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.

Season in Review: Wayne Ellington

With the MOP, Wayne Ellington has ultimately lifted any past tournament failures off his back (especially the Georgetown game). Ellington really improved his stock quite a bit. He showed various improvements in his game, and the ones that stuck out to me were the rebounding and ability to put the ball on the floor. The 2nd half of the year was something special from Ellington. He was simply on fire. I can’t remember a player who went on a streak like that. You could tell some of the shots he put up were just heat checks, especially when he was draining 7 3’s. I think the Heel’s record when Ellington hit 50% of his shots was 50-0. That is impressive!

Things I didn’t like:
1. Turnovers. Sometimes Wayne Ellington would have some bad turnover games with no assists. That’s usually not good, but it really never hurt us too much, but I just didn’t like it.

Things I liked:
1. Improvement and contributions. I know I mentioned the improvements already, but Ellington also contributed in various ways. I thought his defense had greatly improved (at least he was able to stay with his man this year), but you could tell he was focused on defense by the way he carried himself, often times slapping his hands together. You could also see the fire in his eyes and often during team huddles he was the one yelling at people. The contributions were there (rebounds, defense, assists), even when the shots weren’t.

2. That shot. It’s such a pretty shot, especially when it goes in. I love the pose after a made basket too.

Ellington made the right decision to return to school. He became a much better overall player, rather than just a shooter. Primarily that was his job, but he did the other things as well. I know I mentioned that I thought he would come back, but he is not. It would have been nice to see the transition of Wayne the shooter to Wayne the scorer, but what can you do. Also, when you think of Ellington remember .4 against Clemson. And the picture above is my all-time favorite of Ellington. Not known for being a big dunker, but this one was huge against Arizona his freshman year.

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.

Final Four Wrap-Up

Just some thoughts about the Final Four that I was too lazy to post yesterday.

*With the glory of a Championship, usually means the mass exodus of the team. We know that Hansbrough, Frasor, Green, Copeland, Tanner, Moody, and Wooten are gone. Ty Lawson is probably 95-98% gone already. Ed Davis is coming back (Hooray!). I feel that Wayne Ellington might be back. No way am I saying he will be, but I am about 50/50 or this. Probably more like 60/40 that he will go pro, as of right now at least. He had a great tournament and a great second half of the year. Clark Kellogg talked about it in a few games, I’ve talked about it here: he has simply been on fire. I know his draft stock is high now because he has proven he is more than a shooter with his ability to put the ball on the floor, rebound, and even pass the ball. I’m just not sure. NBAdraft.net has him as the #12 overall pick and if that were to actually happen, he would be stupid to not go. Like I said, it’s just a feeling and tomorrow he could declare.

*How did Ty Lawson not win the MOP? Now I love Wayne Ellington, but how did Ty Lawson not win the MOP? Lawson was magical throughout the tournament AND the Final Four. Wayne was great, but not magical. I think you could give it to Lawson based on his Championship game performance. 8 Steals! 8!!

*I think one of my favorite plays of the game was when Bobby Frasor got a steal and could have passed it to Danny Green for a dunk, but he took it all the way. Go Frasor-Flave!

*If MSU won, the economy would not have been saved, like every writer and commentator was saying. I was soooooo sick of that story line.

*Tyler Hansbrough does not look good in a hat. Rather a net looks much better. Also he has cemented his status as the best player in UNC history. If you look at this list, I have no arguments, but it is interesting to note that before Monday night, Hansbrough was only 4th on the list.

*Where are these players going to store all this stuff that they have accumulated over the years? If you think about the senior, junior, and sophomore class, they have won the ACC regular season 3 times, ACC tournament twice, been to 2 Finals Fours, won Maui, and won an NCAA championship. Plus think of all the accolades that Hansbrough and Lawson have won. I know they donate some to the Carolina Museum; some is probably given to their families, but still. Hansbrough will probably have a room set aside someday; at least, I would if I were him.

*I’m excited about next year (I will do a post soon previewing next year, once the draft situation gets cleared up). But this team could be very similar to the 06 team because they are young and only have a few upperclassmen, but they will be exciting to watch. If you think that another Sweet 16 trip is out of the question, you better check your head.

*Don’t get me wrong by the following, but to me, this championship just doesn’t feel the same as the 05 one. But to me, that’s totally weird because I think this team is so much better and I like this team more than the 05 team. (I’m actually going to do a post comparing the 05 to 09 team soon, so hold onto your horses) I have a few theories 1) The 05 game was closer and you didn’t know that UNC had it in the bag until about 30 seconds to go, whereas the 09 game was decided in the first 5 minutes. 2) That 05 team was not anointed champs in June. Most of us knew they had the talent to go all the way and they did start out the year #1 (stupid Santa Clara). But after the three came back, they were picked to win it all. I know some never doubted, which is fine, but I’ve seen enough college basketball where anything can happen. 3) My other theory is probably the correct one. I have not been a fan for as long as many of you have been. I don’t frequently watch any games from the late 80’s and early 90’s. I didn’t start watching closely until 2000-2001, so in 05, that was my first championship and it was special. I still like this 09 team better, no question, but it’s like your first kiss or something – you don’t forget it.

*Also interesting to note how people compare champions to other champions (I do the same thing), but check out these two: One from ESPN.com's Page 2 and the other is from Fox Sports. Notice how they differently they treat the 01 Duke team.

Season reviews for each player will begin soon. I plan on starting with freshman and working my way up numerically, so Larry Drew gets it first. I will only be doing scholarship players too, because who am I to judge the walk-ons who work so hard. I will also review Roy as well. Take the time to read the articles about the UNC from yesterday’s post. I know there are a lot, but just about every major sports site put out 3. It took me a long time to go through them all. Also check out photo galleries if you come across them. Thanks for reading and, again, feel free to comment.

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.

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.

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!