Season in Review: Deon Thompson

I know, I did it out of order. I was supposed to go numerically and I blew it by jumping from Ty Lawson to Wayne Ellington. Maybe it's ironic because Deon Thompson can be overlooked. Deon Thompson is a special player, but you really never knew what you were going to get out of him. Would it be the Thompson who was so dominate at the beginning of the year, or was it the barely-show up Thompson? Now people get down on Thompson a bit, but I don’t like to. He can get down on himself quite a bit and lose confidence, but when he’s on, he’s on. If you think of the game at Duke, he carried us in the first half. If you think about the championship game against MSU, he contributed quite a bit.

Things I didn’t like:
1. Lack on confidence. Obviously that hurts Deon quite a bit, but it also hurts our team. I don’t think we want to run the offense through a player that doesn’t have any confidence, but maybe that’s how you get him over the hump, by running some plays for him. But then again, Coach Williams doesn’t really like to run set plays very often. I don’t know.

2. Free throw shooting. Deon is somewhere in the 50% range, which to me, makes him a liability. We have been spoiled with Hansbrough’s good shooting, but Deon makes up for it. I would like to see him improve into the 60% range.

Things I liked:
1. Knew his role. If you watched Thompson, he plays pretty hard and doesn’t demand the ball. He knew that he was the fifth option on the team. Sure, he forced some shots, but who didn’t on the team? He never tried to do more than the team needed him to do.

2. Expanded range. Thompson has worked on his range a bit and is not hitting the 10-12 foot jumper regularly. If he could get it consistently to 15 feet, that would free things up for Davis next year. His jump shot looks pretty good too.

3. Improvement on defense. With college basketball seemingly getting more perimeter-oriented (in my mind anyway), the power forward position will need to guard more Kyle Singler-like players. Like, Ed Davis, I thought Deon improved quite a bit on perimeter defense. He also proved he can bang with the big boys by guarding Blake Griffin quite a bit.

We have seen what Deon can be like, when he was the man at the beginning of the year. It would be nice if that could transcend into a full season. My feeling is that he will be better scorer and probably get 14 points and 8 boards per game, but we’ll see. It really depends on how good John Henson and Leslie McDonald are. We’ll see.

Season in Review: Wayne Ellington

With the MOP, Wayne Ellington has ultimately lifted any past tournament failures off his back (especially the Georgetown game). Ellington really improved his stock quite a bit. He showed various improvements in his game, and the ones that stuck out to me were the rebounding and ability to put the ball on the floor. The 2nd half of the year was something special from Ellington. He was simply on fire. I can’t remember a player who went on a streak like that. You could tell some of the shots he put up were just heat checks, especially when he was draining 7 3’s. I think the Heel’s record when Ellington hit 50% of his shots was 50-0. That is impressive!

Things I didn’t like:
1. Turnovers. Sometimes Wayne Ellington would have some bad turnover games with no assists. That’s usually not good, but it really never hurt us too much, but I just didn’t like it.

Things I liked:
1. Improvement and contributions. I know I mentioned the improvements already, but Ellington also contributed in various ways. I thought his defense had greatly improved (at least he was able to stay with his man this year), but you could tell he was focused on defense by the way he carried himself, often times slapping his hands together. You could also see the fire in his eyes and often during team huddles he was the one yelling at people. The contributions were there (rebounds, defense, assists), even when the shots weren’t.

2. That shot. It’s such a pretty shot, especially when it goes in. I love the pose after a made basket too.

Ellington made the right decision to return to school. He became a much better overall player, rather than just a shooter. Primarily that was his job, but he did the other things as well. I know I mentioned that I thought he would come back, but he is not. It would have been nice to see the transition of Wayne the shooter to Wayne the scorer, but what can you do. Also, when you think of Ellington remember .4 against Clemson. And the picture above is my all-time favorite of Ellington. Not known for being a big dunker, but this one was huge against Arizona his freshman year.

Comparing 05 to 09

I have finally done my comparing of the last two title teams. This would be an awesome game. I could throw out a whole bunch of numbers and stuff, but I’m not that motivated right now. So here’s what I’m going to do; I’m going to break down the starters and the bench as a whole and say who has the edge based on my opinion.

