The Heels kicked off the toughest stretch of the season with a satisfying win over Nevada, 80-73, in Chapel Hill last night.
Oh yeah, it was also Roy Williams' 600th win as a head coach (not counting his wins as j.v. coach at Carolina in the 1980s).
Heading into a week where the Heels play Michigan State on Tuesday night in Chapel Hill and a road game at Kentucky on Saturday, December 5th - followed by a game at Texas at the new Cowboys Stadium on December 19th - I think the Heels are starting to round into shape. They're not fully formed yet, but there was significant progress against the other Wolfpack last night.
One, Deon Thompson played like THE MAN. In scoring 23 last night, including some key hoops late, Deon answered 'Ol Roy's question of 'who is this team's go-to guy?'
Two, Ed Davis played his first complete game - on each end of the floor - of the season. He ran well and consistently got good position down low, but also did a good job of finding open spots in Nevada's zone. Defensively he moved his feet and was great at help defense. Davis was active all night and as a result finished with 16 and 15.
Three, the play of Larry Drew II. He flowed last night, at least on offense, and did not spend too much time thinking/worrying/wondering about where he was supposed to be. Basketball is a game of reaction, and he reacted well against Nevada on his way to 12 points and 9 assists against only one turnover. Drew also hit two big three-pointers late to help the Heels put a stubborn and talented foe away AND build his confidence. Defensively Drew still needs to improve, and a few times he pulled up too soon - usually to pass. I'd like him to take it a few steps closer to the basket before he dishes or shoots, but this was his best game of the season.
Finally, the team as a whole only committed 9 turnovers in 40 minutes. A lot of that has to do with Drew's play, but I also wonder if it also had to do with Roy's rotation. Four starters - Drew, Thompson, Ginyard, and Davis - played more than 30 minutes. That continuity had to contribute to the reduced number of turnovers. After those four Graves played 21 minutes, Zeller 15, with Henson, Strickland, and Travis Wear each getting 9 minutes of playing time. It's easy to imagine this becoming the rotation for the season.
Finally Finally, that rotation helped Carolina tough out a win against a legit team. The toughness down the stretch displayed last night is another part of the development of this young and intriguing team as it defends Carolina's national championship.
Monday, November 30, 2009
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Thanksgiving in the ville
Didn't get a chance to blog during the Thanksgiving holiday in Fayetteville due to the lack of wi-fi at my folks' house (disappointing legions of fans).
However, there are some good wi-fi places in the 'ville, namely the 'Coffee Scene' near my parents house across from the Westwood shopping center. Not coincidentally, it's Greek-owned by one of my first baby sitters, Kiki (Parrous) Manis. It's a funky, family-owned joint with good coffee. It's so funky and cool and urbane that you would forget you were in Fayetteville (if not for the Roses and Food Lion across the street in the downscale Westwood Shopping Center).
Another place is 'Rude Awakening' coffee shop on one of the rehabilitated blocks on Hay Street downtown. We went downtown on Friday night for the annual Dickens Christmas celebration. There is the some there there as Fayetteville has worked hard to made downtown a destination. For 30 years of downtown was full of notorious strip clubs and seedy bars and Hay Street was synonymous - all over North Carolina - with prostitution and drugs.
But give Fayetteville credit - they wiped out the seedy blocks, and there are a number of local businesses now on Hay Street: Rude Awakening, an art-house theater that packed in audiences to watch Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 911', and a half-dozen restaurants ranging from a brew pub to a diner to a couple new American cuisine places.
So if you ever visit Fayetteville hit the Coffee Scene and downtown and help Fayetteville make a comeback.
Evan would move to Fayetteville tomorrow if he could. He loves North Carolina almost as much as I do, and would like nothing more than to move anywhere close to my parents or his cousins Paul and Alex.
A Few Random Notes
However, there are some good wi-fi places in the 'ville, namely the 'Coffee Scene' near my parents house across from the Westwood shopping center. Not coincidentally, it's Greek-owned by one of my first baby sitters, Kiki (Parrous) Manis. It's a funky, family-owned joint with good coffee. It's so funky and cool and urbane that you would forget you were in Fayetteville (if not for the Roses and Food Lion across the street in the downscale Westwood Shopping Center).
Another place is 'Rude Awakening' coffee shop on one of the rehabilitated blocks on Hay Street downtown. We went downtown on Friday night for the annual Dickens Christmas celebration. There is the some there there as Fayetteville has worked hard to made downtown a destination. For 30 years of downtown was full of notorious strip clubs and seedy bars and Hay Street was synonymous - all over North Carolina - with prostitution and drugs.
But give Fayetteville credit - they wiped out the seedy blocks, and there are a number of local businesses now on Hay Street: Rude Awakening, an art-house theater that packed in audiences to watch Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 911', and a half-dozen restaurants ranging from a brew pub to a diner to a couple new American cuisine places.
So if you ever visit Fayetteville hit the Coffee Scene and downtown and help Fayetteville make a comeback.
Evan would move to Fayetteville tomorrow if he could. He loves North Carolina almost as much as I do, and would like nothing more than to move anywhere close to my parents or his cousins Paul and Alex.
A Few Random Notes
- Of course, if we visit God's Country we have to visit the Southern Part of Heaven. On Friday we met Johnny and his family at Time Out for lunch (so Ariadne and Alison could enjoy a chicken and cheddar biscuit; with our homecoming visit Evan's eaten 3 of those in the last month).
- The boys then headed to Fetzer Field to watch the most dominant dynasty in the history of sports, the Carolina women's soccer team. The Heels jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on their way to a 5-2 win over Wake Forest in a NCAA regional final. The win means the Heels qualified for their 25th final four (out of 28 years of NCAA women's soccer tournaments) and will shoot for their 21st - 21st! - national championship next weekend.
- It's obviously a skilled and talented team but I was most impressed by Carolina's first goal. Jessica McDonald ran down a pass and reached it just before it went out of bounds in the corner. Barely slowing down McDonald nailed a perfect cross - on the run - into the box where Carolina's All-Everything Casey Nogueira (a North Carolina native, BTW) headed it in for a 1-0 lead.
- On a down note, the Carolina football team saw their 4-game winning streak snapped at rival NC State on Saturday afternoon, 27-28. The Heels played well, especially in the first half. But mistakes cost them, especially a key fumble at the goal line in the first quarter, some terrible penalties on State's first drive of the second half, and a blocked field goal was too much for the football Heels to overcome. State's offense was also able to move the ball against Carolina's impressive defense, something ranked teams like Miami and Virginia Tech were not able to do. The loss will likely keep the Heels out of the Chic-fil-a Bowl on New Year's Eve in Atlanta, and the Heels will probably end up in Charlotte's Meineke Car Care Bowl (a terrible name, not nearly as romantic as the original Continental Tires Bowl) in late December.
- That said, this was a pretty good year for the Heels and Butch Davis. Most of the defense will return, and the young offensive line has really improved down the stretch so this team could be scary-good next year.
Finally, a few caustic notes
- Regardless of the details, Tiger Woods lost whatever manhood he had over the weekend. Anyone who totals his car running into a FIRE HYDRANT and has to have his wife rescue him by smashing his windshield with a gold club has NO manhood left.
- For the latest example of how disgusting capitalism is, check out the front page of today's SundayStyles section of The New York Times. Above the fold is a series of photos of a 10-year old girl being surprised in school by her father as he returns from Iraq. At the bottom of the page is an ad for Gucci complete with pouty/bored/wealthy/stupid looking models. We value one thing, the market another.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Abe Pollin
Sad to hear about the death of Abe Pollin, the long-time owner of our hometown Washington Wizards. Pollin led a long and productive life, and should be celebrated for what he did for DC and especially downtown Washington.
The old Washington Bullets won him one NBA championship, the 1978 team led by Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, but Pollin will long be remember for his citizenship rather than his team ownership. Or for hiring then firing the greatest basketball player of all time from the front office, a gutsy move at the time that paid off in the win and loss column.
When I moved to DC in 1993, much of the area where the Verizon Center stands was empty, literally a vacant lot (a parking lot) that had not been rebuilt in the wake of the 1968 riots. Prime real estate in the capitol of the free world - within walking distance of the White House - stood empty and abandoned for 25 years. That part of town was an ugly, empty monument to suburbia, a cynical reminder that folks in our area had abandoned the non-federal part of DC.
As many of you know, using mostly his own money Pollin built the 'phone booth' there, and overnight the neighborhood between Pennsylvania Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue became the center of a new downtown - complete with a chic urban nickname, Penn Quarter.
That part of town has too many chain stores for my liking, but it is also full of cool and very good restaurants - Zaytinya, Jaleo, Rasika, Austin Grille, etc. - and has become a destination. Bottom line, it brought and kept people in DC and was the catalyst for some pretty dramatic urban renewal.
All of that was made possible by Abe Pollin. And though they never won Pollin another championship, at least the Wizards were worth watching the last few years. It was great to see the Wizards win tonight in a small salute to Pollin (and what a coincidence that the opposing team, the 76ers, were coached by DC-native Eddie Jordan, the coach who helped make the Wizards a consistent play-off team the last 5 years).
Here's to Abe Pollin and his contributions to our fair city. Everlasting be his memory.
The old Washington Bullets won him one NBA championship, the 1978 team led by Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes, but Pollin will long be remember for his citizenship rather than his team ownership. Or for hiring then firing the greatest basketball player of all time from the front office, a gutsy move at the time that paid off in the win and loss column.
