Dean

I never met Dean Smith - I think the closest I came to ever talking to him was when Jim Love and the coach shared an ash tray as Jim and I were leaving Carmichael after picking up some student basketball tickets; I think I was in the bathroom - but like Tar Heels everywhere his death hit me hard.  I wept more than once today thinking about Coach Smith.

Despite never having played for him many UNC alums usually refer to him as Coach Smith, like his players did.  Or you could go with Dean, though that frankly seems too familiar.  

There have been many great tributes to Coach Smith today, as there were when he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and when he retired in 1997. Two of my favorite's are by Sports Illustrated's Alexander Wolff and Beth McNichol at the UNC General Alumni Association.  Both articles remind readers that Dean was more than an innovative and creative and successful basketball coach, that Coach Smith was a scholar, author and social activist.  Above all they remind us that Coach Smith was a gentleman who was generous and loyal to his players and staff, someone who treated his star players and student managers with respect and equality.

North Carolina, America and the world could use a lot more Dean Smiths.

One thing those tributes have not mentioned is that the reason Coach Smith means so much to non-basketball players or coaches is that for UNC alums, Dean IS Carolina.

Charles Kuralt said it best when at the University's 200th anniversary he asked 'Why is it that we love this place so? ... Because it still is, what it always has been, the university of the people.' 

That's Dean. When we look at Coach Smith we see the values many if not all of us associate with Carolina. To alums our alma mater is more than a school.  Carolina is a set of values - open-mindedness, liberal, egalitarian, public - designed to help Chapel Hill fulfill its mission of helping the people of North Carolina and the South overcome a still-toxic legacy of bigotry, ignorance and poverty.  

The University of the people. The University of Dean Smith.

Everlasting be his memory! Go Heels! 

For more on Dean from a different perspective check out the inaugural 'Manuel Transmissions' podcast, a podcast that will eventually feature opinions from three 'generations' of the Manuel family: parents John, Cleo, Christine, Athan; high school and college students Evan, Kate, Ariadne, Paul; kids Sophia, Alex, Michael, Anna.  Our initial podcast features Paul, Ariadne, Evan, me and an actual journalist John Manuel, talking about Dean.


Two more Dean notes:

• I want to thank my friend Bill Wood for having Dean autograph a basketball for me. Bill, a UNC med school grad, was the household hazardous waste coordinator for Orange County, doing good work AND becoming a North Carolina resident before applying to med school. When Dean agreed to record a PSA for the program Bill thoughfully got Coach Smith to autograph a ball for me, one of the nicest gifts I've ever received and a Dean move all the way! I'm pointing at Bill right now! 
• i would love to see #pointtothepasser start trending on Twitter. Nothing is more Dean than pointing out when someone helps you succeed. Heels need to make that happen. 
  
  

Reset - for Paige and for Tar Heels everywhere

I think it's safe to say the Tar Heels hit the reset button on the 2014-2015 season after their come from behind win versus Louisville in Chapel Hill on Saturday.  More than two months into this season, and the team still felt off, stuck in neutral.  For every good win, over Ohio State in Columbus or the back-to-back wins over UCLA and Florida, there were equally odd losses to Iowa at home coupled with the 'meh' games at Kentucky and against Butler.

Ditto the players. Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks entered the season with altered bodies and great expectations. Both have played well at times, but there remain nagging questions about their offensive inconsistency.

But of course the biggest example of a player stuck in neutral, searching for a rhythm and flow, was Marcus Paige.  

Not only is he our best player, the pre-season ACC player of the year and first team All-American, Paige carries the burden of being an actual student-athlete. He's asked to make shots, lead the Heels to championships, AND lead Carolina out of our post-Wainstein funk.   

We, or at least folks like me, need him to save the team and help restore our alma mater's reputation.

That's a lot on the slender shoulders of the Iowa junior. But with 8.5 seconds left and the Heels down one, Paige found to way to balance all those responsibilities - or at least figured out a way to bank them high off the glass and into the basket - and lead the Heels to their most important win of the season.

A play that big, to cap off a comeback that important, can save a season for a team and a player.  

And when that player is Marcus Paige it makes us, Tar Heels everywhere, feel better about Carolina - Dean's Carolina, the institution we believe in and cherish, THE university of the people - too.*

GO HEELS! 

* I may be overdoing it a bit, but as you can tell I love Marcus Paige. He's as Dean as they come. Anyway, we'll find out if he has turned around our season on Wednesday versus State. It will be quite a game, if for no other reason it will be State's 'we just beat the crap out of Duke' mojo versus our 'The Marcus Paige who single-handedly took down the Wolfpack in Raleigh last year is BACK.'

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP NOTE

If you only read one article about tonight's college football championship game read this one from the Post: Students Try to Find Their Place For College Football National Championship Game. The networks and big six conferences lined up the money, sponsors, boosters, capitalist pigs, and the athletes but forgot about the students. Big time college sports don't need to be reformed; they are fundamentally corrupt.   

