Carolina and Duke

As dawn breaks on the 2017 NCAA basketball tournament I am feeling very good about the Tar Heels' chances.  Look for Joel Berry in particular to be a beast, and try to make up for the foul trouble that plagued him and Carolina in the ACC tournament semi-final loss.

It took me a while to recover from the ACC tournament.  When I was growing up in North Carolina it was a life or death event; only the ACC tournament champion would go to the big dance back then. So winning the ACC tournament is not necessary for your team to have a successful season, but not winning it still stinks.  

Much like the loss of an election to Donald Trump can make you question everything about America, one loss to Duke can do the same about the state of Carolina basketball.  Almost 2 days later I still can not get over that loss.

The U.S. blowing a 5-0 lead to the DR in the World Baseball Classic that night did not help, nor did Duke's win over Notre Dame. To demonstrate how chaotic this sports weekend was (I drafted most of this blog on Sunday, March 12th), the only safe harbor in the weekend sports storm was the Wizards!  The normally forgotten and formerly hapless 'Zards!

[Coincidentally, as I type this I'm listening to 'You've Got To Lose' by Cesar Rosas, off his solo record Soul Disguise.]

Anyway, the loss to the Devils prompted me to see if the 'data' supported my sour mood about my beloved Tar Heels. I looked at the last 10 years, specifically at: our over all record; ACC regular season and tournament performance; head to head vs. Duke; All-ACC selections; finally NBA All Star-game selections, to see how we stack up against the Dookies. This exercise also reminded me of ol' Roys quote about last year's squad:  "I've never seen such a good team talked about like it was a bad team" like the 2016 Final Four team, or something like that.  No matter what the data shows, the Heels have been very good lately.

Here are what the numbers say, and though they are impressive Stephen Miller's alma mater has a slight edge, especially since the end of the Tyler Hansbrough era. FYI, Hansbrough is currently playing for the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants in the D League, where he had 12 and 17 in their last game. Gulp.

I will start with the good news: overall, UNC is 134 and 109 versus the devils. The bad news is we have a six-game losing streak versus the school that taught Richard Nixon the law in the ACC tournament. Our loss on Friday also means we are now 49-50 versus the devils in our last 99 games (I am too old to make a Jay Z reference here). Finally, the worst number: in the last ten years we are 8-14 against our nemesis from the Bull City. 

Overall, we are 285-84, for a .772 winning percentage, over the last 10 years. Impressive stuff, but the devils are 295-68 for an astounding .812 winning percentage.  

The other pieces of good news for Heels fans are:

• We lead in first place finishes in the regular season, 6 to 1. Our overall ACC record is 124-46 in that span while Duke, owing to our 5-11 season in 2010, bests us with a 127-43 mark.
• UNC has had 4 ACC Players of the Year - Justin Jackson, Tyler Zeller, Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough - against just 2 for Duke in Jahlil Okafor and Nolan Smith.  We also lead them in guys named Ty or Tyler.  
• Carolina has more NCAA wins, 25 to 22, and Final Four appearances, 3 versus 2, compared to the devils. We each have 7 losses in that ten-year span, with Dook losing twice in the first round. But at least they made the tournament those two years; the 2010 team is our blemish since we have only played in 9 of the last 10 NCAA tournaments while Duke is 10 for 10.

The flip side of those stats are:  

• They have 2 national championships to our one. UConn is the only other school with 2 championships in that span.
• Dook has 4 ACC tournament championships to our 2, and their record in the event is 19-6 while we are 17-8.
• Though we have had more ACC players of the year (4 to 2), they have had 12 first-team all ACC players to our nine.
• Thanks mainly to Kyrie "I believe the Earth is flat!" Irving, Ben Quayle's alma mater has had 6 NBA all stars in the last 10 years compared to only two for Michael Jordan's; Irving 3 times, Luol Deng twice and Carlos Boozer once. The last two UNC NBA all stars were Rasheed Wallace and Antawan Jamison, in 2008!  FYI, thanks for Chris Paul (9) and Tim Duncan (6) Wake Forest of all schools has had 16 NBA all stars in the last 10 years, with Jeff Teague picking up one selection.

Carolina goes into overtime and beats Villanova last year and these numbers are practically even. But that is sports for you; we honor the effort but the winners get the spoils.  

Finally, for a more cynical take, how about the the 'curse of Harrison Barnes'?  Barnes came to Carolina as perhaps the most celebrated recruit of all time (in college basketball, not just at Carolina).  While he had a great two-year run in Chapel Hill, Barnes did not live up to the incredible hype (except for perhaps the last two-thirds of his freshman year), and injuries to Kendall Marshall and John Henson in 2011 and 2012 derailed any hopes of a national championship or even a final four.  He was supposed to be Jordan and Worthy, with a little Wayne Ellington (a great outside shooter), rolled into one player. Instead he was more of an rich man's Reggie Bullock (who I love, BTW; love Barnes, too).  

Conversely, Kyrie Irving enrolled at Duke at the same time. Injuries limited him to only 7 games in Durham, but since then he has stolen Barnes' mojo. He was the number one pick in the NBA draft, has become a perennial All Star, started on the U.S. Olympic team while Barnes barely played, and even hit the game winning shot in the NBA finals last year. Irving has basically had the career that Barnes was supposed to have.  He's become the transcendental talent of his generation, a title scouts bestowed on Barnes in high school.

In time Barnes may become that kind of basketball savant. He is a very good player, but for now in the shadow of Kyrie Irving. 

Wrists and shoes - and of course Harrison Barnes.

First the wrists were broken, then the other - and other - shoe dropped as Kendall Marshall, Harrison Barnes, and John Henson announced their intentions to enter the 2012 NBA draft today.

I could have pivoted from wrists broken to hearts broken, but that's a little overly dramatic for Dean Smith's basketball program. Also, for most if not ALL Carolina fans, our hearts were broken Sunday - twice. Once when it was announced that Marshall would not play against Kansas, and the second time in the excruciating final four minutes against the Jayhawks that saw Carolina outscored 0-12.