Center: Sean May vs. Tyler Hansbrough
Sean May really hit his stride his junior year about half-way through. Tyler Hansbrough hit his stride all the time. May had really good hands and was a good shot-blocker as well. He also had a number of low-post moves in which to fall back on. Those are about the only things he has on Tyler Hansbrough. Hansbrough didn’t have a ton of post moves, but he was ok at putting the ball in the basketball. Also, the ability to draw fouls, make free throws, take charges, and steal the ball all play into his favor. Then throw in the hustle, determination, and the extended range, it’s not much of a contest. May was good, but Hansbrough is much better.
Edge: Hansbrough

Power Forward: Jawad Williams vs. Deon Thompson
Jawad was an undersized power forward, but he played big in my eyes. A few things that were nice about Williams, was the fact that he could shoot the three and open up the post, which Deon cannot do. Deon defends well with his blocks, but he can be such a head case and be streaky. If it was Deon of the first few games of the regular season, Deon would win, but Williams had that senior leadership quality, experience, and know-how.
Edge: Williams

Small Forward: Jackie Manuel vs. Danny Green
We really have opposites in this area. A defensive-minded stopper against an offensive-minded shooter. Manuel was an excellent defender, but defenses could lay off of him because he couldn’t shoot a lick. Green was the stat-stuffer, filling up the box score on a regular basis. He could shoot, pass, rebound, and block. His on ball defense was suspect, but you always had to be aware of him coming on the help-side defense.
Edge: Green

Shooting Guard: Rashad McCants vs. Wayne Ellington
At the beginning of the year, this would have been no contest to McCants. He has the ability to shoot from anywhere. But he could also drive hard, finish hard, and dunk hard. Ellington is a much better all-around player now. His rebounds were up; assists were good; defense was much-improved. I would have liked to see him take it to the hole more and get fouled because he was a good free throw shooter. Because of that, I think McCants was better. McCants was also a decent shot-blocker as well, which Wayne is not.
Edge: McCants – slightly

Point Guard: Raymond Felton vs. Ty Lawson
This would be a great point guard match-up. One for the ages. Felton was the leader of the 05 team. His three pointer against Illinois when the game was tied at 65 was cold blooded. He also had great court vision, and if he had stayed, would probably be close to Ed Cota’s record for assists. Both of these players underwent severe criticism over their play and both handled it very well. Lawson down the stretch was similar to May’s run in 05. No one could stop him. I believe the only things that could stop Lawson this past year was Lawson, Roy Williams, and Lawson’s toe. Lawson 3% and FG% were amazing and though his assist numbers are not as good as Felton’s, he was the man. This match up would be close and Felton never really got to be the man like Lawson did, so he could have been better, but I’m going with Lawson, barely
Edge: Lawson - slightly

Bench
Marvin Williams, David Noel, Quentin Thomas, Melvin Scott, Reyshawn Terry, Wes Miller, and Byron Sanders vs. Ed Davis, Bobby Frasor, Larry Drew II, Tyler Zeller, Will Graves, and Justin Watts. This is close and it’s a little unfair without Marcus Ginyard in there somewhere, but I will give the edge to the 05 bench. Only slightly. Marvin Williams and Ed Davis have been compared, but Williams was more polished on the offensive end, whereas Davis is a much better defender. Drew and Thomas would be even. Noel would have an edge of Frasor in my mind because he was bigger and could go hard to the hole. Frasor’s defense would be key though. Zeller is better than Byron Sanders ever was. Melvin Scott was just a shooter and not much else and I think Will Graves is better than Terry, but Wes Miller was such a little fireball. The 05 team was deeper, hands down, and more experienced, so they get the slight edge. But if Ginyard played this past year and either he or Green came off the bench, I would tip it to the 09 bench.


So there you have it. I would say that the 09 team would beat the 05 team, but it would be a good game. I think the combination of Hansbrough and Lawson would be too much, but it would be intereting to see Manuel crack down on Lawson or Ellington, which could be the key to an 05 victory. I think the 09 team was better defensively and the 05 team was better offensively, just because almost everyone was a threat. Truth of the matter is that this game could happen since a lot of Tar Heels come back for pick-up games in the summer.

Season in Review: Ty Lawson

More like Ty Awesome. Lawson was simply amazing this season. I really never felt like we should lose because we had this guy on the team. After the 2 ACC losses, he carried the team into the Promised Land, filled with shiny wooden and crystal trophies (did you know the Championship trophy costs $19,000? It’s so ugly looking) This year definitely showed me the Ty Lawson that was promised his freshman year. End to end blazing speed, the sweet jump shot. This guy was truly amazing this year.

