About That

If Roy Williams doesn't have anything to say, how can I? What can I say that hasn't already been said on this blog, other blogs, message boards, and every national sports media outlet? The Tar Heels aren't doing so hot and no one is really sure why. Turnovers, defense, Marcus Ginyard, no guards, outside shots aren't falling, injuries, weak post players, intensity are all reasons that have been thrown around and no doubt, all of them have played a part in UNC's struggles this year.

We're on the bubble and in need of some big wins in the next few games to avoid NIT talk. I never thought we would see the NIT again with Williams at the helm, but I guess crazier things have happened in the college basketball world.

I don't know what it boils down too. And I don't think it's precisely one problem, but several problems. I do know that the problem is not the coach because Williams has taken the blame for his team's performance for awhile, but they players have to take up and take responsibility for their play. They keep talking about wanting it more and intensity, but talk is cheap at this point. We have seen Williams play zone, which I can only remember him doing in the 05 title game to keep Raymond Felton out of foul trouble. He has called timeouts to try to stop runs, but nothing has worked. I don't play Ol' Roy at all for this year's lack of success. Injuries haven't helped, as a healthy Tyler Zeller would have helped when Ed Davis was out, but it happens. We can only hope as fans, that something clicks soon in the player's heads and the W's start acomin'.

What If: Upperclassman returning

I have been wanting to do this “what if” post for awhile, but just haven’t found or made the time, but now here we go. I remember instantly after North Carolina won the 05 title, I was thinking repeat with all those players coming back and then the incoming freshman class – it was almost guaranteed. But then I remember reading the recap of the championship game on ESPN and there was a link that said “McCants declares for draft.” My world shattered a little bit there, but there was hope because Sean May had said he was coming back and he wanted to repeat, but then he saw his stock go up. But there was Raymond Felton still, who had wanted to leave for awhile, and then he was gone, and then Marvin Williams, but his mom had some medical problems and he was gone. So we were left with a bare cupboard, but it turns out it was ok, but my question is this: what if one or more of the upperclassman had stayed?




It would have been my dream to watch some of these players crush the competition with Tyler Hansbrough and I often imagine that they somehow did, but it will still never become a reality and that’s ok too.

First, we have to think that if one or some of these players stayed, Hansbrough might not have become the force he became. To me, that is reason enough for these players to have left really because Tyler Hansbrough is the model now for being amazing. Those records probably wouldn’t be broken and JJ Redick would still have his ugly mug atop the ACC scoring record and that just wouldn’t be cool with me. Plus, we have won another national title, so that’s perfectly fine with me. I could gladly win a championship every 5 years.

Secondly, if someone had stayed, would it have really mattered? We probably would have been first or second in the ACC, maybe played for the ACC championship and then gotten into at least the Sweet 16, if not farther. What does that matter in the long run? It would be another banner or two, but if it meant that Hansbrough’s numbers have to suffer, then I wouldn’t want it. Plus if you think about team chemistry, I can’t see Rashad McCants getting along with Hansbrough too much. David Noel was the leader of this team and I just can’t see it any other way.

But hypothetically, if someone would have stayed, who would you have wanted? We could have had the potent scorer in McCants; the maestro in Felton; the big man down low with May; or the 6th man, turned superstar with Williams. Oh the possibilities!

If I could have had my pick at the time, I would have wanted Felton because I enjoyed watching him as a point guard, but in all honesty, we needed a big man. The three man rotation that UNC after that year was ok, but it would have been nice to have either May or Williams down low too. Noel, Byron Sanders, and Hansbrough probably doesn’t scare a lot of frontcourts. Ok, Hansbrough probably does, but throw in May or Williams and BOOM! I thought May would have been the most likely to stay and to see him and Hansbrough bump heads in the paint would have gotten old after awhile. Williams would have been interesting to see because we would become the Ed Davis we expect and hope to see. The potential for Marvin during his sophomore year would have been amazing.

So there you have if. Your “what if” scenario that will never happen, but it could have and it would have been ridiculously awesome. But the story still has a happy ending – hoisting another trophy.

So that Alumni Game

Yeah, I really dropped the ball on the Alumni game that is taking place tonight in Chapel Hill. I guess I just wasn't paying attention to the dates and my calender, so I was pretty screwed up. Sorry about that. There were rumors that this would feature most of the 2005 team versus the 2009 team, but with Tyler Hansbrough's shin injury (thankfully, it didn't happen last year), the teams were set up in a draft-type format, which is probably the best way to do it. Otherwise, where are you going to put Antawn Jamison, Vince Carter, Jerry Stackhouse, and others? The rosters are as follows:

Blue Team
Shammond Williams
Ed Cota
Ty Lawson
Vince Carter
Dante Calabria
Jawad Williams
Wayne Ellington
Rashad McCants
Brandan Wright
Sean May

White Team
Brendan Haywood
Raymond Felton
Bobby Frasor
Jackie Manuel
Jeff McInnis
Danny Green
Marvin Williams
Rasheed Wallace
Antawn Jamison
Jerry Stackhouse

Looks like some pretty stacked teams, but I can't call a winner because I have no idea. If Hansbrough was playing, I would choose whichever team he is on, but I'll go with one of my other favorite big men in Antawn Jamison. But with Blue team's shooters on the roster, they may just run a Four Corners-type offense and chuck up the three ball - Who knows?

As already mentioned, Hansbrough will not be playing, but will be there and I know he is there because his Twitter feed said so. Other former Heels, who will be there but not play included Julius Peppers, Eric Montross, Hubert Davis, as well as coaches like Larry Brown and George Karl.

