Season in Review: Dexter Strickland

As I did last year, I will review each scholarship player numerically with the underclassman going first and building up to the seniors. So first up on the list is Dexter Strickland.

Dexter showed some flashes of being a good player and was somewhat forced to play out of position for the majority of the season by being the backup point guard. Next year, it will be nice to see him slide over to shooting guard and see if he fares better.

What didn’t like:
1. Inconsistency. Some games he would have a double figure scoring, but others, he would barely show up in the stat book. I would like Strickland to be able to establish himself more as a consistent player.

2. Shooting %. Strickland shot 43% from the field, 29% from 3, and 69% from the free throw line. As the shooting guard, you have to be able to shoot and Strickland was not always effective from a shooter’s perspective. In his defense, he did play some point guard, but the percentage needs to be brought up.

What I liked:
1. Drive. One thing I especially liked about Strickland was it seemed he was the only Tar Heel fully capable of creating his own shot. That comes with being the backup point guard and shooting guard at the same time, but at times, he was the only Tar Heel who would drive to the basket and see what happened. He was aggressive and I like an attacking guard. Next year, he should be better able to attack from the wing.

2. Willingness. Strickland showed some leadership potential by willing to play 2 positions. That means he has to learn the plays for two positions and handle setting up the offense and guarding one of the other team’s best players (because what guard hasn’t gone off the Tar Heels before?) Credit should be given to Strickland for being able to step up into a role that is a little out of his comfort zone.

I like having Strickland come off the bench. He can be the Danny Green with the spark and energy and leader of the second squad. He’ll improve, and I look forward to watching him develop into a better overall player.

Dancing Danny Continues . . .

. . . his career in the NBA. Danny Green signed a 2 year deal with the Cavs this week. I'm pretty pumped for Danny Green. I felt bad for him because I think he thought of himself as a first round pick, and just happened to fall into the 2nd round of the NBA Draft. I don't think that's the way it meant for most GM's, but Green has a guaranteed contract and that probably makes him pretty happy. I do think Green can contribute on the next level and that he was a safe 2nd round pick. I am curious to see what sideline antics he can provide, combined with LeBron and Shaq. Stay tuned.

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.

So that NBA Draft Thing...

I Know it's been awhile. It has been rather busy around this side of the blogosphere, so I apologize.

Here's some info on where the Heels are projected at:

Tyler Hansbrough
Draft Express - #20 to the Jazz
NBA Draft.net - #20 to the Jazz
SI - #24 to the Blazers
Fox Sports - #20 to the Jazz

Ty Lawson
Draft Express - #17 to the 76ers
NBA Draft.net - #25 to the Thunder
SI - #14 to the Suns
Fox Sports -#25 to the Thunder

Wayne Ellington
Draft Express - #28 to the Timberwolves
NBA Draft.net - #19 to the Hawks
SI - #26 to the Bulls
Fox Sports - #19 to the Hawks

That's all I can get because I don't have ESPN Insider. Danny Green was not included because he is a second round pick and most sites don't project that deep. Here are my thoughts on these players and their future careers:

Tyler Hansbrough has been criticized by NBA people since the dawn of time. He is too slow, then not tall enough, not explosive, etc. Well here’s my opinion on him at the next level. At worst, he will be a rotation player. He has a high basketball IQ and can shoot, rebound, and defend. He’s not going to be buried on the bench. Best case scenario is that he becomes a Carlos Boozer. Yes, I did just mention a former Duke player, but when Boozer was drafted, I said adamantly he would amount to nothing because he was too short, not fast enough, etc. Well last time I checked, Boozer played on the Olympic team, makes more money than he should and has been an all-star at least once, if not more. I believe Hansbrough will have a fruitful career and look forward to following him (not watching him though because the NBA is stupid.). Even if he does get picked late in the first round, that would be better for him because he will be playing on a good team and can probably step in right away.

