Box score from ESPN

It's fun to be a Carolina fan. I gave up my ticket to tonight's game (just couldn't get home at 1:30 and teach in the morning), but had a great time in a Greenville bar with some fellow alums.

I am just so proud of our boys. They came to play - took some lumps early, but hung on and willed a win against a legit team. Contributions from everybody - Tyler - Brandan - Wes - Marcus - Bobby - Ty - Deon - Alex - Danny - Reyshawn. Think of any of those players and you can point to a time that they made a difference in the game. Wayne Ellington had a great second half. Tyler sets a career high on the boards. Brandan for three quick jump shots to keep it in reach early in the second. Ty drawing fouls. Bobby with a three and an assist to provide a spark late in the first.

Oh what fun it is to be a Carolina basketball fan.

What are your thoughts?

Oh - apparently - and this is SUPER PREMIUM info - Ohio State has a player - I think his name is Craig Odum - that is a freshman, and is supposed to be really good but couldn't play tonight. It's too bad ESPN didn't mention him.

So yeah, we’re admittedly not “real” bloggers, because we left Heelsblog a little bare over the holidays and slightly beyond, but here’s to hoping you can forgive and move on.  But in case you missed it, here’s a slight wrap-up of what’s been going on since we last posted:

 

Football: Butch Davis officially introduced as coach of the UNC Tar Heels.  Everyone seems to be in love with this guy in Chapel Hill, and here’s to hoping the unrealistic expectations don’t lead to a complete meltdown, a la this year.  Plenty of takes on this one, but I think the most out there by far comes from Barry Saunders of the News and Observer, who tries to argue that Davis’ Native American heritage is a big step (actually, he uses the word “momentous”) toward the racial diversification of ACC coaches.  WHAT?? Really?? Seriously, talk about creating significance where there is none.  I get upset enough when the race card gets played in sports journalism all too often (hello, Scoop Jackson!), but this article actually seemed to accomplish the rare feat of having the potential to offend all parties involved: intelligent readers such as myself, and Native Americans who this guy is saying should be proud of a football coach who looks a lot more like General Custer than Geronimo to me. Thanks for that insightful piece of journalism, Barry.

 

Basketball: The Heels fall to Gonzaga, but still takes third in preseason NIT after a beatdown of still-overrated Tennessee.  Unfortunately there was not a Bruce-Pearl-sweating-through-his-neon-orange-jacket sighting.  Not much to say about those games other than “the Tar Heels ARE who we THOUGHT they were!”; a young team that won’t be hurt by a few early losses due to growing pains.  They still go twelve deep, and they’ll still probably be pretty much unbeatable at home, which I think they’ll show in the marquee matchup of the Big Ten-ACC challenge tonight: #6 UNC vs. #1 (or 3) Ohio State.  In case you hadn’t noticed, the ACC has been rather dominant thus far and I can’t see this going in OSU’s favor.  Not sure if Roy will play the card that the guys should get excited about knocking off the number 1 team in the country to get his boys excited tonight, but regardless they come in at home in a major TV matchup with something to show the national audience.  Personally, I’m hopeful that this will be a statement game for the Tar Heels; Kansas and Florida seemingly made the rest of the sports world forget about UNC with their unbelievable barn-burner in Las Vegas that has a lot of experts talking about them being the two best teams in college basketball far and away.

It’s time for us to enter back into the conversation.  Without Oden, I’m thinking this thing gets out of hand early and the Heels cruise.

No. 2 North Carolina Dominates Gardner-Webb, 103-50 :: Freshman Brandan Wright led the Tar Heels with 21 points

'Nuff said. The Heels dominated yesterday. The only thing that stood out was turnovers, but that's to be expected this early in the season and with such a young team, and as fast aw the Heels play. So the only thing for me to do is play the one-word game. You're welcome to play, too. One word to describe the top twelve in the Carolina rotation three games into the season. I'm sure this will change as the season goes along, but it will give us something to talk about. Here goes nothing.

Frasor: heady
Ellington: silky
Terry: mercurial
Wright: loooong
Hansbrough: beast
Green: secret
Ginyard: feisty
Miller: bullseye
Thompson: solid
Stepheson: strong
Thomas: erratic

I know that's kind of vague, especially regarding the freshmen. As far as Green goes, I put 'secret' because Danny Green is the one player I keep forgetting about. That's not a knock on Danny, it's a testament to Carolina's depth. I find myself saying, "Oh yeah! We've got Danny Green!" He's going to be a great player in Carolina blue.

And Ellington. Don't forget about him when you're thinking about our depth in the post. He has a terrific jump shot, and is very smart with the ball. He's fun to watch.

North Carolina Tops North Carolina State in Final Home Game, 23-9 :: Ronnie McGill rushes for 101 yards and a touchdown to lead the Tar Heels.

The winner of today's game between North Carolina and North Carolina State was not going to be a good team. The winner was not going to have beaten a good team. But I'm glad it was us.

It was fitting that the Tar Heels got a win in John Bunting's final home game, and it was even better that the win was over bitter rival N.C. State. Neither team is going to a bowl game. Neither team can say it has had a good season, but I'm glad it was us that won today.

I don't think emotion ever won a ballgame, but I know the players and fans wanted this win for Bunting and the seniors, and it was great to see it happen today. And win Coach Bunting was hoisted on the shoulders of his players, I got goosebumps.

By the way - it's 6:18, and Pack fans are still talking about firing Chuck on 680 WPTF.