The reason for this game is to kick off the 100th year of Carolina basketball - a tradition unlike any other. Another event that will be taking place tonight is for the 2009 banner to be unveiled. It will be a great treat for most of the players on that team to be there when that happens. Typically, I believe most championship banners are raised on the opening night or the Late Night, but this is pretty special event. Lots of great players playing tonight. Here's a preview of the events taking place at 8 P.M. tonight

As mentioned a few posts ago, lots of pickup games have been taking place in the Smith Center and Adam Lucas writes about some of the events that take place here. Someday, I would like to go just to watch some of these games, but we'll see what happens. There are even pictures of some of the games.

Adam Lucas is going to be at the game, giving updates, so if you're one of the unlucky ones that don't have a ticket, click over to Tar Heel Blue and follow there.

After this game, I will post some of my favorite players since I have been a North Carolina fan because I don't think I have shared that and I just love thinking about these players playing together.

Also, how come Joe Forte wasn't invited to this event? He played so well in the NBA.

Top 5 Most Important Players Continued

So here are the rest of the top 5:

3. Deon Thompson is who I think is the third most important player for this upcoming season. In the first 12 games of this past season, Deon averaged 14.6 points per game. Now some games were with Tyler Hansbrough and some where not, but that's still a good amount for him to put up. In all 12 games, he scored in double figures, whereas in the last half of the season, he only averaged 8.8 points per game and only scored in double figures in 10 out of the last 26 games. Now a few things to consider here. 1. Deon Thompson was the fifth option on the floor as a starter. 2. Thompson also had the last 2 ACC players of the year on his team. 3. Deon is Deon and sometimes gets down on himself. This year, Deon needs to be the man for this team. I'm not sure if he would be the leading scorer or not on this team, but he needs to be up there because he has two years of starting experience and we all know what he is capable of this. Those first 12 games of last season were awesome to watch; Thompson was abusing people (Remember that dunk he had on Harongody in Maui?). Simple put, Deon Thompson needs to do the things he has shown he can do all season. He cannot be up and down; it is his turn to shine. I strongly believe that Deon can average 15 and 8 for this team, but he has to show it.

2. Larry Drew II is not Raymond Felton or Ty Lawson and right now, he doesn't need to be. He needs to be Larry Drew II. If he can play in his role and not force the issue, but play Roy Williams style and be the floor leader, not necessarily, the team leader, UNC will be successful. What I like about Drew is that he is a pass first guy and I always appreciate that as a fan. Ed Cota was one of my favorite players because he was a pass first (and often pass second) point guard. Now Lawson and Felton are more scorers, but they have had plenty of assists as well. Drew did not shoot well this past year, but from what Roy Williams has said, Drew has improved. But again, he does not have to be a scorer for this team to be successful. If he can limit turnovers and run the offense, he will be fine for us this year. I would also like to see Drew on the defensive end this year because from what I have heard, he's a good defender, but it's hard to see that in 2-3 minute spurts like he received this past year. That won't be an issue this year.

I'll reveal #1 later. It probably won't be a huge shocker, but you still keep reading, right?

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.

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.

Defensive Heel

I would like to address the one thing that will seemly always get blamed for a Tar Heel loss. The dreaded defense. In the eyes of most fans, the defense is awful. Who is to blame for this mess?

I guess the first person to point a finger at would be Coach Roy Williams. It is his fault that UNC is what I would consider an average defensive team. He obviously does not spend enough time on defense because he is always running the fast break. He never even works on the half court offense in practice. "Run and gun" he guffaws in his typical manner, wearing his warm up pants, collared shirt and sweater vest. No clipboard in sight.

It is also Roy's fault because of the players he recruits. Think of all the offensive players he has recruited to UNC. Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Marvin Williams, Wayne Ellington, Ty Lawson. Think of his Kansas days with Paul Pierce, Kirk Hinrich, Raef Lafrentz. He recruits very few defensive players.

Let's take it a step farther and blame the players. They think that Roy is a joke because of what he wears at practice. They don't listen to him at all because they are all thinking about their millions in waiting. They think they can just show up and win.

If you can't tell, the sarcasm is pretty thick throughout this post. Roy has committed to defense. We all know the story of him taking the rims off and having a defensive practice. We have heard the stories of the beginning of this year where he did 12 minutes of offense and the rest of the time was spent on defense. I want to make it clear that I rarely question Roy. He brought the program back from 8-21. Please remember that. That season was tough to watch for all of us. It was Roy that taught a bunch of selfish players to buy into the team concept to win a National Championship. It is Roy who brought us Psycho-T, whom we all love. It was Roy who instituted Late Night and it is Roy who has put us into contention for a deep tourny run since he arrived on campus. Now you might be thinking that he could recruit defensive-minded players, but ask yourself this: Would you really want to watch a bunch of Marcus Ginyard's and Jackie Manuel's running around out there? I like these guys, but I don't watch the games for defense. I like the 100 point games. I like the blowouts. So in my opinion, I think Roy does fine recruiting. I think it is his goal to get one solid defensive player in a recruiting class who will stay for four years, and that happened with Manuel (yes, I know Roy did not recruit him) and that will happen with Ginyard (five, if you want to be technical).

Everyone seems to be throwing a huge fit about how opposing point guards have hit 3o on the Heels and Ty Lawson has come under a lot of criticism for it, especially after the 0-2 start in ACC play. We have seen how the game changes when Ty digs deep and plays defense and how it changes the flow of the game. I'm confident he will do that as crunch time gets closer. Remember how Raymond Felton took a lot of heat after Chris Duhon drove on him to score the winning layup at the Dean Dome? Remember it was also Felton who came up with the game-clinching steal against Illinois.

HAVE FAITH IN OUR HEELS!