More Message Discipline - and Hypocrisy

More message discipline from Republicans this morning, in this case by Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels on NPR.  Gov. Daniels, a far too serious presidential candidate for today's anti-intellectual, anti-fact Republican party (apparently Daniels, among other things, did not dismantle Indiana's state government - at least not yet - and believes Obama was indeed born in the United States) called the deficit - not unemployment, not the lack of corporate hiring, not Al Qaeda, not the two wars we are currently fighting - the BIGGEST threat to the United States.  

Daniels was unusually pressed by the normally non-confrontational host of "Morning Edition" Steve Inskeep about his role as budget chief for Bush 43.  When Inskeep pointed out that when Bush came in office there was a budget surplus and when he left office there was a huge deficit Daniels immediately got defensive quick.  He went on to downplay the measures of the Clinton administration - there was a tech bubble, etc. but he also failed to mention Clinton also DID NOT invade two countries without paying for it - and whined, whined, whined.  

When Inskeep also pointed out that Clinton raised taxes for the wealthy as a way of fighting the deficit. Daniels defended the Bush tax cuts as a stimulus!  

So more hypocrisy and irony from Rs.  If the deficit is the number one threat to these United States, why not do what Clinton did and raise taxes for the wealthiest Americans?  Why isn't everything on the table in this fight for our survival?

And why aren't there any serious Republicans any more?

Two straight solid wins

After a couple of lackluster games I like the way the Heels played this week.  Very methodical wins, with contributions from everywhere on the floor and from multiple players in winning at State and tonight at home versus a desperate Maryland team.

The State win was probably more impressive due to the hostile atmosphere - and that we were down early 9 to 19.  But behind our shooting guards Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald - and some nice play by Justin Knox - the Heels led at half in Raleigh.

The final 20 minutes belonged to Harrison Barnes. I loved the way we came out of the locker room determined to do what Dean Smith always preached: do what we want to do, not what the other team wants us to do.  Barnes and Zeller hit baskets early in the half, and Barnes - with some more impressive dunks - Henson and Marshall put it away down the stretch with Reggie Bullock of all people making a huge, Wolfpack-momentum stopping old-fashioned 3-point play along the way. 

In short, the entire team made plays all night, but especially in the second half, to defeat State for the 10th straight time and 19th in the last 20.

Tonight versus Maryland the beat went on. Barnes got us going early and Zeller was a beast throughout the game as they both finished with more than 20 points.  Henson seemed to have at least that many blocks, Marshall and Strickland were dropping dimes on every possession, and McDonald finished burying the slump he killed in Raleigh with 15 points (a nice mix of 3s, jumpers and an offensive rebound put back).

Another total team effort in a game the Heels led comfortably for most of the night.  When Maryland made runs in the second half, each one was answered by a Barnes drive or Zeller shot down low.   We got a little sloppy, but at the same time the Heels were never seriously threatened by the Terps.

So as we head into the last week of the regular season the Heels stand at 12 and 2 in conference, 14-0 at home, and with a nice head of steam.  Without Chris Singleton the Heels will likely be favored at FSU; ditto for their home rematch against the right-wing boobs from Durham. 

Who would have predicted this kind of season in November?

A few notes:

• There's a lot of justified talk about Kendall Marshall's poise, but how about his leadership?  It's easy to forget how quickly he took over this team, and Marshall has thrived as the team leader.  Early this season there was speculation that Barnes, with his Hansbrough-like work ethic, would become the young leader of this year's Heels squad. But this is Marshall's team now.
• John Henson is now 6 for his last 6 at the free throw line.  So it's now official, other than some occasional bad decision making, this guy has no weaknesses.
• Great to see Barnes hit shots early, and I'm also glad that he went to the glass a lot in the second half.
• Maryland played tough, but the real silver lining for Gary Williams' team is the duo of Terrell Scoglin and Jordan Williams. Scoglin hit shots from all over the floor on his way to 26 points, and as impressive as Zeller and Henson were Williams was their equal with 16 points and 19 boards.
• Happy to see Virginia Tech win (for the conference) and happier to see Duke lose (for the greater good).  But neither team looked good to me last night.  Virginia Tech can not run an offense to save their life, and in ACC games at least Kyle Singler looks terrible. If Nolan Smith is not hot Duke seems to have trouble running offense; they seem to be a much worse offensive team then they were last year.  I would love to have time to do a comparison.
• GO HEELS!

Is it hypocrisy or irony?