Ty Lawson is who I thought would have been drafted first for the Heels, but I'm not sure anymore. His stock has dropped considerably so I'm not sure what to tell you He has been mentioned as a lottery pick or mid to upper 20’s pick. It’s hard to tell where he will land, but I do see him similar to the last North Carolina point guard drafted – Raymond Felton. Felton has been up and down it seems, but his learning curve is on the better end than it was last year, but Ty Lawson could be very similar in the fact that he is a back up or occasional starter to eventual full-time starter. I think Lawson is better than Felton because it seems Lawson’s shot is more accurate and Lawson can get in the lane any time (at least on the college level). Lawson’s ¾ court sprint time seemed slow, but he is still amazingly fast. I've read articles that say that Johnny Flynn is way better than Lawson, but there’s no way. Flynn is good and I have enjoyed watching him play, but he is no way better than Lawson. Flynn relies on the three too much and has way too many turnovers. I know the critics say they worry about Lawson's shot being released low, so he's easy to block, but it's hard to block shots when you're double teaming someone else.

Wayne Ellington is hard to figure out where he could land. His draft measurements were interesting (who would have known he has a higher vertical that his buddy Gerald Henderson? And where was it during the season? We want to see some slam-a-jamas!), but I don’t know where he is going to go. I’ve heard as high at late lottery and I hear that he may not be drafted until the second round. My guess is that he is a late first rounder – somewhere in the 20’s - which might be the best thing for him because he’s not a superstar, but can be a viable option of the bench or maybe as your fourth or fifth scorer. If he does go the Bulls, that could be a really good fit because Ben Gordon will probably be gone and Ellington can step in and take his place.

Danny Green is questionable to make a team, which I’m sorry to say. No way is he a first round pick. If we could compare him to a former Tar Heel, he would probably be like David Noel, who was a glue guy, but was drafted in the second round. Noel did play for the Bucks for awhile, but now I think he is in the D-League. Danny Green could follow the same course, but I think he stands a much better chance than Noel because Green is more versatile. Time will tell with Danny Green.


That's the information I have, so thanks for reading. Again, sorry it has been so long, but keep tuning in and I will make up for it.

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: Danny Green

I remember when Danny Green was a freshman and it was a game against Duke at North Carolina. He did this one thing that made me so mad (I think he was dribbling around with the clock winding down and the Heels were down by a few points and he ended up turning it over.) and I was thinking he was the dumbest player in the world. Well since then, he still does some dumb things, but has matured quite a bit. Green has gone through a lot in his career with his father, but he has handled himself well.

Things I didn’t like:
1. Dumb plays. Sometimes, Green would go for the homerun, when all we needed was a single. Sometimes it was shooting a 3 early in the shot clock late in the game or a stupid pass when trying to break the press. You could throw some bad fouls in there as well as Danny was in foul trouble quite a bit late in the year.

2. Didn’t go to the hole enough. Green is a good free throw shooter, but he rarely goes to the line. I’m not sure if he’s just more comfortable on the perimeter, or doesn’t like to bang with the post players, but I think he should have gone to the bucket more and hopefully gotten some easy lay ups or gone to the free throw line.

Things I liked:
1. Confidence. Thankfully, this year wasn’t the Danny Green of old, who when he would be in a shooting slump would often stop shooting, but his year he kept on shooting and hit some big shots.

2. Shot blocking. For a guard or small forward, Danny Green is an excellent shot blocker. Remember that game against Miami when Green had 2 huge blocks within a 2 minute span? Remember his 7 block game against Duke? He was an excellent help defender and it was appreciated, not only to the fans, but also to the highlight guys.

Green declaring for the draft last year was shocking, but he needed to come back and he did. He was the stat-stuffer and I enjoyed watching him play and mature as a basketball player. His dancing will be missed and I don’t think he’ll do that at the next level, but I do wish him the best. Four years after me reeling him despising him for doing some dumb things I feel that Danny Green was the glue guy on this year’s team. Then we have this picture, which is just amazing.

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.

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.