Today was merely a formality, at least for Barnes and Henson. Everyone knew that this season was likely to be their last in Chapel Hill. Hopes were raised slightly by the small possibility that that trio would return in order to make a run at the 2013 national championship, but that was frankly a smaller-than-small possibility.

Injuries often are THE deciding factor for players facing these kinds of decisions, so even though Marshall's was a bit a of a surprise his draft stock is sky high, and honestly how could he play any better than he did down the stretch this year?  The combination of an injury and the talent level (ceiling?) he reached apparently clinched it for the Dumfries, Virginia sophomore. Marshall has been compared to Jason Kidd, though he's slower than Kidd was when he was also entering the NBA as a sophomore, and with the right team he should become a star.

Henson leaves after 2 years of scintillating play on both ends of the floor.  Interesting to note that he came to Carolina hoping to develop into a 3 for the NBA, only to comfortably reassert himself as a traditional - and game changing - power forward who can block shots on one end, score with either hand on the other. Like Marshall, his draft stock is likely at it's peak. If his body can withstand 82 games in a man's league, Henson should thrive in the league on his defense alone. But his quickness and ability to hit the mid-range jumper should also help him succeed.

As it has been since he stepped on campus in the fall of 2010, it's harder to assess Harrison Barnes. When he was great, he was unbelievable. But he wasn't always great, and for a smart and sophisticated guy his concentration and effectiveness maddeningly waxed and waned this season.

And unfortunately, when his team needed him the most in the wake of Marshall's injury, Barnes responded by missing 22 of his last 30 shots in the regional semi-final and final.  

Barnes was coming off a great second half of this freshman year, a half season that saw him explode once Marshall was installed as the starting point guard. Carolina fans expected Barnes to continue that progression this season. Instead, Barnes leveled off into an effective but not always dynamic offensive player whose rebounding improved.  

Finally, he never became the superstar we expected - or needed against Ohio and especially Kansas. Rather than evolving into the next Tyler Hansbrough, an unstoppable combination of skill and will that led Carolina to another national championship, Barnes ended his season - and career in Chapel Hill - as the third-best player on his own team.

We expected those NBA shoes to drop, but did not expect Barnes to settle for that ranking on this year's Tar Heels squad.

Hoo ha

At half time of yesterday's Carolina game, the in-studio commentator for ESPN went on about 'this Tar Heels team may not be good enough to merely flip the switch and play great ... blah blah blah" or some such hoo ha.  

That kind of 'analysis' has become quite common place, at least it was in 2008, 2009, and the last two years.  Commentators love blathering on about what's wrong with Carolina; so much talent the players get lackadaisical or indifferent, they don't play hard, imagine if they always gave maximum effort, etc.

Like I said, hoo ha.  

You may recall that in 2005 there was a similar narrative; the Heels had tremendous talent but did they play as a team. Can you imagine Dean's reaction when he heard that?  A Carolina squad being accused of NOT being a team?  

The old Dean-era narrative was the opposite.  Carolina's 'system' suppressed individual talent and players in service to the team.  At one point, that was actually one excuse given for why Dean could not win the big one - too much focus on the team and not enough freedom for individual stars to take over a game.

Old hoo ha.

But all those analyses are incorrect and display a lack of knowledge of Carolina basketball.  Carolina basketball is defined by effort on both ends of the floor, feeding the post first in search of the best and easiest shot, and increasing possessions by playing aggressive defense and rebounding. 

There is no flipping the switch, or even a system really.  It's a philosophy of playing winning and consistent and honest basketball, confident that effort, feeding the post, defense, rebounds and possessions will win most games.

Now, as we saw last night in Coral Gables, some games the easy shots don't fall, the defense gets a little sloppy, and the other team gets a head of steam.  As a result, the Heels found themselves down by 8 with 15 minutes left.

But eventually, the Heels will usually get it right.  And coming out of the under 16 time out, they did.  The defense got tougher and forced turnovers on 4 straight Hurricanes possessions.  Carolina quickly turned those turnovers into points. The rest of the half was more of the same, with the Heels playing tough D particularly against Miami's guards and center Reggie Johnson, dominating the boards on both ends, and making shots.

John Henson was tough down low to start the second half as Carolina fed the post, and had a great game on the glass.

In addition to defense, rebounding and more possessions, it's always good to enhance a philosophy with some simple and excellent talent, talent like Harrison Barnes.  Barnes' 14-point burst coincided with the Canes' turnovers and Carolina's defensive pressure, and helped lead the Heels to a nice, at times ugly but validating, win.

Maybe this team does flip the switch.  But it's not a switch as mundane as talent or a wake up call. It's much more profound than that.  That switch says Carolina basketball.

GO HEELS!

A few more Tar Heels Headlines

• Carolina basketball breeds confidence.  That's how Reggie Bullock, after misfiring for most of the night, was cool and collected enough down the stretch last night to hit 2 big three pointers.
• It's also the reason we continue to see the evolution of James Michael McAdoo.   For the fourth game in a row he was confident and aggressive.  Love to see that.
• Psycho Z was not as dominant offensively, but totally shut down Johnson down low.  He was big.
• Finally, Kendall Marshall was off for 20 minutes, and steadily fantastic for the final 15. Like Bullock, he missed lots of shots but kept his head up as he played all 20 minutes of the second half.

Five Great Halves in a Row

The Heels continued to prove they were back today against Georgia Tech, extending their winning streak to 31 straight at home, but more importantly playing their fourth and fifth straight great halves of basketball in routing the Yellow Jackets.

Lot's of other numbers to talk about: Carolina shot 54 for the game; made 8 three-point shots in the 1st half; the Tar Heels blocked 10 shots and had 8 steals versus only 10 turnovers for the game; ended a 4 game losing streak to Georgia Tech (the oddest number in this list).

Those numbers do tell the story.  Two numbers, two stories, two stats it particular should make every Tar Heels fan on the planet happy.

