UNCA 48, UNC 116
Boxscore | RecapThis game was never close as the game flow shows. In fact, the game was statistically over shortly after the start of the second half. We came out a little sluggish and I started to worry that we'd have a performance like our first three games, but Will Graves gave a boost off the bench and Ty Lawson worked his usual magic to get us going. Lots of good numbers in the boxscore. Ed Davis got another double-double. Danny Green made 6 three pointers in the second half! Ty Lawson led the game with 22 points and 8 assists. Another solid performance by the team all around. Tyler Hansbrough didn't start this game, which was a wise move. We have #5 Michigan State on Wednesday and we need to be full power when we take on the Spartans.
UNC 102, Notre Dame 87
Boxscore | RecapTyler Hansbrough looked in NPOY form again scoring a game high 34 points, but the big difference in UNC's win over Notre Dame was the blistering speed of Ty Lawson who finished with a double-double (22 points, 11 assists) and named Tournament MVP. I'm sure you've already heard all the adjectives that describe his speed, but words don't do him justice. He literally can run past anyone on the court--that includes defenders that are two steps ahead and running at full speed. In the past few games Ty has done a decent job driving the lane, but he missed a bunch of layups. Not this game. He was slicing and dicing the Notre Dame defense and they couldn't do anything about it. Much like Tuesday's performance, this was a team win. Nine players got double digit minutes. Wayne Ellington went 2-4 from the three point line. Deon Thompson grabbed 13 rebounds and scored 19 points. The Heels were 19-21 from the free throw line (Tyler moved into 10th place overall among NCAA free throw attempts). We played good defense again. Much was made of the matchup between fellow Preseason All-Americans, Tyler Hansbrough and Notre Dame's Luke Harangody. Granted Luke was ill for much of the day, but Tyler dominated. Luke's defense was suspect. He's definitely a big body, but he doesn't have the diverse skills of Hansbrough. Tyler made 3 shots from outside in the first half including a 3 pointer! Tyler missed his second three point attempt, but it wasn't off by much. Tyler was able to score inside at will. The bigger playmaker for Notre Dame was definitely Kyle McAlarney. He was making about everything he shot in the first half, but in the second half he was out of his mind! Literally anything he threw up went in. He was shooting beyond NBA three point range and swishing it. He only needed a half second to look at the basket and shoot. He ended the game with 39 points (a career high for him). You can see from the Game Flow below that the safeness of UNC's lead took a major dip toward the end of the second half. That was all due to Kyle. Even the referees were shaking their heads by the end of the game because it is so rare to see someone go off like that. The last time I saw a display like that was when Tayshaun Prince was at Kentucky and for one game (don't remember which one) he was raining threes from a few steps in from half court. Kyle was in the same kind of zone. Jay Bilas (ESPN sports commentator) said it well. If UNC could overcome Kyle being on fire for the last 5 minutes then it would be a good indication of just how good UNC is. Turns out we did an excellent job. Sure, Kyle would nail a three, but we'd come down the floor, get the ball to Tyler or Deon, they'd score, and even get fouled for a three point play. I also agree with Jay Bilas that Ty Lawson is perhaps the most important player on UNC's quest for a National Championship. When Ty is running the floor, being aggressive, playing good defense, and nailing three pointers I don't think there is anyone that can compete with us. And if the reigning National Player of the Year is healthy and on his game? We could give the 2004-2005 UNC team a run for its money. Next up is UNC-Asheville on Sunday.