March to Detroit

This game seemed to be everything that we do not expect in a North Carolina game: slow-paced, half-court, defense, getting the short end of the fouls. But it was a good game. I like the strategy that Roy put into place about doubling Griffin and letting the other guys beat us, because it worked to perfection. Now I heard some Syracuse fans ranting about how cold Oklahoma was after torching them, but I really believe the Heels played solid defense. I’m not always sold on good defense vs poor shooting – is it because there was a hand in their face or because the shooter is off? – But I think this game was a good defensive game. You don’t force back-to-back shot clock violations because the shooters are off. You do it with good defense.

Things I didn't like:
1. Refs. Let's be honest, if UNC breathed on Blake Griffin, they were called for a foul and that's just the honest truth. I could hardly watch the 2nd half because there were some ridiculous fouls. If they had been calling it on the other end, I wouldn't have minded as much, but you can't tell me that Blake Griffin never fouled Ed Davis or Deon Thompson. Yes, the fouls were even at the end, but only because OK needed to foul at the end of the game (which I'm surprised they called). If you look at Ed Davis's 4th foul, he was called for a block...I'm pretty sure that's solid defense to cut someone off at the baseline.

Things I liked:
1. The fact we can have a half-court game and win. I think that since Ty Lawson has been hurt, UNC is a better half-court team. He's not playing as fast, but he can still get to the basket pretty easily, which makes him the most dangerous person on the court. You say what he did when he drove and dumped off to Zeller. He probably could do that every play.

2. Bigs played hard. I thought Hansbrough did a good job on Griffin to begin with, but it may have been because he wasn't looking to score yet (you're the best player on your team - you should be looking to score), but then came the fouls and Griffin spent the rest of the game hitting layups. I really thought UNC did a good job though. Davis, Thompson, and Zeller, even though they are not physically, did a good job and making his work and that's one of the things that made a difference.

3. Danny and Deon playing well. Around here, Lawson, Ellington, and Hansbrough get a lot of the credit, but that doesn't mean that I don't appreciate these guys any less. Despite the fact that Griffin is an outstanding offensive player, he really isn't that good on defense, as Deon Thompson scored 8 in the 2nd half. When you think of Deon, please don't get too down on him. Remember that hot start he got off to? I think he's capable of doing the same thing next year. As far as Green, good time to carry the team. Sure Lawson played as Lawson does, but Green was the man out there.



I think North Carolina is the best team in the nation. I also think that everyone agrees that they are the best team in the nation when they defend decently and when Ty Lawson does amazing things. I think they are capable of both in the Final Four.

Revenge on Gonzaga

Sorry it took me so long to post. I've had a busy day. I thought North Carolina looked great. I was expecting the game to be a lot closer, but every time the Bulldogs made a run, UNC answered. Hansbrough looked like he wanted revenge, Lawson came out smoking, Green had an awesome stat line, and Wayne Ellington did his damage. Then throw in what everyone else did and you had the score you had.

Things I didn't like
1. Free throw shooting. This game could have been over way before it was over it we hit our free throws at our season average. Thompson and Davis were the big culprits.

2. Not putting them away. Gonzaga had me worried a few times, by going on runs, but ultimately they didn't have enough. I thought we had some lapses in the game, but that happens, so it's almost a mute point.

Things I liked
1. Basically everything else. Defense was pretty good. Rebounds were there. Everyone did their role and didn't try and didn't try to do it all by themselves.


As for the Oklahoma game, this match-up is very appealing to the eyes. Griffin is an amazing basketball player and I'm not sure if we should just let him score his points and shut down everyone else, or try and frustrate him. I do not think that Oklahoma has enough answers on defense for Ty Lawson (who has though?).

GO HEELS

Lots of Goodies Today

Ok, a lot to get to today, so let's get into it.

Tuesday Talking Points
Here's the link and I'm only going to comment on 2 of the points.

1. "Danny Green has shot better than 50 percent from the field in just two of his career 13 NCAA tournament games."
Well, that's not good. Sure, I could speculate about what the reason is - Seasons is wearing on him, pressure to succeed, the ball is a little flat. I realize this stat is true, but don't buy into too much. Green is a shooter and shooters always bounce back, especially the good ones.

