This season has been a whole lot of fun. The Tar Heels are one of the most exciting teams to watch, and very easy to pull for.
Robbie Pickeral has a nice article in Tuesday's News and Observer about what's working for the Heels this season.
Ivory Latta and Erlana Larkins made first team All-ACC. Latta and Duke's Monique Currie (is it me, or is she vastly overrated?) were the only unanimous selections.
Check out this quick hit from Mike Krzyzewski on how he doesn't like the term 'working the refs.
Q: Do you think coaches have an influence on the referees and how the game is called?
A:
No, I don't. An official cannot allow that to happen. That doesn't mean
an official, a referee, would not listen to a coach, as far as there
might be a call or the way that the game is going or whatever. ... [The
referee] has to be influenced only by what's happening out on the court.
How great would it be if he actually believed that?
It wasn't pretty, but it was a win securing the ACC regular season championship and probably the #1 ranking in the nation.
The Tar Heel women beat Duke yesterday, 77-65, in Carmichael Auditorium. The Heels gave Duke just their second loss of the season. They seem to have Duke's number.
Carmichael was sold out and loud Saturday. Games like this are an opportunity for young kids and local folks to see a Carolina game, those fans that might not often get to see their heroes up close. I would guess maybe 1/6 of the fans were pulling for Duke, but they weren't loud for long.
I'm really proud of the way the Tar Heels have been able to exorcise the demon that had been the Blue Devils, and have now beaten them five times in a row. There's no rest for the weary, as a likely showdown awaits in Greensboro.
Big weekend for UNC sports. Today at 2, the Tar Heel women take on Duke at Carmichael. The winner of this game wins the ACC regular season outright, and the #1 seed in the tournament next weekend. Carmichael is sold out, and should be rockin'. I'm looking forward to an atmosphere not seen in a long time at a women's game. The past two years, this game has been played to big crowds at the Smith Center, big crowds, but not intimate, and not sold out. This one will be intense.
The baseball team continues their season today at 1 and Sunday at 1:30 against George Washington.
Gymnastics Sunday at 1. A chance to see Courtney Bumpers in action.
Men's basketball Sunday at 5:30 against Maryland. Heels need to continue the momentum they've been carrying since the Duke game. I think the fanbase is energized by the way the team's been playing, and the fans will be out in full force. Maryland needs wins to look good for the NCAA Tournament committee, so they'll be playing hard, too. Should be a good one.
That was a beatdown. It was a game I expected to be much closer. Much closer. N.C. State wanted this game so much. Maybe too much?
The young Tar Heels weren't at all intimidated at RBC. This week, David Noel said RBC was one of the toughest places to play in the league. He rose to the challenge.
I've been a little critical of David lately, but he was the senior leader tonight.
Great job on the offensive glass. The Heels dominated and got second and third shots there.
Tyler was tenacious, and when the ball couldn't get to him, it went out to David, Reyshawn, Wes. Danny.
What a great team effort, with big contributions from a lot of guys. David with 25 and 11. Reyshawn with 20. Tyler with 17 and 5. Wes with 15. Marcus with 9.
Speaking of Marcus Ginyard - he had easily his most visible game yet. In previous games this season, he's been kind of quiet, with buckets here and there, but with his real contributions on defense. Tonight, he took it strong to the rack and hit some big shots too. Danny with 9 rebounds and 6 points himself.
Just a total team effort, and the best we've seen this season. I've said that a lot recently, but this one trumps all. A win on the road in maybe the most hostile environment we'll see this season.
Aside: I actually like N.C. State's players, and I know their fans are disappointed in losing this one. This was a great shot for them. So what happened? Over-focused? Is Carolina just in their heads? I'd like to know. Coach Tim? Spigo?
Great win for the Tar Heels, who are now a half-game behind State for second in the ACC. Fantastic.
I know Wake Forest is terrible. But a win on the road in the ACC is a win on the road in the ACC. Wake Forest is a vastly underachieving team, with little to no confidence.
Still, they've got Eric Williams and Justin Gray, two quality players who could have been All-ACC if they their team had any desire whatsoever.
I think we saw some of the best basketball we've seen from these Tar Heels in the second half Sunday.
Reyshawn Terry really stepped up in his hometown, and showed us Tar Heel fans what he's capable of. Tyler Hansbrough followed up 40/10 with another solid performance, and David Noel displayed leadership despite early foul trouble.
Did we have all five freshmen on the floor at once, or did my eyes deceive me? I could be wrong, but I thought that was the case for about two minutes. Shows the confidence Coach Williams has in his young team.
Bobby Frasor dunked!
On to Raleigh. I'm hearing N.C. State may have Evtimov back for this game, and they want to beat us badly. Just like Wake Forest did, only the Wolfpack are a better team. Should be a battle.
Yes, that was freshman Tyler Hansbrough that dropped 40 points on Georgia Tech last night. Forty. In an ACC game.