When I moved to DC in 1993, much of the area where the Verizon Center stands was empty, literally a vacant lot (a parking lot) that had not been rebuilt in the wake of the 1968 riots. Prime real estate in the capitol of the free world - within walking distance of the White House - stood empty and abandoned for 25 years. That part of town was an ugly, empty monument to suburbia, a cynical reminder that folks in our area had abandoned the non-federal part of DC.
As many of you know, using mostly his own money Pollin built the 'phone booth' there, and overnight the neighborhood between Pennsylvania Avenue and Massachusetts Avenue became the center of a new downtown - complete with a chic urban nickname, Penn Quarter.
That part of town has too many chain stores for my liking, but it is also full of cool and very good restaurants - Zaytinya, Jaleo, Rasika, Austin Grille, etc. - and has become a destination. Bottom line, it brought and kept people in DC and was the catalyst for some pretty dramatic urban renewal.
All of that was made possible by Abe Pollin. And though they never won Pollin another championship, at least the Wizards were worth watching the last few years. It was great to see the Wizards win tonight in a small salute to Pollin (and what a coincidence that the opposing team, the 76ers, were coached by DC-native Eddie Jordan, the coach who helped make the Wizards a consistent play-off team the last 5 years).
Here's to Abe Pollin and his contributions to our fair city. Everlasting be his memory.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Give It Up For Harry Reid
Got to give it up for Harry Reid. Holding all 60 Democrats - from Landrieu to Lincoln to Ben Nelson to Specter - on a cloture vote was HUGE, and reminiscent of LBJ's work passing civil rights bills in the late 50s and early 60s. At least 3 of those Senators continue to voice opposition to an expanded role for government in health care. Ironic on a number of levels, since all Senators receive excellent, government-run health care, and at least Nelson and Specter qualify for government-run Medicare.
Nicholas Kristoff recently described how successful Medicare is: . . . there is one American health statistic that is strikingly above average: life expectancy for Americans who have already reached the age of 65. At that point, they can expect to live longer than the average in industrialized countries. That’s because Americans above age 65 actually have universal health care coverage: Medicare.
But it's not Kristoff's column that prompted me to blog about Harry Reid. Instead, it was a piece on NPR about Orson Welles.
Welles became famous when on Halloween his radio play of 'War of the Worlds' convinced some people that our planet (the number ONE planet in our solar system) was actually under attack from aliens from outer space.
I hadn't really thought about that incident much, but did today in that it reminded me that we have always had some really stupid people in America. It may be too harsh to declare folks fooled by that radio play stupid, and for all I know the percentage of people fooled was probably very small.
The WOTWs panic made me think that people now are much smarter, or at least more sophisticated, and that type of thing could never happen now. Then again, lots of people think Obama is a fascist and will give the country to the Muslims, etc.
So while we've always had stupid and unsophisticated people in America, I think one difference is back then that crowd was isolated and shunned. Today, they flock to Tea Bag Rallies and wait in line to buy Sarah Palin's book. From time to time someone like Father Coughlin or the John Birch Society would become prominent, but they always lost. The New Deal and then the Great Society programs were passed by Congress and shaped American life over their opposition.
That crowd still loses, at least lost in 2006 and 2008 (and 1992, 1996 and got the fewest votes in 2000). But with the explosion of media - cable television, the 24-hour news cycle, the internet (even blogs) - that crowd is not shunned, it's celebrated or at least used to fill up space and time on the air.
Finally, I think the mainstream media used to actively shun racists, people who did not believe in evolution, etc. and exercised editorial authority by excluding crack pots. But now the media is less interested in reporting hard truths or science, and instead feels that it's job is to report both sides even if one side is wrong or just plain nuts. I wonder if activists who compare Obama to Hitler or want to keep the government out of Medicare would have made it on the air 20 or 30 years ago.
[To be fair to the mainstream media, very few allowed the birth certificate nut jobs any air time, for instance.]
It's a perfect storm of the 24-hour news cycle, the current version of inclusive American democracy, and Andy Warhol: no matter how fringy or crazy or wrong, EVERY point of view gets it's 15 minutes of fame.
So kudos to Harry Reid for getting 60 votes to end the debate on health care despite the cacophony that passes for our democracy these days.
Nicholas Kristoff recently described how successful Medicare is: . . . there is one American health statistic that is strikingly above average: life expectancy for Americans who have already reached the age of 65. At that point, they can expect to live longer than the average in industrialized countries. That’s because Americans above age 65 actually have universal health care coverage: Medicare.
But it's not Kristoff's column that prompted me to blog about Harry Reid. Instead, it was a piece on NPR about Orson Welles.
Welles became famous when on Halloween his radio play of 'War of the Worlds' convinced some people that our planet (the number ONE planet in our solar system) was actually under attack from aliens from outer space.
I hadn't really thought about that incident much, but did today in that it reminded me that we have always had some really stupid people in America. It may be too harsh to declare folks fooled by that radio play stupid, and for all I know the percentage of people fooled was probably very small.
The WOTWs panic made me think that people now are much smarter, or at least more sophisticated, and that type of thing could never happen now. Then again, lots of people think Obama is a fascist and will give the country to the Muslims, etc.
So while we've always had stupid and unsophisticated people in America, I think one difference is back then that crowd was isolated and shunned. Today, they flock to Tea Bag Rallies and wait in line to buy Sarah Palin's book. From time to time someone like Father Coughlin or the John Birch Society would become prominent, but they always lost. The New Deal and then the Great Society programs were passed by Congress and shaped American life over their opposition.
That crowd still loses, at least lost in 2006 and 2008 (and 1992, 1996 and got the fewest votes in 2000). But with the explosion of media - cable television, the 24-hour news cycle, the internet (even blogs) - that crowd is not shunned, it's celebrated or at least used to fill up space and time on the air.
Finally, I think the mainstream media used to actively shun racists, people who did not believe in evolution, etc. and exercised editorial authority by excluding crack pots. But now the media is less interested in reporting hard truths or science, and instead feels that it's job is to report both sides even if one side is wrong or just plain nuts. I wonder if activists who compare Obama to Hitler or want to keep the government out of Medicare would have made it on the air 20 or 30 years ago.
[To be fair to the mainstream media, very few allowed the birth certificate nut jobs any air time, for instance.]
It's a perfect storm of the 24-hour news cycle, the current version of inclusive American democracy, and Andy Warhol: no matter how fringy or crazy or wrong, EVERY point of view gets it's 15 minutes of fame.
So kudos to Harry Reid for getting 60 votes to end the debate on health care despite the cacophony that passes for our democracy these days.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Seven Month Winning Streak Ends
The Heels lost for the first time since April last night, snapping their seven-month winning streak.
Obviously, a lot has changed in those seven months. And while most things have aged in that time the Heels have gotten younger, and that youth was exposed in the first 10 minutes of the second half last night versus Syracuse.
It was exposed last night, but on display since the first exhibition game a month ago. One by-product of having a young and new team is that Roy is still experimenting with line ups, rotations, and substitutions - and the players are doing the same thing. Until things fall into place the Heels will lack the flow and synchronicity synonymous with Carolina basketball.
That lack of flow was on full display in the first 10 minutes of the final 20 in Madison Square Garden. In the face of a physical and determined Orange the Heels looked tentative and unsure, short arming shots and even short arming passes that led to fast break points.
It's a bi-product of games played by 20-year olds, but it was odd to see how calm and determined Carolina was in the first half compared to the second. The Heels trailed early 0-8 but calmly made plays and attacked Syracuse's zone very well.
Again, in the second half it was a different story. Syracuse simply outmuscled our tall but skinny front line in the paint. As the noted philosopher Mike Tyson once said: 'everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.' The Heels' stayed with the plan in the first half; in the second half they didn't.
Finally, these are the kind of games - and growing pains - we expected from this team. The Heels have had similar stretches of sloppy play in each of their games this season. You can get away with that kind of play against Valparaiso and FIU and even a Big 10 team like Ohio State. Clearly, the margin of error is much thinner against a team like Syracuse.
The good news for Heels fans is this team has quality guys (Ginyard, Thompson, though he had a terrible trip to NY), is talented enough (Davis, Zeller, Henson) and has the best coach in the country. So I'm confident Carolina will figure it out, and get better as they get ready to face more tough competition in Michigan State, Kentucky and Texas.
And not only will this team get better, conversely they can't get any younger.
Obviously, a lot has changed in those seven months. And while most things have aged in that time the Heels have gotten younger, and that youth was exposed in the first 10 minutes of the second half last night versus Syracuse.
It was exposed last night, but on display since the first exhibition game a month ago. One by-product of having a young and new team is that Roy is still experimenting with line ups, rotations, and substitutions - and the players are doing the same thing. Until things fall into place the Heels will lack the flow and synchronicity synonymous with Carolina basketball.
That lack of flow was on full display in the first 10 minutes of the final 20 in Madison Square Garden. In the face of a physical and determined Orange the Heels looked tentative and unsure, short arming shots and even short arming passes that led to fast break points.
It's a bi-product of games played by 20-year olds, but it was odd to see how calm and determined Carolina was in the first half compared to the second. The Heels trailed early 0-8 but calmly made plays and attacked Syracuse's zone very well.
Again, in the second half it was a different story. Syracuse simply outmuscled our tall but skinny front line in the paint. As the noted philosopher Mike Tyson once said: 'everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.' The Heels' stayed with the plan in the first half; in the second half they didn't.
Finally, these are the kind of games - and growing pains - we expected from this team. The Heels have had similar stretches of sloppy play in each of their games this season. You can get away with that kind of play against Valparaiso and FIU and even a Big 10 team like Ohio State. Clearly, the margin of error is much thinner against a team like Syracuse.
