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.

Weird, Ugly and Stubborn.

Another weird and ugly win for the Heels this afternoon over Virginia.  Carolina has fallen into an odd pattern of shooting badly (33 percent in this game) on the road - yet winning.  The way Virginia plays defense, by packing their zone in the lane, you would the think the Heels would have needed another Raleigh-on-Thursday-night shooting display to win.

But that's not what happened.  

None of Carolina's perimeter players had a decent game.  Kendall Marshall was stymied all night, Reggie Bullock was off and generally had a terrible game, and Harrison Barnes never got into the flow of the game at all.  Those three were a combined 4 for 24.

Of Carolina's wing players only PJ Hairston was productive, with a mini, personal 5-0 run in the second half.

So how did Carolina win on a night Virginia dared our wings to win the game, but they didn't?

That's where stubborn comes in.

Despite the packed and swarming Wahoo defense (toughest question Evan asked me this game: "What's a Wahoo?") the Tar Heels insisted - stubbornly - to feed the paint and rely on Tyler Zeller and John Henson to win this game.  

And those two came through.

Zeller was unstoppable early, and scored our first 8 points, and of course that freak-nasty, step-threw dunk with 13 seconds left were our final 2 points of the game.  He finished with 20 and 8, another solid and player-of-the-year type of performance, one the Heels needed on a day Barnes went 3 for 15 from the floor.  Foul trouble and a momentum changing run at the point by Stilman White helped take Z out of the middle part of this game but he was great at the end.

If Psycho Z carried the Heels early, Henson carried Carolina late.  In the final 10 minutes he WAS the Carolina offense.  And he, too, had a freak-nasty dunk off of an in bounds pass in the second half.  Henson also was very tough on the glass in the final 10 minutes,  made 7 of 8 free throw for the game, and made a big defensive play and steal off a Virginia in-bounds pass late.  Like Zeller, he disappeared a bit in the middle of the game and had a few very bad turnovers, too, but late he was money.  Oh yeah, Henson also had another double-double, 15 and 11 boards.   

And though he didn't shoot like he did in Raleigh, kudos for Marshall for finding his big men down the stretch as the Heels pulled out another ugly win in a weird game, thanks to Carolina's stubborn insistence on going inside and getting the best and easiest shot possible.

GO HEELS!

A few more notes:

• Hard to measure Carolina's defense in this one.  On one hand, Virginia only scored 51 points. On the other, it mainly looked like they missed some makeable shots especially in the last 5 minutes.  The Cavaliers also took lots of bad shots, none worse than Mike Scott's 18 footer with about a minute left.
• Not much bench play in this one, though James Michael McAdoo did make 3 of 4 free throws and Hairston did have that nice run; each played 12 minutes, while White and Justin Watts managed just 3 minutes each.

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! 

More evidence

You could easily call today's home-opener win over Mississippi Valley State University "UNC-A Part II."  The main story line from the 101-76 victory was the continued evolution of John Henson.

I liked Harrison Barnes' assertiveness on his way to 18 points, seeing Tyler Zeller grab oodles of rebounds and put backs and run the floor as he always does, and Kendall Marshall had a tidy game punctuated by at least 2 spectacular fast-break passes.  We even saw Dexter Strickland hit a few jumpers as part of overall great floor game (13 points, 6 boards, 6 assists, only 2 turnovers). 

One could quibble with the missed frees and threes, but that will come, especially the free throws.

However, THE story continues to be Henson.  Like Zeller running the floor, we expect Henson to blocks lots of shots and get his share of points in transition and down low.   But so far in three games Henson has shown an incredibly new set of skills.  As he did against Michigan State and UNC-A, Henson showed off a sick turnaround jumper, baseline moves and confidence in hitting shots from 15 to 17 feet versus Jerry Rice's alma mater.

Folks might remember that Henson was projected to be a three in the NBA, and came to Carolina in part to develop that skill set. As a freshman he suffered at the 3, and late in the season was moved down low and finished strong.

Last year, Henson was exclusively a 4 and had a terrific season.  This year it may be 'back to future' for Henson as he builds confidence in shooting and playing a bit on the wing.   

All Tar Heels fans were excited about the prospect of this season, having all five starters back with a great recruiting class (McAdoo was great today on his way to 10 points, and Hairston had 8).  

Perhaps even more exciting is watching Henson develop into a 75 (3/4, get it?) and into an even more elite player than we expected.  GO HEELS!

