Still, it stinks to lose no matter the circumstance.
Winning without Lawson was hard enough. But the task became impossible with Danny Green having an off weekend. He missed a variety of good looks – everything from open threes to an alley-oop dunk to a few tip-ins and lay-ups – yet nothing worked for him the entire game. A few makes from Green and the Heels pull off this game.
With Lawson out and Green in the wrong kind of funk, Carolina relied on great performances from Wayne Ellington and strong second half from Hansbrough to stay in the game. This was one of Ellington’s best games of the season. Without Lawson to set him up Ellington created a variety of shots for himself, everything from his trademark threes to a number of nifty and aggressive drives to the basket.
After a first half spent getting double-teamed down low Hansbrough did a nice job creating space and had a nice half on his was to another double double, passing Sam Perkins for first place on the Carolina rebound list in the process.
As he was against Virginia Tech the day before, Bobby Frasor was solid with only two turnovers but was incredibly passive on offense. Deon Thompson, who apparently played with a sprained ankle suffered late in the Virginia Tech game, and Ed Davis each had some decent moments, but for most of the game Carolina only had two guys who could score.
Finally, I was impressed with FSU’s shooting. I’m sure ol’ Roy is unhappy with Carolina’s defense, but to me it seemed the Seminoles hit a number of tough shots. FSU hit 10 of their first 12 shots against Carolina to start the second half.
Despite FSU’s hot shooting, Danny Green’s cold shooting, and Lawson’s bad big toe the Heels still were in a position to win this game. And it still stinks to lose.
MORE ACC MUSINGS
• I thought FSU played very well yesterday, which is why watching them lose to Duke today is so maddening. How can a team be so intense and productive one day, then wilt completely the next? The Noles simply did not step up today against the Devils.
• There is good news coming out of this weekend. One is the play of Ellington. Two, Lawson is quoted at InsideCarolina.com as saying his toe will be healthy by Thursday for the NCAA tournament. Thompson’s sprained ankle should be Tar Heeled by then, too. Three, Green has not had back-to-back-back bad game this season so his funk should be cured by Thursday.
• With Lawson on the bench, purposely held out by Roy so his toe could get better, this tournament was obviously tainted for Heels fans. Still, it stinks watching Duke win and Dukies happy. Though this year’s Duke squad boasts two relatively un-offensive players in Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, Henderson is as big of a smug, gut-less, right-wing, country-club asshole as any Duke player in history, a long list that includes (in no particular order): Henderson, Danny Ferry, Shane Battier, Corey Maggette, Bobby Hurley, J.J. Reddick, Daniel Ewing, Greg Paulus, Quinn Snyder, Billy King, Jay Heaps, Brian Davis and the king of them all, Christian Laettner (Krzyzewski-era only).
• In the spirit of the Obama administration, here is my list of inoffensive Dukies. Besides Scheyer and Singler, the short list includes Elton Brand, Jay Bilas (for his work with ESPN), Tommy Amaker and maybe Grant Hill (inoffensive but I've always enjoyed rooting against him). Since two of those guys are on this year’s team I guess we are living in the golden age of tolerable Dukies.
Of course, I'll post more on the NCAA tournament brackets later tonight.
ONE HELLENIC UPDATE
I encourage my fellow Hellenes and phil-Hellenes to vote for the Gabby Awards presented by Greek American magazine. I know voting on this blog is often lame but with the Gabby's you can honor "excellence amongst Greek Americans and to reward those who embody it." Nominees include Tina Fey, Arianna Huffington, Ted Leonsis and Nick Markakis.
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