2. "Wayne Ellington has played 138 minutes of a possible 160 over the last four games; the next-closest Tar Heel, Tyler Hansbrough, has 121 minutes. In that stretch, Ellington is shooting 57.6% from the field, 51.9% from three-point range, and has an A:TO ratio of nearly 3:1."
They should have just said that Wayne Ellington is on fire because he is. Go to this article that Scout wrote about him because it is exactly what I've been thinking and most of what I've been posting. The rebounding has impressed me quite a bit, but look at his scoring as well:

"Ellington averaged just 12.8 points on 43.2 percent shooting (34.6 from 3-point range) through UNC’s first 17 games of the season. Over the last 17, his numbers have soared as he’s averaging 18.7 points on 52.0 percent shooting (115-of-221), including knocking down 44.8 percent (47-of-105) of his attempts from beyond the arc. He has also increased his rebounding totals from 4.1 to 5.5 during this stretch run."

I love the fact that he has just been dominate in the second half of the season because that's where I want him to dominate. I also like the fact that he has been attacking the basket more over the second half the of year. Keep it up Wayne!

Roy Williams Radio Show Quotes
I like the radio show because it gives me something else Tar Heel related to read and blog about. This particular segment was does by Joe Holladay and he was asked this question:

On preparing a scouting report: “Eric Hoots is our video coordinator. Since the first day of the basketball season back in November, every night he’s had four or five recorders going [with the help] of DirecTV and satellites. So we have recorded every basketball game on television this year. So when the brackets are announced, we’ve got 10-15 games of Syracuse, 15 games of Oklahoma and 15 games of Gonzaga. We’re prepared. So the first thing you do is you start watching tape, and that’s what C.B. [McGrath] is doing right now on this Gonzaga team, and then we’re seeing what we can do against them and what weaknesses they may have or what strengths that we have that might affect them.”

Having Holladay do this radio show and McGrath watching tape made me think of something: I love the assistant coaches. I think they do a good job. If you watched the senior night speeches, all of them mentioned the different coaches and how thankful they were for them. I don't know a lot about them, but I know they do a great job. I hope they never leave, but at the same time, wish them the best, so if they do move on - good luck - unless you go to Duke.

Other Notes
1. Ty Lawson looks to be a go this weekend, which I think everyone knew anyway. He will not be 100% the rest of the season, but if Saturday taught us anything, it's that an 80% Ty Lawson is better than a 0% Ty Lawson.

2. The debate all year was who was better - Big East or ACC. Well I think the Big East answered that one, but does that mean they will stay the dominate conference? No. The ACC has easily been the top conference different years and even the Big 10 and SEC (that hurts to say). The point is that each of the major conferences has been the best at sometime since college basketball started and this year, it happens to be the Big East, so congratulations. But also keep in mind that if UNC follows my bracket picks, going through Syracuse, Pittsburgh, and then Louisville, then I'm going to tout the ACC and ask Louisville to give us the Big East trophies (Kinda like in 05 when we won the Big 10 conference - Wisconsin, Michigan State, and Illinois). One thing I would like to see is a ACC-Big East challenge. Let's face it the Big 10-ACC challenge or whatever they are calling it now does not have the luster it did in year 1 when it was any one's challenge to win and it's been like 10 years or so.

3. That's it for today. Thanks for reading and feel free to leave comments.

Round 2 - Fight!

Dear Ty Lawson,

Thank you for playing today and putting on a wonderful show. I hope you are able to walk tomorrow and can rest up for the Gonzaga game.

Sincerely,

Triumphant Tar Heel

Wow! Did you see him? I think I heard his toe pop a few times too. Insane game. How tough is Ty? Too tough. That killer crossover? AMAZING! The 3 pointers? CLUTCH! The and-ones? HOLY! Magical, extraordinary, jaw-dropping. And that was just the 2nd half.