Extra Points

Like Henson's turnaround jumper, it seems clear that Carolina football is one year away.  Thursday's loss to Virginia Tech, in honestly a game Carolina should have won, was both tough to take and cause for optimism. 

Tough to take in that other than our inability to consistently stop Hokies quarterback Logan Thomas, Carolina outplayed Tech. If we had been able to suit up a Barth - any Barth - to kick field goals (or not fumble on our 5 yard line) we probably pull out an impressive road win.  

It was great to see Carolina fight back on the road against a top ten team.

But the significant optimism centers around our backs, quarter and half.  Bryn Renner is going to be a monster next year.  He's developing more and more poise each game to go along with an impressive arm and plus legs.   

And speaking of legs, though he only played a half Gio Bernard is as impressive as Renner.  Those two could lead us to the promised land: beating NC State and perhaps making it to the ACC championship game. Our offensive and defensive lines will need to be rebuilt - lots of seniors on both - but with Renner and Bernard (and a Barth?) the future looks bright for the football Heels.

Finally, speaking of the future I'd bring back Everett Withers as coach next season. The stability would be nice, but more importantly he's handled a very difficult situation with aplomb and the Heels are playing hard and smart.  New athletic director Bubba Cunningham will likely want to bring in his own guy as head coach, but I think Withers deserves to have 'interim' taken out of his title

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.

Got one out of the way

Glad to see us get it inside, happy to see us shoot it well, and glad to see us win - but very nervous about all the turnovers.  Zeller, Barnes and Henson looked great but our entire back court, especially Marshall, looked way to shaky.

I caught parts of the Washington - Georgia game,  and neither team shot it well on Friday night.  Overall, neither team looked as good as LIU.  

But, still a little nervous.

And have to mention how much I'm bummed seeing Irving back for Duke.  Or is his return the first sign of the Sports Illustrated cover jinx starting to infect Nolan Smith?  Let's hope so.

GO HEELS!

I still love the ACC tournament

Though it's not - thankfully - the old do-or-die event of my youth, I still love the ACC tournament.  Growing up in North Carolina it was THE sporting event of the year. 

Many ACC vets complain that the event is too NC-centric, and for years it was.  Back in the day it was always in Greensboro, and since each conference could only send one team to the NCAA tournament (until 1979 or so) it was HUGE. How huge? In school, teachers brought it TVs for the students to watch for two occasions: moon walks and the first day of the ACC tournament.

Of course, expansion of the ACC and the NCAA field has diluted the impact and significance of the ACC tournament. But I still love it, and it bothers me that even though Carolina has two national championships and has won the ACC regular season five of the seven years ol' Roy's been in Chapel Hill, Duke now has one more ACC tournament championship than we do. 

That will change this year, I hope. 

With a 1 pm conference call looming, here are my predictions:

• Virginia will defeat Miami, give Carolina a game in the first 10 minutes then succumb to the Heels on Friday;
• In a match up of the two worst coaches in the ACC, Virginia Tech will somehow defeat Georgia Tech. But don't be surprised if the Hokies choke big time, either;
• NC State will defeat Maryland, who seems to be phoning it in, then get waxed by Duke;
• BC will in turn wax Wake, then play a great game versus Clemson.  Both teams will be desperate, but I have BC winning and advancing to play Carolina.
• FSU will ride Chris Singleton's return to defeat a distracted and oddly complacent Virginia Tech team.

So Carolina will then have to play and defeat BC for a third time in the semi-finals, a prospect Dean always loathed.  But behind my pick for ACC tournament MVP John  Henson the Heels will make it to the final to play, FSU.

I was impressed by the Seminoles in their win over Duke - and their game versus Carolina.  With Singleton back and Singler and the Plumlees struggling look for an FSU upset, aided by Derwin Kitchen.

Then as it was versus BC, Carolina will need to defeat a team for a third time in a season, but the Heels will to win their 18th ACC Tournament Championship.

GO HEELS!

Speechless

Two hours later and I'm still speechless.  Harrison Barnes' shot to defeat FSU, 72-70, was unbelievable. The confidence, to willingness, the cold no-nonsense approach was pretty impressive and inspirational.

In general, that was a great college basketball game.  Both teams played well and played hard.   And though me made some mistakes late to open the door for their comeback, hats off to the Seminoles for playing so well with their best player, Chris Singleton, out with a broken foot.