Guest Blog from Maui Part 3
This week UNC photography Karl Weatherly will be offering his insight on the games in Maui. The last 3 days have been heavenly. Getting to see the only team I care about in all of organized sports stomp 3 opponents in 3 days is truly nirvana. The Heels may be even better than I thought. UNC now holds the all time Maui Invitational record of 13 wins having surpassed Dook by 1. This tourney is special because of how warm, friendly and laid back everyone is including security. Anyone in the arena can literally walk across the baseline to get to the other side or walk right behind the benches without getting harassed. The fans are right on top of the action. The arena is a heckler's haven since you can easily hear a well timed barb. All this takes place on one of the world's most beautiful islands with multiple recreational opportunities. I just extended my stay for another month to photograph surfing and the hot new sport of kitesurfing. But come tomorrow how will I cure my Basketball Jones? Thank you Tar Heels and the Maui tourney committee for a very memorable event. Aloha and Mahalo from Maui Karl Weatherly You can check out some of my photos at www.karlweatherly.com
Oregon 69, UNC 98
Boxscore | RecapWow. Now this is the Carolina we hoped to see. Almost a completely different team than the previous three games. We took it to Oregon early and didn't let up. We didn't go long stretches without scoring like previous games. We didn't have long lapses were our defense non-existent. We played great defense for much of the game. To give you an indication of just how well we played, the game was statistically over with more than 16 minutes left in the game as the game flow shows: Tyler Hansbrough returned to the lineup and scored 16 points in 19 minutes. 12 of those points came from charity stripe where he moved from 16 to 11 all-time in NCAA history in terms of free throw attempts. Tyler tweaked his ankle in the Chaminade game and Roy said after this game if his ankle hurts tomorrow he won't play. Danny Green continues to be on a tear scoring a game high 21 points. If he keeps up this performance tomorrow night he'll be the likely tourney MVP. Ed Davis got another double-double (11 points, 13 rebounds). He is a double-double machine. If he stuck around UNC all four years I'd bet he'd break some records for rebounds and double-doubles. Next up is Notre Dame in the Maui Invitational Championship game. They looked pretty good against Texas. It should be a good game, but if we play like we did tonight the Fighting Irish won't have a chance.
Guest Blog from Maui Part 2
This week UNC photography Karl Weatherly will be offering his insight on the games in Maui. For the Texas- Notre Dame game I got lucky and was invited by a Nike guy to sit in the front row right behind the Texas bench. I could hear Rick Barnes yelling at this team during timeouts. What a great basketball game from start to finish! I stepped outside after the game to get some fresh 80 degree air. As I reentered the arena some Oregon students who were waiting in line to enter were harassing anyone without OR green on. They were playing kazoos and generally being obnoxiously. Shortly after the game started they got real quiet real quick. Oregon was never in the game. The first five minutes were as loud as any UNC crowd I've ever heard and that includes games in Carmichael. What seems unusual is that throughout this tourney the NC crowds have been the largest by far. Most of the folks I talked to traveled from NC to be here, which is two days and about 11 hours of flight time. Karl Weatherly You can check out some of my photos at www.karlweatherly.com
UNC 115, Chaminade 70
Boxscore | RecapThis game felt more like a scrimmage than a real game. Chaminade wasn't much competition, but then again they are a Division II school that practices in a high school gym in Honolulu. Actually the Silverswords (a plant native to Hawaii) kept it close for much of the first half. But the Game Flow shows how UNC blew it open in the second half: On the bright side, no one was injured! Tyler Hansbrough didn't play, which was a smart move. Obviously we didn't need him for this game. He's likely to play the next two games in Maui. Danny Green had a career high in points (26). Deon Thompson continues to play extremely well. Ty Lawson did very well. Definitely our best game so far, but against far less competition. Chaminade only dressed 7 players! In case you are wondering why UNC played a Division II school at the Maui Invitational, it is because Chaminade is the host school for the yearly tournament. Chaminade is located in Honolulu and has only 1100 students. Most of their players come from junior college. Danny Green helped keep the game interesting with a "dueling salute" which helped spark his determination to crush Chaminade. Danny got a pass right under the bucket and thought he had a clean dunk. Then out of nowhere Joel Smith swatted Danny's shot. Joel followed this up with a salute to the crowd. Danny wasn't pleased. A couple of plays later, Danny flushed an alley oop (just 1 of I believe 3 oops Danny had) and saluted right back in Joel's direction. Danny didn't let up and went on to tally the most points he's ever had. It was pretty funny.
