 point guard, #11 overall power forward, #12 overall 7-foot center, and an unrated shooting guard that averaged 22 points a game last year.
- We should also gain a healthy Bobby Frasor.
- We have the returning consensus National Player of the Year in Tyler Hansbrough.
- We have one of the top 2 or 3 best point guards in Ty Lawson.
Here is the depth chart:
Point Guard:
- Ty Lawson
- Bobby Frasor
- Larry Drew
Shooting Guard:
- Wayne Ellington
- Danny Green
- Will Graves
- Bobby Frasor
- Justin Watts
Small Forward:
- Marcus Ginyard
- Danny Green
- Will Graves
Power Forward:
- Tyler Hansbrough
- Ed Davis
- Danny Green
Center:
- Deon Thompson
- Tyler Zeller
The starting 5 is unchanged from last season:
- Ty Lawson
- Wayne Ellington
- Marcus Ginyard
- Tyler Hansbrough
- Deon Thompson
The second 5 is probably a top 25 team too:
- Bobby Frasor
- Will Graves
- Danny Green
- Ed Davis
- Tyler Zeller
What about the
2004-2005 UNC team? They are probably the best comparison to next season's team:
Starting 5:
Ty Lawson vs Ray Felton (my pick: Lawson - when healthy)
Wayne Ellington vs Rashad McCants (my pick: McCants - no brainer)
Marcus Ginyard vs Jackie Manuel (my pick: Ginyard - no brainer)
Tyler Hansbrough vs Jawad Williams (my pick: Hansbrough - POY)
Deon Thompson vs Sean May (my pick: May)
Second 5:
Bobby Frasor vs Quentin Thomas (my pick: Frasor)
Will Graves vs Wes Miller (my pick: Graves)
Danny Green vs Reyshawn Terry (my pick: Green)
Ed Davis vs David Noel (my pick: Noel - until Davis proves me wrong)
Tyler Zeller vs Marvin Williams (my pick: Williams - until Zeller proves me wrong)
Thats 6 picks for the 08-09 team and 4 for 04-05. There is a very good chance Ed Davis will be a stud and be better than David Noel. There is only a slight chance Tyler Zeller will be better than Marvin. So a good chance my picks would go 7-3. And that's compared to a national championship team!
Let me caveat this brief analysis by emphasizing one word: talent. I did not say the
best team in college basketball ever. I wouldn't even make that claim for just next season. This past season UNC was arguably the most talented and we know how that went.
Just as we heard so much talk this year and in 04-05, everyone wonders how a team with so much talent will gel. With 3 players seriously looking at the NBA this year and one of which that got into trouble off the court, there are questions about chemistry next season. Will Danny continue to remain satisfied being the best 6th man in the country? Will Bobby Frasor and Will Graves get more significant minutes?
How well the team takes advantage of its talent will dictate how successful they will be. We won't know until the end of next season. The one question we can tackle now is which team is the deepest and has the most talent. My vote is for UNC 08-09 being among the most talented ALL TIME.
Everyone is coming back!
Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green, all of whom were very serious about entering the NBA Draft,
decided today to return to UNC for one more year. This is great news as long as the returning players can shake off the disappointing loss against Kansas and work together as a cohesive team despite the extremely deep bench.
There is no doubt who will be preseason #1 now.
Ty Lawson arrested
Ugh. Ty was arrested at 2:33am Thursday morning and was charged with three misdemeanors: driving after consuming alcohol, driving with a suspended or revoked license, and violating a noise ordinance.
The difference between "driving after consuming alcohol" and "driving while intoxicated" is pretty significant. Ty is 20 years old and no one under the age of 21 can have alcohol in their system while driving. Had he blown a .08 he would have also been charged with a DWI. So he was sober, but it still is an offense because he is under age (
he turns 21 in November).
While he wasn't charged with a felony, all of the charges are very serious. Driving with a suspended license? That indicates prior infractions.
Everyone wants to know how this will impact his draft status. Here are my thoughts:
- He likely won't get drafted 20 or higher as he hoped. Carmelo Anthony got a DWI and Denver is trying to trade him (not just for that, but it didn't help). NBA teams don't like this kind of trouble with a player because they are working hard to maintain their image. This will likely drop Ty to the second round.
- Won't he stay at UNC for another season? It depends on the severity of Roy's punishment. Would he make Ty sit out games? How many? He made Wayne Ellington run until "Coach Williams got tired" after instigating a technical foul last year. How about getting in trouble with the law? Ty may want to forgo that punishment and the punishment the local media will likely inflict on him most of next year with constant questions about the arrest.
We'll have our answer by June 16th (last day to pull out of the draft).
In summary: Ty probably had a beer or two (like many college students) and was sober, but got behind the wheel (which was dumb with a suspended license), and played his music too loud (like many college students). While he didn't commit any felonies, even misdemeanors are a big deal for Carolina basketball players. We hold them to a higher standard and for that Ty will be punished far more than just what the legal system dictates.
