Hooked by the Horns

Golly. Gee. Whiz. I waited awhile to let this one set in and talk about it on here because I was greatly disappointed, but now that emotions have settled down, I can better rationalize this game.

Let's look at some of the positives from this game. UNC was down by 17 before battling back to get it to 4. Once again, we have battled back after putting ourselves in a whole, which they also did against Kentucky. So, it's nice to see this team not give up, even against a mostly burnt-orange crowd.

Second positive is the fact that Ed Davis is such a beast. I was very impressed with his ability to control his body while in the air and then finish the play with a bucket, with some contact sometimes. The same could be said about Tyler Zeller, as combined, the two sophomores were 16-21 from the field. It's nice to see them be effective when they get the ball. This will be a good front court next year if Davis stays and while Zeller may not be a super strong defender, I believe he will get better and you might be surprised that he is averaging just under a block per game.

A final positive is that Dexter Strickland knows when the team needs someone to just make something happen. Yes, he did force a shot before the end of the first half and that caused Texas to get two baskets in the last 15 seconds, but he sometimes just lowers his head and barrels his way to the hoop. He had a few nice drives where he just drove hard and finished. I also really liked him in the backcourt with Larry Drew II. I thought that was a very effective backcourt while they were in the game together.

Now for some negatives. I know the argument has been made that our big men have the tendency to be soft and sometimes I think that argument is valid. For the life of me, I'm not sure why Deon Thompson thought he was Michael Jordan circa 1998, trying all these fade aways and runner-like shots in the lane, but he's 6'9," 245. He should not be fading away from contact, but rather going into the contact. Ed Davis did well for his weight, but seemed like his hands lacked a bit.

Another negative is Marcus Ginyard. Early in the second half, I was really questioning him as the 5th year senior leader. Then he did hit a few shots to help widdle away at the lead, but his lack of defense is what amazed me. This is Marcus, the shutdown man, who seemed to struggle greatly. His lateral movement seemed slow. Part of this could be his foot is causing him pain, because he was probably going into the game, but I must say I was disappointed with his effort. He had a number of careless turnovers and I just hope that if some of this is related to his foot, that he can take a few of these easier holiday games off and rest his foot up.

A final negative is the defense and I'm going to include the rebounding on this section too. I have never seen a team score so many points against UNC in the manner that Texas did. They scored 103 points and only shot 41% and that's because they had 26 offensive rebounds and I have no idea how many second chance points, but I thought it was just ridiculous how often Texas ended up with the ball down in the paint after a missed shot. I know Dexter Pittman is a big boy, but there is no excuse for not putting a body on him. I was always taught that if you can get your butt on a guy, you do it and it seemed like North Carolina was content to try and outjump Texas on the boards. I hope Tyler Hansbrough comes back to Chapel Hill this summer and teaches the Heels how to box out because if they continue to do what they did against Texas, it will be a long season.

Now Texas is #2 in the land for a reason and they are a good team. They showed that yesterday, but I think if North Carolina can correct some of these mistakes, they could easily be a good team. Roy said that this Texas team could be the best Texas team Rick Barnes has had, so obviously, this team is good because Texas has had Final Four teams under Rick Barnes. The schedule has been tough, Coach Williams himself has said he was a little over ambitious in scheduling all these games with this young team, but hopefully in the long run, it makes the Heels better. At least we can say that we have played people, which is usually what some of these experts say when UNC rattles off 15 games in a row at the beginning of the season.

A final thought and I will leave you. This is North Carolina's 3rd loss on the year. Last year, the Heels' third loss did not come until February 21nd against Maryland. The year before was against Kansas on April 5th. In 2006-2007, the third loss was on February 3rd against North Carolina State. and in 2005-2006 was on January 14th, versus Miami. I would say this year's Heels have more talent that the 05-06 Heels, but they didn't have the schedule that this year's squad has. The season is far from over and it could be possible that the worse of the schedule is over. Yes, ACC play is tough, but there aren't 5 teams in the ACC ranked in the top 18 in the country. Anyone can admit, we have been pretty spoiled over the last few years and this year is just a bit frustrating because of the success that the past Heels teams have had. We'll be ok, I promise.