The first 23 points were kind of quiet. In fact, I didn't realize he had so many. The Tar Heels were down in the first half, and they flashed on the screen how many points Tyler had (I believe it was 17 at the time). Everyone was kind of in disbelief that he had that much that early, but when you think about it, he was pretty much the only one scoring at the time.
I was very impressed with this young team's ability to come back against a Georgia Tech team that was shooting the lights out in the first half.
Don't talk to me about foul disparity - Tech was absolutely not taking it inside - they were living and dying on the perimeter (except for Dickey).
Perhaps the most impressive thing about Tyler's 40 is that they weren't forced. He was just going to work.
Sunday night's win at Miami was huge. The Heels came out shooting strong, hitting several shots in a row to open the game. The win also gave the Tar Heels sole control of fourth place in the new-look ACC, a half-game behind Boston College.
Additionally, it was the first opportunity to avenge a loss in the first half of the ACC season. With the round-robin format long gone, teams have few opportunities to win back games they dropped in the earlygoing. With 16 games among 11 opponents, there are only five home and home series in ACC play.
This is an unfortunate side effect of expansion. What was done for football hurts basketball. There is no guarantee of "We'll get 'em at our place" anymore.
Personally, I believe it hurts football too, in spite of the championship game, because the Heels won't see teams like Clemson and Maryland every year. Just because it wasn't State or Duke doesn't mean it's not a rivalry.
Anyway, congratulations to the Heels on a big ACC victory - now back home for Georgia Tech, who are coming off a big win themselves, at home against N.C. State.
Well dang. Maryland beat the Tar Heels in overtime in Carmichael, 98-95. Apparently Ivory was fouled shooting a potentially game-tying three, but it was not called. Taylor Zarzour, the voice of Tar Heel women's basketball, called the foul in the play-by-play very matter-of-factly, but the officials ran off the floor.
The loss of the game does not hurt as bad as the loss of players. Alex Miller went down hard in the second half, and was taken to the hospital. Erlana Larkins did not play in overtime due to cramps. Here's hoping those two can play again really soon.
The loss brings the Tar Heels back to a three-way tie for first in the ACC, with Maryland holding the tiebreaker. Now Carolina has to win out and hope that Maryland falls to Duke in Cameron, for the ACC regular season crown (Maryland holds the tiebreaker, obviously, if the two finish with the same record in conference).
HBG was at the game, and said it was very rough. I didn't see it, but Sylvia Hatchell herself called it a "bloodbath."
I hate it when people say you need a loss to re-focus, but maybe this can do that. Still think we're the national champs.
I hate losing. I especially hate losing to Duke. I especially especially hate losing to Duke in Chapel Hill.
I don't know what to think of last night's game. I'm still turning things over in my head. I have a dilemma, but it's going to take a while to get to. I like this team. It's a young, scrappy, well-coached team, with no quit in them. When four underclassmen left school with eligibility remaining, it was clear that new leaders would have to step up, and new players would have to fill big roles quickly.
Expectations were low, but, let's be honest: we're Carolina fans. No matter what, we expect our teams to compete and win.
So 20 games into this season, and the Heels have won 14. But they've lost four at home (against BC, Duke, Miami and Illinois). The problem with beating teams like Kentucky and N.C. State is that the expectations get raised with every win.
Coming into last night's game, I really expected a win. The Tar Heels are young, but they are deeper than the Blue Devils (who only got two bench points last night). Perhaps I was being a homer, but in front of the home crowd, in a huge rivalry game, I expected the Heels to step up and take the game from a Duke team that was not playing well recently.
In the first half, the Heels competed and had the lead for a bit. Duke stayed with them. Duke took the lead into the locker room.
I did not expect the Heels to turn the ball over six straight times to open the second half. Then, when Coach Williams put in the 'blue team,' I remarked, "Well, that's good for teaching a lesson, but what about winning the game?" I was incorrect. That team played inspired basketball and started the run that would help the Heels eventually take back the lead. Quentin Thomas continues to show improvement, and Byron Sanders is finally filling his shoes.
The Heels made their run, but you knew the Blue Devils weren't going to roll over. Redick hit a three to put them up four, and it was like the wind went out of the Tar Heel sails.
I was depressed at 84-77, with 56 seconds left. This is it, I thought. The Devils still own the Heels. But all of a sudden, it was 84-83, just 30 game seconds later. The Tar Heels had a chance to get a loose ball, but Noel tossed up a save into Duke hands.
We lose, 87-83. Had a chance to tie, but Danny Green makes a freshman mistake. He didn't expect the ball in his hands, and his mind left him. We didn't get a three attempt.
So to my dilemma: I love this team. It's one of Roy's best coaching jobs. But I'm not going to count moral victories anymore. This team has shown too much potential to be coddled. The freshmen are 20 games into their Tar Heel careers. They've been to Rupp Arena and won. They've been to Maryland and won. They've beaten N.C. State and played Duke hard.
This team has too much potential to buy into the 'young and inexperienced' argument themselves. They have a chance to be special in March, if they want to. Just play hard and play smart. I appreciate last night's effort, but I want one in the W column. I'm tired of losing to Duke.