The good news for Heels fans is this team has quality guys (Ginyard, Thompson, though he had a terrible trip to NY), is talented enough (Davis, Zeller, Henson) and has the best coach in the country. So I'm confident Carolina will figure it out, and get better as they get ready to face more tough competition in Michigan State, Kentucky and Texas.
And not only will this team get better, conversely they can't get any younger.
Friday, November 20, 2009
First Real Win of the Season
A look back at last night's win over Ohio State, Carolina's first real test of the young season, reveals a number of story lines, almost too many for one game.
And Larry Drew missed 3 of 4 free throws late to create a ripple of nervousness. But to his credit, Drew went on to hit four more free throws - including two to make it a two-possession game with 11 second left - to seal the win.
We may look back at those last two free throws as the moment when Larry Drew officially became a big-time point guard. Tonight's game versus Syracuse will be our first chance to test that theory.
Drew also hit a big three late to keep Ohio State at bay. For me, the three-point shooting and the multiple big plays made late - made by multiple players - were THE biggest and best story lines.
Drew, Ginyard, and Graves all took turns hitting import three-pointers last night. And I imagine each generated huge cheers from the couches of Tar Heel Nation.
Thompson and Ginyard also made big-time basketball plays late. Thompson made a great pass to Drew for his 3, and Ginyard had a key steal and a big board to compliment his three-point basket and played a great floor game for 40 minutes. Exactly what you would expect from the two senior leaders on this team.
As sloppy as the ending of this game was - and one can rightfully complain about a lack of concentration and the failure to put a team away - this was a nice win in Carolina's first real test (a win with Ed Davis a non-factor due to foul trouble). If the rest of the seaon features leadership and play making from Ginyard and Thompson, Drew II stepping up when needed, good outside shooting from Graves, Ginyard, Watts, etc. and waves of talent - especially on the front line - this team will be even funner to watch that I expected.
GO HEELS!
- The team resembled the 2009 national champs to start the game, methodically and calmly dominated a top-20 team from a power conference, and quickly built a double-digit lead;
- In fact, the game reminded me of the win over Villanova in the Final Four. Offensively, the Heels did what they wanted while forcing a seemingly good team into a terrible shooting night before they (Villanova/OSU) regroup and make a run in the second half only to be stymied by . . .
- As part of their mimicking of the defending national champs, Deon Thompson looked like Hansbrough, going to the line a lot early; Marcus Ginyard and especially Will Graves looked like Danny Green, and hit shots from all over the court; Graves did not settle for threes and had two nice takes to the rack in the first half;
- Carolina threw waves of players at the Buckeyes, and it paid off defensively and offensively as the Wears, Tyler Zeller and Justin "The Microwave" Watts contributed mightily off the bench;
And Larry Drew missed 3 of 4 free throws late to create a ripple of nervousness. But to his credit, Drew went on to hit four more free throws - including two to make it a two-possession game with 11 second left - to seal the win.
We may look back at those last two free throws as the moment when Larry Drew officially became a big-time point guard. Tonight's game versus Syracuse will be our first chance to test that theory.
Drew also hit a big three late to keep Ohio State at bay. For me, the three-point shooting and the multiple big plays made late - made by multiple players - were THE biggest and best story lines.
Drew, Ginyard, and Graves all took turns hitting import three-pointers last night. And I imagine each generated huge cheers from the couches of Tar Heel Nation.
Thompson and Ginyard also made big-time basketball plays late. Thompson made a great pass to Drew for his 3, and Ginyard had a key steal and a big board to compliment his three-point basket and played a great floor game for 40 minutes. Exactly what you would expect from the two senior leaders on this team.
As sloppy as the ending of this game was - and one can rightfully complain about a lack of concentration and the failure to put a team away - this was a nice win in Carolina's first real test (a win with Ed Davis a non-factor due to foul trouble). If the rest of the seaon features leadership and play making from Ginyard and Thompson, Drew II stepping up when needed, good outside shooting from Graves, Ginyard, Watts, etc. and waves of talent - especially on the front line - this team will be even funner to watch that I expected.
GO HEELS!
Wednesday, November 18, 2009
Greece to the World Cup
Huge and inspiring win today by Greece, 1-0 on the road in Ukraine, to qualify for the 2010 World Cup. Panathinaikos' Dimitri Salpigidis scored in the 31st minute to give Greece enough offense to advance.
I was pretty pessimistic going into this game. In Greece's last three big games - on the road versus Switzerland and Moldova, and Saturday at home versus Ukraine - the Hellenic squad either was overwhelmed or came out flat, especially on Saturday. How you can come out flat in a once-in-every-four-years play off game is beyond me.
But it appears the Greeks were being well, Greek - clever, tricky, etc. A few commentators, both on ESPN and on Greek TV, have hypothesized that Ellas' strategy was to frustrate Ukraine with a defensive game in Athens and then come out swinging and counter attack on the road.
And that's what happened in Ukraine this afternoon. Greece played a fairly aggressive game, at least in the first half, and kept Ukraine on the defensive. That must of surprised the home team today, as they probably expected Greece to hold back and play for a tie.
It was good to see Greece play some aggressive football today, and GREAT to see them join the U.S. (who lost another friendly today, to Denmark 1-3, using mostly second-string players) in the 2010 World Cup. Excellent day for Greece.
Wizards
Behind Tar Heel alum Antawn Jamison's 31 points the Washington Wizards soundly defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. It was Jamison's first game of the season after having to sit out the first nine games with a shoulder injury. Twan did not look the least bit rusty; he hit threes, patented finger roles and scoop shots, and mid-range jumpers.
More importantly, he led, and flatly stated he would not let the Wizards keep making mistakes, and would ensure that Washington played better basketball. He did, and they did, and the Wizards won. That's a Tar Heel.
I was pretty pessimistic going into this game. In Greece's last three big games - on the road versus Switzerland and Moldova, and Saturday at home versus Ukraine - the Hellenic squad either was overwhelmed or came out flat, especially on Saturday. How you can come out flat in a once-in-every-four-years play off game is beyond me.
But it appears the Greeks were being well, Greek - clever, tricky, etc. A few commentators, both on ESPN and on Greek TV, have hypothesized that Ellas' strategy was to frustrate Ukraine with a defensive game in Athens and then come out swinging and counter attack on the road.
And that's what happened in Ukraine this afternoon. Greece played a fairly aggressive game, at least in the first half, and kept Ukraine on the defensive. That must of surprised the home team today, as they probably expected Greece to hold back and play for a tie.
It was good to see Greece play some aggressive football today, and GREAT to see them join the U.S. (who lost another friendly today, to Denmark 1-3, using mostly second-string players) in the 2010 World Cup. Excellent day for Greece.
Wizards
Behind Tar Heel alum Antawn Jamison's 31 points the Washington Wizards soundly defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers tonight. It was Jamison's first game of the season after having to sit out the first nine games with a shoulder injury. Twan did not look the least bit rusty; he hit threes, patented finger roles and scoop shots, and mid-range jumpers.
More importantly, he led, and flatly stated he would not let the Wizards keep making mistakes, and would ensure that Washington played better basketball. He did, and they did, and the Wizards won. That's a Tar Heel.
Tuesday, November 17, 2009
Back to sports
After a 900-word blog on a serious matter it's back to sports.
This week features three important and interesting games, starting with tomorrow's do or don't World Cup qualifier between Greece and Ukraine. The teams played to a scoreless tie on Saturday in Athens, so it's a pretty straightforward scenario (for the most part; this is after all futbol): the winner qualifies for the 2010 World Cup. Ukraine has to win to advance, however Greece can advance if the game ends in a tie if both teams score - advancing on away goals since Ukraine did not score in Athens.
The game is in Ukraine, in a city called Donetsk, and the weather will not be Mediterranean. High is supposed to be 2 degrees Celsius so the Ukraine will have the home field and home weather advantage.
The game will be shown live on ESPN2 at 12:55 pm if you have a TV in your office/want to set your DVR.
From what I can tell from watching some Greek TV and visiting some web sites it appears that Greeks are very frustrated with this team - but especially with their legendary German coach Otto Rehagel. The team looked tentative on Saturday, and Rehagel has been criticized for not starting Angelo Charisteas and for taking Fanis Gekas out with 20 minutes left in regulation. Rehagel engineered what has to be one of the biggest upsets in soccer history, Greece's 2004 European championship, but as it is in any sport, in any land, that good will only lasts so long. Many expect him to resign as head coach if Greece does not advance tomorrow.
Test for Carolina
While not playing do or don't games like the Hellenic side of this blog, Carolina does face it's first real test this week. On Thursday the Heels travel to Madison Square Garden to take on Ohio State in the Coaches vs. Cancer semi-finals. No Crusaders (B ABBEY and Valpo), no Dean Dome, just a tough game on a neutral floor against a top-25 team from a power conference.
On Friday night the Heels play either Cal (the only legit team in the Pac 10 this year; want proof, UCLA lost to Cal State Riverside last night) or Syracuse for either the Coaches vs. Cancer championship or the consolation game.
We'll see if the Heels played down to the competition in Sunday's uninspiring win over Valparaiso, or if this squad really IS a top 10 team - this early in the season. My gut tells me the Valpo game was an aberration. The Heels may not be experienced enough to win on Thursday night (also on ESPN 2, BTW) or at all in New York, but I bet they will play well and cut down the turnovers and rotate better on defense. I'm predicting big games from Ginyard and Thompson - and for Graves to find his stroke - and two surprising wins for Carolina this week.