Guest Blog from Maui Part 1
This week UNC photography Karl Weatherly will be offering his insight on the games in Maui. The Lahaina Civic Center seats only 2,400 but feels even smaller. The first thing you notice is how loud it is and how close the fans are to the floor. One entire side of the arena appeared to be clothed in sky blue except for a small group of Chaminade fans who stood up the entire game. I'm sure the Carolina fans behind them were not pleased. The Nike rep asked me to get a photo of the cool UNC warmup shirts that were made just for this tourney with a nice Hawaiian print. I would kill for one of these. Other than the NCAA Tourney and possibly the ACC Tourney if you go to only one tourney in your life, make it the Maui Classic. The combination of a tiny gymn, 3 games in 3 days win or lose and the gourgeous island of Maui make it very special. The normal TV camera position is always from high above the court. Photographing the game from the baseline gives one an entirely different viewpoint. You get a true sense of the players size and speed being only 5 feet from the court. And the view is looking up instead of down which compresses the perspective. It is almost scary being that close to the action but exciting as hell. When the action is on your side of the court it is the best seat in the house. It will be interesting to see how UNC does against OR and the highly touted Pac-10. Aloha from Maui. Karl Weatherly You can check out some of my photos at www.karlweatherly.com
2008 EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Xbox 360 Players Party
Karl, a photography on assignment with UNC in Maui, got the dream gig. He was able to attend the 2008 EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Xbox 360 Players Party last night. This is what he had to say about it: I attended this event last night:
2008 EA SPORTS Maui Invitational Xbox 360 Players' Party Mix and mingle with the 2008 participating teams at this exclusive, invitation-only pre-Tournament event; enjoy food and drink in a outdoor Hawaiian haven; and watch players from the 2008 teams battle for bragging rights in the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational videogame tournament featuring EA SPORTS' NCAA Basketball '09, the No.1-selling college hoops videogame.
The party was killer and I got to meet all the UNC players and coaches. Ty Lawson and Mike Copeland made it all the way to the finals of the tourney with Cope coming out on top in a close game. The atmosphere was quite racous and fun. Cope got a cool little glass globe trophy for his efforts.
I'm in Maui for the whole tourney covering the event for UNC as a photographer. So I'll be on the baseline shooting all the games. I'm trying to talk Karl into doing some guest blogging while he's in Maui :-)
UNC 84, UCSB 67
Boxscore | RecapUCSB did a good job of not letting the game too far out of reach until the end. This was another game in which we could have (perhaps should of) blown out our opponent, but didn't. You can see from the game flow that UNC was able to secure a large lead only at the end of the game: On the bright side, this game marked the return of Tyler Hansbrough. Tyler's game is so distinctive. He shot 6 free throws in the first 3 minutes and 20 seconds! His knack for getting fouled is uncanny. He didn't shot all that well from outside. He even took a 3-pointer which looked like it was going in, but it rimed out. The Four Factors highlight the difference in the game: UCSB shot very well--just as good as UNC. In fact, it was the times UNC went on shooting slumps that UCSB was able to get back into the game. This tells me that our defense is still not at the level we need it to be. UNC's biggest advantages were on the offensive boards (second chance shots) and free throw line (we were fouled a lot more than we fouled). What about injuries? Well it wouldn't be a Carolina game this year without some sort of injury. Deon Thompson didn't start in the second half due to a cut on his lip that required stitches. Fortunately, he came back in at the 17.30 mark in the second half, so he should be ok. Danny was a little gimpy in the second half, but presumably he's ok. This was UCSB's first sellout crowd in 10 YEARS! The crowd was loud and tennis great Jimmy Connors was reportedly arrested outside of the arena before tipoff. I'm still not completely happy with how we are playing. With so many players coming and going, I think the team is struggling to find an identity at times. Hopefully more playing time will fix this issue. Next up Chaminade at the Maui Classic. I wish I was there!
It's official: Tyler Zeller out 12-16 weeks
He broke both the left radius and ulna after a foul caused him to land on his wrist. And yes, he can medical redshirt so he doesn't lose a year of eligibility, but I really doubt Zeller will be around for all 4 years anyway. University of North Carolina freshman forward Tyler Zeller suffered a fractured left wrist in the win over Kentucky on Tuesday and underwent surgery today at UNC Hospitals. Doctors with UNC sports medicine say normal recovery time for this kind of injury is 12-16 weeks, which likely makes it a season-ending injury. Read more
Rumor: Tyler Zeller out for season
I've read from multiple sources that Tyler Zeller broke his wrist in multiple places and is out for the season. He won't be flying with the team to Hawaii, but will fly separate after surgery. Regardless of how he gets there, he won't be playing. This sucks.