Things I didn’t like:
1. Missing some games. We could have easily run away with the ACC tournament championship, especially with the dud that Florida State had in the championship. In the long run, it was fine because we on the national championship, which was the ultimate goal. So I will take it.

2. Court vision. If I could find one flaw in his game, it would be these and that’s because I like a passing point guard. Probably on every play, they could run this offense: Lawson dribble until a lane opens up and either make the lay up or dump it down to a big man for a wide open lay up. Ty Lawson is good passer, but I think he could have been better. Yes, I am nitpicking a bit.

3. Free throw shooting. Yes, he was around 80%, but he could have totally been dominate in the tournament if he hit most of his free throws.

Things I liked:
1. Umm…everything? The shot was there all year and it looked so good. The turnovers were so few, which was awesome. The defense was there for the most part. I think Ty Lawson was amazing this year and I truly did like every part of his game.

2. The DUI. I truly think this basically gave us the championship. I don’t think Lawson would have been back otherwise. Thank you for having a lapse in judgment Ty Lawson. Also, thank you Chapel Hill Police Department for catching him. It’s true, if Lawson wasn’t there, Hansbrough, Ellington, and everyone else would have played differently, but it’s a lot more comforting to know he was there.

Ty Lawson had a great year. Maybe his stats don’t blow you away, but to the true fan, he was the man.

Season in Review: Will Graves

Where to start with young William? First, I’m going to say this about Will Graves. I have seen in chat sites where everyone bashes him and on and on. But in response to that, I believe that Will Graves is better than Reyshawn Terry was at his sophomore season. Yes, true, Graves did redshirt, so he’s technically a junior, but actually playing the college game he was a sophomore. If you compare stats of Terry’s and Graves’s sophomore seasons, you will find out that Graves has averaged more minutes (arguably on a more talented team) and points. Here’s the comparison:

Graves: 11.2 Mins, 4.0 points, 2.6 boards, .8 assists, 1.2 TO’s, 44% FG, 89% FT, 28% 3FG
Terry: 4.5 Mins, 2.3 points, .7 boards, .2 assists, .5 TO’s, 54% FG, 69% FT, 60% 3FG

So other than a bad three-point percentage, I would give Graves the edge over Terry. But that being said, Terry played his junior year and Graves may not. Remember what Roy Williams said when Graves was suspended:

“He will remain a part of our program and participate in practice and all other team activities. His status for 2009-2010 will be determined prior to next season.”

So we may not see Graves next year, but I highly doubt that. Coach Williams is a firm believer in character and though Graves obviously did something to merit a suspension, I’m sure he learned from this and won’t do it again. As to what he did exactly, I’m not going to speculate. I think Graves will be a key contributor next year.

Things I didn’t like:
1. Obviously, the suspension hurt our depth at wing and guard. It would also have been nice for him to get some more experience, in light of the departures of upperclassman. When he was suspended though, he said he wanted to do everything he could to help his teammates and I think he did.

2. The 3 point percentage. He was 10 of 36 in 20 games, but when he came to UNC, he was known as a shooter and it just wasn’t there this year. I do believe he will improve and understand that this was the first year with the extended 3 point line.

Things I liked:
1. Contributing. With the loss of Marcus Ginyard, the minutes were there for the taking and in the beginning of the season, Graves took advantage of it. He had several good contributions and did end up playing some big minutes against Wake Forest (the only challenge game that he played in). I would look at him mostly as a scorer right now, but he does a good job rebounding and I think his defense is pretty good.

2. Defense. With playing 11 minutes per game, Graves sometimes played in garbage time, but in the two losses, he played in, he played 14 against BC and 12 against Wake. I know the Wake game was close (even though Wake was dominated), but he wasn’t on the court for just offense; he played solid defense and I think since last year, his defense has improved the most.

I think Graves will be a big help next year, and the year after that and I think he could qualify for the David Noel or Reyshawn Terry-type player by the time he is done at UNC. Don’t get down on him too much; he has greatly improved since his arrival and I am excited to watch his progression.

