Point Guard of the Future?

In watching the Duke/UNC game, I couldn't help notice how many unforced errors there were in the game (shocking, I know). But it seemed a good majority of the turnovers came from the point guard, Larry Drew II.



I like Larry Drew II and think he has done a serviceable job as the point guard for this year's team, but I'm not sure if he isn't just the second coming of Quentin Thomas. Many times this season, we have seen Drew drive the lane and try to have an amazing pass, but only for the rock to end up in the hands of the opposing team, which is why I question him as the point guard of next year's team.



I'll be honest, I don't pay close attention to recruits until they arrive on campus, but with the struggles this year's team has had, it's hard not to focus on next year's class a bit more than in the past. UNC is bringing in Kendall Marshall, a 6'3" PG, who is rated a 4 star recruit and is the 32nd ranked player in his class, but the the 9th overall PG.

For comparison's sake, Larry Drew II was the 71st rated player, and the 10th overall PG in his class.



In reading about Marshall, he is said to be the best passer in the class, according to ESPNU. Here is what rivals says about Marshall:


With a superb basketball IQ, Marshall plays with surprising poise and at a deceptive pace. He sets up for a burst that is just fast enough to beat his man and controlled enough for him to read the situation with precision. The leftly also has a more-than-reliable jumper and has a knack for delivering the pass with timing whether it is off his penetration in the half court or a
pass up the court in transition. Improving his explosiveness and improving on the defensive side of the ball are his next challenges.


Here's what Rivals said about Drew during his senior year of high school:

With a good mind for the game, Drew has a knack for running a team and finding an open man. Perhaps the best thing he does, however is shoot the ball from behind the arc. His foot speed and overall athleticism is an area for concern as a high-major prospect although.

Now, on paper it appears that Drew is the better shooter, which is most likely accurate and Marshall is faster and a better passer. But next year, Drew will have 2 years under Roy Williams' system, but the turnovers can be such a team-killer, especially when you are a team that's built for making runs.

I don't know who will start next year, but I posted this to pose the question of what could possibly happen next year. Personally, I like a pass-first point guard and while Drew has shown that at times, I'm not sure it translates as well as Marshall's game could in the UNC system. We'll see what happens. It could be worth noting that this situation could play out similar to Bobby Frasor and Ty Lawson during Lawson's freshman year. That year Frasor started the first 6 games and then Coach Williams took the reigns off of Lawson and the rest is ACC Player of the Year history.

Video Tour of the White House

Bobby Frasor was given a camera by ESPN to film the Tar Heels recent trip to the White House. It is actually pretty funny, so check it out.

I'll be giving draft updates soon. It helps with the lottery being tonight as we will see more talk of the draft.

Season in Review: Bobby Frasor

Oh Bobby. I secretly cheer for Bobby Frasor to make every shot he takes because I feel bad for him. Think about his career: Starts every game his freshman year, starts the first five or six games of his sophomore year and then is benched and injured off and on for the rest of the year. Junior year is playing great in his role and tears his ACL – out for the year. Senior year comes along and he can’t hit the broad side of a barn. Interesting career, but if you have read about him and watched him, you know he’s pretty optimistic about his situation and he has something that not a lot of others have: a national championship.

Things I didn’t like:
1. Shooting. Obviously, the shots did not go down for this young man, and sometimes you wonder why he kept shooting. This was the same guy who would sit on the bench his junior year and shoot 3’s from his chair. When he did get some shots to do go down, you couldn’t help but be happy for the guy.

2. Stupid fouls. How many times did Frasor foul a guy shooting a three pointer? Lots of times. He fouled so many jump shooters that it’s no wonder Coach Williams suffers from vertigo and has grey hair. Bobby Frasor, you are 6’3” and you will not block a lot of shots.

Things I like:
1. Defense. Frasor was the team’s best individual defender, winning the defense player of the game award numerous times as well as the team’s defensive player of the year award. Frasor did his best to keep up with people who were faster, stronger, quicker, and had a few picks set for them and he did a great job.

2. Hustle. The little gym rat did every little thing he could. Rebound, take charges, and just overall hustle. He’s a smart player for the most part and obviously unselfish because he knew what his role was and didn’t try and do more than he was able or capable of.

It would have been nice if Frasor had gotten a medical redshirt (another Final Four run would not be out of the question with him holding down the guard spots), but the NCAA must not like him. He would have provided good experience and leadership for next year’s team and I’ve heard that it takes over a full year to return to normal following ACL surgery, so it would have been nice if he could have gotten back to form. But, as I said earlier, Frasor is going out a National Champion, and I don’t think he would have it any other way. And he gets to throw out the first pitch at a Chi Sox game soon. The perks of being #1!

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.

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.

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.

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.

Oh It's the End of the World...