Kentucky 58, UNC 77
After getting embarrassed by VMI, Kentucky should have been highly motivated to give Carolina a run for our money, but that didn't happen. In fact, we started the game by taking it to the Wildcats going on a 11-2 run. Our defensive intensity for the first 10 minutes was the best I've seen in a long time. We haven't played that hard in many games. Another thing that brought a smile to my face was all the extra passes our guys made. Last year we had a very impatient offense that would take the first shot available despite how well it was defended. This game, we made the extra pass to get our shooter just a little more time to get the shot off and it made a difference. We forced a bunch of turnovers and if you look at the Four Factors from the game, you can see TO% was the only one that UNC had a big advantage: It turns out that the game was way closer than it should have been. We only outscored Kentucky by 3 in the second half. While our Defense was very solid our Offense puttered for much of the game. I was a little shocked by the lack of fast break opportunities we had. It seemed like Kentucky had more breaks than we did! That should never happen especially against a supposedly much weaker opponent. You can see from the game flow that we built a lead in the first half and maintained the same margin for most of the second half: There were some bright spots. Game ball goes to Deon Thompson who KICKED ASS! I wasn't a huge Deon fan last year, but boy he is playing tremendously well so far this season. He had 14 pts and 6 rebounds by half and finished with 20 and 9. Nice job! Ty Lawson was driving to the hoop a lot more and while he got stuffed a few times, I think it does nothing but positive things when he is slashing around on the offensive side. He finished with 11 points, 9 assists and only 2 turnovers. Wayne Ellington continues to struggle a bit from the floor. He went 5-14 from the field (but 3-4 from behind the arc). Ed Davis was one point shy of getting his second double double in two games! He had 9 points and 10 rebounds. That guy is all over the floor when it comes to getting rebounds. You hear sometimes that a player has a knack for getting to the ball. That is Ed in spades. No doubt the biggest concern of the game wasn't our inconsistency on the offensive end but the status of Tyler Zeller!! Zeller matched up against UK big man Patrick Patterson and didn't have quite the offensive night as he did against Penn. To make things worse he was on a break and about to slam the ball when he was fouled hard and went crashing to the floor. It looks like he may have hurt his left wrist pretty bad. It looked like he knew something was wrong with it as soon as he got up (he looked pissed). There is a decent chance there is some kind of fracture. If that is the case, he could be out several weeks. Fingers crossed that isn't the case! The good news is our defensive intensity was great tonight (at least for the first half). The better news is that rumor has it Tyler Hansbrough will be back for the Maui Classic coming up. The bad news is we didn't push the ball all that well and our offense sputtered at times again (like vs Penn). The worst news would be if Tyler Zeller is injured in a significant way.
Penn 71, UNC 86
Our overall performance was not spectacular, but we got our first glimpse at the potential of our new freshmen. Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller both had good games. Zeller started in place of the injured Tyler Hansbrough and scored UNC's first points of the game on a shot from about 17 feet out on his way to scoring a team-high 18. Our shooting early in the game and late in the 2nd half was not very good. We missed 4 out of the first 5 three points. Wayne Ellington went 5-15 from the field. Our defense wasn't a whole lot better. At times Penn beat us up the court for easy shots and got several wide open 3 point attempts, which helped keep the game close. Let's just hope this is new season jitters/bugs that will be worked out over the next couple of weeks. Of course not having Tyler Hansbrough and Marcus Ginyard (the team's top 2 defenders) had something to do with it. On the bright side, Bobby Frasor got some quality playing time despite injuring his ankle earlier in the week. I mentioned Ed Davis earlier, he finished with a double double for his first game in Carolina blue! He had a reputation as a rebounding machine and he didn't disappoint by grabbing 10 rebounds. I felt we settled for outside shots much too often throughout the game. Deon Thompson had a good game scoring 17 despite the limited touches down low. We finally got our act together toward the end of the 1st half and the game would have been an easy blowout if it wasn't for a field goal dry spell in the second half. We went over 4 minutes without a field goal and Penn ate away at the lead. But it was too little too late as we just had too much fire power. I do need to give props to Penn's Tyler Bernardini (reigning Ivy League Freshman of the Year) who scored 26 against us just like last year! You think we would have learned the first time around.
Five players down, I still like our odds
Today is our first game of the season. We are down 5 players: Hansbrough out for sure -- rumor has it he may start practicing next week Frasor is a game time decision -- without Bobby we'll be missing our top 3 defenders! Ginyard still out -- not back until December/January Copeland out until January Watts out with a knee injury -- probably not back until December Our starting lineup looks like this: - Ty Lawson - Wayne Ellington - Deon Thompson - Danny Green - Tyler Zeller or Ed Davis Roy said recently that over the first 15 practices Zeller did the best out of the freshmen, but over the last 8 practices Ed Davis has done very well on the offensive end, so it will be a game time decision as to which one starts. He said you'll likely see both freshmen big men on the court at the same time while Hansbrough is out.
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