Update: With the thought that Will Graves might not play next year, I am 95% convinced he will now based on what Roy has said in the press conference that Wayne Ellington and Ty Lawson had:

"You're talking about two of the greatest kids I've ever coached, as basketball players and as people. So I'm going to miss them immensely off the court and definitely on the court. It'll be a huge challenge for other people, they've got to step up. Larry Drew's got to step up, Will Graves, Justin Watts, Marcus, all of those guys have to step up. We're probably thinner on the perimeter than any team I've ever had in terms of people who have done it. "

So I take it Will Graves will be playing next year.

Season in Review: Tyler Zeller

I feel it is almost unfair to judge Tyler Zeller this year. I like to call him the “Big Z” (apologizes to Zydrunas) and he did start out the year big, then Kentucky fouled him (no, I don’t think it was a dirty foul). Honestly, when it happened, I knew it was broken and figured he was done for the year. That’s also what the reports said too. But he came back.

Things I didn’t like:
1. Again, take these with a grain of salt because Zeller was never at 100% after the injury, but in the first 2 games, he had 2 blocks. After he came back, he had 1 block. Not cool. I remember his first game back against NC State, he looked so slow on the defensive end. So hopefully he defense will improve.

2. Rebounding. Zeller’s high for one game was 8 against Radford. Other than that, his high was 3 on many occasions. The game against Radford was his most minutes of the season after injury, but even against Penn and Kentucky, he only had a total of 3. Rebounding needs to improve, especially with the absence of Hansbrough next year.

Things I like:
1. Offensive game. He certainly has it and we saw it throughout the course of the year. Lay-ups, dunks, jump hooks, jump shots, and free throws. The thing that impresses me is the free throws. He shot 8 of 10 against Penn and for the season was 13 of 17. Not a lot, but I don’t think the Penn game was a fluke.

2. Selflessness. I would have been easy for Zeller to take a redshirt. But he wanted to help the team. That is what he said his first game back. To help the team reach their goal of a National Championship. Well, mission accomplished.


I think the future is bright for Big Z. He has a good offensive game and I think his defensive game will improve in time. I picture him as a 4 year guy, so I think he can get used to him being around. He should prove to be a good 6th man next year as well. I believe when he came in, he had the ability to shoot the 3 ball, so hopefully we can see that next year as that will open up Ed Davis in the middle for dunk city.

Season in Review: Ed Davis

Ed Davis is the man. Not only is he coming back, but he’s going to be awesome. Unfortunately, he is probably not a 4 year guy, which is a shame because he could easily break the shot blocking and possibly the rebounding record. But you never know what could happen.

Some people were worried when Alex Stepheson left last year because of family problems (wonder if he regrets transferring now), but I can’t say I was. We had Zeller and Davis coming in and 2 are better than 1, most of the time. Well, Davis easily did was Stepheson did and them some. If you remember Stepheson, he had good size – 6’9” and 250ish (I’m guessing a bit, but he was solid) – but he was not really an offensive threat. He was a good rebounder and ok shot blocker and he could have made a contribution, but Ed Davis was so much better.

Things I don’t like:
1. Free throw percentage. To his credit, he did improve, but he was down around 50% for awhile, so he didn’t have to work hard to go up. If he could get this up into the low 70’s, I would be very pleased.

2. Shot selection. Sometimes he forced shots, but his left hand jump hook is pretty sweet.

3. Tendency to foul. This seemed to be a problem late in the year, specifically the tournament. I remember in the Oklahoma game and championship game, he had 4 each. Some were dumb fouls, some were legit. I hope he can cut out the dumb fouls and give effective minutes next year.

Things I like:
1. Length. He has long arms and crazy hops. He blocked and altered lots of shots this year. It’s nice to have him back on defense because you know he causes guards to think twice about driving. He had some monster blocks this past year and he is really the first legitimate shot blocker in my watching era. Brandon Wright was ok too, but he didn’t have as many huge blocks, I think anyway.

2. Rebounding. He has excellent hands and the ball just seems to fit when he goes up. His rebounds per 40 minutes were probably out of this world!

3. Improvement on defense. Davis is not a big guy muscle wise, but I think he did a great job of being able to body up bigger guys like Blake Griffin. I also thought his perimeter defense improved quite a bit as the season progressed.

I think everyone knows Ed Davis is going to be a force next year. If he started this year, I think he would have gotten ACC Rookie of the Year, but it was nice that he came off the bench to help us out because our bench had good depth, but not good scoring. I wish he was going to stay around for 4 years, but I think Roy did a good job of keeping him a secret for this long.