One, and the gaudiest one to look at, is the 10 threes for the game. Carolina started the season shooting 3s very well but had cooled of late.  This afternoon the Heels were getting and making open looks from beyond the arch. That, of course, opened thing up inside for another great game from Zeller, and effective and emphatic drives from Barnes.

If today's performance is proof that the Heels, in particular Bullock and Hairston, have regained their outside touch this team is practically unbeatable.  Who does the other team guard when all five Heels can shoot and score? 

Two, the defense was generally outstanding today, as evidenced by the 30 boards, and an 18 to 10 ratio of take aways - steals and blocks - to give aways - the dreaded turnover.  Boards, blocks and steals lead to fast breaks, and fast breaks lead to points.

In the second half Carolina's perimeter defense lagged at times, but the interior defense was outstanding, and I agree with Hubert Davis' kudos to Barnes for shutting down Glen Rice Jr. this afternoon.

As it is with Carolina's outside shooting, when the Heels defend and rebound like they did today, watch out world. 

The great news is the Heels have now done that for 5 halves in a row, and are starting to regain their swagger.

The iffy news is, can you really measure progress against a team that looked so overmatched like Georgia Tech looked today?  With Wake and Maryland up next, we may not find out that answer  for another week or so.  Either way, it's great to see Carolina looking like Carolina.

GO HEELS!

A few - ok, quite a few - more Heels notes:

• I loved Reggie Bullock's game today.  Not only did he bury some shots, 3 of 6 from three, I loved his activity on defense and without the ball.  His transition defense was key in the decisive first-half run that put this game away early.
• How crazy good is Kendall Marshall?  Ho hum, another 12-1 assist to turnover ratio game, with an excellent mix of long, spectacular, skip passes, mixed in with a three-pointer and a few nifty drives.  Running out of superlatives for his game.
• Fantastic to see John Michael McAdoo play with confidence today.  He had his best game in about a month.  Best of all?  He did not settle for that 10-foot fadeaway jumper he loves.  McAdoo was confident and aggressive today.
• Tyler Zeller continues to be 'the good Tyler Zeller' of last year's stretch run.  He was efficient and smooth on offense, great on the boards, and had another nice defensive game, too.  Front court mate John Henson had a nice if unspectacular game as well, 13 points, 6 boards, 4 blocks and a stop the presses 5 of 8 on free throws!
• Oh yeah, Harrison Barnes put together another dominant half of hoops.  In the first half he was not that aggressive but he made up for in the second stanza with a series of drives, pull ups, dunks, threes, and reverse lay ups.  And he played pretty good defense, too.
• Stillman White had a decent game, hitting one three, making one assist and one steal in 6 minutes of spelling Marshall at the point. Interesting to see Justin Watts play the point for about 2 minutes late in the game.  As a result, Marshall 'only' played 31 minutes tonight, which coincidentally is his season's average this year.

Finally

How great was it get to finally watch some Carolina basketball tonight? 


Rereading that sentence, the funniest word is 'finally.'  That's how bad the loss to FSU felt, a loss that practically wiped out the entire season, or threatened to render the 2012 campaign meaningless.  A loss that could have lingered in the players' psyche for the rest of the year.  


It was that bad a loss, that bad a performance.


That's why this win, and the way the Heels won, felt so good (at least for me).


Sure, the first half was tough to watch.  Carolina got off to a good start though we left a lot of points on the rim, especially Harrison Barnes who just seemed off.  But our early lead vanished under another barrage of Hokies three point shots.  Some of those were good shots, but some of them were just plain luck; one three banked in as the shot clock expired after Jon Henson had blocked two shots on the possession.  Even when they were falling, I didn't feel that bad; unlike against FSU there were few wide open looks for Virginia Tech during that run.

Nonetheless, the Heels trailed at half.


But at half time something great happened.  Perhaps it was before halftime, actually.  John Henson scored on an patented UNC in bounds alley-oop pass with 0.9 seconds left to give us some momentum.


And boy, did that mo carry over.  Or it at least washed over Harrison Barnes.  He came out in the second half completely focused, and shook off his mini slump with an 8-0 run to open the final 20 minutes.  


It was almost inspirational the way Barnes and the other Heels came out of half time sick and tired of not playing well.  Barnes' one man run quickly turned in a team-wide one, as everyone started making plays, extra passes, baskets and free throws as part of a 31-5 run that put the game away.


And the Heels got back to playing tough D, especially in that second half.  Carolina was only credited with 9 blocks - seemed like more than that - and the Heels were much more aggressive and attentive defensively, especially in the passing lanes, with nice help and putting up walls to cut off penetration.


A gut check win on the road is always nice, but just as nice was watching the Heels look like the Tar Heels again.  They went inside (either via the pass or drive), were patient and smart on offense, rebounded like crazy, blocked shots and overplayed the passing lanes and as a result were able to run in the second half.


It was vintage Carolina basketball, something that we only missed for one game but a game that lingered for what felt like an eternity - at least until the second half of tonight's game.


GO HEELS!

A few more Heels notes:

• John Henson broke out of his one-game mini slump, too.  In Tallahassee he seemed unfocused, but tonight he was everywhere, grabbing 16 boards, officially blocking 6 shots (but it felt like 16 - or 60 blocks tonight) and finishing with 16 points.
• Tyler Zeller seems to be back to last season's form.  He was the only Heels player to show up versus the Noles, and tonight he was just as good with a double double of his own with 14 points and 11 boards. And he, too, seemed to block or alter dozens of shots. 
• Kendall Marshall almost his own double-double with 9 points and 8 assists.  K-Mar did a nice job of looking for his shot more tonight.
• The only bad news is the potential injury to unsung hero and Dex Factor, Dexter Strickland.  He twisted his right knee in the second half.  Reggie Bullock admirably filled in for our best defender and had a nice half despite not scoring that much.