Everyone seems to be chipping in on the Heels’ performance just two games into the season, so I’ll make a summary thus far of what I’ve read elsewhere and then add my own two cents:

 

-Nolan Hayes over at the Herald Sun seems to think Marcus Ginyard was the spark Wednesday night, and most tend to agree.  Although I love Wes Miller (who doesn’t, really?), Torrell Martin was routinely abusing him on the perimeter not with fancy moves, but simply by being bigger and being able to catch and shoot.  I was a little surprised Roy didn’t keep Danny Green or Ginyard on him in the first half, but the halftime adjustment certainly paid off.

-Colleague Eddy Landreth of Carolina Blue says the Heels are learning toughness, but I really don’t think it was a lack of toughness that had them fall behind in the first half, despite a number of quotes to that point from Williams.  I’ll get to my analysis later.

-The Tar Heel Fan blog makes some terrific observations about things that need to be worked on, and seemed to have taken several of them right out of my mouth/brain.  I think the best point on that list is about the perimeter defense, which wasn’t exactly stellar for North Carolina last season, either.

-UNC alum Zack Mansfield makes a number of good observations, including valid points about Ty Lawson maybe being too fast for his own good right now, and I would argue his prep pedigree is showing.  Sure, Oak Hill is the biggest name in high school basketball, but having watched them play, I tend to think they don’t learn much about half-court sets.

 

Photo Credit, Inside Carolina: Jim Hawkins

Alright, so now for my input: sure, it was surprising to be down 8 at halftime to an unranked team from the Big South, sure it was shocking to go without a field goal for almost five minutes in the first half, and yes it definitely was upsetting to have Winthrop score 17 unanswered.  But really, I didn’t think we looked all that bad in the first half.

 

The biggest killer for the Heels was not being able to run the break (or the secondary break, for that matter).  Ty Lawson will take some heat for a number of his first-half turnovers, but he wasn’t the only culprit slowing UNC’s momentum.  Tyler got some hard-earned points as usual, but he and Wright both picked up dumb offensive fouls trying to get position.  The team was settling for jumpers waaaaayyyy too often, and not knocking down threes at all.  You know what? Those kinds of things are to be expected.

 

The biggest differences I hope to see from this team in the coming months are:

1)      An improved ability to find holes in zone defenses, namely a little bit of confidence from Lawson and Frasor to drive and dish.  We’ve seen some great alley-oops these first few games, but I’d love to see more penetration from the guards to find the big guys.  Both Wright and Hansbrough have a knack for finishing around the basket, even with contact, as Jay Bilas pointed out numerous times.  And speaking of the announcing crew, my absolute favorite moment from last night was when Bill Raftery said that Lawson has “some nice ability to get in the crack and kick it.”

2)      Perimeter defense, as Tar Heel Fan already pointed out.  I think some of the guards, and especially the freshmen, are getting eager playing passing lanes or helping down low and not trying to put a hand in the face of a three-point shooter, which has already manifested itself in the Heels’ first two games.  Two sub-par opponents who could shoot well from outside, two games that were much closer than they should have been.

 

All in all, though, I never really felt uncomfortable watching the Winthrop game.  Every team has to get kinks out early in the season, and you’re seeing that from UNC.  The boys still have highlight-reel ability on both sides of the floor (see: Brandan Wright’s left-handed block midway through the first half, and the Frasor-to-Wright alley from halfcourt five minutes later) and a National Player of the Year candidate who’s playing like it.

 

Let’s not panic yet.

Sorry for the delay in posting - been super busy. Thanks for bringing us back, Zeke.

So what does the Butch Davis hire mean for UNC football? Well, I can tell you what I think it means, as an alumnus and fan of Carolina football.

It's true that Butch Davis last coached in college when Carl Torbush led the Tar Heel squad. It's also true that he had a forgettable stint as head coach of the Cleveland Browns. What else is true? Well, that Butch Davis is a name coach. Butch Davis was by far the #1 choice, and I thought a longshot to come to North Carolina. But his name is on the dotted line, and he'll roam the sidelines (for at least a few seasons) as the head man for the Tar Heels.

People know Butch Davis' name, and it gives the program instant credibility. I'm thinking we're a national championship contender right away. I'm kidding, of course.

I don't know what's going to happen, but people are excited about the program for the first time in a while, definitely since the beginning of this season. Players are excited, recruits are excited, and it's going to be a lot of fun to watch.

What do you expect?

It’s about time to fire this baby up again, isn’t it??

AP Photo: Chuck Burton

A lot has happened since we last posted, but suffice it to say that there will be catching up to do in the coming days and it will indeed be done.  Any visitors who enter here probably are all aware of the Butch Davis hiring, and we’ll be catching up on that soon. My opinion? Somewhere between great and unbelievable.

 

But in the meantime, the Chapel Hill new year has begun with the official tipoff to basketball season last night, and for the most part UNC’s most anticipated team in quite a few years (or ever?) did not disappoint. Of course, I have to base any and all game analysis entirely on what I read, since I am not one of the 14 people who get ESPNU.

 

The Heels ended up dispatching Sacret Heart 103-81 but SH apparently hung around for much of the first half, so I’m actually sort of grateful I didn’t watch and frighten my wife by yelling at the TV again, but that sort of soft start is to be expected.  It’s been a long layoff.

 

Tyler Hansbrough put the first stamp on his POY resume, going 8-of-8 in the first half en route to 29 points and 9 rebounds.  Reyshawn Terry had an intriguing performance, scoring all 18 points in the second half.  Personally, I have always felt Terry is a little undervalued on this squad and could be the barometer for this team’s success (aka as Terry goes so do the Heels).

 

Like I said, that’s only a taste, but I’m looking forward to watching my Heels tonight. If you’re as fidgety as I am looking for something to do before a game, sit down and read this piece by friend of Heelsblog Zack Mansfield on what it’s like to be a Tar Heel fan around this time of year. It’s good stuff.