Season in Review: Justin Watts

I don’t have a lot to say about Justin Watts. He didn’t play a whole lot and I probably have more negative things to say about him than positive. But here goes:

Things I didn’t like:
1. He shots every time he touches the ball. I know he usually only plays during garbage time, but there were a few times where he was needed because of foul trouble. I think he played in the LSU game for about 2 minutes or so in the first half and he took a hard drive and terrible shot, which ended up being a turnover because it was so bad. He shouldn’t be shooting. He was there because we had some foul trouble. Every time he gets in the game he was looking to shoot. In Maui, he had 11 points or so in a game, but he took 9 shots in about 5 minutes to get them (he did have a nice dunk though). In the championship game, he took a shot instead of having Mike Copeland try for it, which really ticked me off. Copeland has paid his dues – give it to him. It’s his senior year.

Things I liked:
1. He was able to spell the guards and you didn’t have to worry about him being a total liability. That’s all. Pretty self-explanatory.

When Marcus Ginyard went down, I was hoping that Watts might be a super defensive specialist that Roy Williams had been hiding, but it did not appear so. However, with Watts, if you saw him on the bench, he was typically hanging out with Copeland and everybody loves Copeland. If he can be another version of Mike Copeland, then I will be happy. Copeland was the guy who made the team laugh and helped them relax, in my opinion anyway, and if he can do the same thing over the next 3 years, then he will have earned his scholarship in my book.

Season in Review: Larry Drew II

Maybe it’s ironic that Larry Drew took Q’s number 11, because sometimes, he played like Q did his freshman year. I understand the PG position at UNC is the toughest position to play because the PG is the leader on the court. I also understand that Ty Lawson was a special player who was a good player as a point guard (not necessarily a good leader) and he is the second freshman to take over a Roy Williams-coached UNC team (Bobby Frasor was the other). So coming into the season, I expected big things from Drew. I heard some talking heads say he was close to as fast as Lawson.

Please don’t think I’m being super critical of Drew yet, because I do like Larry Drew. Playing those games without Ty Lawson showed me of what he could be in the future. I have decided to break all the players down like I do games: Things I don’t like and things I like.

Things I don’t like:
1. Decision making. Sometimes he forced. Sometimes he made a horrible pass. I know the game is rushed and different pace in the ACC, but some seemed like careless mistakes. Some of it might be pressure to do well and increase playing time, etc…but he did have a year to learn under Lawson. I’m confident he will improve by the time his career is done.

2. Shot selection. Sometimes he had no business taking some shots. Some were forced. Some were 3’s that he shouldn’t be taking, but this should improve too.

Things I like:
1. Passing ability. During the ACC tournament, I thought he played well and gave me a reason to have hope that he could be a good player. He has low turnovers and average assist numbers. He had quite a few nice dump offs to Ed Davis in the ACC tournament

2. Aggressiveness. This relates to his shot selection. He was aggressive in taking it to the hole quite a number of times throughout the season, but some of the shots he flipped up were like….whoa! But Drew is aggressive and looks for his shot sometimes. I think he’s a smart player, who just needs some experience.

3. Stats. If you look at his stats, they are not jaw-dropping. But he did have more assists than turnovers and seems to be a pretty good rebounding guard. If he could pick up his shooting percentages, that would be awesome.

I compared Larry Drew to Quentin Thomas because that’s who he reminds me of. Q struggled his first year and then had some injuries, but I think we can all say that we liked Q at the end of his career. I think their games are very similar in the fact that they can both pass well and look to get others involved, as well as their timely baskets. I’m a little hesitant to hand over the reigns to Drew next year (but I’m not the coach and have never seen him practice) because of some of the cons listed above. I’m almost hoping that this John Wall recruiting works in UNC’s favor, but I know the player that Larry Drew can become and know he will improve him game – that’s what college basketball is for.

Final Four Wrap-Up

Just some thoughts about the Final Four that I was too lazy to post yesterday.