The two games in New York kick off a brutal stretch for the young Heels. They return to Chapel Hill for tilts versus Gardner-Webb and Nevada but then host Michigan State in the Big East-ACC challenge. [Man, we've played them a lot lately, but when the Spartans play the Heels it's the ideal Carolina Hellenic Blue blog match up.]
After a breather against Presbyterian the Heels go on the road again for difficult games at Kentucky (remember, the 2006 Heels won a bid game in Lexington led by Reyshawn Terry and David Noel, who did THIS that game) and against Texas in the first basketball game in the new, obscene Texas Stadium on December 19th.
We'll know a lot more about this team in a month, that's for sure.
This week features three important and interesting games, starting with tomorrow's do or don't World Cup qualifier between Greece and Ukraine. The teams played to a scoreless tie on Saturday in Athens, so it's a pretty straightforward scenario (for the most part; this is after all futbol): the winner qualifies for the 2010 World Cup. Ukraine has to win to advance, however Greece can advance if the game ends in a tie if both teams score - advancing on away goals since Ukraine did not score in Athens.
The game is in Ukraine, in a city called Donetsk, and the weather will not be Mediterranean. High is supposed to be 2 degrees Celsius so the Ukraine will have the home field and home weather advantage.
The game will be shown live on ESPN2 at 12:55 pm if you have a TV in your office/want to set your DVR.
From what I can tell from watching some Greek TV and visiting some web sites it appears that Greeks are very frustrated with this team - but especially with their legendary German coach Otto Rehagel. The team looked tentative on Saturday, and Rehagel has been criticized for not starting Angelo Charisteas and for taking Fanis Gekas out with 20 minutes left in regulation. Rehagel engineered what has to be one of the biggest upsets in soccer history, Greece's 2004 European championship, but as it is in any sport, in any land, that good will only lasts so long. Many expect him to resign as head coach if Greece does not advance tomorrow.
Test for Carolina
While not playing do or don't games like the Hellenic side of this blog, Carolina does face it's first real test this week. On Thursday the Heels travel to Madison Square Garden to take on Ohio State in the Coaches vs. Cancer semi-finals. No Crusaders (B ABBEY and Valpo), no Dean Dome, just a tough game on a neutral floor against a top-25 team from a power conference.
On Friday night the Heels play either Cal (the only legit team in the Pac 10 this year; want proof, UCLA lost to Cal State Riverside last night) or Syracuse for either the Coaches vs. Cancer championship or the consolation game.
We'll see if the Heels played down to the competition in Sunday's uninspiring win over Valparaiso, or if this squad really IS a top 10 team - this early in the season. My gut tells me the Valpo game was an aberration. The Heels may not be experienced enough to win on Thursday night (also on ESPN 2, BTW) or at all in New York, but I bet they will play well and cut down the turnovers and rotate better on defense. I'm predicting big games from Ginyard and Thompson - and for Graves to find his stroke - and two surprising wins for Carolina this week.
The two games in New York kick off a brutal stretch for the young Heels. They return to Chapel Hill for tilts versus Gardner-Webb and Nevada but then host Michigan State in the Big East-ACC challenge. [Man, we've played them a lot lately, but when the Spartans play the Heels it's the ideal Carolina Hellenic Blue blog match up.]
After a breather against Presbyterian the Heels go on the road again for difficult games at Kentucky (remember, the 2006 Heels won a bid game in Lexington led by Reyshawn Terry and David Noel, who did THIS that game) and against Texas in the first basketball game in the new, obscene Texas Stadium on December 19th.
We'll know a lot more about this team in a month, that's for sure.
Monday, November 16, 2009
Looking to 2010
Looking ahead to 2010, past the college basketball national championship (but you should still vote in the poll) and the debut of Steven Strasburg, to the mid-term elections I think things will eventually turn out well for President Obama and the nation.
This non-sports blog was prompted by yesterday's Frank Rich column, The Missing Link from Killeen to Kabul. The column was about the double standard conservatives apply to the war on terror and how the United States relates to Muslims, both in the U.S. and in south Asia and the Middle East. On one hand conservatives see the killings at Ft. Hood as proof that we can never work with or help Muslims. On the other, they say they want more troops in Afghanistan, but those troops would be deployed to work with and help Muslims.
So which one is it? If conservatives think working with Muslims is hopeless, they should support pulling out all of troops - from both Iraq and Afghanistan (and I assume from Bosnia, where I think we still have troops, and Egypt, too).
But Rich's column reminded me of John McNamara's book "In Retrospective." I remember reading that book on the beach in Cape Hatteras one summer and feeling equal parts sympathy and disgust for McNamara as he tried to deflect the blame for Vietnam.
However, Rich's column did not prompt me to blog about the parallel's between Afghanistan and Vietnam, though there are some obvious ones: long meandering wars initially supported by a public that eventually elects a president who pledges to end it - though in fairness that would make Obama Nixon even though Obama pledged to get us out of Iraq NOT Afghanistan; in order to win, we end up pushing the war into a neighboring country, Cambodia/Pakistan, with terrible consequences.
For a number of reasons let's hope none of THAT happens, especially to nuclear-armed Pakistan, a country with a moderate and modern Muslim majority.
Of course, the big difference is that Vietnam wanted to be modern, and post-war integrated itself into the world economy so fast that the country is now full of factories cranking out sneakers for Nike and linens for Crate and Barrel. Whereas many Afghans think the west is out to destroy Islam and therefore want nothing to do with us or any other infidels (silly Taliban; the only infidels are folks who root against the Tar Heels! Had to get the Heels in here somewhere).
Anyway, back to McNamara's book. One thing he noted, an item I have repeated ever since, is that politics is physics: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In "In Retrospective" McNamara claims that around 1967 LBJ and the administration had concluded that the Vietnam War was unwinnable, and that we should start to pull our troops out and reduce the aerial bombing of North Vietnam.
But when the President floated this idea with members of Congress, hawks like John Stennis and others on the Armed Services committee teamed up with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to resist. They pushed back even though they did not have a plan to win the war. They did not want to stop fighting it - Stennis wanted to escalate the bombings, which the US did after Nixon was elected in 1968 - even though we were not winning the war.
The Johnson Administration was afraid Congressional hawks would call a peaceful retreat from Vietnam a defeat, America's first lost war. The President did not have the stomach for that political fight, did not withdraw our troops, and the war went on for another 5 years.
I'm certainly not eloquent enough to blog about how tragic Johnson's decision to continue the war - even though his team of advisors knew we were losing - was. But remember that half the names on the Vietnam Memorial, half of the 56,000 dead Americans, happened AFTER 1968. As John Kerry asked in 1971, "how do you ask a man to be the last one to die for a mistake?"
I hope President Obama has the political courage to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. There will be a fierce reaction from hawks like Cheney, Beck and others. But it is the right thing to do. We've been mired in Afghanistan for eight years, with almost nothing to show for it. I agree with Vice President Biden, who has proposed drastically drawing down troop levels but actively pursuing the Taliban and other terrorists there using Special Forces, the CIA, etc.
Pulling our troops out would also force the Afghans to fix their politics - something the South Vietnamese never did.
Finally, pulling out is good politics. The public is way ahead of Washington on this one, and I think the unease about Obama is coming as much from the NPR left as it is from the loony right. I'm confident that the Obama folks will remember that, and nothing helps an elected official remember like an election.
So do not be surprised if the President announces drastic troop reductions for both Iraq and Afghanistan next summer, a summer than may end up putting a punctuation mark on two good years for the Obama Administration. Health care will likely pass in December 2009, a green jobs/climate bill in the spring, and hopefully after six months of economic growth folks will start hiring enough to put a meaningful dent in the unemployment rate (Carolina and Hellenic Blue's business plan, for instance, calls for expansion in the summer 2010 so dust off your resumes!).
Doing the right thing in Afghanistan and Iraq a few months before the mid-year elections may be cynical but it is still the right thing to do, and what a democracy should do.
This non-sports blog was prompted by yesterday's Frank Rich column, The Missing Link from Killeen to Kabul. The column was about the double standard conservatives apply to the war on terror and how the United States relates to Muslims, both in the U.S. and in south Asia and the Middle East. On one hand conservatives see the killings at Ft. Hood as proof that we can never work with or help Muslims. On the other, they say they want more troops in Afghanistan, but those troops would be deployed to work with and help Muslims.
So which one is it? If conservatives think working with Muslims is hopeless, they should support pulling out all of troops - from both Iraq and Afghanistan (and I assume from Bosnia, where I think we still have troops, and Egypt, too).
But Rich's column reminded me of John McNamara's book "In Retrospective." I remember reading that book on the beach in Cape Hatteras one summer and feeling equal parts sympathy and disgust for McNamara as he tried to deflect the blame for Vietnam.
However, Rich's column did not prompt me to blog about the parallel's between Afghanistan and Vietnam, though there are some obvious ones: long meandering wars initially supported by a public that eventually elects a president who pledges to end it - though in fairness that would make Obama Nixon even though Obama pledged to get us out of Iraq NOT Afghanistan; in order to win, we end up pushing the war into a neighboring country, Cambodia/Pakistan, with terrible consequences.
For a number of reasons let's hope none of THAT happens, especially to nuclear-armed Pakistan, a country with a moderate and modern Muslim majority.
Of course, the big difference is that Vietnam wanted to be modern, and post-war integrated itself into the world economy so fast that the country is now full of factories cranking out sneakers for Nike and linens for Crate and Barrel. Whereas many Afghans think the west is out to destroy Islam and therefore want nothing to do with us or any other infidels (silly Taliban; the only infidels are folks who root against the Tar Heels! Had to get the Heels in here somewhere).