Not Much to Say

Not much to say after a total beat down like the one the Heels took at the hands of the Seminoles yesterday. In Carolina's first road game in 42 days, the Tar Heels were humiliated and buried under a barrage of three pointers, led by Davidis Dulkys' 8 of 10 shooting.

There is a smorgasbord of problems or issues one can talk about (so I lied, there is much to say), but two stand out for me.

One, the play of Kendall Marshall.  Some post mortems from the game have mentioned that FSU put pressure on Marshall.  On one hand, they did pick him up full court.  But on the other, his turnovers all were seemingly unforced.  It was as if he was a pitcher with tired legs; so many of his passes sailed out of bounds over the heads of their intended target.

This team goes as Kendall Marshall goes, and when he struggles that bad the Heels will look and play bad, too.  There certainly were other terrible performances by Carolina players yesterday; Barnes had his second straight terrible shooting day, Henson left his head and concentration skills in Chapel Hill (0-8 free throws, an embarrassing technical), and perhaps Strickland's ankle bothered him more than it looked and thus he could not effectively cover Dulkys or Loucks or anyone on the perimeter.  And our bench - P.J. Hairston in particular - was horrible.  

But Marshall is the keystone for this team; without him we collapse.

So players - and sometime teams - can have one bad game.  But for me the other disturbing thing, issue 2, was our play to start the second half.  

How many Carolina fans thought at half "Ok, the Heels played badly but we're only down 8.  Barnes will get on a roll, Marshall will feed Zeller and Henson, and we'll win this game.  And FSU can't keep shooting this well"'?  I'd bet 90 percent of Tar Heel Nation saw that scenario ready to unfold.

Unfortunately, things got worse in the final 20 minutes. The Heels thought they could turn it 'on' the second half, but other than Zeller did not. Or worse, Carolina expected the Seminoles to wilt - and they did not. The Heels failed to raise their level of play, turning it over and failing to guard to start the half, and were buried.

Very disappointing to say the least.  Carolina was in a position to win this game at half time - we had seemingly taken FSU's best shot - but did not. That's VERY un-Carolina.  And that's the worst part of this loss - we did not look like Tar Heels.

Few More Heels Notes:

• I wonder if ol' Roy will schedule any more extended home stands in the future?  Hard to measure how much impact the schedule had on this flop, but Roy is superstitious enough to avoid another stretch like that.
• Props to Tyler Zeller, who many fans have questioned this year but who was the only Tar Heels player to show some effort for 40 minutes.  He kept us in the game the first half.
• Within an hour of the loss the Dex Factor tweeted "embarrassing but a learning process; we'll bounce back!' Ah, youth. I like following Strickland (@DStrick01), who generally tweets in proper English, which I appreciate. 
• Wayne Ellington (@WayneElli22), who had 13 points last night for the Timberwolves, also tweeted "I'd hate to be at the next practice!"
• Virginia Tech looms next, though looms is a strong word.  They lost yesterday to Boston College.  I feel sorry for Hokies fan: I expect the Heels to be very focused and fired up for that one; and Seth Greenberg is still their coach.
• No time to panic yet; it WAS only one game.  But if the Heels come out flat in Blacksburg that will be a very troubling indicator about the leadership and fortitude - the talent this there, obviously - of this year's team.

GO HEELS!

Predictable results from Heels, Barnes versus BC

Carolina's 83-60 win over Boston College unfolded largely as expected.  The Heels were much more talented and simply better than the Eagles, who started 5 freshmen.  

The Heels predictably started slow then went on a run to take a comfortable lead at half time. Also predictably, the Heels got a bit bored after taking a 20-point lead in the second half. BC was able to cut the lead to 9 at one point before the Heels woke up.  Once Carolina did, the Heels went on another run to close the game out with a 23-point win.

There was some news in today's win.  The most significant item - also predictable - was Harrison Barnes' continued excellent play.  Barnes appears to be peaking at the perfect time of season, much like he did last year.  Against BC he hit shots from all over the floor - driving, taking 3s, a few one-dribble jumpers, the entire repertoire - and was very aggressive.  He had 4 steals, too, and looked like a player of the year candidate. 

It wasn't all Barnes, though.  I thought the Heels' defense was pretty good for most of the game.  Zeller had 20 points and held on to the ball, P.J. Hairston was 2 for 5 on three pointers, and Marshall once again had more than 10 assists.

With so many ACC teams stinking up the joint this year - Wake, Clemson, Maryland, and BC all pretty bad - these kinds of games may be the norm for the Heels.  The good news is you can count on 20-point wins despite some lapses in concentration, and the Heels have also shown that against good teams the Heels will rise to the occasion.   Those traits sound a lot like the 2009 team, a predictable comparison.

Speaking of 2009, a huge night for 3 members of that team tonight in the NBA.  Ty Lawson squared off with Danny Green tonight as the Nuggets took on the Spurs.  San Antonio won 121 to 117 behind Green's 24 points.  With Manu Ginobili out with broken hand Green is finally getting significant playing time in the League.


Lawson did his part for Denver, finishing with 20 and 10 assists.  


And Tyler Hansbrough finished with 15 and 7 off the bench, in 28 minutes, for Indiana in their win over the Charlotte Bobcats.  Psycho T has been in double figures every game this season for the 6 and 2 Pacers. 


GO HEELS!

Real Carolina Basketball

After playing a string of lackluster opponents, wins against Appalachian State and Nicholls State that didn't even merit a blog post, the Heels took on - and dismantled - a legitimate basketball team tonight in Rick Barnes' Texas Longhorns.

It was great to see the Heels rise to the occasion and blow out the Longhorns - and Barnes.  I know Dean would not approve, but I really like taking it to the Hickory native who was rude enough to get in Coach Smith's face a few times when he coached at Clemson.  Of course, Carolina was on an 0 for 4 streak against Texas, so simply breaking that streak was good.

What made it great was how the Heels did it.  