*With the glory of a Championship, usually means the mass exodus of the team. We know that Hansbrough, Frasor, Green, Copeland, Tanner, Moody, and Wooten are gone. Ty Lawson is probably 95-98% gone already. Ed Davis is coming back (Hooray!). I feel that Wayne Ellington might be back. No way am I saying he will be, but I am about 50/50 or this. Probably more like 60/40 that he will go pro, as of right now at least. He had a great tournament and a great second half of the year. Clark Kellogg talked about it in a few games, I’ve talked about it here: he has simply been on fire. I know his draft stock is high now because he has proven he is more than a shooter with his ability to put the ball on the floor, rebound, and even pass the ball. I’m just not sure. NBAdraft.net has him as the #12 overall pick and if that were to actually happen, he would be stupid to not go. Like I said, it’s just a feeling and tomorrow he could declare.

*How did Ty Lawson not win the MOP? Now I love Wayne Ellington, but how did Ty Lawson not win the MOP? Lawson was magical throughout the tournament AND the Final Four. Wayne was great, but not magical. I think you could give it to Lawson based on his Championship game performance. 8 Steals! 8!!

*I think one of my favorite plays of the game was when Bobby Frasor got a steal and could have passed it to Danny Green for a dunk, but he took it all the way. Go Frasor-Flave!

*If MSU won, the economy would not have been saved, like every writer and commentator was saying. I was soooooo sick of that story line.

*Tyler Hansbrough does not look good in a hat. Rather a net looks much better. Also he has cemented his status as the best player in UNC history. If you look at this list, I have no arguments, but it is interesting to note that before Monday night, Hansbrough was only 4th on the list.

*Where are these players going to store all this stuff that they have accumulated over the years? If you think about the senior, junior, and sophomore class, they have won the ACC regular season 3 times, ACC tournament twice, been to 2 Finals Fours, won Maui, and won an NCAA championship. Plus think of all the accolades that Hansbrough and Lawson have won. I know they donate some to the Carolina Museum; some is probably given to their families, but still. Hansbrough will probably have a room set aside someday; at least, I would if I were him.

*I’m excited about next year (I will do a post soon previewing next year, once the draft situation gets cleared up). But this team could be very similar to the 06 team because they are young and only have a few upperclassmen, but they will be exciting to watch. If you think that another Sweet 16 trip is out of the question, you better check your head.

*Don’t get me wrong by the following, but to me, this championship just doesn’t feel the same as the 05 one. But to me, that’s totally weird because I think this team is so much better and I like this team more than the 05 team. (I’m actually going to do a post comparing the 05 to 09 team soon, so hold onto your horses) I have a few theories 1) The 05 game was closer and you didn’t know that UNC had it in the bag until about 30 seconds to go, whereas the 09 game was decided in the first 5 minutes. 2) That 05 team was not anointed champs in June. Most of us knew they had the talent to go all the way and they did start out the year #1 (stupid Santa Clara). But after the three came back, they were picked to win it all. I know some never doubted, which is fine, but I’ve seen enough college basketball where anything can happen. 3) My other theory is probably the correct one. I have not been a fan for as long as many of you have been. I don’t frequently watch any games from the late 80’s and early 90’s. I didn’t start watching closely until 2000-2001, so in 05, that was my first championship and it was special. I still like this 09 team better, no question, but it’s like your first kiss or something – you don’t forget it.

*Also interesting to note how people compare champions to other champions (I do the same thing), but check out these two: One from ESPN.com's Page 2 and the other is from Fox Sports. Notice how they differently they treat the 01 Duke team.

Season reviews for each player will begin soon. I plan on starting with freshman and working my way up numerically, so Larry Drew gets it first. I will only be doing scholarship players too, because who am I to judge the walk-ons who work so hard. I will also review Roy as well. Take the time to read the articles about the UNC from yesterday’s post. I know there are a lot, but just about every major sports site put out 3. It took me a long time to go through them all. Also check out photo galleries if you come across them. Thanks for reading and, again, feel free to comment.

Destiny is Calling

I can’t describe the joy I felt when Hansbrough hugged his coach. That big grin on Roy’s face was priceless and the big man’s excitement was equally priceless. He was running around like a fool out there when the final horn sounded and it was funny. Four years of hard work for this year’s class culminated last night with a National Championship and it was special. Unfortunately, the game wasn’t close, but that may have been a good thing with the anxiety and nervousness I was feeling before tip-off. But when the score was 12-5, I didn’t think we would have a chance to lose. Too much will and determination. That first half was special, I hope you realize: 55 points, 21 point lead. Michigan State was lucky to not be down by 30 with as many turnovers as they had. They did shoot 44% in the 1st half, but those turnovers did pile up.

