1. Marcus Ginyard. I know; put on your surprised face. Marcus Ginyard, to me, is the most important player for the upcoming year because of the fact that he has been in the most big games, has the most starts, and has been the vocal leader for the Tar Heels since his sophomore year. I've said it before, but he needs to be that David Noel player. If Marcus Ginyard can be that type of player, this team will be very successful. He does not need to produce the same stats as Noel (If he can, I'll take it though), but he needs to lead and from what I've read, he's going to fulfill that role and already has that mindset.
Think back to that 05-06 team and realize that they had Q. Thomas, Byron Sanders, Reshawn Terry, Wes Miller, and David Noel returning, plus the freshman class. This upcoming year's team will have Ed Davis, Tyler Zeller, Deon Thompson, Will Graves, Larry Drew II, and Marcus Ginyard and then you add all this year's freshman. Yeah, scary good. The 05-06 team was picked to finish 6th in the ACC. This year's team will probably be picked to win the ACC or at least be second. This could still be a great year for the Heels and I am ever so looking forward to it.
Here's a piece on Marcus Ginyard and this article talks about how he can take on the Noel role and it's very similar to the post I had a week or two ago, but still worth checking out.
Monday, July 27, 2009
Sunday, July 26, 2009
Top 5 Most Important Players Continued
So here are the rest of the top 5:
3. Deon Thompson is who I think is the third most important player for this upcoming season. In the first 12 games of this past season, Deon averaged 14.6 points per game. Now some games were with Tyler Hansbrough and some where not, but that's still a good amount for him to put up. In all 12 games, he scored in double figures, whereas in the last half of the season, he only averaged 8.8 points per game and only scored in double figures in 10 out of the last 26 games. Now a few things to consider here. 1. Deon Thompson was the fifth option on the floor as a starter. 2. Thompson also had the last 2 ACC players of the year on his team. 3. Deon is Deon and sometimes gets down on himself. This year, Deon needs to be the man for this team. I'm not sure if he would be the leading scorer or not on this team, but he needs to be up there because he has two years of starting experience and we all know what he is capable of this. Those first 12 games of last season were awesome to watch; Thompson was abusing people (Remember that dunk he had on Harongody in Maui?). Simple put, Deon Thompson needs to do the things he has shown he can do all season. He cannot be up and down; it is his turn to shine. I strongly believe that Deon can average 15 and 8 for this team, but he has to show it.
2. Larry Drew II is not Raymond Felton or Ty Lawson and right now, he doesn't need to be. He needs to be Larry Drew II. If he can play in his role and not force the issue, but play Roy Williams style and be the floor leader, not necessarily, the team leader, UNC will be successful. What I like about Drew is that he is a pass first guy and I always appreciate that as a fan. Ed Cota was one of my favorite players because he was a pass first (and often pass second) point guard. Now Lawson and Felton are more scorers, but they have had plenty of assists as well. Drew did not shoot well this past year, but from what Roy Williams has said, Drew has improved. But again, he does not have to be a scorer for this team to be successful. If he can limit turnovers and run the offense, he will be fine for us this year. I would also like to see Drew on the defensive end this year because from what I have heard, he's a good defender, but it's hard to see that in 2-3 minute spurts like he received this past year. That won't be an issue this year.
I'll reveal #1 later. It probably won't be a huge shocker, but you still keep reading, right?
3. Deon Thompson is who I think is the third most important player for this upcoming season. In the first 12 games of this past season, Deon averaged 14.6 points per game. Now some games were with Tyler Hansbrough and some where not, but that's still a good amount for him to put up. In all 12 games, he scored in double figures, whereas in the last half of the season, he only averaged 8.8 points per game and only scored in double figures in 10 out of the last 26 games. Now a few things to consider here. 1. Deon Thompson was the fifth option on the floor as a starter. 2. Thompson also had the last 2 ACC players of the year on his team. 3. Deon is Deon and sometimes gets down on himself. This year, Deon needs to be the man for this team. I'm not sure if he would be the leading scorer or not on this team, but he needs to be up there because he has two years of starting experience and we all know what he is capable of this. Those first 12 games of last season were awesome to watch; Thompson was abusing people (Remember that dunk he had on Harongody in Maui?). Simple put, Deon Thompson needs to do the things he has shown he can do all season. He cannot be up and down; it is his turn to shine. I strongly believe that Deon can average 15 and 8 for this team, but he has to show it.