One, Harrison Barnes broke out of mini-slump, one that may have been brought on by being less than focused against those lesser opponents - though that's not excuse.  Tonight he looked like an All-American, making shots from all over the floor (on 9 for 15 shooting), putting the ball on the floor, rebounding, and Barnes also dished out a nice assist to Henson, on his way to a 25 and 10 double double.

Two, despite a few lapses the Heels were solid on defense, holding Texas to 35 percent (both for 2 and 3-point shots) and out rebounding the Longhorns 49 to 34.  

Three, as any Carolina fan knows when the Heels defend and rebound that translates into fast break points - in bunches.  North Carolina used two such bursts, once in the first half when Texas had cut the lead to 8 at 24-16 and again early in the second half to basically salt the game away with about 15 minutes to play.

Finally, getting fast break points was not the only Carolina trademark on display tonight.   The Heels repeatedly pounded the ball inside, either from passes from Kendall Marshall or Jon Henson, or thanks to drives by Barnes, or some freak nasty drives and dunks by Dexter Strickland,* Henson, Barnes and P.J. Hairston.* 

It was an impressive win against an above average opponent.  We saw Carolina rise to the occasion, offensively thanks to Barnes, defensively and on the boards as a team.  As a result, Carolina blew Texas tonight.

GO HEELS!

Though the last few games before the tilt against Texas were not blog worthy, there was one development worth mentioning. This stretch of home games has seen ol' Roy use the vintage Dean Smith half court run and jump defense.  Do yourselves a favor and check out this video of Dean talking about it.

Like getting the ball down low and running - even on a made basket - the run and jump is a central part of Carolina basketball.  It's use in the last decade or so has waxed and waned, but this year Roy seems to be reemphasizing it.

There could be two reasons, one cynical and one practical.  Cynically, the run and jump may be a way to hide Marshall's defensive deficiencies.  Carolina's point guard has to disrupt the other teams offense by pressuring their point guard, something Marshall sometimes struggles to do.  The run and jump should help Marshall.

But practically speaking, Roy us probably utilizing the run and jump because he has the personnel to do so.  Outside of Marshall, Carolina's starters are all rangy and athletic, as are key reserves Bullock and Hairston. This team is made for the run and jump. It's a very effective weapon.  Besides, as Dean says in that video it's a fun defense.  Dean was talking about fun for the players, but it's also fun for Carolina fans, too.

*Extra freak nasty

Spotlight on Chapel Hill this weekend

What a big weekend in the southern part of heaven.

Where to start in chronicling - OK, blogging - the news from Chapel Hill.  But that's an easy question; as all Heels know the conversation ALWAYS starts with basketball.

Fun game, and win, tonight for Carolina as they took care of Long Beach State 86 to 78.   For the first time this season the Heels trailed at half.  I missed most of the opening 20 minutes due to some hitches with ESPN3.  But in the first half the 49ers - another theme for this weekend as we'll get to later - were red hot from three and out rebounded the Heels on their way to a 45 - 40 lead.

Long Beach State played a lot like Duke; spread the floor and cut to the hoop.  If the defense collapses on the driver kick it out for a three, and if they don't take it to the rack.  

In the second half Carolina did a better job of cutting off the driver and playing the passing lanes, which also helped generate some fast break inducing turnovers.  Kendall Marshall also did a pretty nice job covering hot-shooting Casper Ware in the second half.   Dexter Strickland, who often covers the other team's point guard, only played 20 minutes tonight so Marshall had to - and did - step up on defense.

But on offense is where Marshall made his biggest contribution.  Once again he finished with more than 15 assists.  As it was on defense, Marshall and the offense were very efficient in the second half.  Marshall set up his teammates extremely well. 

When the Heels finally went on their run with around 15 minutes to play it was led by emerging super sub Reggie Bullock and Harrison Barnes.  Both made a number of 2 and 3-point baskets from all over the court, and both looked confident when the Heels started to take over this game. Impressive performances from both. 

Barnes even had a few assists (funny how our last two superstar players, Barnes and Hansbrough, were generally black holes when it comes to assists).

At one point Bullock was doing it all - hitting 3s, taking it to the rack, rebounded and even getting a steal then leading the fast break before dishing off for an assist.  He was so good after the steal I tweeted 'Is there anything Reggie Bullock CAN'T do?"

As hot as both of those guys were - Barnes finished with 20, Bullock 15 - John Henson was our leading scorer with 24 points, on 12 of 17 shooting, to go with 10 boards and 4 blocks.  Henson was the biggest beneficiary of Marshall's great play. Could anyone who watched that game live have guessed that Henson took that many shots?  I was surprised when I looked at the box score.  

Zeller had a nice bounce back game, too, with 17 points on 7 of 9 shooting and 9 rebounds (but 4 turnovers).  He was unstoppable at times and hit a tough hook during the Heels' big run in the second half.

Despite some spotty defense in the first half, this was in general a great team effort to win an exciting game over an opponent that, despite having 5 losses, is a tough out (they beat Pitt in Pittsburgh and lost tough and close games at Louisville and Kansas).

Extra hoops points:

• Long Beach State's unis said 'the Beach' on the front.  Makes one wonder if Kramer's fragrance of the same name is their corporate sponsor/
• Bullock was rewarded with 24 minutes tonight, taking time from the Dex Factor.
• He was our bench tonight, as Hairston and McAdoo both struggled.

The other big story from Chapel Hill this weekend is the final of the College Cup tomorrow for the NCAA men's soccer national championship.  The Heels will once again play the 49ers, but tomorrow it will be the UNC Charlotte 49ers.

Friday night's semi-final, come from behind, win on a shoot out game versus UCLA was one of the most exciting non-World Cup soccer games I've ever seen.  Lots of action and shots, and great effort from the Heels.  The championship game is Sunday at 4 pm on ESPNU.

But the biggest story from Chapel Hill was the hiring of Larry Fedora as Carolina's new football coach. He comes to Kenan Stadium from Southern Mississippi, where he led Bret Favre's alma mater to an 11-2 record this year and the Conference USA championship.  