But were you worried? I was for awhile. You really never knew when the toe would suddenly break off and then it's just Bobby. Apparently Larry Drew hurt his back in practice, so we again, had very little for a back court (Remember when we were so deep at the beginning of the season?). LSU came swinging out of the gate in the 2nd half and Marcus Thornton was playing like a man possessed, hitting shots everywhere. Ellington had another solid game in a row. Clark Kellogg mentioned that no guard is playing better then Ellington right now and he may be correct. Again, I see the fire in his eyes, not so much this game, but overall. He had 4 assists and I thought played good defense and had the big tap out to Danny Green for 3.

Things I didn't like:
1. Larry Drew not playing much. He hurt his back during practice. That again limits our depth, which we seemingly don't have a lot of. He will probably be fine for the Zag's, but you would have liked to have seen him get some more minutes tonight to face some pressure because LSU is not Radford.

2. Danny Green not shooting well. He was 3-10 from the field, 1-4 from 3 land. His shot might be stuck in Chapel Hill the way he has been playing, but he did have 6 boards, 2 steals, and 2 blocks. Like I've said before, Danny Green is the stat-stuffer and glue guy.

3. Ty Lawson playing. I know, you're thinking "What? Why? We wouldn't have won without him?" Well, like Roy said, we will never know, but this was kinda of a win-lose situation. If he doesn't play, you can't guarantee that UNC advances, but if he does play, you wonder what the effects will be on his toe come Sunday morning. Ty even said himself that the pain on a scale of 1-10, was at a 6 or 7. Not very encouraging. Sure, the game would have been different in the fact that Hansbrough would have gotten the ball more, and so would have Deon Thompson, Green, and Ellington, but we will never know.

4. Deon Thompson not playing much. Thompson didn't do much in the game and didn't play much. He was 3-3 and the jumpers looked silky smooth, but I think he didn't play much because of his defense and the athletic ability of LSU's bigs. Ed Davis seemed to match up a little better, but of the 4 bigs in the rotation, I think Hansbrough is the best to guard someone on the perimeter (like a Kyle Singler-type player). Now I haven't watched much of LSU at all (just this game actually), but it seems that Mitchell is an inside-outside player, so Hansbrough would be better suited to guard him and let Davis roam the paint (nice blocks by the way Eddy).

Things I liked:
1. Ty Lawson playing. Win-lose situation. He looked sluggish out there, easily not at 100%. He didn't look to push the ball in transition very much. He was passing the ball up past half-court. He went out and looked to be done for the game. He was a step slow, and couldn't hit anything. Then came the 2nd half and wow did he carry them. Very similarly to the Duke game at Cameron, he put the Heels on his 5'11" body and carried them. On ESPN, Steve Lavin was saying that he thought North Carolina could get to the Final 4 without Lawson. I beg to differ. He's a game-changer and I have no idea what would have happened without him, but I sure know what happened with him.

2. Defense. I believe from the 7 minute mark on, UNC went on a 21-7 run to close out the game. And they did it with defense, which led to scoring on the break. A few steals, some good rebounding, and Ty Lawson cruising. You could see Roy Williams pleading for a stop on the sideline. They forced 15 turnovers and had 11 steals, but they were out-rebounding, but they battled back on the boards because they were getting crushed for awhile. I think I saw a stat that UNC had out-rebounded LSU 10-1 the first 4 minutes of that final run. Well done Heels.

3. Advancing to the Sweet 16. I was watching the end of the Purdue-Washington game (I picked Washington, and I'm still not sure why) and when Purdue won, they were celebrating like they had just won the National Championship. We at UNC expect so much: Winning the ACC conference, beating Duke twice, winning whatever pre-season tournament we are playing in, going undefeated in our non-conference schedule, thinking we can go undefeated during the whole season. We should consider ourselves fortunate to cheer for a program like North Carolina. Roy Williams has done a great job of making our team competitive year in and year out. Are we satisfied with a Sweet 16 berth? No, absolutely not. But seeming a team like Purdue, who will not win the National Title, be super excited about advancing. This is a dream for all college basketball players and I think it's unfair that we are unhappy with things. Take last year for example, some people were calling for William's job after the loss to KU (the sticker may have had something to do with that), but he led us to the most wins in the school history, the ACC regular season, the conference tournament, and the Final 4. That's a really great season. Don't get me wrong, I want to win the National Championship and will be disappointed otherwise, but I'm just saying we should be thankful that our team is this good. Sweet 16 for the 4th time in 5 years.