They piled up to the tune of 9 steals. 8 of them by Lawson – an NCAA championship game record. I don’t know how many points they scored off them, but it was one-sided. The effort was amazing, even if the shots weren’t fall in the second half. The defense was great. I have said on this blog that good offensive and average defense will win us games, but it turned out the last 3 games that good defense and average offense won us the championship.

And that Championship takes the monkey of the back of so many people:
1. Roy Williams for winning a championship with his own recruits and being a "game" coach instead of a recruiting coach (a lot was made of Izzo being a great coach on strategy and quick turn arounds)
2. Tyler Hansbrough for going down as the greatest player in UNC history and one of the top 10 in college basketball history and a National Champion.
3. Wayne Ellington, silencing his tournament critics, when they related the past tournament failures to his own shooting woes.
4. Ty Lawson, proving again how tough he is and how important he is.
5. Bobby Frasor for being able to survive the whole year and win.
6. Deon Thompson proving he can produce in games that matter.
7. The North Carolina team, saying that talent doesn’t win championships, and that a good offense beats a good defense.

Destiny was in the house, but it was on UNC’s side. If I could pick a theme for the year, and I think Roy Williams would agree with me, mostly because we're golfing buddies (I wish), would be overcoming adversity It's unfortunate that we never saw this team at full strength. Ginyard missed most of the season; same for Zeller, Graves was suspended. Bobby was never really Bobby. Ty Lawson was hurt towards the end of the year. Hansbrough missed some time. Ellington struggled early on. But as Wayne Ellington said at his post game interview, they all came back for this moment and all the hard work has paid off.

CHAMPS! CHAMPS! CHAMPS!

Oh yeah, that feels good. Enjoy this one for awhile. Soak it in. I think I'll be replacing the main picture on my blog here soon. YEAH!

Photo Credit: SI and Sportsline

UNC 83 - Nova 69

You should go check out the box score right now, because it's pretty ugly. Probably the only 3 good stats in the box score are the 3 point percentage, the free throw attempts, and the final score. Everything else is very non-North Carolina-like numbers. This was a very ugly game, mostly the second half because we were playing very well in the first, except that lapse there at the end of the half to let Nova be within 9. Oh well. You have to be happy with the results.

Things I didn't like:

1. Rebounds. I think we forgot how to box out as Nova had 19 offensive boards, but you must understand that, despite the lack of size that Villanova has, they play tough and actually out-rebound their opponents by 4 or 5 per game. Case in point is this game 50-46.

2. Shots. Yes, we did shoot 50% from 3 land, but we did shoot 22 times. I don't like it when we fall in love with the longball. I feel we should have taken the game in the paint, but they might not have gotten a lot of the calls because they weren't getting them to begin with (there should have been a few loose ball fouls or away from the ball fouls. This went both ways). I think there was a lot of excessive hitting going on, which may have attributed to the low shooting percentage, but some of the shots were forced. I also hope we don't fall in love with the 3 on Monday.

3. Free Throws. Mostly Hansbrough and Lawson, but as I have said before, they will bounce back.

4. Turnovers. We looked pretty careless out there, especially at the beginning. Lawson had 4 turnovers, which was very shocking. We need to do a better job protecting the ball on Monday.

Things I liked:

1. Defense. Last 2 opponents have attempted a bazillion 3's and only made 7 of them. UNC is playing great defense and as I have said, average defense and good shooting (45-50% area) should win us most of our games. Even though North Carolina did give up way to many offensive rebounds, I though Hansbrough, Thompson, Ellington, Lawson, Davis, and Frasor all had strong rebounds throughout the game. Villanova is a scrappy team, and UNC was able to hold them off.

2. Ty Lawson. You probably saw the sign during halftime - "He laid down the LAW, SON" or something close to that. Well, we had another excellent game, minus the 4 turnovers and poor free throw shooting. He's pretty special to watch and I love watching his emotion and him beating his chest. Thankfully he did get his number 5 back as well. I was worried #25 would doom us for awhile.