Fedora certainly had a great press conference, and he seems very fired up. He said the right things about the values that Carolina stands for, though I would have liked for him to mention Dean Smith when he talked about those standards and history.  

Fedora is a bit of a Mack Brown-type, and that worked last time Carolina tried that model.  He's also young, so could in theory be in Chapel Hill a long time.

That said, I still wish Carolina had given interim coach Everett Withers a shot at being our permanent coach.  Withers handled a tough situation with aplomb.  There were a few missteps; giving the James Madison game ball to Butch Davis, the war of worlds with NC State to name two.

But the main reason I would have given him the job is that despite the distractions and last-second coaching transition, the Heels were a focused football team in 2011, with few turnovers, penalties or mental mistakes.  Withers kept the team together, motivated and disciplined, and for that I thought he deserved a chance to be our long term coach.

I wish him well on his next endeavor. Go Heels! 

Stink

I don't like blogging after a loss.

Like it even less when it's after a loss in a game that Carolina coulda and shoulda won.

Even worse to blog after a loss to a team like Kentucky.  For Carolina fans, Kentucky may be the perfect storm, the imperfectly perfect mix of Duke smugness and NC State redneckedness - now with an added dose of anti-Dean scumbag courtesy of Calipari.

So losing today really stinks.

In general the Heels played well, especially in the first half when Carolina's outside shooting, led not only by Harrison Barnes but also P.J. Hairston and the 'coming on like his uncle Jerry Stackhouse' Reggie Bullock (both, FYI, North Carolina natives).

For most of the game the Heels outplayed the team whose home court is named for one of the most closed-minded and backward thinking coaches in modern times.  Carolina looked like Carolina, running and getting great shots.

In the second half some troubling bugaboos plagued Carolina - Zeller's butterfingers, two empty trips when John Michael McAdoo missed two free throws then air balled a baseline jumper - highlighted by an odd lack of rebounding and therefore a lack of scoring down low.

Overall, Barnes had some nice moments despite foul trouble, Zeller did score in double figures, Henson was solid for 39:55 on both ends, Marshall bounced back from a back to back lackluster games, and the Dex Factor had his moments, too.  And don't forget how great Hairston and Bullock were.

Unfortunately, Strickland's missed dunk looms large, as does his ill-timed turnover late.  On the last play, Zeller simply misdribbled in the lane.  The ball bounced to Henson, who probably shot it too soon. In hindsight, I'm sure Henson would have liked to pump fake or put it on the floor to get a few feet closer.

Odder still to have Carolina run a play for Zeller.  Psycho Z loves playing against Kentucky, and dumping it down low to him is generally a great play for the Heels.  However, I know I am not the the only member of Tar heel Nation who wanted Barnes to take the last shot.  

So, a tough loss on the road to a good team.  Stink.

One silver lining is, after a loss to UNLV then an excruciating game over Wisconsin, ironically enough the Heels regained their swagger this afternoon.  Carolina looked loose AND confident today.

The other silver lining may be karma.  Last year, the Heels defeated Kentucky in the Dean Dome (a home court named for a progressive, liberal and modern coach in the best sense of each of those words) then lost to the Wildcats in the NCAA tournament.  I would not be surprised to see the same thing happen in 2012.  

GO HEELS!

Weird

What a weird, hard fought game for the Heels tonight.  

It was weird in a number of ways.  Weird to see Carolina have to play at such a slow tempo.  Even in the second half, when the Heels did a good job rebounding and therefore should have been able to run, the game was slow and played in the half court.

Weird in that Kendall Marshall had his second straight lackluster game in a row.  It's the curse of CHB blog perhaps?  Jordan Taylor and Wisconsin, not Marshall, set and controlled the tempo for this game.  We did not see vintage Marshall tonight.

That lackluster play from our point guard was one reason why our offense never flowed against the Badgers.  Harrison Barnes was fantastic in the second half, but he was by and large creating his own shots. Strickland had some nice runs on offense, but they mainly came when he was bringing the ball up. The guys who rely on Marshall to set them up, i.e. Zeller, Henson, McAdoo, etc. were non-factors on offense for most of the night as a result.  Weird.

But on the positive side, it was a gut-check, hard-fought (and cliche ridden) win over a top 10 team that will give Ohio State a run for it's money in the Big 10.

I mentioned Barnes, but he was so clutch and tough down the stretch in leading Carolina to this win almost single handedly.  Loved the methodical way he went about it, too.  He was cold and confident.  Barnes also finished with 5 blocks. 

Strickland was the offense in the first half and was magnificent in disrupting Wisconsin's offense in the second.  The Dex Factor featured a little bit of Derrick Phelps tonight in containing Taylor.  Huge night for Strickland (despite that one crazy turnover late).

Finally, in addition to Barnes our best option on offense in the second half a couple times was Reggie Bullock.  His late 3 was Barnesesque - cold and confident.  His performance was also proof that his breakout game against Tennessee State was not a fluke.

Though our offense sputtered, it was reassuring to see the way the Heels defended (Badgers shot 36 percent; Taylor was worse at 30 percent), rebounded (Heels out rebounded Wisconsin 39 to 26) and made free throws tonight (19 for 24, or 79 percent).  All three of those traits are excellent and meaningful measures of a teams toughness.  Very reassuring.

So with those 3 things on the upswing, here's hoping our offense - and Marshall -  and shooting bounces back by Saturday and the tilt versus Kentucky.  Having to worry about a Carolina team's offense?  

Weird.

On second thought

I didn't get a chance to blog between Carolina's blow-out win over South Carolina and the disappointing loss to UNLV last night.

But upon further review, the blog topic would have been the same - Kendall Marshall.  He was once again unbelievable against Lesser Carolina.  He finished with 14 assists - many of which were spectacular - his third double figure total for this young season. 

John Henson may be our best player so far with Harrison Barnes poised to assert that title during the season, but Marshall is Carolina's most important player.  I agree with Jay Bilas' assessment that we may be seeing the second coming of Jason Kidd.