Got to hand it to the Republicans in the House (and their fellow travelers running for president).

They took the House in November, mainly due to economic anxiety and concerns about unemployment (plus, they had a very motivated base that felt they had to take the country back from a foreign-born Muslim president).  

But since taking office they have spent most of their time squawking about the deficit, or in places like Wisconsin and New Jersey trying to take away collective bargaining rights from public employees - economic liabilities that do not create wealth such as teachers and fire fighters.

Complaining about the deficit is code for two things: cutting taxes for rich people, and cutting programs that help non-rich people.

And the union attack is politics plain and simple.  In the wake of the Citizens United decision that allows unlimited corporate contributions, unions and the role they play in elections - both money and people - have never more important.   You take away unions and you take away lots of power from the Democrats.  It's a reprise of the late 19th century policy to break the backs of Native American culture and resistance by wiping out the bison from the plains. 

No more food for plains Native Americans, no more Native Americans.  No more unions, fewer Democrats.  And without unions, Dems would have to raise money exclusively from the same set of economic winners who are socially liberal but fiscally more conservative.

I wonder if after March 4th, the deadline for passing a spending bill to keep the government open, the focus will return to jobs and the economy.

Besides the hypocrisy of running on jobs and governing on helping rich people pay fewer taxes, there's the irony that if you cut the size of government - local, state or federal - you put people out of work.  Government is not some machine that eats money and automatically prints reports and buys toilet paper and tanks.  People - employees, Americans - do that.  And though corporations are raking in record profits they are NOT hiring Americans (those capitalist bastards!).   

And the only way to meaningfully cut the size of government or spending is to gouge defense, or cut Medicare. Medicaid, and/or Social Security.  Everything else is window dressing, hypocrisy, irony, lying - or a cynical ploy to cut taxes and attack unions. 

The last thing the economy needs is more people out of work.  And that's the bottom line here.  Jobs are more important than deficit reduction and tax cuts.  That should be the focus of the executive and legislative branches of government in Washington and state capitals.  

Finally, one last point.  Dems in the House have done a good job of messaging on the lack of action on job creation by the new Republican Congress.  Of course, the minority party does not get much air time on the news.  I just wish Obama would stop engaging the Rs so much when they repeat their mantra on the deficit.  

How hard is it to pivot on this?  "Well, reducing the deficit is an important issue, but my number one concern is putting Americans back to work.  Therefore, I urge Republicans in Congress to work with me on getting that job done first, THEN working on cutting spending."   See how I slipped the word job in there?

Or, "The last thing we need is more folks unemployed, so I urge my colleagues in Congress to only cut programs that DO not cause lay-offs or job losses in the public sector."

See, it's easy!

Esse Quam Videri

Visit to UNC Basketball Museum

Even if Carolina had won by 30 and Barnes had scored 40, the highlight of Saturday’s game versus Boston College, at least for me, would have been being in the same room – ok, building – as Tyler Hansbrough. 

Evan, my nephew Paul and I were able to attend that game (thanks to StubHub), and the entire day was one big highlight, from lunch at my sister's, to the museum, to the game itself, to the visit to the campus Wellstone memorial, to dinner at Dip's.

But seeing Hansbrough was honestly the most exhilarating moment.  And as great as Hansbrough was in Chapel Hill, in retrospect it was his epitomizing Carolina that stands out.  At a time of incredible, and in most cases justifiable, cynicism in sports Carolina stands out. 

Prior to the game the three of us visited the outstanding Carolina basketball museum. I’m surprised about how emotional it got during the visit. 

Like most UNC grads, I never played basketball at UNC yet I feel so emotionally invested.  The reason has to be that the values set up by Dean Smith and carried out – usually faithfully - by his successors.

I had originally typed ‘program’ but it really is values. Those values are one reason many of us, but frankly not enough of my fellow alums, are mad at Butch Davis.  I imagine Davis has visited the museum, but I doubt he really gets Carolina if you ask me. 

You visit the Carolina basketball museum and you see a tribute to hard work, success, humility, and perspective. One could argue that humility and perspective are incongruous with a museum; only a school like Carolina could pull that off.

As much as Carolina basketball is about Dean Smith, his values and success may oddly stem from the state of North Carolina and it’s motto.

Hanging over the Dean Dome is one of the largest North Carolina state flags in the world. Every time I see that flag I’m reminded of the state’s motto: To Be Rather Than to Seem. 