Anyway, back to McNamara's book. One thing he noted, an item I have repeated ever since, is that politics is physics: for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. In "In Retrospective" McNamara claims that around 1967 LBJ and the administration had concluded that the Vietnam War was unwinnable, and that we should start to pull our troops out and reduce the aerial bombing of North Vietnam.
But when the President floated this idea with members of Congress, hawks like John Stennis and others on the Armed Services committee teamed up with members of the Joint Chiefs of Staff to resist. They pushed back even though they did not have a plan to win the war. They did not want to stop fighting it - Stennis wanted to escalate the bombings, which the US did after Nixon was elected in 1968 - even though we were not winning the war.
The Johnson Administration was afraid Congressional hawks would call a peaceful retreat from Vietnam a defeat, America's first lost war. The President did not have the stomach for that political fight, did not withdraw our troops, and the war went on for another 5 years.
I'm certainly not eloquent enough to blog about how tragic Johnson's decision to continue the war - even though his team of advisors knew we were losing - was. But remember that half the names on the Vietnam Memorial, half of the 56,000 dead Americans, happened AFTER 1968. As John Kerry asked in 1971, "how do you ask a man to be the last one to die for a mistake?"
I hope President Obama has the political courage to pull U.S. troops out of Afghanistan. There will be a fierce reaction from hawks like Cheney, Beck and others. But it is the right thing to do. We've been mired in Afghanistan for eight years, with almost nothing to show for it. I agree with Vice President Biden, who has proposed drastically drawing down troop levels but actively pursuing the Taliban and other terrorists there using Special Forces, the CIA, etc.
Pulling our troops out would also force the Afghans to fix their politics - something the South Vietnamese never did.
Finally, pulling out is good politics. The public is way ahead of Washington on this one, and I think the unease about Obama is coming as much from the NPR left as it is from the loony right. I'm confident that the Obama folks will remember that, and nothing helps an elected official remember like an election.
So do not be surprised if the President announces drastic troop reductions for both Iraq and Afghanistan next summer, a summer than may end up putting a punctuation mark on two good years for the Obama Administration. Health care will likely pass in December 2009, a green jobs/climate bill in the spring, and hopefully after six months of economic growth folks will start hiring enough to put a meaningful dent in the unemployment rate (Carolina and Hellenic Blue's business plan, for instance, calls for expansion in the summer 2010 so dust off your resumes!).
Doing the right thing in Afghanistan and Iraq a few months before the mid-year elections may be cynical but it is still the right thing to do, and what a democracy should do.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Watched Way Too Many Games On TV Today
Thanks to TiVO, two games played in Europe, a late afternoon start, and other factors I ended up watching 4 sporting events today - in their entirety - in between regular Saturday/parenting gigs (getting a hair cut, raking the front yard with Evan, going to dry cleaner and hardware store, buying a birthday present at Politics and Prose, and driving Ariadne to two events).
In the end, two were worth watching and two weren't. In order, I watched:
That's enough now. I'm tired from all the time spent on the couch.
In the end, two were worth watching and two weren't. In order, I watched:
- The U.S. men's soccer team lose a snoozer of a friendly against Slovakia, 0-1. I know, Bratislava in November is a tough place to play (tell me something I don't know). The U.S., playing without Landon Donovan (busy with the MLS playoffs) and injured players Charlie Davies and Oguchi Onweyu, looked listless and unorganized as coach Bob Bradley mixed in some new players. It was a boring loss and a pretty bad game to watch. But it was only a friendly, though it does give all my Slovakia friends the right to talk smack at work on Monday.
- That firecracker was followed by Greece's 0-0 tie with Ukraine - in Athens - in a very important 2010 World Cup qualifying playoff game (shown live at 1 pm via Setanta Sports). Ellas looked tight and tentative while the Ukraine was content to - successfully - play for the tie. The Hellenic squad succumbed to their serious and stern Byzantine Greek side instead of being ruled by their active and happy-go-funky Classical Greek side. And I think we all agree, in sports, it's better to play happy-go-funky than stern, and it showed today in a lackluster tie. So in order to qualify for the 2010 World Cup Greece needs to win in Ukraine on Wednesday, or tie and win on away goals (for instance, a 1-1 tie means Greece advances since they would have scored more away goals that Ukraine).
- Things picked up at 4:30 when I started watching Carolina host Miami. The Heels led 20-7 at half time thanks to a 77-yard interception return by Kendric Burney. However, in the third quarter Miami came back and every Heel on the planet - even Bratislava! - felt another FSU-style collapse was eminent. As it has all season, once again the defense bailed Carolina out as Burney picked off another pass that was eventually returned for a touchdown by Melvin Williams; Burney fumbled on the run back but Williams caught it in mid-air and ran 44 yards for the score. The defense was the story, but give some credit to the offense too. When Carolina needed one more drive to ice the game the offense drove 60 yards on 11 plays while eating up more than 5 minutes to ice the game. It's Carolina's 5th straight win over a ranked team - third overall - and continues the post-FSU loss renaissance. And the Heels are now bowl eligible.
- Finally, wrapped up the night with the Wizards losing to John Kuester's Detroit Pistons. Behind newly signed Earl Boykins the Wizards roared back from an 8-point halftime deficit to lead for most of the second half. But down the stretch Ben Gordon and Will Bynum (who played against each other in the 2004 National Championship game - vote in the poll please!) got hot and Gilbert Arenas of all people had two big turnovers. The Wizards have now lost 6 in a row, and it appears that Arenas' timing and touch are not back after missing most of the last two seasons. The Zards also need Star Heel Antawn Jamison back in the line up.
That's enough now. I'm tired from all the time spent on the couch.
Friday, November 13, 2009
Harrison Barnes
Carolina signed Harrison Barnes today to their 2010 recruiting class. Barnes is universally regarded as the best high school player in the country, and picked Carolina over Duke, Kansas and UCLA.
The signing is just the latest coup for Roy Williams and the Heels, and cements the perception that Carolina is a cut above every other college basketball program.
It seems that Roy signs every player he goes after. If you're a potential recruit you'd have to be a moron to resist playing at a school with: 2 championships in 5 years; a record number of final four appearances; a program whose graduates are a who's who of basketball; Michael Jordan's number in the rafters; plays in a great building in front of knowledgeable fans, etc. etc.
And if a potential recruit turns Carolina down he's obviously dumb and a player who does not deserve to be part of the Dean Smith-Phil Ford-James Worthy-Michael Jordan-Antawn Jamison-Tyler Hansbrough-Roy Williams family.
The signing is just the latest coup for Roy Williams and the Heels, and cements the perception that Carolina is a cut above every other college basketball program.
It seems that Roy signs every player he goes after. If you're a potential recruit you'd have to be a moron to resist playing at a school with: 2 championships in 5 years; a record number of final four appearances; a program whose graduates are a who's who of basketball; Michael Jordan's number in the rafters; plays in a great building in front of knowledgeable fans, etc. etc.
And if a potential recruit turns Carolina down he's obviously dumb and a player who does not deserve to be part of the Dean Smith-Phil Ford-James Worthy-Michael Jordan-Antawn Jamison-Tyler Hansbrough-Roy Williams family.
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Heels and Nats
Not often that a blow out win does not qualify as a good game, but last night's contest between Carolina and N.C. Central was a game that should not have been played. I doubt Carolina gained anything from playing the Eagles in a tilt that more closely resembled Friday night's exhibition rout against Belmont Abbey. At times Central had trouble simply getting the ball up court.
But I shouldn't be too harsh, since the win over NCCU was kind of a coming out party for Marcus Ginyard's jump shot. Hitting more than one three-pointer - in consecuitive games no less - shows M-Giny's shot is legit.
Outside shooting, along with the play of Drew II, are by far the two biggest question marks with this year's Tar Heels. And another good sign from last night's game - that addresses both issues - was the play of Dexter Strickland. Strickland looked stage struck on Monday, but last night looked like a reliable option as both our back up point guard AND as a legit shooting threat.
So I guess as a whole the game was unwatchable, but the play of Ginyard and Stickland causes me a revise my initial assesment of the win over N.C. Central.
Hansbrough Update
Tyler Hansbrough is off to a great start for the Pacers. He's still getting into basketball shape after dealing with shin problems for the second year in a row. Despite playing limited minutes Hansbrough's been in double figures both games, and has already been to the foul line 21 times in less than 30 minutes. Due to his injury his touch and timing are off, as he is shooting only 33 percent so far and he's been foul prone, too. But once he gets into basketball shape watch out for Psycho-T.
Good Nats News?!
Some very positive hot stove league news from our hometown Nats this week.
First, Ryan Zimmerman won the Gold Glove AND the Silver Slugger, marking Zimm as the best defensive and offensive third baseman in the National League. The awards are an exclamation point on a great individual season for Zimmerman, one in which he hit a career high number of homers, had a 30-game hitting streak and made the All-Star team.
Zimmerman is the main reason to care about the Nats, but hopefully that will change next season under new - and no longer interim - manager Jim Riggleman. The Nationals announced today that Riggleman, who skippered the team to a 35-42 mark, had won the right to manage the team for a full season in 2010.
I'm optimistic about Riggleman. The Nationals showed a pulse after he took over, and even generated a little buzz during two significant - an 8-game then a 7-game - winning streaks.
Now if they can sign a starter and one more reliever, this team could be respectable next season and win around 70 games.
Finally, how weird that Manny Acta will also be managing next season? Less than a six months after getting fired with a 26 and 60-something record - one would think the stink from such a record would linger more than that - Acta will still have one of the most exclusive jobs on the planet as a big league manager.
