I'm having a hard time coping with this team right now because I thought they would be better. I expected the team to be competitive and at times they have been, but not for a while 40 minutes. Yes, we've been hit with some injuries, but that comes with any team.
3 losses in a row is new territory for we the fans because we have been absolutely spoiled by Roy Williams and his staff and the players he has brought in. There are still quite a number of teams who would love to have our problems.
There is some talk that our team is NIT bound and I can't say I quite agree yet. There is still a lot of basketball to play and our Strength of Schedule has been pretty solid this year with the top 35 teams in the nation. Yes, the Heels do need to take care of some business to avoid bubble talk, but I'm confident they will rebound here. They have to, right?
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Sunday, January 17, 2010
That One Stung
I thought they were going to win. I had my title all picked out. It was going to read "That's what I'm talking about." It just felt like they were going to win, despite the Mr. Hyde first half, the Dr. Jekyll second half comeback seemed like it was made for this team.
The team played with a sense of urgency in the second half. If they could play like that for a whole game, instead of one half, we could be sitting at 14-4 instead of 12-6. So far this season, every chance to become optimistic is resulted with another poor performance and another reason to remain down in the dumps about this team. I still believe that this team can turn things around, but sometimes I need to see it in order to believe it too. I'm not seeing it. I see glimpses, but not enough to put it together. Not enough ownership; not enough leadership; not enough urgency.
Will Graves played the game of his life and we finally see the shooting that we have heard about for a number of years. I hope it can continue.
If it's any consolation, last year's team was 1-2 in the ACC, beginning with 2 opening losses, so it's possible. But reality is that last year's team won the NCAA Tournament, which is highly unlikely at this point. Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, and Marcus Ginyard said they wanted to have their own championship ring, but most of their actions suggest otherwise.
The team played with a sense of urgency in the second half. If they could play like that for a whole game, instead of one half, we could be sitting at 14-4 instead of 12-6. So far this season, every chance to become optimistic is resulted with another poor performance and another reason to remain down in the dumps about this team. I still believe that this team can turn things around, but sometimes I need to see it in order to believe it too. I'm not seeing it. I see glimpses, but not enough to put it together. Not enough ownership; not enough leadership; not enough urgency.
Will Graves played the game of his life and we finally see the shooting that we have heard about for a number of years. I hope it can continue.
If it's any consolation, last year's team was 1-2 in the ACC, beginning with 2 opening losses, so it's possible. But reality is that last year's team won the NCAA Tournament, which is highly unlikely at this point. Ed Davis, Deon Thompson, and Marcus Ginyard said they wanted to have their own championship ring, but most of their actions suggest otherwise.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Eye of the Tigers
I didn't know if we were up to Clemson this time around. Something felt off to me and low and behold, we have a blow-out loss to Clemson. I didn't get to watch the game and that makes me glad because I think I would have been pretty upset watching the turnover machine that is North Carolina.
I thought of an analogy today about this year's team. I would consider them to be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde this year. Dr. Jekyll would be the North Carolina team that was present against Michigan State and the second half versus Va Tech. The Mr. Hyde version is the one we have seen a good portion of the season and unfortunately, seems to be taking over Jekyll's play.
Coach Williams blamed the loss on himself in his postgame quotes, saying he did a poor job of coaching. Sure, he could have done things better, but he's not the one out there who can't pass the ball inbounds or throws it over somebody's head. 26 Turnovers. 26! 17 from the starters - the experienced players! I think it's getting inexcusable now and something has to change.
Adam Lucas wrote in his postgame article about the team lacking focus. If you read the post-game comments, the message is similar from the players. I think this statement from a freshman, Dexter Strickland, stood out to me the most:
"It's thinking too much. It's being scared to make a mistake. When you play cautious you're more likely to make a mistake."
I played soccer in college and I remember when I started worrying about making mistakes, that's when I made the most mistakes or played the most cautious. When I didn't think about everything that I could be doing and just tried to make a play is when I had the most success. I'm not saying that Williams should throw caution out the door and let the horses loose, but somebody needs to step up and bit and take some leadership. We have seen a bit of this factor or just going out and making something out of nothing from Dexter Strickland some, but he does still make freshman mistakes and cause turnovers. I think this could be the perfect situation to throw John Henson into so that he can become a better player.
In doing this, North Carolina might establish itself a go-to scorer, someone who gets the last shot because as of right now, the guy who gets the last shot on the team for me is probably Larry Drew II or Strickland, but only because of their ability to break people down off the dribble. I'm not saying this should turn into chaos, but it is something to think about. Make the players stop thinking and start doing. If I had an answer for this situation, I'm sure a lot of coaches would ask me how, but I don't. This season that was filled with potential and hype is suddenly shrinking and becoming a harsh reality. Boo reality, boo!
I thought of an analogy today about this year's team. I would consider them to be Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde this year. Dr. Jekyll would be the North Carolina team that was present against Michigan State and the second half versus Va Tech. The Mr. Hyde version is the one we have seen a good portion of the season and unfortunately, seems to be taking over Jekyll's play.
Coach Williams blamed the loss on himself in his postgame quotes, saying he did a poor job of coaching. Sure, he could have done things better, but he's not the one out there who can't pass the ball inbounds or throws it over somebody's head. 26 Turnovers. 26! 17 from the starters - the experienced players! I think it's getting inexcusable now and something has to change.
Adam Lucas wrote in his postgame article about the team lacking focus. If you read the post-game comments, the message is similar from the players. I think this statement from a freshman, Dexter Strickland, stood out to me the most:
"It's thinking too much. It's being scared to make a mistake. When you play cautious you're more likely to make a mistake."