2. Larry Drew II is not Raymond Felton or Ty Lawson and right now, he doesn't need to be. He needs to be Larry Drew II. If he can play in his role and not force the issue, but play Roy Williams style and be the floor leader, not necessarily, the team leader, UNC will be successful. What I like about Drew is that he is a pass first guy and I always appreciate that as a fan. Ed Cota was one of my favorite players because he was a pass first (and often pass second) point guard. Now Lawson and Felton are more scorers, but they have had plenty of assists as well. Drew did not shoot well this past year, but from what Roy Williams has said, Drew has improved. But again, he does not have to be a scorer for this team to be successful. If he can limit turnovers and run the offense, he will be fine for us this year. I would also like to see Drew on the defensive end this year because from what I have heard, he's a good defender, but it's hard to see that in 2-3 minute spurts like he received this past year. That won't be an issue this year.
I'll reveal #1 later. It probably won't be a huge shocker, but you still keep reading, right?
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Top 5 Most Important Players
So I have thought and thought and thought about this and I really still don't know. I know my top two are set in stone and there is no way I'm going to change it. Probably my top three are not going to change. So here it is.
5. Leslie McDonald/Dexter Strickland. Yes, I put two players here because one of them will be starting at shooting guard, most likely, and both of them will be given some ball handling responsibilities because Larry Drew cannot play 40 minutes. Also both of these players are important because they will be needed to fill in the void from behind the arc, left by the draftees and graduates. It's very important they these two guards can handle the ball well enough to not have Larry Drew playing 37 minutes a game, mainly because I don't think Drew could handle that many minutes over the course of the season, and shoot the ball well. If these two could hit at 33% or around there, that would be awesome. I thought about throwing Will Graves in here at #5, because he's such a wild card, but I'm thinking that Graves could be the Danny Green spark plug off the bench this upcoming year.
4. Ed Davis. So I put who the scouts have as the best player on the Tar Heels roster at #4. Yes, yes I did. Because I think there are three other players who are more important that Davis, maybe not necessarily better than Davis. But Davis will be important. I think his defensive presence is going to be more important than his offensive presence, but I will take both. His ability to block and alter shots is something that North Carolina has lacked the last few years and he can turn them around. His rebounding is automatic-Sam Perkins style. If Davis goes out and gets 12 and 9, with 2 blocks, I'd be happy, but I think he'll do better than that.
I will reveal the other three over the next few days.
5. Leslie McDonald/Dexter Strickland. Yes, I put two players here because one of them will be starting at shooting guard, most likely, and both of them will be given some ball handling responsibilities because Larry Drew cannot play 40 minutes. Also both of these players are important because they will be needed to fill in the void from behind the arc, left by the draftees and graduates. It's very important they these two guards can handle the ball well enough to not have Larry Drew playing 37 minutes a game, mainly because I don't think Drew could handle that many minutes over the course of the season, and shoot the ball well. If these two could hit at 33% or around there, that would be awesome. I thought about throwing Will Graves in here at #5, because he's such a wild card, but I'm thinking that Graves could be the Danny Green spark plug off the bench this upcoming year.
4. Ed Davis. So I put who the scouts have as the best player on the Tar Heels roster at #4. Yes, yes I did. Because I think there are three other players who are more important that Davis, maybe not necessarily better than Davis. But Davis will be important. I think his defensive presence is going to be more important than his offensive presence, but I will take both. His ability to block and alter shots is something that North Carolina has lacked the last few years and he can turn them around. His rebounding is automatic-Sam Perkins style. If Davis goes out and gets 12 and 9, with 2 blocks, I'd be happy, but I think he'll do better than that.
I will reveal the other three over the next few days.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Some More Hype
I still haven't decided on the most important players for the upcoming year, but I do have more that relates to yesterday's post.
ESPN's Dickie V and Andy Katz put out some hype articles, with Vitales' Rolls Royce team and Katz with his talk of all the returning talent.
First on Dick Vitale's piece, who by the way, I don't think he is pro-Duke or pro-Carolina. I think he gives both equal praise and he's just a really intense person. But he a bazillion players on his teams, with 7 different teams, plus honorable mentions. I see that Kyle Singler is on the first team and Ed Davis is on the sixth team. I also notice that Ed Davis is the only returning player not to average double digits in points, so obviously that's saying something, like believe the hype. I do love how experts always have such varying opinions. Yesterday, Ed Davis was 11th, today he is around the 30th. Hopefully his draft stock doesn't plummet this much. Deon Thompson also made the list, but as an honorable mention, which means he's probably ranked in the 50's on Vitale's system.