The loss to UNLV also highlighted how important Marshall is. As my brother pointed out during the game, Carolina counts on our point guard to disrupt the other team's offense via ball pressure. The Tar Heels' recent championship teams have featured point guards who could dominate a game defensively: Derrick Phelps in '93, Raymond Felton in '05 and Ty Lawson 3 years ago. 

Roy recognizes that Marshall might not be fleet enough to do that, at least not yet, so Dexter Strickland - who by the way was the only starter to play well for 40 minutes versus the Rebels - has been covering the other teams point guard.

Saturday night plenty of things went wrong for the Heels; Carolina could not rebound, guard or shoot.  Even good teams will struggle with one of those facets of basketball during a game, but rarely do good teams stink at all three at the same time. Saturday night, Carolina certainly did.  Zeller had a terrible game, both Z and Henson were pushed around on the boards where Carolina got killed, no one made free throws, and Barnes and the starters had a collectively terrible shooting night and settled for a shocking number of bad shots.  

And on both ends of the floor Marshall struggled; he didn't disrupt their defense or run North Carolina's offense as well as he has throughout his tenure as our starting one. When he struggles, this team will struggle. The good news is Marshall - and by definition the 2012 Tar Heels - is too good to have THAT happen again.  

This week will be a big one for the Heels as they welcome Wisconsin to Chapel Hill as part of the ACC-Big 10 challenge before heading to Lexington to face Kentucky in a match up of college basketball's two winningest programs.  This loss to UNLV will bring out a more focused, determined Marshall and Carolina squad (and ol' Roy, too).  In particular, look for huge games this week from Zeller, Barnes and of course our most important player, Kendall Marshall.

As few extra points:

• James Michael McAdoo, though not as key as Marshall, will be a very important part of our season. The Heels will need him to produce off the bench in general, but in particular as our lone reliable big man off the bench he will be key in spelling both Zeller and Henson. He had some nice moments versus UNLV, especially running the floor, but he also missed some important free throws in the second half that could have impacted the final outcome.  
• Besides Strickland two other Heels had nice games versus UNLV: Reggie Bullock and P.J. Hairston.  Both have put together back to back to back nice games.  McAdoo, Bullock and Hairston give Carolina a phenomenal bench. 
• Great to see Carolina stick it to Duke for the 20th time in the last 21 games, including 8 straight wins.  At 7 and 5 Carolina is bowl eligible, no small feat considering the turmoil of the off season and the firing of Butch Davis.  Kudos to Everett Withers and seniors such as Dwight Jones for leading this year's squad.
• Next year is already tantalizing, with Bryn Renner and Gio Bernard poised to lead the Heels to the promised land - 9 wins, including one over N.C. State!
• Finally, while were talking leadership one of my favorites is T.J. Yates, who led Carolina to 8 wins last year despite numerous suspensions and disruptions.  Today, Yates played in his first NFL game and helped lead his Houston Texans to a 20-13 win. Yates took over for injured second-string quarterback Matt Leinert at the end of the first half, and completed 8 of 15 passes for 70 yards.  Leinert may be out for the season so Yates is likely the de facto starter for the AFC South leading Texans.
• GO HEELS!

News, actual NEWS, from Carolina's romp over Tennessee State

Though most of the story lines stayed the same - John Henson showing off his new and improved offensive arsenal, Harrison Barnes looking like Harrison Barnes with a couple of particularly sweet moves, Kendall Marshall dropping a record number of dimes - there was some actual new news from Carolina's latest romp over 'a team that will or has made the NCAA tournament in 2011 or 2012 but isn't nearly as good as Carolina."

The Heels were led by Reggie Bullock's 23 points on their way to a relatively easy 102-69 win.  Coming into the season the Heels only had one semi-legit concern, at least talent wise.  With Leslie McDonald, arguably the Heels' best outside shooter, out for the season there were - are? - concerns regarding whether Carolina has enough outside shooting.   

North Carolina's imposing front line of Tyler Zeller,  Henson and Barnes is practically unstoppable.  But the Heels will still need outside shooting to keep teams from playing a packed-in zone (a la Virginia) and daring Carolina to beat them from the outside.  Barnes is part of that solution; though he will likely take fewer threes he is also expected to make a higher percentage.  

But the other half of the answer to the McDonald question is Bullock.  He had his moments last year despite battling a balky knee that eventually ended his season early.  This year, a healthy Bullock needs to actually turn into the McDonald of last year, especially the version down the stretch in 2011.  McDonald eventually developed into a confident offensive player off the bench, one the Heels relied on.

[It could be a three-part answer if you factor in P.J. Hairston, but I don't want to make that kind of assumption for a freshman even though Hairston is very, very good].

Bullock had been a little underwhelming so far this season but against Tennessee State looked fantastic. He was confidently stepping into his shot and even drove a few times to the hole.  Shooting is as much mental as it is physical, so that kind of night could launch a great sophomore campaign for Bullock - and answer the one question that lingers with this year's Carolina team.

GO HEELS!

Extra points

• How great was Bullock's night?  It rendered a 15-assist night for Marshall a mere footnote.  K-Mar now has 38 assists in his last 3 games, which I think is a Carolina record, including 2 fifteen assist efforts. The Heels shot 62 percent versus Tennessee State, and are shooting 53 percent for the season. The main reason for those gaudy stats is Marshall (and playing teams that were on the short side so we could easily feed the post).  Henson has gotten better, but so has Marshall. 
• Tennessee State head coach John Cooper was once an assistant coach at Fayetteville State University, located in the city in which I am blogging from right now! 

It's only been two games but . . .

Carolina ventured into Roy's hometown for a nice 91-75 win over a good UNC-Asheville team today, their second win in as many games versus a squad that made last year's NCAA tournament.  

UNC-A is a pretty small team, so Carolina excelled at what Carolina likes to do: feed the post as the first, second and third option. As a result the Heels were led by their front line; Tyler Zeller's 27 points, John Henson's double-double with 20 points and 12 boards, and Harrison Barnes' 17.