I’m getting weepy just typing Esse Quam Videri, that eloquent line of Latin. 

That motto epitomizes both North Carolina and Carolina basketball. Dean knew that authenticity - being - camaraderie, intelligence, effort, hard work, humility and honesty are cornerstones of success. 

You can add democracy to the list, too, when you consider that all that happens at a public university, the nation’s first, dedicated to making an undereducated state more intelligent.

From a bench at the UNC Wellstone Memorial

A place that we love so because it is, as it always has been, the university of the people. All those values, and more, are on display at the museum.

[And the barbeque is pretty excellent, too]

Other schools are as successful as Carolina, and some came close to sustaining a set of authentic values – John Wooden’s UCLA teams being the obvious example.  But no school, let alone basketball team, has sustained a set a values and success as has Carolina.

And when one of Dean’s successors, Matt Doherty, violated some of those values he paid for it.  He earned that 8-20 blemish on his record.

So when Tyler Hansbrough stood up at the end of a video tribute, 21,000 Tar Heels leapt out of their seats to cheer one of their own, one who epitomizes both the University of North Carolina and the State of North Carolina: to be rather than to seem.

As I tweeted during my visit to the museum: God I love Carolina.

Again with the winning ugly!

As miserable as the win was, think how numbing Heels fans would feel if we had lost? Losing that kind of game can ruin a season, especially this late in the year.  It’s trite to say, but winning is better than losing, for a number of reasons.  One good one: winning allows you to just dust the ugly stuff off your shoulder and move on to your next game.

We were able to attend, and at least live it appeared that we got good looks but left tons of points on the rim, epitomized by Marshall’s in-and-out basket with less than a minute left and the Heels nursing a 2-point lead.

It also appeared that we were determined to go inside.  Much has been made of our bad three-point shooting of late.  But I was almost heartened by Roy’s determination (in a loss that’s called stubbornness) to keep feeding the post and NOT jack up lots of threes.  When we fed the post in the second half – in addition to getting it to Zeller we really ran better, too - we built a 15-point lead.

And as bad as our shooting was the biggest problem down the stretch was turnovers, turnovers from guys who usually – at least of late – don’t make them: Zeller, Barnes and Marshall.  Who else on Carolina’s team would you want handling the ball late than those three?


For me, the good news is there isn’t much of a pattern in our recent lackluster play.  Against Wake and Clemson we didn’t turn it over, against BC we did.  I’m confident that the weirdness of the BC game will not carry over versus the Wolfpack on Wednesday.

What hopefully will is the incredibly tough D the Heels played for most of the game. The Heels never let BC run their offense.  Again, the turnovers late let BC make some shots to get back into the game but overall the defensive effort was inspiring. 

As always, GO HEELS!

Another visit to the White House

I was fortunate to represent the Sierra Club this afternoon at the White House's unveiling of their 'America's Great Outdoors' report.  

Hard to objectively assess the event.  Though I'm a semi-cynical 48-year old it was still a genuine thrill to visit the White House and be in the same room as the President of the United States, especially this President.   

It wasn't as exciting as my last visit, when the President signed the omnibus lands bill into law and added more than 2 million acres of new public land to America's great - and protected - outdoors - but it was still a great time.

The ceremony itself was relatively short, probably 20 to 25 minutes.  But the President gave a great speech.  And for a lobbyist it was awesome; a chance to talk with senior Administration officials from all the federal land agencies, environmental grant makers, and coalition partners from conservation and environmental organizations (including my next door neighbor John Kostyack from NWF, which meant that wo residents of the 3800-block of Alton Place NW were in the White House today; that may not have been the first time that happened since many of our neighbors are reporters).

Anyway, it was a great day for a great event celebrating America's Great Outdoors, an initiative the Sierra Club has been very active in ever since it was announced in April 2010 (the link is to the report the Lands team delivered to the Obama Administration in August 2010).  

I liked the White House so much I almost left my coat in the coat check room - on purpose - so I'd have an excuse to go back tomorrow.  I tweeted that from the event and did not hear a thing from the Secret Service.  So much for the Patriot Act - "Mr. President, the tweet is coming from inside the White House!"

Carolina - Hellenic Tie In

The visit to White House is also part of a plan to win Carolina it's third national championship in seven seasons.  

As I mentioned above, the last time I visited the White House was in March 2009, one week before the Heels romped to their 5th national championship.  That summer we also went to Greece.  We also went to Greece in 2005, when Roy Williams won his first and Carolina's fourth championship.