Katz, who is probably my favorite analysis, hit the nail right on the head, in my opinion anyway. Here's what he said:
Davis had buzz after his Final Four performance this spring. In this draft, he would have gone in the top five, but how will he handle being the go-to guy in the post? Will he even get that tag with Deon Thompson? Davis needs to show he can deliver for the Tar Heels on a consistent basis. He didn't have the chance this past season because of Tyler Hansbrough. Now he does. Let's see how he handles the pressure.
I think he's right on. He's top five pick because of his projected talent. But it's not like he's going to be handed the post area because Tyler Hansbrough is gone. He has to deal with Deon Thompson, who both have similar offensive games, with Deon extending his range a bit this past season. What if Deon is the man this year? We don't know how it will go down. Also, Davis will be under a lot of pressure. Two mock drafts I have seen for next year have him at #2 and #6. That's a lot of potential money for a 19-20 year old. Hopefully fan, pro scouts, and probably even teammate talk of his game won't weigh him down.
One other note, not related to UNC, but kinda is. Luke Harangody returned for his senior year and it looks like he will have a Tyler Hansbrough-like year in terms of setting all these records for Notre Dame. But I highly doubt he will ride off in the same fashion that Hansbrough did.
ESPN's Dickie V and Andy Katz put out some hype articles, with Vitales' Rolls Royce team and Katz with his talk of all the returning talent.
First on Dick Vitale's piece, who by the way, I don't think he is pro-Duke or pro-Carolina. I think he gives both equal praise and he's just a really intense person. But he a bazillion players on his teams, with 7 different teams, plus honorable mentions. I see that Kyle Singler is on the first team and Ed Davis is on the sixth team. I also notice that Ed Davis is the only returning player not to average double digits in points, so obviously that's saying something, like believe the hype. I do love how experts always have such varying opinions. Yesterday, Ed Davis was 11th, today he is around the 30th. Hopefully his draft stock doesn't plummet this much. Deon Thompson also made the list, but as an honorable mention, which means he's probably ranked in the 50's on Vitale's system.
Katz, who is probably my favorite analysis, hit the nail right on the head, in my opinion anyway. Here's what he said:
Davis had buzz after his Final Four performance this spring. In this draft, he would have gone in the top five, but how will he handle being the go-to guy in the post? Will he even get that tag with Deon Thompson? Davis needs to show he can deliver for the Tar Heels on a consistent basis. He didn't have the chance this past season because of Tyler Hansbrough. Now he does. Let's see how he handles the pressure.
I think he's right on. He's top five pick because of his projected talent. But it's not like he's going to be handed the post area because Tyler Hansbrough is gone. He has to deal with Deon Thompson, who both have similar offensive games, with Deon extending his range a bit this past season. What if Deon is the man this year? We don't know how it will go down. Also, Davis will be under a lot of pressure. Two mock drafts I have seen for next year have him at #2 and #6. That's a lot of potential money for a 19-20 year old. Hopefully fan, pro scouts, and probably even teammate talk of his game won't weigh him down.
One other note, not related to UNC, but kinda is. Luke Harangody returned for his senior year and it looks like he will have a Tyler Hansbrough-like year in terms of setting all these records for Notre Dame. But I highly doubt he will ride off in the same fashion that Hansbrough did.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Top 10 Players for Next Year
Fox Sports put out a list of the top 10 returning college basketball players. There are no Tar Heels in the top 10. However, Ed Davis made the honorable mention with the author noting some of Steady Eddy's NCAA tournament games. Most of this list contains people from the Big 12, like Willie Warren and the two-headed monster from Kansas, but two other ACCer's made the list: Kyle Singler at #8, and Al-Farouq Aminu at #3.
My thoughts are mixed about this. First, I think Ed Davis is going to be great next year, but the fact remains that we don't know that. I can project all I want and you can project all you want, but the truth of the matter is, we just don't know. Secondly, I would like to see this list at the midway point of the season, because both Aminu and Singler have played significant minutes for their teams (I'm talking about starting and big game situations) and Davis has not has as much of an opportunity. Yes, he has played in a number of big games already, but he was never counted on as the second or third option like these players have been. Thirdly, I'm pretty sure that every player on this list started at least half the season. Ed Davis made the honorable mention even though he has started less than 3 games in his career. He is impressive.
This article got me thinking about who the most important players are for UNC this year. I thought about it a lot today and kept trying to place them in some sort of order, but I'm not sure yet. I still have some thinking to do, so I will decide tomorrow or Thursday and post it with my thoughts. Thanks for reading.