Big Games Loom As ACC Season Goes to the Wire

There are quite a few huge games left in the last 4 weeks of the ACC regular season.  This looked like a down year for the ACC.  Despite possessing the best RPI in the country, and dominating the ACC-Big 10 challenge for the seventh year in a row, for weeks it looked like the ACC would be a four and at best a five bid league in terms of the NCAA tournament.

But three games last week changed that.  Duke's two loses to Wake and Miami have placed those teams firmly on the bubble.  And Virginia Tech's impressive bounce back win - on the road - over Maryland coupled with their very favorable schedule places the Hokies back in contention.  

All of a sudden, one can envision a scenario where the ACC gets seven teams into the field of 65.

Here is my team-by-team breakdown - in no particular order - of the remainder of the ACC regular season (courtesy of my visit to the eye doctor on Friday; I was there for two hours and between tests was able to forecast the remainder of the season):

FSU: despite a nice win over Clemson last week I think the Noles will finish by going 1-3 and 5-11 overall; they only have one more winnable game on the schedule, at home vs. BC, with a huge game vs. Miami in Tallahassee to the last regular season game for FSU; that game will mean more to UM so I have the Canes winning that tilt.

BC: only one winnable game left on their schedule, against Georgia Tech at home; after a nice start to the ACC season I think they'll finish at 5-11.

Maryland: the Terps have the most challenging remaining schedule of any ACC team; you can see them losing their last four games - 3 roads games vs. Wake, Virginia, and Miami, and a home game vs. Clemson;  I think they'll beat Clemson and limp to an 8-8 finish in the conference; the selection committee heavily weighs how a team played in their last 10 games, so they may be in trouble at 8-8; that loss to the Hokies was huge; will their win against Carolina get them in, or will early season losses at home to American and Ohio relegate the Terps to the NIT? with 8 regular season wins it will probably take a win in the ACC tournament to get Maryland into the NCAA.

Miami - I blogged about this last week, but Miami controls their own destiny; win against Duke was huge; they have 3 more winnable games left against Maryland, BC, and Virginia, a winnable road game against FSU, and a big big game at Clemson; simply winning at home gets the Canes to 8-8, and taking the Noles in the finale gets them to 9 wins and into the NCAA tournament; it also means NC-native Frank Haith is the ACC coach of the year. 

Georgia Tech - should win their last 3 homes games and finish 7-9.

Virginia Tech - Seth Greenberg would be coach of the year if not for Haith, assuming of course that VPI wins their last 3 home games against Georgia Tech, Boston College and Wake; their one road game is winnable too, against Clemson; they should finish 3-1 and with 9 wins in the conference; 9 isn't always the magic number, but it should get them in.

Virginia - I thought they'd go 11-5 this year, but instead will likely finish at 5-11 after going 3-2 the rest of the way; I do have them upsetting Duke in Charlottesville, though.

NCSU - only one winnable game on their schedule against FSU in Raleigh; Pack will finish the season in last place as one of four 5-11 ACC squads while Herb Sendek returns to the NCAA tournament as coach of Arizona State.

Wake Forest - another great story a la Miami and the Hokies; Gaudio could win coach of the year as sentimental choice and with 8 conference wins; the Deacons are great at home but bad on the road; if that pattern persists they will finish at 8-8 and on the same bubble as Maryland; will Duke win get them in? huge game looming @ Virginia Tech; like Maryland, they probably need a win in the ACC tournament to secure an invitation to the big dance.

Clemson - if they win their remaining two home games - against Miami and Virginia Tech - they get to 9 wins and in; road games versus Maryland and Georgia Tech are also winnable.

Duke - should finish with 12 wins even with an upset loss to Virginia; I have Carolina beating them for the third year in a row in Cameron to end the season.

Carolina - I see the Heels running the table behind Hansbrough and Q, with Lawson returning to burn the Devils in Durham.

So my final standings are:

UNC 14-2

Duke 12-4

Clemson 9-7

Va Tech 9-7

Miami 9-7

Maryland 8-8

Wake 8-8

Ga Tech 7-9

BC, FSU, 

NCSU, Virginia 5-11

Huge games left:

Maryland at Miami - TODAY

Miami at Clemson - Feb. 27

Wake at Georgia Tech - Mar 1

Clemson at Maryland - Mar 2

Wake at Virginia Tech - Mar 4

Miami at FSU - Mar 8

Carolina at Duke - Mar 8

Maryland at Virginia - Mar 9

Heels, Hokies, Hoops and Hellenic Football

Great to watch the Heels rout the Hokies on Saturday afternoon. It reminded me of those halcyon days of yore, you know January.

It was a great win no matter how you look at it, but especially sweet in the context of recent nail biters and over time wins, to say nothing of the many injuries and ailments the Heels have had to deal with. Under normal circumstances, a 39-point beat down by the Heels would not be that noteworthy, but for me me there were three nice story lines from the 92-53 win.