I'm not taking any chances this year.  I went to the White House today, and Ariadne* and I are going to Greece for a 5-day visit during her spring break (and a conveniently-timed Congressional recess) in March.  So if the pattern holds and we win our 6th NCAA championship in a month don't thank Roy or Harrison Barnes or John Henson - thank this blog.

* To show Evan some love - and put a cherry on top of the Carolina-Hellenic sundae - I am taking him and his cousin Paul to the Carolina-BC game in Chapel Hill this weekend.

AmeriGO HEELS!

Oh well

Not the greatest game last night for the Heels, but a win is a win and Carolina is now 19 and 6, and 9 and 2 in the ACC.

 The bad news: 

• for the second straight game the Heels got good looks, good looks that they missed.  We jacked up 27 threes last night, making only 5 for a 19 percent clip;
• the 27 threes were a symptom of impatience on offense.  When we attacked Wake's zone we did well, making almost 48 percent of our 2-point shots.  

The good news:

• only 8 turnovers.  Part of that is Wake's do-nothing zone, part of it is improved play by Barnes, and Marshall's steady running of the offense.  Besides the low number, I was heartened by back up point guard Dexter Strickland's ZERO turnovers in 31 minutes (or the same number of jump shots he hit);
• the Heels played some pretty good defense last night, holding Wake to 38 percent shooting;
• when Harrison Barnes was aggressive, which he generally was in the second half, he looked great; he's clearly been working on his dunking/explosiveness.  Barnes also had 4 assists last night;
• despite missing some shots from outside Leslie McDonald had a nice overall game;
• and almost best of all, Jon Henson was fantastic on defense.  He left quite a few points on the rim in the second half last night, but defensively he was fantastic.

Go Heels!

Can't stop watching the Barnes dunk

Lots I could be doing - it's actually a nice day for once here in DC - but nothing beats watching this over and over again.

Better than it looked

It would be easy to characterize today's win over Clemson as an ugly one.  But that would be unfair to this year's squad.

Bouncing back - on the road - after a tough loss to your arch rival makes a powerful statement.  This team has more resolve than the previously thought.  

The talent started to emerge once Kendall Marshall was installed as the starting point guard.  The resolve started building shortly after that.   It rounded into full form today at Littlejohn Coliseum.  

The Heels got off to good start, and led at half despite playing some ugly ball.  But like it was at Duke, the Heels let the home team come back and take the lead late.   

But today, the Heels didn't back off and made plays.  The second-best one was Marshall's steal and lay up to essentially ice the game with less than two minutes left.

The best play was the out-of-nowhere dunk by Barnes. Late in games he really loses himself in the action, and he definitely did on that freak-nasty dunk!  If Marshall's steal iced it, Barnes' dunk was a frigid blast that started the process.  

The game may have looked ugly, but that dunk was not!

GO HEELS!

Quick random note:  I watched the first 30 minutes of this game on ESPN3; Maryland was playing at the same time so the Carolina game was not shown on TV in DC.  ESPN3 was okay but I had to deal with lots of buffering and delays, etc.  That may have more to do with Earthlink than ESPN3 but either way it harmed my viewing experience.  

But after a commercial reminded me that I can watch live games on my iPhone with the ACC Sports app.   I switched over, and it was great - no delays or buffering at all. 

The Barnes quote is from Jim Hawkins at www.insidecarolina.com

Man . . .

We had that game, but Nolan Smith and Seth Curry would not let the Heels keep it.  That stinks.

Carolina got a little tentative in the second half, a not uncommon occurrence for a young team, and lost some of our offensive confidence.  

Tyler Zeller was the loan exception; he was tough throughout the game.

But Bullock, McDonald and even Henson (10 scintillating points in the first; only 4 in the second) looked tentative in the final 20 minutes of the game, and Strickland's foul trouble hurt us offensively by taking away his aggressiveness, and defensively where he could not aggressively cover Smith. 

Marshall's first half was phenomenal, but he seemed to run out gas with 10 minutes left.

Barnes and Singler seemingly expended all their energy on covering each other defensively, as neither had much of a game. Barnes had trouble getting off a shot in the second half. 

The tentativeness was evident on the boards and on defense, too, and that let Duke score 50 points in the second half.

Obviously frustrating; the Heels played hard but we just missed shots.  The offense was generating good looks; we just could not hit them late - and Smith and Curry did.