3. Hustle. Bobby Frasor had 5 offensive rebounds. Only Dante Cunningham had more with 7, but he is a long and active big man. I think on just about all of his offensive rebounds, Bobby was running the ball down and then pulled it back out. How about the play where Ty Lawson somehow picked up the ball near half court, without going out of bounds, and raced down court, dumping off to Hansbrough who was fouled. Or with Ed Davis shooting some free throws, he missed them both, but Danny Green tipped the ball up, it hit the rim, and then he pinned it against the cushion on the bottom of the backboard until he could grab it, and kick it back out. All of these were big plays and shows that this team is competitive, determined, and focused. They have the fire in their eyes. Just look at Lawson when he makes a big shot or gets an and 1. Look at Ellington when he is stroking it. Look at the bench, cheering on the team.

This game was not pretty and there are several fundamental things that can be fixed. I can't find the link (there has only been a 100 UNC stories to read since last night's game), but Danny Green, when he looked at the box score said that these things can be fixed and I have no doubt that they will be fixed by Monday.

Monday's game is the rematch of a brutal slaughter earlier in the year, but both teams have changed since then. Yes, MSU has a home court advantage, but remember in 05, Illinois was playing in their backyard in St. Louis. UNC is a very good road team, case in point the earlier game against MSU. No, MSU was not at full strength, but neither was Hansbrough (still playing through shin and ankle problems), Ellington (wasn't really the Ellington we knew until the ACC season), Davis was still learning, Zeller was out, and Lawson was still playing second fiddle to Hansbrough. I know the game will be a lot closer; we will see who wants to more.

ACC/Big Ten Challenge Part II???

Well, I'll admit it, I thought the road to the championship game was through the Big East, but that's not the case. Michigan State is not the same team that played in December; they are on a roll, but they don't have Ty Lawson, who is the engine. He had a great game and would have had a monster game if he could hit his free throws (maybe he won't gamble tomorrow and he'll practice free throws). But we win and the season comes down to Monday night. This is all we as fans have hoped for since the middle of June, when everyone came back. This is the hype that put us at Number 1 at the beginning of the season. I'm ready. And the Heels look ready too.

The Legend Continues

Check out this piece on the legend we know as Tyler Hansbrough. Turns out he was pretty good in high school too. And he got hit a lot.

SuperNOVA...Bad?

Remember that '05 game against Villanova. I do, so I’ll tell you my story. I was at a friend’s house out in the Midwest and they obviously were showing regional coverage, so it was like Wisconsin or some other average team. This was also before CBS started broadcasting games online. When I first saw the score, UNC was down by 10 or maybe even 16. It was awful and I started to get really nervous. They closed the gap to within 4 at half and then were up by 10 with about 5 minutes to go.

Then the bad stuff started happening (which was about the time that CBS switched over to the game). Namely, Raymond Felton fouled out. The last inbounds play that 'Nova had, yeah we all know it wasn’t a travel (not that it was a foul either). But if you saw me and didn’t know me, you’d think I was on drugs or something because I was pacing and praying and hoping and wishing.

Well, now is 09. Villanova is a tough team. They have to be to play in the Big East (or at least that’s what the Big East keeps telling me). They do present some match-up problems with the 4 guard line-up. Some experts are comparing them to Maryland because of the lack of size, and we know what Maryland did against the Heels.

Well here is my counter. First, UNC is the most experienced team in the Nation. You can’t tell me that because of the last 2 (even the last 3) tournament nightmares, that they are not playing with a chip on the shoulder.

Second, last time I checked, UNC can still go small too. Hansbrough, Green, Ellington, Frasor, and Lawson is a pretty good lineup. But at the same time, I think we should capitalize on our size and get everybody in foul trouble. Hansbrough is the best perimeter defender of the big men, but I think Deon Thompson has gotten a lot better.

Third, Maryland has Vasquez, who is a 6'5" point guard and a tough match-up. He's the one who killed us, not Maryland. Plus we killed ourselves by shooting in the 30's percentage wise. Did you see what DeJuan Blair did against Nova? I don't consider him to have a lot of post moves, just a good rebounder, who cashes in a lot, but if he goes 9 for 9, I have no reason to doubt that Hansbrough can't have a big game. Also, remember that Hansbrough only had 8 points last game and will be looking like a man on mission.


One other note. About the whole Ty Lawson gambling issue. First, he is only 21. I'm sure you did some stupid stuff at that age too. Second, chill out a bit. It's not like he's doing it the night before the game. Third, here's what Roy had to say about it, providing more information than was originally given, like Marc Campbell going and them both being supervised. Roy's cool, Ty Lawson's cool, Marc's cool, so I'm cool about it.