But I shouldn't be too harsh, since the win over NCCU was kind of a coming out party for Marcus Ginyard's jump shot. Hitting more than one three-pointer - in consecuitive games no less - shows M-Giny's shot is legit.
Outside shooting, along with the play of Drew II, are by far the two biggest question marks with this year's Tar Heels. And another good sign from last night's game - that addresses both issues - was the play of Dexter Strickland. Strickland looked stage struck on Monday, but last night looked like a reliable option as both our back up point guard AND as a legit shooting threat.
So I guess as a whole the game was unwatchable, but the play of Ginyard and Stickland causes me a revise my initial assesment of the win over N.C. Central.
Hansbrough Update
Tyler Hansbrough is off to a great start for the Pacers. He's still getting into basketball shape after dealing with shin problems for the second year in a row. Despite playing limited minutes Hansbrough's been in double figures both games, and has already been to the foul line 21 times in less than 30 minutes. Due to his injury his touch and timing are off, as he is shooting only 33 percent so far and he's been foul prone, too. But once he gets into basketball shape watch out for Psycho-T.
Good Nats News?!
Some very positive hot stove league news from our hometown Nats this week.
First, Ryan Zimmerman won the Gold Glove AND the Silver Slugger, marking Zimm as the best defensive and offensive third baseman in the National League. The awards are an exclamation point on a great individual season for Zimmerman, one in which he hit a career high number of homers, had a 30-game hitting streak and made the All-Star team.
Zimmerman is the main reason to care about the Nats, but hopefully that will change next season under new - and no longer interim - manager Jim Riggleman. The Nationals announced today that Riggleman, who skippered the team to a 35-42 mark, had won the right to manage the team for a full season in 2010.
I'm optimistic about Riggleman. The Nationals showed a pulse after he took over, and even generated a little buzz during two significant - an 8-game then a 7-game - winning streaks.
Now if they can sign a starter and one more reliever, this team could be respectable next season and win around 70 games.
Finally, how weird that Manny Acta will also be managing next season? Less than a six months after getting fired with a 26 and 60-something record - one would think the stink from such a record would linger more than that - Acta will still have one of the most exclusive jobs on the planet as a big league manager.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Drew Passes the Test
Carolina got it's opening night jitters out of the way last night in defeating Isaiah Thomas' Florida International Golden Panthers 80-something to 60-something.
The new-look Heels looked sloppy at times and committed 26 turnovers. But like I said, for opening night with a slew of new players that is to be expected.
The good points far outweighed the negative ones. Including:
If Drew finishes the season with a 3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio the Heels will make some serious noise in the ACC and NCAA tournament.
The other thing that stood out was the defense. The Heels rotated pretty well last night, and the bigs especially did a good job moving their feet and staying in front of FIU. And Ed Davis took up where he left off, with four blocks.
Granted, it is just one game against a pretty inferior foe. Nonetheless, Larry Drew reassured many a Heels fan in Tar Nation last night. I know my anxiety level dropped quite a bit last night.
A Few Random Thoughts Then It's Back To Work
The new-look Heels looked sloppy at times and committed 26 turnovers. But like I said, for opening night with a slew of new players that is to be expected.
The good points far outweighed the negative ones. Including:
- The Heels shot the ball very well, and finished at 56 percent for the game;
- Deon Thompson finished with 20 and 10 in only 20 minutes; he was a aggressive and dare I say "Brad Dougherty-esque?"
- Marcus Ginyard made two three-pointers on his way to 12 points; overall the Heels went 4-13 from three (12 points on 13 shots, so respectable but not great);
- Tyler Zeller looked good as he netted 12 points in 20 minutes.
If Drew finishes the season with a 3-1 assist-to-turnover ratio the Heels will make some serious noise in the ACC and NCAA tournament.
The other thing that stood out was the defense. The Heels rotated pretty well last night, and the bigs especially did a good job moving their feet and staying in front of FIU. And Ed Davis took up where he left off, with four blocks.
Granted, it is just one game against a pretty inferior foe. Nonetheless, Larry Drew reassured many a Heels fan in Tar Nation last night. I know my anxiety level dropped quite a bit last night.
A Few Random Thoughts Then It's Back To Work
- How about the throw-back unis? No one was expecting RED trim; all the shots I've ever seen of the undefeated 1957 national champs were in black and white. Who knew?
- I loved Deon's hustle play in the second half when he made a steal, then fell on his back side before making a bad pass that was intercepted by FIU. However, instead of sulking he jumped up and challenged the ensuing lay up, a shot FIU missed thanks to Deon's hustle.
- Isaiah Thomix Sux!
Monday, November 9, 2009
CHAPEL HILL
Evan and I just returned from a great weekend in Chapel Hill for my 25th Annual Reunion/Homecoming at Carolina. Regarding the reunion, it wasn’t much and I didn’t see anyone I knew from my class. The only fellow alumni I hung out with was my brother, and I’m not sure that counts (we knew each other before college).
Regardless, it was a great weekend full of North Carolina’s THREE BIG Bs: basketball, barbeque and biscuits.*
Basketball
Homecoming kicked off on Friday night with an exhibition basketball game between the defending National Champions Tar Heels and Belmont Abbey (the scoreboard listed them as B ABBEY; only thing more humiliating than that was their “Let’s Go Abbey” cheer. Oh, and post-Iraq war they continue to use the nickname “Crusaders.” That’s it for the B ABBEY section of this blog).
As I mentioned in my last blog, simply being in the same building with the Tar Heels gets me – even 25 whopping years after graduating – excited.
And I was excited on Friday to see the new Post-Ty(ler) Heels in action. It was great to see my man Deon Thompson play with confidence, watch Tyler Zeller hit shots and make plays all over the court (granted against a Division II team), and to see a slim and healthy Marcus Ginyard back on the floor.
I was most impressed, however, with freshman Dexter Strickland. D-Strick looked great: quick, confident, and a playmaker. His skills - at both the 1 and the 2 - likely mean that he will be the first guard off the bench.
This will clearly be Ginyard’s team. Led by Thompson, Carolina’s front court of Ed Davis, Zeller, and freshmen John Henson and the Wear twins will be the focal point of this team – offensively and defensively. In fact, many pre-season previews have pointed out that this Carolina squad could be a very, very good defensive team.
One last thing about the front court – all five are plus athletes. A deep and athletic front court means the Heels should be able to continue to run opponents into the ground, overwhelming teams with waves of talent.
But the back court is another story all together, the most important one of the 2009-2010 season.
Ol’ Roy has tremendous confidence in sophomore Larry Drew at the point. If he can keep the offense moving forward at all times – a la Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson and even Bobby Frasor in 2005-2006 – the Heels should be okay. We’ve gotten spoiled at Carolina with point guards who can play fast AND not turn it over. We’ll see if Drew can do that, II.
The bigger question mark is outside shooting. Obviously, Carolina’s last two national champions were balanced offensive juggernauts, with low-post scorers like Sean May and Hansbrough complimented by guards like Rashad McCants, Felton, Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green.
This year there is no proven shooter on the floor, at least in the starting five. Drew II will shoot some threes, as will Ginyard and Strickland, but right now the starter at shooting guard is Will Graves. As a freshman, Graves shot the 3 well; as a sophomore he did not. But his shooting was the least of his problems as he was suspended from the team mid-way through the season. Those four will get some relief from Henson and the Wears - all three newcomers can shoot – but Carolina will really need Drew and Graves to step up from outside to reach their third final four in a row.
Even with the question marks surrounding shooting, this will be an exciting team to follow and watch. If Drew can guide the offense and the Heels get half-way decent outside shooting – not just from behind the 3-point line but also from 15 to 17 feet out - this talented front court will score and rebound and run enough to make this another incredibly successful season.
Almost forgot there was a football game played on Saturday, too. Carolina won a fairly lackluster game 19-6 over rivals Duke (who came in riding a two-game winning streak). The Tar Heels defense and Ryan Houston litterally carried the Heels to victory. Houston rushed 37 times for 140 yards after Sean Droughn was hurt - for the season it turns out - on the second play of the game.
Random Hoop Notes
I will admit that I am quite biased, way biased, hard-to-be-more biased than me, steeped in bias when it comes to my home state, but honestly, is there better food than eastern North Carolina barbeque?
Honestly, the answer is no.
For my last meal I would love to eat what we ate at the alumni association tail gate party under the Bell Tower: mounds of eastern NC q, yellow cole slaw (with mustard), green beans, baked beans, fried and barbequed chicken, fried flounder, hush puppies, corn bread, sweet tea, and banana pudding.
If it truly is last meal time, maybe throw in some cherries, blueberries, or any melon to balance things out, and finish it off with some coffee. Then I die happy.
The spread – provided by 'Carolina Barbeque' in Garner – was so good I had to take a picture of my plate and post it to Facebook.
Biscuits
Evan had a great time this weekend, too, hanging out with cousin Alex (along with cousin Sophia and Aunt Becky) and soaking in Chapel Hill and the University. But the highlight – at least one of the highlights - of the weekend for him was eating 2 dinners in a row at Time Out.
Evan gorged himself on the famous chicken and cheddar biscuit each night, and we even brought one home for Ariadne (for the record, it transports very well).
The Time Out biscuit, just the plain pastry, is probably the best on the planet. Fluffy and crispy, cut in a trademark square. And Time Out has not changed since I first went there. There are still photos of Dean, Phil Ford and others (of course, Chris Webber) calling time out, and they still keep a bottle of windex in the dining room in case you need to clean the grease off your table DIY style.
* One can argue that there are at least 5 Big Bs, those two plus beaches and (representing the mountains of my home state) the Blue Ridge.