We're past moral victories with this team.  They are rolling, despite the final score and the last 20 minutes, and have restored the luster to Carolina basketball.   Time to regroup, and hit shots in Littlejohn this weekend in our rematch with Clemson.

One final thought on tonight's loss - it kind of reminds me of the 2005 game in Cameron, the one that ended with Felton dribbling too long then having Noel lose his dribble as time expired. Different plays but the same feel; that we let Duke off the hook once but will not let it happen again, or let one loss stop the team from having a great season.

As always - GO HEELS!

Having trouble staying focused

My internal clock has started counting down to tomorrow night's Carolina-Duke game.  I'm anxiously looking forward to a resurgent Carolina squad winning for the 5th time in 6 years at Cameron.

 

Last week the Post's Mike Wise penned a silly article stating reasons why folks should stop hating Krzyzewski and by extension Duke.  But Wise failed to mention why most people hate on the Devils (besides the subliminally obvious one, that good people reflexively hate devils) - the Duke students.

 

I think most basketball fans and even most Carolina fans respect the Duke basketball program: they don't cheat; they win; their players graduate. And for me at least, I respect that though often not as athletic as some other teams Duke always plays an effective and aggressive man-to-man defense.  Unathletic teams often 'hide' behind a zone, but not Duke.

 

But their students, as well as the school itself, stir my strong anti-Duke feelings.  It's a private school full of kids with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement.  That's why winning in Cameron is so sweet; watching their Devils lose seems to rattle a Dookie's world view.  Luckily, Carolina students and alumni have a more balanced perspective.  

 

And of course, there is the politics and karma of each school.  Carolina is the public, liberal school that produces folks like Paul Wellstone, Terry Sanford, Walker Percy, John Shelby Spong, Michael Jordan, Charles Kuralt, Tom Wicker, Mia Hamm, and Superchunk.  Duke, on the other hand, is a private institution given to producing right-wing nuts like Richard Nixon, Elizabeth Dole, both Rand and Ron Paul, Ken Starr and other low lifes such as Christian Laettner. 

 

One last thing, the good guys lead the all-time series 130 to 99.  And the best guy, Dean Smith, had a lifetime  record of 59-35 versus Duke, and was 24-14 versus Krzyzewski. Krzyzewski even has a losing record versus Dean in Cameron.  

 

Krzyzewski has a lifetime losing record, 34-35, against the Tar Heels a record that I'm confident will get worse after our next visit to Rand Paul's house on Wednesday night.

GO HEELS!

Marshall Plan

As a Greek-American I've always liked the Marshall Plan. A magnanimous nation helping a poor country like Greece rebuild and retool after being devastated by 4 years of Nazi occupation.

Well, I love the Carolina-Hellenic Blue version we saw today as Carolina won it's third straight game by at least 20 points, 89-69,  against a pretty good FSU team.

Playing his first extended minutes of the season due to Larry Drew II's decision to leave school in the middle of the season, Marshall excelled.  His 16 assists are a Carolina record for an ACC game.  

Let that sink in for a while.  Marshall - not Phil Ford, Jimmy Black, Derrick Phelps, Ed Cota, Raymond Felton, Ty Lawson, Quentin Thomas - has that record for assists.  At Carolina.

Marshall was the first among equals in tonight's win. The list of contributors was not as deep as it was versus Boston College, but most everyone played great today.  It looks like every Heels player - not just Harrison Barnes - is losing themselves in the game, and it has showed of late as Carolina has rolled to some very convincing wins.  And a 7-1 record halfway through the ACC season.

Against the Noles Carolina was never really challenged.  The Tar Heels had a nice working margin most of the game.  In the first half it was Marshall, but also an aggressive Dexter Strickland, Barnes, and some great contributions from Justin Knox leading the way.   Carolina had a 9-point lead at half without significant contributions from Zeller or Henson.

That changed in the second, as Zeller in particular got great position down low and Henson was much more aggressive and hit a variety of shots - including my new favorite, his sweeping left handed hook. He looks like Randy Johnson when he extends, and his arm looks even longer than usual. 

I also like Barnes' toughness, hitting 3 shots after hurting his left shoulder.  Best way to rehab an injury is to make shots!

That's what the Heels did all game, as they became the first ACC school to shoot more than 50 percent against the Seminoles this season.

A lot of the credit goes to the Marshall Plan.  Ever since Roy made him the starter the offense has really flowed, guys are generally making good decisions and taking good shots, and the Heels are looking very, very confident.   Oh yeah - they're also winning  ball games.