After flying from San Diego and the Carrier Classic the Heels looked a little sloppy at times, with 17 total turnovers (6 by Barnes).  But once their legs adjusted back to eastern time Carolina was rarely actually threatened by the Bulldogs.

I know it's only been two games, but the story for the Tar Heels so far has been Henson.  He had a great season last year, becoming a defensive force, playing the four with authority, and even making his free throws.

Dean used to always expect a great leap forward from a players' first to second year; Henson did that last year.

But so far this year he has displayed a similar leap in terms of offensive skill. Henson has displayed an improved mid-range jump shot, a sweet and sweeping hook shot and a potentially devastating and unstoppable turnaround jump shot from the baseline. When he makes that turnaround jumper he looks like a combination of Rasheed Wallace and Tyler Hansbrough - with a little Hakeem Olajuwon thrown in.

Yes, that shot of Henson's is potentionaly Psychosheed dreamtastic!

It's hard to keep from getting too excited about this Carolina team, certainly a 2009-worthy excitement.  GO HEELS!

A few more Carolina blue notes:

• Safe to say no team has ever played on an aircraft carrier on one night, then two days later played a game 3 times zones away - in the mountains.  Sure, those were the Appalachians not the Rockies so it wasn't like going to free sea level to mile high elevation, but it's still an impressive back-to-back;
• Dean never liked playing in-state opponents outside of the ACC, so you never saw Carolina play Appalachian State, ECU or UNC Charlotte. And he almost never played any of those teams at their place. Roy has changed that, and routinely schedules UNCA in particular.  
• It was a nice gesture for the Heels to travel to UNC-Asheville to help them inaugurate their new Kimmel Arena.

Heels are back

Outside of my family nothing makes me quite as happy - most of the time - as watching (and of course blogging about) the Tar Heels. They could have been playing inside a phone booth, let alone on the deck of an aircraft carrier, and I would have watched - and enjoyed watching.

To say today's game was different than most openers is an understatement.  The president sitting court side, the court being outside on an aircraft carrier, playing on a national holiday - a holiday we usually ignore as much as we currently ignore the wars being fought in Afghanistan and Iraq - were all unique experiences, even for a team as used to the spotlight and hype as Carolina.

Those factors, especially being outside with a weird backdrop, plus the first game of the season, make it hard to really evaluate how the Heels and the Spartans (putting the Hellenic in Carolina Hellenic Blue blog) played tonight.  It was a disjointed game, without much flow. 

The good news is the Heels played very well in the last 5 minutes of the first half both on offense and defense, and especially in the first 10 minutes of the second.  The Heels got and made easy baskets, some created by their work on the board but many from their defensive pressure, some because Michigan State was sloppy.  But the Heels looked like the Heels for those 15 minutes - running and scoring and forcing the action.

The other 25 weren't that bad. There was a 10-minute stretch in the first half where the Spartans killed us on the boards, and a 5-minute one where we lost focus and allowed Michigan State to cut our 20-point lead in half.  

But the main reason it was disjointed is the Heels missed many makeable shots, including free throws, early.  The silver lining to both is that one, Carolina was getting good shots, and two, the Heels were being aggressive on offense and getting fouled.

So we can quibble with the execution, execution that may have been impacted by the weather, an outdoor court, nerves, playing in front of the president AND on the deck of a massive war machine, etc.  But Carolina generally did what Carolina wanted to do, which bodes well for when the Heels move inside, you know into a building to play basketball.  

In terms of the players, John Henson was probably our player of the game.  He finished with a near triple double - 12 points, 9 blocks, and 7 boards.  The blocks are part, a HUGE part, of his game, but tonight Henson showed off a more polished offensive game.  He was impressive. Henson also had a great post-game quote: "It was fun. My excuse was sometimes I felt like the boat moved a little bit when I shot. That's why I missed."

Harrison Barnes lead the team with 17 points, and looked calm and confident for most of the night.  His 3 late, that ended a Spartans run that cut the lead to 10, effectively ended the game.  Barnes was also active defensively versus Michigan State.

Kendall Marshall and Dexter Strickland looked good in the back court, with Marshall looking in mid-season form on a number of impressive passes to start fast breaks.  Strickland benefited from 2 of those passes on his way to 10 points.  I was disappointed to see that Strickland still occasionally shoots fading away off his back foot, but he did hit his first 3-point attempt of the season.

Tyler Zeller's inability to hit shots or grab a board early lit up the twittersphere, but he had a nice second half and picked up 3 charging calls.

Carolina's bench looked solid with nice moments from Reggie Bullock and freshmen P.J. Hairston and a very active John Michael McAdoo, who finished with 4 points, 3 boards and 1 blocked shot in 17 minutes.

Not a perfect game from the Heels in terms of execution, at least when it came to shooting early, but defensively Carolina looked good, they did not turn it over much (14 for the game, 5 believe it or not from Marshall, a stat you assume will come down), they beat a good team while facing a once-in-a-lifetime scenario, but best of all did what Carolina wanted to do - at least for 25 of the 40 minutes.


Next up for the Heels is a visit to ol' Roy's hometown to inaugurate UNC Asheville's new gym.


GO HEELS!


A few more sports notes:

• Great to hear that Wilson Ramos has been rescued.  The Venezuelan police report that an aerial raid freed Ramos.  Can't imagine what that is like, but I assume Ramos will report early, VERY early, to spring training this year.
• Somehow, a halftime contest that featured Brooklyn Decker, James Worthy AND Tyler Hansbrough was incredibly lame.  How on earth could that happen?
• I have nothing to add to the sad and disgusting Penn State situation. I initially thought it was harsh to not allow Joe Paterno to coach one final game in State College.  But the more you think about it, how could Paterno tell his higher ups what he heard about a child being raped in the shower, then drop it?  Never tell the police or worst of all, never confront Sandusky? How could anyone ignore those kinds of crimes against children?  Time to clean house completely in Happy Valley.