Ok, LSU was a good team. They did win the SEC regular season and were probably more deserving of a higher seed, despite how bad the SEC really was, but they did give North Carolina a run for the money. But one of the biggest downfalls of LSU may have been the fact that they hadn't beaten a ranked team this season and now they still haven't. Onward Heels.

Other tournament notes
1. Wake Forest - Thanks for showing up.

2. Texas - Thank you for blowing the game against Duke. You should have won that game because Duke played poorly

3. ACC - Thanks for being a disaster in the tournament so far, except North Carolina

4. Western Kentucky - Thanks for not being able to play defense for 7 seconds at the end of your game and then failing to call a time-out.

5. UCONN has looked really good their first 2 games.

Round One - Fight!

I didn’t get to watch all of the game today. I only caught about 5 minutes in the first half, and the last 12 in the second, so I didn’t see much of the game. Anything I really am writing about the game is from the box score and highlights I’ve seen.

First, Congratulations to Hansbrough on the ACC scoring record. I remember when Redick broke it and I didn’t think it would be broken again, but at the time, I didn’t really know about this Hansbrough guy. If this were the regular season, he would probably get another column written about him on espn.com, but the Heels have their minds on bigger things.

Second, Artsiom Parakhouski, the guy who was supposed to give North Carolina fits, didn’t really too much. He struggled to a double-double, but with only 10 pts and 10 boards.

Even though Radford wasn’t the best competition, I think our make-shift point guards did well. If you don’t count the guys who get regular minutes, UNC only had 8 turnovers. One other thing to remember about our point guard situation is that Ellington, Green, and even Hansbrough can push the ball up in transition, but, yes, I would rather have Lawson running around out there.

Things I didn’t like
-It looked like Tyler was forcing it (again, remember I watched less than a half of action) with his shots. In the second half, it seemed like there were 4 or 5 possessions and Tyler shot on all of them. Typically, I don’t mind if Hansbrough takes shots, but he should be in the paint. I know he has improved his shooting, but still, take it to this team, especially in preparation for LSU, who can be hammered on the inside.

-Not much else, I could say the shooting percentage, but when it’s this type of game, it happens. Plus Mike Copeland shooting 2-7 doesn’t do much for it. But I did enjoy watching him play.

Things I liked
-Danny Green bouncing back, which I think everyone thought he would. He didn’t rely on the outside shot so much and took it in and was active on the boards. Nice job.

-Wayne Ellington dominating. He shot 11-16. I don’t care who you are playing against. That’s good. I think I’ve seen the fire in Wayne’s eyes, especially in the ACC tournament. Part of that may be because they are playing without Lawson, hence another chip on the shoulder.

-Defense. Held the Highlanders to 28% shooting (yes, they are a 16 seed, so what?) and had 11 steals and 8 blocks. The commentators said they thought North Carolina set the tone defensively. I do not know if that is true or not.



Up next is LSU and I do not know much about them. They only have 3 guys who score in double figures but from what I can gather, they can be beat on the inside. I mean, if Matt Howard can torch them for 22, then I don’t see why our bigs can’t eat their lunch in the paint. Thorton is a scorer and Wayne most likely draws the assignment from him, so good luck to him. I’m sure Bobby can play against him too. I am preparing for Ty Lawson not to play, but keep in mind; I’m a pessimist when it comes to the tournament.


One other note, I was reading Our Daily Bread this morning and they had a little devotional about Jason Ray, the old mascot, so check that out. And Go Binghamton Bearcats!

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.

"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?