A few more Heels notes:

• Larry Drew II looked small for leaving Carolina the way he did; Marshall made him look even smaller today (if that's possible).
• Carolina didn't need a whole lot from Bullock or McDonald today, though each made a three-pointer.
• Knox made some tough shots, but also set a couple of nice screens and defended well especially in the first half.
• Some interesting numbers: Barnes finished with a double double, 17 and 10, and Marshall and Strickland each played more than 35 minutes. 
• Carolina enters Wednesday's big game versus Ran Paul's alma mater full of confidence.  It will be a big test for freshmen like Barnes and Marshall and Bullock, but I love our chances.  Duke is a little weak down low - though Mason Plumlee has played better of late - so if Marshall and Strickland can get it to Zeller, Hanson and Knox and open things for Strickland, McDonald, Bullock and Barnes watch out!  Go Heels!

Not II Classy

In one of the most boneheaded moves in the history of college basketball, Larry Drew II announced yesterday that he is leaving Carolina.  The list of reasons why this is a boneheaded move is long.  Consider:

• Every player who transfers has to sit out a season, but since this year is half way over Drew will have to sit out a year and half; he won't be back on the court until the 2012-2013 season;
• Who would want a guy like that on their team anyway? The resume reads 'led defending national champs to NIT as a sophomore starter; as a junior quit on team mid-way through the season.'  Oh yeah, schools are going to line up to sign a guy like that;
• Drew quit when he and the team were playing well; coming off the bench as really suited Drew II and the Heels; but I guess the prospect of coming off the bench next year was too much for him to take;
• Quitting midway through the season invites inevitable comparisons to Sarah Palin;
• Drew II had his dad, Atlanta Hawks head coach Larry Drew Sr., call Roy and deliver the news; that's like a school in the summer - no class.

That last point is the most serious one.  Carolina will be fine - though thinner and it weakens a real strength of this team, having a deep and productive bench. 

Why have your dad make that call to Williams?  Do you have so little respect for the University and the team?  Drew II never spoke to Williams or to any of his teammates in person.  Not a very mature approach.

And if Drew II was that unhappy, the classy and conscientious path would have been to wait until the end of the season.  A good friend and a good teammate thinks of their friends and team first.  Drew II did not, opting to act like a spoiled baby.  

You can only make yourself happy if you make others happy first.  That's true in life, but especially for a point guard!

I meant 'giddy"

I admitted some anxiousness heading into last night's game at BC in Chestnut Hill.  But Reggie Bullock, Harrison Barnes, Jon Henson, Tyler Zeller, Justin Knox, Larry Drew II, Leslie McDonald, Dexter Strickland, Wanda, Kendell Marshall and Patrick Crouch did away with that silly notion as the Heels rolled - stampeded? - to a 106-74 win.

I had to list the entire team because it was kind of win, with contributions from everyone and everywhere.  Led by Bullock the Heels were on fire from outside.  Bullock's run in the first half pulled the Eagles out of their zone, and from that point on Marshall and Drew (9 assists to 1 turnover) fed Zeller, Henson and Knox consistently.   

In the meantime, Barnes was hitting shots from everywhere - 3s, drives, mid-range jumpers, running the floor - on his way to 26 points and offering more proof that 'he is THAT guy.'

Defensively the Heels overplayed the passing lanes and forced turnover after turnover, which of course fed our running game.  The team was running and flowing so well on offense that in his post-game comments Roy indicated that Carolina only ran 2 set plays all game.  

So when you hit 3s, turn turnovers into fast breaks, feed the post, contributions from every player on the roster, and NOT turn it over you get 106 points and a total beat down of a decent opponent on their home court.

It also turns anxiousness into giddiness.  GO HEELS!

A little nervous

I admit I'm a little nervous about tonight's road game versus Reggie Jackson and the BC Golden Eagles. I love the way the Heels have been playing lately, but worry that we may be tempting the fates with another road win. 

But getting that win would be huge.  Doing so would give the newly re-ranked Heels 6 wins, including 3 on the road (at UVA and at UM) and 16 for the season, both excellent numbers but especially outstanding when compared to last year's season.

In addition to gaining another road win, Heels everywhere will be watching to see if Harrison Barnes' upward trajectory continues, if we keep getting valuable contributions from Bullock, Drew, McDonald and Knox off the bench, and if Marshall continues to feed the post.  

More importantly, another win will feed the surging confidence of this year's squad.