My thoughts are mixed about this. First, I think Ed Davis is going to be great next year, but the fact remains that we don't know that. I can project all I want and you can project all you want, but the truth of the matter is, we just don't know. Secondly, I would like to see this list at the midway point of the season, because both Aminu and Singler have played significant minutes for their teams (I'm talking about starting and big game situations) and Davis has not has as much of an opportunity. Yes, he has played in a number of big games already, but he was never counted on as the second or third option like these players have been. Thirdly, I'm pretty sure that every player on this list started at least half the season. Ed Davis made the honorable mention even though he has started less than 3 games in his career. He is impressive.
This article got me thinking about who the most important players are for UNC this year. I thought about it a lot today and kept trying to place them in some sort of order, but I'm not sure yet. I still have some thinking to do, so I will decide tomorrow or Thursday and post it with my thoughts. Thanks for reading.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
We have a David Noel Sighting...
Ok, it's still just Marcus Ginyard, but here's a great piece about Ginyard and his upcoming senior year.In the article, Marcus talks about his improved jump shot and his confidence being high. He also says he is taking the ball to the basket a lot more.
He also touches on leadership and mentions David Noel. He says he would like to emulate him and take his team farther than Noel was able to lead his Heels.
I don't know about how, but that article made me feel really good and I'm so ready for college basketball season to start up.
Friday, July 10, 2009
Hansbrough Inked
No, not tattoos (at least that I know of). He has signed his rookie deal with the Pacers.As the 13th overall pick, he's slotted in the NBA's rookie salary scale to receive about $1.5 million this season and nearly $1.7 million next season, with a $1.8 million option for his third year.
As Roy Williams often says, he's going to make a lot of money and it is very true. Hansbourgh has earned it with his four years of hard work, sweat, and blood.
GQ the Rapper
Quentin Thomas is trying to become a rapper. I remember reading an article last year about this time about how he was trying to pursue this avenue as a career. He goes by the name of GQ, which the article says was given to him by Mike Copeland. I would have preferred Q, but that's me. It appears as though Q has made some progress as he has a song on the upcoming NBA Live 10. I'm not a huge fan of rap (actually, not at all), but Q was always known for writing poetry during his playing days at UNC and it seems that he is able to use that in his career now. I wish him all the best as he continues this dream of his.
Interview with a Coach
Sporting News recently did an interview with Roy Williams. You can read the full interview here. If you can't tell Roy Williams is a student of Dean Smith, then you need to be pegged on the head with a tac hammer because Dean was humble and Roy also exuberates humbleness in deferring several times about where he ranks among the greatest coaches, his place on the all time wins list, and being the #2 coach behind not only Dean Smith, but also Phog Allen at Kansas. Williams also mentions that his toughest loss is 97 loss to Arizona (I know for me, it's the UNC/Kansas Final Four game), so hopefully that loss remains his toughest loss.
Roy also mentions about how thick-skinned he is, which you probably need in order to coach at any level. I have defended, and will continue to defend Roy Williams unless he does something complete out of character, which is hard to envision that happening. But it's nice to know that he doesn't get swayed by public opinion and he probably does not read as much as the fans do about his coaching and decisions. As Williams has said before, he does not care too much for technology, so he probably does not read most of the articles out there on the internet about him.
Williams goes on to talk about how big an impact that Tyler Hansbrough has left on the program and coaches alike. I believe that very much so and know that there will not be another player like Tyler Hansbrough in the UNC program. He is amazing and so is Roy Williams.
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
How Bout Them Tar Heels?
Sound familiar? It's my Woody Durham impression. It's all over the 2008-2009 DVD that was put out. I recently recieved my copy and must say that it's great to relive the season, even though it's only about 3 months old. Lots of player and coach analysis throughout. I must say as closely as I followed UNC this past season, by reading, writing, watching clips, there wasn't a lot of information that I didn't already know or at least have a little bit of knowledge about. Overall, still a great watch and I know I'll watch it again when there is a lull of Tar Heel sports to read about. Here's the link. Although the price isn't awful, the shipping might kill you.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Draft Thoughts
Ok, I realize that my blogging has been poor as of late, but I promise that will change. June was a very crazy month for me and now that it is over, I should be more consistent. I apologize and hope you readers out there do not think any less of me.
But the draft has come and gone and I’m just going to give some thoughts on where each Heel was drafted and what I think about it.