Regardless, it was a great weekend full of North Carolina’s THREE BIG Bs: basketball, barbeque and biscuits.*
Basketball
Homecoming kicked off on Friday night with an exhibition basketball game between the defending National Champions Tar Heels and Belmont Abbey (the scoreboard listed them as B ABBEY; only thing more humiliating than that was their “Let’s Go Abbey” cheer. Oh, and post-Iraq war they continue to use the nickname “Crusaders.” That’s it for the B ABBEY section of this blog).
As I mentioned in my last blog, simply being in the same building with the Tar Heels gets me – even 25 whopping years after graduating – excited.
And I was excited on Friday to see the new Post-Ty(ler) Heels in action. It was great to see my man Deon Thompson play with confidence, watch Tyler Zeller hit shots and make plays all over the court (granted against a Division II team), and to see a slim and healthy Marcus Ginyard back on the floor.
I was most impressed, however, with freshman Dexter Strickland. D-Strick looked great: quick, confident, and a playmaker. His skills - at both the 1 and the 2 - likely mean that he will be the first guard off the bench.
This will clearly be Ginyard’s team. Led by Thompson, Carolina’s front court of Ed Davis, Zeller, and freshmen John Henson and the Wear twins will be the focal point of this team – offensively and defensively. In fact, many pre-season previews have pointed out that this Carolina squad could be a very, very good defensive team.
One last thing about the front court – all five are plus athletes. A deep and athletic front court means the Heels should be able to continue to run opponents into the ground, overwhelming teams with waves of talent.
But the back court is another story all together, the most important one of the 2009-2010 season.
Ol’ Roy has tremendous confidence in sophomore Larry Drew at the point. If he can keep the offense moving forward at all times – a la Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson and even Bobby Frasor in 2005-2006 – the Heels should be okay. We’ve gotten spoiled at Carolina with point guards who can play fast AND not turn it over. We’ll see if Drew can do that, II.
The bigger question mark is outside shooting. Obviously, Carolina’s last two national champions were balanced offensive juggernauts, with low-post scorers like Sean May and Hansbrough complimented by guards like Rashad McCants, Felton, Lawson, Wayne Ellington, and Danny Green.
This year there is no proven shooter on the floor, at least in the starting five. Drew II will shoot some threes, as will Ginyard and Strickland, but right now the starter at shooting guard is Will Graves. As a freshman, Graves shot the 3 well; as a sophomore he did not. But his shooting was the least of his problems as he was suspended from the team mid-way through the season. Those four will get some relief from Henson and the Wears - all three newcomers can shoot – but Carolina will really need Drew and Graves to step up from outside to reach their third final four in a row.
Even with the question marks surrounding shooting, this will be an exciting team to follow and watch. If Drew can guide the offense and the Heels get half-way decent outside shooting – not just from behind the 3-point line but also from 15 to 17 feet out - this talented front court will score and rebound and run enough to make this another incredibly successful season.
Almost forgot there was a football game played on Saturday, too. Carolina won a fairly lackluster game 19-6 over rivals Duke (who came in riding a two-game winning streak). The Tar Heels defense and Ryan Houston litterally carried the Heels to victory. Houston rushed 37 times for 140 yards after Sean Droughn was hurt - for the season it turns out - on the second play of the game.
Random Hoop Notes
- My first impression of Henson is he will stay in Chapel Hill at least 2 years simply to fill out his body. He is incredibly skinny, and his torso is not much wider than his arms. Henson also air-balled two free throws against B ABBEY.
- Ed Davis had a lackluster game, but all four of Carolina’s front court players have the talent – though perhaps not the minutes – to average in double figures this season.
- After Strickland, the Wear Twins were the most impressive freshmen on Friday night – even more than Henson. They appear to be above-average athletes who hit shots from all over the floor, crashed the boards, moved their feet on defense, and ran the floor really well. Those two are fifth and sixth on the front court depth chart; clearly, this team is inexperienced but stacked.
- As good as the exhibition was on Friday, I’m equally geeked up to watch the Heels officially kick off the season against Florida International tonight at 7 pm. I used to spend a decent amount of time at FIU since for years Florida PIRG had a chapter there.
- But the main draw is a bit of pay back for Isaiah Thomas, who ruined my freshman year by leading Indiana to the 1981 National Championship, beating Al Wood’s Tar Heels in the final. I still remember a drunken suitemate of mine slurring “Isaiah Thomix sux” as we dragged ourselves back to our dorm from Franklin Street that night.
- One completely random note: I encourage all Heels fans to start following Bobby Frasor on Twitter. Frasor is playing pro ball in of all places Bulgaria, and has posted some funny and interesting items about his time there.
- Headline at ESPN.com: Florida State to roll out heralded Manuel at QB. I’m assuming this refers to Evan (since Ariadne plays running back).
I will admit that I am quite biased, way biased, hard-to-be-more biased than me, steeped in bias when it comes to my home state, but honestly, is there better food than eastern North Carolina barbeque?
Honestly, the answer is no.
For my last meal I would love to eat what we ate at the alumni association tail gate party under the Bell Tower: mounds of eastern NC q, yellow cole slaw (with mustard), green beans, baked beans, fried and barbequed chicken, fried flounder, hush puppies, corn bread, sweet tea, and banana pudding.
If it truly is last meal time, maybe throw in some cherries, blueberries, or any melon to balance things out, and finish it off with some coffee. Then I die happy.
The spread – provided by 'Carolina Barbeque' in Garner – was so good I had to take a picture of my plate and post it to Facebook.
Biscuits
Evan had a great time this weekend, too, hanging out with cousin Alex (along with cousin Sophia and Aunt Becky) and soaking in Chapel Hill and the University. But the highlight – at least one of the highlights - of the weekend for him was eating 2 dinners in a row at Time Out.
Evan gorged himself on the famous chicken and cheddar biscuit each night, and we even brought one home for Ariadne (for the record, it transports very well).
The Time Out biscuit, just the plain pastry, is probably the best on the planet. Fluffy and crispy, cut in a trademark square. And Time Out has not changed since I first went there. There are still photos of Dean, Phil Ford and others (of course, Chris Webber) calling time out, and they still keep a bottle of windex in the dining room in case you need to clean the grease off your table DIY style.
* One can argue that there are at least 5 Big Bs, those two plus beaches and (representing the mountains of my home state) the Blue Ridge.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
No more baseball
Always a bit sad when the baseball season ends, and sadder still when it ends with the Yankees winning another championship.
I was surprised at how well Petite pitched and how tight the Phillies looked. And Pedro should just hang it up. After all the commotion prior to his game 6 start he was incredibly lackluster. He, rather than Petite, looked like he was pitching on three days rest. I don't think Pedro ever gave the Phillies a chance to win that game, the most important thing you want out of your starting pitcher.
And too bad this series did not go seven. I think it's been more than a decade, since the 1997 Marlins-Indians series, since we had a Series that went the distance.
Carolina Update
Now, after homecoming this weekend, we can finally turn to basketball. As part of homecoming there is an exhibition game on Friday night between Carolina and Belmont-Abbey. It will only be my third trip to the Dean Dome, and I always look forward to being in the same room/arena as the Tar Heels. I'm also anxious to see freshman Jon Hanson, the lanky heir to Tyler Hansbrough, and to see firsthand as Deon Thompson's metamorphosis into the next Brad Daugherty.
Random Stuff
As always - GO HEELS!
I was surprised at how well Petite pitched and how tight the Phillies looked. And Pedro should just hang it up. After all the commotion prior to his game 6 start he was incredibly lackluster. He, rather than Petite, looked like he was pitching on three days rest. I don't think Pedro ever gave the Phillies a chance to win that game, the most important thing you want out of your starting pitcher.
And too bad this series did not go seven. I think it's been more than a decade, since the 1997 Marlins-Indians series, since we had a Series that went the distance.
Carolina Update
Now, after homecoming this weekend, we can finally turn to basketball. As part of homecoming there is an exhibition game on Friday night between Carolina and Belmont-Abbey. It will only be my third trip to the Dean Dome, and I always look forward to being in the same room/arena as the Tar Heels. I'm also anxious to see freshman Jon Hanson, the lanky heir to Tyler Hansbrough, and to see firsthand as Deon Thompson's metamorphosis into the next Brad Daugherty.
Random Stuff
- Besides the chance to see his cousins, I think Evan is most excited by the prospect of going to Time Out for a chicken cheddar biscuit. Man vs. Food visited Time Out and Evan's wanted to go ever since.
- To me, the person who had the best World Series was Tom Boswell. He wrote some excellent columns during the series.
- Ty Lawson lead Denver in scoring with 23 points, on 9-10 shooting, on the way to a big win over the Nets on Wednesday. Brendan Haywood had a double double, 16 and 11, but the Wizards lost to Miami as Gilbert Arenas of all people turned the ball over twice late. And the Sean May experiment may already be over in Sacramento. He came off the bench in the Kings' latest loss and only played 5 minutes.
As always - GO HEELS!
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Another scattershot blog post
A variety of bloggable topics are available this weekend. Here goes:
World Series
I was initially surprised to see the Yankees comeback from an early 0-3 deficit. But I shouldn't have. Cole Hamels has been shaky this postseason, and unlike some of the Phillies these Yankees are professional hitters. They swing at strikes, and fielded a relentless line up that even featured pitcher Andy Petite driving in a run.
[Interesting take on these Yankees today in the Times.]