I played soccer in college and I remember when I started worrying about making mistakes, that's when I made the most mistakes or played the most cautious. When I didn't think about everything that I could be doing and just tried to make a play is when I had the most success. I'm not saying that Williams should throw caution out the door and let the horses loose, but somebody needs to step up and bit and take some leadership. We have seen a bit of this factor or just going out and making something out of nothing from Dexter Strickland some, but he does still make freshman mistakes and cause turnovers. I think this could be the perfect situation to throw John Henson into so that he can become a better player.
In doing this, North Carolina might establish itself a go-to scorer, someone who gets the last shot because as of right now, the guy who gets the last shot on the team for me is probably Larry Drew II or Strickland, but only because of their ability to break people down off the dribble. I'm not saying this should turn into chaos, but it is something to think about. Make the players stop thinking and start doing. If I had an answer for this situation, I'm sure a lot of coaches would ask me how, but I don't. This season that was filled with potential and hype is suddenly shrinking and becoming a harsh reality. Boo reality, boo!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Go Team
Well, we are guarteend not to go winless in ACC play now. Virginia Tech is a tough team and they may not be Top 25, but they have played North Carolina tough lately. I did have my doubts, especially thinking we wouldn't have Marcus Ginyard and possibily without Will Graves and Leslie McDonald. But they all played and I think it's a good thing because they don't have too many games together.
Hopefully this game can be a confidence builder for the team. the crowd was good and I thought the team looked good for the most part. I thought the team was patient against the Va Tech zone, moving the ball around and looking for the open man instead of forcing shots. Some balanced scoring to fill up the box score. Ed Davis continues to impress and do well. He needs to stay another year for my sake. Team him and Harrison Barnes together....oh golly.
Defense looked pretty good too and the team really clamped down on Malcolm Deleaney in the second half. And we threw 4 different defenders at him. That might be what we need to do in order to prevent these scoring guards from having big nights. We'll see.
Hopefully this game can be a confidence builder for the team. the crowd was good and I thought the team looked good for the most part. I thought the team was patient against the Va Tech zone, moving the ball around and looking for the open man instead of forcing shots. Some balanced scoring to fill up the box score. Ed Davis continues to impress and do well. He needs to stay another year for my sake. Team him and Harrison Barnes together....oh golly.
Defense looked pretty good too and the team really clamped down on Malcolm Deleaney in the second half. And we threw 4 different defenders at him. That might be what we need to do in order to prevent these scoring guards from having big nights. We'll see.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Execution
We lack it. Hardcore. Very hardcore. Marcus Ginyard and Will Graves certainly would have helped in the C of C game, but they were held out and though the hill was a little steeper to climb, North Carolina should not have lost this game. But they did and there is no use crying over it now. It's a loss and we can get over it and move on. It is however a little tough because we exepcted so much more from this team by now.
We thought Ed Davis would be awesome and he has been. That dunk he threw down after the little pump fake was pretty nasty. Marcus Ginyard was supposed to be David Noel II and he hasn't been quite that good. He has been better than the Marcus of old, at least on the offensive end, but I'm not quite sold on defense. But I would have rather taken his defense on Goudelock than Deon Thompson, but obviously that's not how the basketball world wanted it. Larry Drew II has been better than most expected, but still has mental lapses and bad judgement and John, Henson, who was supposed to be Kevin Durant, has done nothing but block shots. We were over-hyped to begin with, and it's coming into play now. I wouldn't say we were losing to College of Charlestown over-hyped, but that's why they play the game.
What this loss comes down to is a lack of leadership and execution. Coach Williams pinned the leadership aspect on himself and maybe part of that is true, but the team was down two upperclassman starters. Logic dictates that someone else speaks up or steps up. From the execution side of the argument, they are a young team and are trying to worry about the right plays and defensive sets, let alone late game clock management. They simply haven't practiced it much and when looking at this game on the schedule, the coaches probably figured they wouldn't need to worry about practicing these types of situations right now against this caliber of a team. Well, lesson learned.
I'm not blaming this on any one individual, but the team and I'm just not sure what to think anymore. The lofty expectations seemed achievable and some of these goals are still out there, but I hope these young players know that in ACC play, you have to bring it every night or you're going to walk out of the gym with the C of C loss feeling a lot. Go Heels! Please!
We thought Ed Davis would be awesome and he has been. That dunk he threw down after the little pump fake was pretty nasty. Marcus Ginyard was supposed to be David Noel II and he hasn't been quite that good. He has been better than the Marcus of old, at least on the offensive end, but I'm not quite sold on defense. But I would have rather taken his defense on Goudelock than Deon Thompson, but obviously that's not how the basketball world wanted it. Larry Drew II has been better than most expected, but still has mental lapses and bad judgement and John, Henson, who was supposed to be Kevin Durant, has done nothing but block shots. We were over-hyped to begin with, and it's coming into play now. I wouldn't say we were losing to College of Charlestown over-hyped, but that's why they play the game.
What this loss comes down to is a lack of leadership and execution. Coach Williams pinned the leadership aspect on himself and maybe part of that is true, but the team was down two upperclassman starters. Logic dictates that someone else speaks up or steps up. From the execution side of the argument, they are a young team and are trying to worry about the right plays and defensive sets, let alone late game clock management. They simply haven't practiced it much and when looking at this game on the schedule, the coaches probably figured they wouldn't need to worry about practicing these types of situations right now against this caliber of a team. Well, lesson learned.
I'm not blaming this on any one individual, but the team and I'm just not sure what to think anymore. The lofty expectations seemed achievable and some of these goals are still out there, but I hope these young players know that in ACC play, you have to bring it every night or you're going to walk out of the gym with the C of C loss feeling a lot. Go Heels! Please!
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