It's really not, but I did have to convince myself for a while there too. Let's face facts: ACC Player of the Year did not play, Danny Green has not been Danny Green over the last 2 games, Bobby Frasor has not played consistent point guard in almost 2 years, and Larry Drew is just a freshman running the one of the nation's top teams. Those are just North Carolina facts.

Let's face facts about FSU: Toney Douglas was 2nd in the ACC in PPG and in Player of the Year voting. The 'Noles also shot 67% in the second half, which wasn't neccessarily bad defense, it was just an amazing performance.

It's really not the end of the world. Yes, I would have liked to have won the ACC tournament, but as the years have gone by, I tend to agree with Roy: the season represents a whole year's worth of good play. The tournament only merits 3-4 good days of play. And now that Duke is in the final, it makes this loss feel worse because they really have no business being there. But let's look at the positives from this game.

*Our defense did a good job. Yes, FSU shot 67% in the 2nd half, but they were on fire. They forced 14 turnovers and had 11 steals. They were out-rebounded, but only be 1 (34-35), but with Toney Douglas being the main player, we only had a few people to run after him with Ty being out. So Bobby, Larry, and anyone else that covered him did a pretty good job.

*Ed Davis and Larry Drew looked pretty good over the last 2 games. Davis had several sweet dunks and I get so excited thinking about what he's going to do over the next few years. Drew has not been impressing me lately, but over the last two games, I think he has gained more confidence, which will only pay off in the long run. He still has a tendency to go to far in the paint or to force some things and even some of his passes were erratic even though they got to their intended target, but I feel better about him than I did 2 weeks ago.

*We shot 37% and still had a shot to tie it. In three of the four losses this season, this has been the same story. We have shot poorly, but still were in the game enough to at least go to OT. This means that the defense is keeping us in the game, even if the offense is struggling.

*Tyler Hansbrough is still pretty good. Remember when Lawson went down last year? That was when Tyler Hansbrough really went off to claim NPOY because he took over games and I think he averaged 27 and 12, or close to those numbers. I was thinking he could do the same thing and carry us in the tournament, but alas, it was not meant to be.

*Our players tried hard and will still feel this loss. In most of the post game comments, the players were disappointed, but realized that this now means that every game could be their last. But it will also serve as motivation. Here's a few of the comments:

Hansbrough: "We understand we lose now, it's over."

Lawson: “We wanted to win this tournament real bad, because we want to win every game. But they didn’t want my toe to flare up, so he decided to sit me out this game. Our big goal is to win the [NCAA] championship, so that might have played a little bit into it.”

Frasor was asked if he could accept this loss. "Live with as in accept it? No. We didn't play the way we wanted to play. We didn't get contributions from everyone. Danny's had a rough couple of games, and he usually plays better. We'll watch film and learn from it. The ultimate goal starts next weekend, and that’s what we have our eye on.”

Green: "We've got six games left."

Yes, it would have been nice to win the ACC tournament, but I would gladly take a National Championship over the ACC championship. We didn't have a ton to lose, at least from a fan's perspective because we will be a number 1 seed in the tournament. I believe this loss will help over the next few weeks. The Heels have looked committed on defense since the Maryland game and know that it is all business from here on out. Remember we ran the table in 05 after we lost in the semi-finals. We can do this! Believe!

Three side notes from this blogger. 1) Ty Lawson will be playing in the NCAA tournament, which I think everyone and their mother knew. I'm pretty confident we could have won the first game without him and even the second, depending on the draw. 2) One team I do not want to face in the tournament is Pittsburgh. 3) Uche Echefu is a senior from FSU. I remember he was a late signer and he was deciding between UNC and FSU and I was hoping he would sign with UNC because it was just after the mass exodus of 05 and we were looking at Hansbrough, David Noel, Mike Copeland, and Byron Sanders as our big men. Well, he probably would have done well under Coach Williams, but we didn't miss much. A career 7.2 PPG scorer and 4.7 RPG, but to his credit, he hits his free throws and can shoot the three. But I wouldn't say we've missed much.

To Play or Not to Play

That is the question hounding Roy Williams and Ty Lawson at the current moment. Will he? Won't he? Should he? Can he? The answer is that no one knows. My feelings are that I would like to win the ACC Tournament, but if that jeopardizes the NCAA tournament, then I say, shut down Lawson and put him in a padded room for the next week. The injury sounds bigger than I first thought, when I declared that Ty Lawson would play against Duke (which he totally dominated). Something about ligaments and already been broken. Doesn't sound to good and will probably need some off-season surgery (maybe affected his draft decision?).

At first, I didn't think we had to win the ACC tournament to win the NCAA tournament, because we didn't in 05. But over the last 5 years, the only National Champion, not to win their own conference tournament is North Carolina (Kansas, Florida twice, UCONN) if we got back to the start of the decade, only Duke and Michigan State are the only other teams to win both their conference tournament and the NCAA tournament (Syracuse and Maryland were the other national champions). So 3 out of 8 teams have done it. But the numbers say that it is better to be hot and stay hot.