One, don’t forget that Virginia Tech swept the season series against the Heels last year. The loss in Chapel Hill was the most galling, as Carolina lost another overtime game to Jamon Gordon and last year’s pretty good Hokie squad. This year the Heels are excelling, or at least making plays and winning, in overtime.

Two, the Heels blew out an ACC team while using second and third-string players for much of the game. Not only did Q have a tremendous game - more on that later - but Alex Stephenson played a great game on both ends of the court and Will Graves was on the floor during key stretches of the tilt versus Tech. It’s been said quite a bit lately, but the silver lining of these injuries is more time and experience for players like Graves and Q.

And three, how great was Q today? By far this was his best game as a Heel. He is playing with such confidence now, as evidenced by his two DUNKS against the five from Blacksburg. His dunk in the first half also featured a great cross over dribble to get him into the lane and to the rack. Great to see a guy who has persevered play so well when given the chance. Thomas finished with six points, seven boards and six assists against Virginia Tech.

I think he will be able to handle State on Wednesday, and the Heels should be in great shape again when Lawson returns.

Hoops Random Thoughts

• I guess Wake has recovered from the post-Chris Paul talent slump they’ve endured, to say nothing of the challenge of recovering from the sudden death of Skip Prosser. I only watched the second half of that game, but came away impressed by the way Wake fought back after Duke retook the lead after trailing at half. It was the first time I’ve seen Wake play, but they looked pretty athletic on offense and defense.

• Wake’s defense kept Duke’s perimeter game in check, but the foul trouble didn’t help the Devils either. Most of those fouls looked legit; I don’t know if Duke was tired or that much slower than Wake or what. But whatever the reason, I think it’s ridiculous for the referees to foul out six players - six starters - in a game. And here’s an excuse for me to repeat one of my core hoop beliefs: 9 times out of 10, when an offensive player drives to the hoop and a foul is called it SHOULD be on the defense for a block; let the offense flow.

• It was quite a Wake Forest weekend with the NBA all star game in New Orleans revolving around Chris Paul. Interesting to note that only three schools had two players each in the All Star game: Wake with Paul and Tim Duncan, Carolina with Sheed and Antawn Jamison, and UConn with my man Caron Butler (nice article in the Post), Ray Allen and Rip Hamilton.

• UConn and Carolina makes sense, but who would have ever thought that Wake would be in that company? [Then again, 20 years ago who would have thought the Huskies would replace Indiana in the college hoops pantheon of Carolina, UCLA, Kentucky, Duke, Kansas, ?Arizona?UConn?] Also interesting to note that neither player was able to lead Wake to a Final Four in their six years in Winston-Salem.

• Wake has to be considered a bubble team for the NCAA tournament now, and Miami can played itself back onto the bubble after their win this weekend over Georgia Tech (if Tech had held on to defeat the Huskies two weeks ago they could have gotten back on the bubble too). So the ACC should get at least four: Carolina, Duke, Clemson, Maryland; hopefully five with Wake, and maybe six if Miami rises to the occasion.

• The Canes are intriguing. They are 4-6 in the conference but control their destiny. Their next three games are key: they host Duke and Maryland, then visit Clemson before finishing with three winnable games - against Virginia and BC in the Gables then a rivalry game at FSU - to close out the season. Eight wins in the ACC should get them in, especially if - and it’s a HUGE IF - they can take down Duke and/or Maryland and Clemson on the road.

Random NBA Thought

• I didn’t watch any of the All Star game though I intended to since Jamison and Sheed were in there. The whole weekend has gotten too hype-driven and superficial to watch or enjoy. That said, I have to give David Stern and the NBA props for going to New Orleans. The mandatory service day on Friday was nice, but almost more importantly it was good to focus the media - what media the NBA generates - on the still shameful state of post-Katrina New Orleans. How that story has faded off the front page of the papers is embarrassing.

Hellenic Football Thoughts

• Finally, some Greek soccer news. Olympiacos plays at Chelsea tomorrow in the sweet 16 of the European Champions league. Chelsea is favored but Olympiacos comes in feeling confident after winning a road game for the first time in 32+ years in the Champions league.

• Panathinaikos plays Rangers in the round of 32 of the UEFA Cup (the consolation-prize tournament to the Champions league). Pana scored a mild upset in the first game of the two-game series by tying the Scottish squad over the weekend. Game two is in Athens on Thursday.

Almost Completely Random Presidents Day Musing

• How about that James Knox Polk, UNC 1818? He helped launch a semi-bogus war against Mexico in an effort to spread slavery (plan was to admit Texas but also New Mexico and Arizona as slave states). But the Mexican-American war also got us California, which seems like a good thing. The war also gave a one-term Congressman from Illinois a national platform to criticize an unjust war. Of course that lanky member of Congress was Barack Obama, I mean Abraham Lincoln.
  

Have a nice presidents day!

February 18, 2008