The Phillies' approach last night was not as professional. Case in point is Shane Victorino. Batting in the third inning with the bases loaded and one out, Victorino came up after Jimmy Rollins walked - WALKED - to drive in a run and give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Most ball players know to take the first pitch if the previous hitter walked. But Victorino was a bonehead twice, swinging at two balls waaaaayyyyy outside the strike zone to quickly put himself in the hole 0-2.
He eventually drove in a run - on a defensive swing - on a sacrifice fly but instead of breaking the game open with a hit, driving Petite off the mound in the process, Victorino's sacrifice ended the chance for a big, game -changing inning.
Huge win for the Heels on Thursday night against Virginia Tech. There are almost too many story lines to talk about: a road win versus a ranked opponent, bouncing back from a terrible home loss the previous Thursday that also was a nationally televised game, coming back late in the game after falling behind due to a terrible turnover/interception by Yates.
The win was inspiring; the Heels could have mailed in the rest of their season and done what some so-called scribes had done and turned to basketball. But instead they played with pride and determination and were rewarded with a meaningful and season-saving win.
The Heels will need to sustain that effort and focus if they truly want to save the season. Carolina has four tough game left, versus Miami, at Boston College, and rivalry games versus NC State and Duke. The Duke game is homecoming next week - Evan, Johnny, Alex and I will be there - and the Blue Devils is no pushover. The Dukies are 5-3 after defeating Virginia in Charlottesville yesterday. Beating the 'Hoos may not be that big a deal, then again the Heels lost to them in Chapel Hill.
Either way, I'm looking forward to spending a day and a half in Chapel Hill for homecoming (something I never thought I would ever want to attend). This will actually be the fourth Duke-Carolina game in five years for Johnny, Evan and myself.
Wizards
Got to catch part of the Wizards win last night over the Nets. Arenas continues to look fantastic, and Andray Blatche off the bench almost matched Agent Zero's 32 points. Brendan Haywood finished with 10 and 7 (a reverse of his opening-night numbers).
I may be the only guy I know who is paying attention; only 3 people voted in my favorite Wizards poll (and I think those 3 were me, Evan and Ariadne).
Heels in NBA
Of all the Heels in the NBA rookie Ty Lawson is probably off to the best start. Lawson was the best player on the floor for Denver as they rallied to defeat Portland on opening night. Lawson finished with 17 points in that game in 26 minutes. He scored 7 in 17 minutes last night in another Nuggets win.
Here's a look at what the others Heels are doing so far:
Wayne Ellington: Ellington is playing, getting 23 min/game, while averaging 6 pts on 32% shooting; has yet to hit a three-pointer in two games.
Sean May: May is starting for 0-3 Sacramento but still playing 'out of shape' minutes, around 19 a game and averaging only 6 points a game. I hope May gets healthy and gets his career on track. He should be a good pro.
Brendan Haywood Off to a pretty good start - averaging 12 and 9 - though his timing on offense appears off as he returns from a wrist injury that kept him out of 79 games last year. Physically looks great, trim and agile.
Jawad Williams Has only played 2 minutes of mop-up time in one game, but hey he's in the NBA!
Rasheed Wallace Happily coming off the bench and playing a lot at crunch time, Ra is averaging 9 points a game. Twenty of his twenty-six shots have been three-pointers.
Raymond Felton Continues to struggle with his shot for the 1-2 Bobcats. Averaging 14 points (39% shooting) and 5 assists in 28 minutes a game. I still can't figure out why Ray has not become Chris Paul.
Marvin Williams Is third option on a young and dynamic Hawks team. Averaging 12 points though 2 games.
Vince Carter The Magic are 2-0 with Carter, but Vince only played 15 minutes in their second game due to a sprained ankle (and did not play today versus the Raptors). Carter is averaging 15.5 points a game on 55% shooting in two games.
Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Brandan Wright and Antawn Jamison have yet to play this season due to injuries, and both Jerry Stackhouse and Rashad McCants have yet to sign with a team. For a while rumors circulated that McCants would join Aris Thessaloniki (in my dad's hometown) in a Carolina-Hellenic Blue blog-driven move.
Completely Random
World Series
I was initially surprised to see the Yankees comeback from an early 0-3 deficit. But I shouldn't have. Cole Hamels has been shaky this postseason, and unlike some of the Phillies these Yankees are professional hitters. They swing at strikes, and fielded a relentless line up that even featured pitcher Andy Petite driving in a run.
[Interesting take on these Yankees today in the Times.]
The Phillies' approach last night was not as professional. Case in point is Shane Victorino. Batting in the third inning with the bases loaded and one out, Victorino came up after Jimmy Rollins walked - WALKED - to drive in a run and give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Most ball players know to take the first pitch if the previous hitter walked. But Victorino was a bonehead twice, swinging at two balls waaaaayyyyy outside the strike zone to quickly put himself in the hole 0-2.
He eventually drove in a run - on a defensive swing - on a sacrifice fly but instead of breaking the game open with a hit, driving Petite off the mound in the process, Victorino's sacrifice ended the chance for a big, game -changing inning.
- Good column by Tom Boswell today that semi-explains why umpiring in baseball has declined so badly in recent years. Bad umpiring/refereeing seems endemic to all sports these days but in baseball the umpiring stinks worse than in other sports. From calling a terrible strike zone, to allowing hitters and pitchers go on a walkabout after every pitch, to missing fairly obvious calls this postseason - fair and foul balls, two runners on the same base, plays at first - baseball has a fairly serious issue to deal with. Boswell makes a good case that instant replay deserves a chance to solve some these problems.
Huge win for the Heels on Thursday night against Virginia Tech. There are almost too many story lines to talk about: a road win versus a ranked opponent, bouncing back from a terrible home loss the previous Thursday that also was a nationally televised game, coming back late in the game after falling behind due to a terrible turnover/interception by Yates.
The win was inspiring; the Heels could have mailed in the rest of their season and done what some so-called scribes had done and turned to basketball. But instead they played with pride and determination and were rewarded with a meaningful and season-saving win.
The Heels will need to sustain that effort and focus if they truly want to save the season. Carolina has four tough game left, versus Miami, at Boston College, and rivalry games versus NC State and Duke. The Duke game is homecoming next week - Evan, Johnny, Alex and I will be there - and the Blue Devils is no pushover. The Dukies are 5-3 after defeating Virginia in Charlottesville yesterday. Beating the 'Hoos may not be that big a deal, then again the Heels lost to them in Chapel Hill.
Either way, I'm looking forward to spending a day and a half in Chapel Hill for homecoming (something I never thought I would ever want to attend). This will actually be the fourth Duke-Carolina game in five years for Johnny, Evan and myself.
Wizards
Got to catch part of the Wizards win last night over the Nets. Arenas continues to look fantastic, and Andray Blatche off the bench almost matched Agent Zero's 32 points. Brendan Haywood finished with 10 and 7 (a reverse of his opening-night numbers).
I may be the only guy I know who is paying attention; only 3 people voted in my favorite Wizards poll (and I think those 3 were me, Evan and Ariadne).
Heels in NBA
Of all the Heels in the NBA rookie Ty Lawson is probably off to the best start. Lawson was the best player on the floor for Denver as they rallied to defeat Portland on opening night. Lawson finished with 17 points in that game in 26 minutes. He scored 7 in 17 minutes last night in another Nuggets win.
Here's a look at what the others Heels are doing so far:
Wayne Ellington: Ellington is playing, getting 23 min/game, while averaging 6 pts on 32% shooting; has yet to hit a three-pointer in two games.
Sean May: May is starting for 0-3 Sacramento but still playing 'out of shape' minutes, around 19 a game and averaging only 6 points a game. I hope May gets healthy and gets his career on track. He should be a good pro.
Brendan Haywood Off to a pretty good start - averaging 12 and 9 - though his timing on offense appears off as he returns from a wrist injury that kept him out of 79 games last year. Physically looks great, trim and agile.
Jawad Williams Has only played 2 minutes of mop-up time in one game, but hey he's in the NBA!
Rasheed Wallace Happily coming off the bench and playing a lot at crunch time, Ra is averaging 9 points a game. Twenty of his twenty-six shots have been three-pointers.
Raymond Felton Continues to struggle with his shot for the 1-2 Bobcats. Averaging 14 points (39% shooting) and 5 assists in 28 minutes a game. I still can't figure out why Ray has not become Chris Paul.
Marvin Williams Is third option on a young and dynamic Hawks team. Averaging 12 points though 2 games.
Vince Carter The Magic are 2-0 with Carter, but Vince only played 15 minutes in their second game due to a sprained ankle (and did not play today versus the Raptors). Carter is averaging 15.5 points a game on 55% shooting in two games.
Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Brandan Wright and Antawn Jamison have yet to play this season due to injuries, and both Jerry Stackhouse and Rashad McCants have yet to sign with a team. For a while rumors circulated that McCants would join Aris Thessaloniki (in my dad's hometown) in a Carolina-Hellenic Blue blog-driven move.
Completely Random
- What ever happened to Jurassic 5? 'Day at the Races' came on my iPod the other day, a song that hinted at their promise. Maybe I missed something, but what happened to the group who rapped 'you're out of your league like Jordan was with baseball' and featured the 'verbal Herman Munster' as one of their members?
- Lots of comments on our Halloween 2009 iPod mix for our party last night. Most often asked question "Are we listening to ABC?" With Halloween as the obvious theme the mix featured "Poison Arrow" - due to the word poison - "Back from the Dead" by Spinal Tap, the "Buttercup" theme from the Power Puff Girls soundtrack, and more cliched songs like "Thriller," "Dead Man's Party" and "Everyday is Halloween."
- Sorry for some of the font problems with this page. The software was upgraded and I have yet to find my comfort zone.
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