I think there are some pros and cons to this whole Lawson situation. I'll start with the pros first:

-Larry Drew would get some experience if Ty can't go. Larry Drew will be needed if the toe bothers Ty in the NCAA tournament or in foul trouble. Drew appears to lack confidence and reminds me quite a bit of Q Thomas his freshman year. Remember in 05 against Villanova? Felton fouled out and we could either go with Thomas or Melvin Scott at the point. HMMM. Same thing could happen this year and Drew would greatly benefit.

-If Ty Lawson can't play and we lose either the quarter finals or semi-finals, the team gets extra rest. They are banged up, I'm sure and an extra day or two can make the difference.

Con:
-Ty Lawson plays, but after the 3rd game, his toe is killing him and he's done for the year. Yeah, that would be real great.

-Ty Lawson doesn't play, UNC loses early and then has no confidence and loses in the Sweet 16 or Elite 8. Ohhh my heart would break/shatter/be crushed/stop beating.

-With Ty Lawson not playing, the bench becomes, Davis, Zeller, and Drew or Frasor, whichever one Roy starts with. So we're left with one guard to sub for our three other guards. Super.

Obviously, some of these are a little extreme, but this is March and anything can happen. My feeling - Let Ty sit and whatever happens, happens. Do I think UNC could win the ACC without Ty Lawson? Sure. They would be reduced to a half-court team because they are missing the V-6 of the V-8 engine, but they can win. But I would rather think of the big picture.

"Is that a Tear in Me Eye?"

Yes, Irish accent included. Tomorrow will be an emotional day. Emotional because it is our arch-rival. Emotional because it is senior day and we will never see some of these players play in the Dean Dome again. But it will be emotional because of the people in this class. They are all unique and will be remembered in different ways.

Jack Wooten - The Brainiac of the group, will probably we ultimately remembered by his stauche that he grew during the NCAA tournament. Announcers made fun of him, but he kept it. Unfortunately, no comeback. At least not yet.

J. B. Tanner - The Shooter of the group. Adam Lucas wrote an article about him earlier this season about how good of a shooter he was. He shot 12 3's last year. Same this year, but he can shoot. He reminds me of Dewey Burke.

Patrick Moody - I'll be honest, Moody is probably the player I know the least on the whole roster, but I appreciate his effort, just like the rest of the walk-ons. They have all worked hard to get to where they are and they are often quoted as living the dream. What a dream.

Mike Copeland - Oh Mike. Some people might remember Copeland for his outburst at N.C. State, but that's not what I'm going to remember him for. I will remember Copeland always providing some energy when he was in the game, especially if it was tight. I will also always remember him joking around. I guess he balances out the Psycho-T character.

Bobby Frasor - Dang it, Bobby. I remember saying that when I found out he tore his ACL. I have always looked for big things from Bobby. He was solid as a freshman and even when he was replaced by Lawson, I knew he could be counted on for anything. Well, injuries seem to have robbed us of the Bobby Frasor of his freshman year, but I will remember Bobby for his ability to play. He does whatever and sacrifices to help the team. He's not an ego-maniac and will be a great coach someday. I will particular remember Frasor for his defense this past year and for his 9 points against Duke in the first half.

Danny Green - His first two years, I was hard on Green. He seemed so lost out there and when he was out there, he was inconsistent. After the first game of the 07-08 season, Green had a solid game and I thought to myself, if he can do this consistently, we can be a good team. Lo and behold, he delivered. During that year, I thought to myself, we need a huge dunk on someone (think Stackhouse) and lo and behold, Green came through again (with an assist from Greg Paulus). This year, I have looked to Green as a leader, the stat-stuffer, the glue-guy. I feel that he really held this team together, by being able to do it all. I thought Green would be the next Tar Heel to have a triple-double, with his ability to pass, score, rebound, steal, and block. He hasn't done so yet, but there's still time. Green will probably be remembered for his dunk and for his dancing, but to the true fan, there's so much more.

Tyler Hansbrough - What won't be remembered about him? NPOY, 40 points, .8 seconds against VA Tech, dunking on George, destroying Michigan State (twice), holding our breath while he was injured, broken nose, broken teeth, face mask, balcony hopping, fishing, crazy workouts, Psycho-T, Texas ping-pong, saving people's lives in planes, bloody jersey, 3's against Duke, 4-0 at Cameron, free-throw record, school scoring record, probably the school record for rebounds and ACC scoring record, 4 time All-American. We all know the stories about him. He's going to go down as one of the greatest college players in history. What else can I say about #50?

I hope this group goes out with a bang, both tomorrow and over the next month. And seriously, who is Roy going to start tomorrow?