Tyler Hansbrough went #13 to the Pacers. I was sure surprised by the fact that he was a lottery pick. Who would have thought the guy who had been nit-picked at for 4 years would be the first Heel to be drafted, let alone a lottery pick? When I look at the Pacer’s roster, I know that Psycho-T can play on this team and get some significant minutes. The Pacers don’t seem to have a truly skilled big man, so they went with a safe pick on this one, which some experts say wasn’t good, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. There are a lot of North Carolina ties on this roster, like Josh McRoberts from Duke and Roy Hibbert from that fateful Elite 8 game in 07.
Ty Lawson was originally drafted by the Wolves at #18 (and their plethora of picks and point guards), but then traded to the Nuggets. I think Lawson might be in the best situation of all of the draftees because he will be the primary back up. There is no way he is starting over Chauncy Billups, but Billups will be an excellent tutor for Lawson to learn under. Also, the Nuggets play at a fast pace, which should help Lawson make the transition from the Carolina system to the NBA. Hopefully he will do a little better than Raymond Felton did at making the transition.
Wayne Ellington was drafted by the T-Wolves as well at #28, but they kept him. I’m not sure what to expect with the T-Wolves with their coaching situation up in the air. He’s really the only shooting guard on the team, unless you count Ricky Rubio, who is the same height as Ellington, but everyone else on the roster should be a point guard going on by their height. Now that Kevin McHale is gone, there won’t be a doghouse for Ellington to get in like Rashad McCants was, so hopefully he can get some playing time. Ellington was quoted as saying that he had a chip on his shoulder to prove the other 27 teams wrong, so I would think we would see him play well.
Danny Green was the lone second rounder. I really like this pick for the Cavs. They don’t really have a lot of wing players and Green can bring some things to the table that they can use. He joins Jawad Williams on the roster, so I imagine we will see some mentoring there. He also joins LeBron James and it’s hard to imagine that LeBron won’t want Danny Green to do his best and help him out along the way. I think if Green can earn a spot on the roster, he could get some spot minutes on this team.
So those are some thoughts from the draft from my head. I know I’m giving a best case scenario for all of these players, but I truly think that these things can happen. Again, I wish them the best and thank them for their years of service to the UNC, especially that National Championship thing. That’s a pretty big deal.
But the draft has come and gone and I’m just going to give some thoughts on where each Heel was drafted and what I think about it.
Tyler Hansbrough went #13 to the Pacers. I was sure surprised by the fact that he was a lottery pick. Who would have thought the guy who had been nit-picked at for 4 years would be the first Heel to be drafted, let alone a lottery pick? When I look at the Pacer’s roster, I know that Psycho-T can play on this team and get some significant minutes. The Pacers don’t seem to have a truly skilled big man, so they went with a safe pick on this one, which some experts say wasn’t good, but I’d rather be safe than sorry. There are a lot of North Carolina ties on this roster, like Josh McRoberts from Duke and Roy Hibbert from that fateful Elite 8 game in 07.
Ty Lawson was originally drafted by the Wolves at #18 (and their plethora of picks and point guards), but then traded to the Nuggets. I think Lawson might be in the best situation of all of the draftees because he will be the primary back up. There is no way he is starting over Chauncy Billups, but Billups will be an excellent tutor for Lawson to learn under. Also, the Nuggets play at a fast pace, which should help Lawson make the transition from the Carolina system to the NBA. Hopefully he will do a little better than Raymond Felton did at making the transition.
Wayne Ellington was drafted by the T-Wolves as well at #28, but they kept him. I’m not sure what to expect with the T-Wolves with their coaching situation up in the air. He’s really the only shooting guard on the team, unless you count Ricky Rubio, who is the same height as Ellington, but everyone else on the roster should be a point guard going on by their height. Now that Kevin McHale is gone, there won’t be a doghouse for Ellington to get in like Rashad McCants was, so hopefully he can get some playing time. Ellington was quoted as saying that he had a chip on his shoulder to prove the other 27 teams wrong, so I would think we would see him play well.
Danny Green was the lone second rounder. I really like this pick for the Cavs. They don’t really have a lot of wing players and Green can bring some things to the table that they can use. He joins Jawad Williams on the roster, so I imagine we will see some mentoring there. He also joins LeBron James and it’s hard to imagine that LeBron won’t want Danny Green to do his best and help him out along the way. I think if Green can earn a spot on the roster, he could get some spot minutes on this team.
So those are some thoughts from the draft from my head. I know I’m giving a best case scenario for all of these players, but I truly think that these things can happen. Again, I wish them the best and thank them for their years of service to the UNC, especially that National Championship thing. That’s a pretty big deal.
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