Barnes made the big shot, but as it was against Maryland on Sunday, their entire team played well in defeating FSU on their senior night.  Zeller was in foul trouble but made some tough shots and grabbed key boards, Strickland had a huge take and old-fashioned three-point play to stop a Seminole run, Leslie McDonald was a microwave off the bench with 10 points, Marshall (despite two questionable plays in the final minute) had another great game with 8 assists and his own huge shot, a three, to stop a Noles run. 

And then there's Henson and Barnes. Henson, who quietly has made 9 of his last 10 free throws, had another double double tonight on a variety of step throughs, dunks and shot jumpers and hooks.  He was only credited with 3 blocks but it seems like he many more than that.  On the boards he was like Spider-Man, grabbing balls out of the air as if he was shooing a web.  Like Marshall he had a few bad possessions with sloppy passes for turnovers, but he was dominant for most of tonight's game in Tallahassee.

What do you say about Barnes?  The shot was another clutch one in a season full of timely offensive outburst by the Ames, Iowa freshman.  Not only is Barnes confident, he's also maturing.  He did not force anything tonight, made 6 of 10 shots for an efficient and awe-inspiring performance.

This team is making plays, and everyone in contributing - with Barnes the first among equals tonight.  The result is a team peaking at the right time, playing with confidence and playing as a unit.  

GO HEELS!

I think I was right

After the Heels' win over Miami on the road I wondered if Carolina, the real Carolina, was back.  

Well, after yesterday's win, an almost 2009-style blowout over N.C. State, I think we are.  Granted, State is still one year away from being above average (or a year away from where Herb Sendak had them) but I loved the way the Heels played against the Wolfpack.

There were at least four things that had to make any Heels fan grin a Mama Dips-size smile.  

One, the Heels came out on fire and aggressive.  For whatever reason the Heels had come out flat in five straight games.  Though they were Trident-gum successful - winning four out of those five games - it was great to see the Heels impose their will on an opponent from the opening tip.  We're well known for great comebacks, but it's not a great habit to get into.  Good to see us throw the first punch.

Two, it was a punch mainly thrown by Harrison Barnes, who finally played a full game rather than putting together a few huge spurts and flourishes. Barnes looked electric against State, hitting shots from all over the floor, driving a few times, pulling down 6 boards, and hustling on defense. His confidence is starting to build, and Barnes is morphing into the player we expected - our best player, the new Hansbrough, the one who leads us deep into the NCAA tournament.

That brings me to point 3; to become our best player he will have to out play John Henson, who right now is the best Carolina player on the floor.  Henson had 16 points, an equal number of boards to go along with seven blocks. Like Barnes he is getting his points in a variety of ways, on dunks, hooks, short jumpers, put backs, even a few free throws!  It took him a while to figure out college basketball but he has, and Henson is thriving.  I love his skill, but am equally impressed by his patience, confidence and intelligence/decision making.  Otherwise known as being a Tar Heel.   

Finally, there is nothing that says Carolina basketball as much as "feeding the post," and against State we did that.  All three of our bigs, Henson, Zeller and Knox, finished in double figures as Marshall, Drew, Strickland, Barnes, Wanda, everyone, fed the post consistently on Saturday.

There were some lapses in the Heels' offense against State, and we probably let Brown get to the rack to easily in the second half.  But at the core of yesterday's win - Barnes' overall play, Henson's skill and savvy, feeding the post - was more proof that Carolina is back.

GO HEELS!

Few Random Notes:

• Heels are back, but some things have changed in North Carolina as the Old North State was America's winter sports capital this weekend.  How odd to think that Raleigh hosted the NHL All-star game the same weekend that Greensboro hosted the U.S. figure skating championships? When I was growing up there you couldn't buy a mixed drink let alone find ice.
• I wanted to root for Duke - and the ACC - against the Big East and St. John's today . . . but couldn't. I can't stand the Big East, but they are better than us this season.  Duke, on the other hand, looked bad, especially down low.  Hope we can exploit that and keep feeding the post against them in Cameron next week.  It appears to me that without Kyrie Irving at the point Duke is having trouble getting Singler enough shots, but I've only seen them play a few times.  Either way, without Irving they are not that scary.  

I Saw Wayne Ellington Last Night

I know it's only one game, and it was against Hofstra, and it was only the second game of the season - but how great was it to see Carolina make shots?  The Heels shot 56 percent for the game on the way to scoring a Hansbrough-era 107 points last night in Puerto Rico.

But it was not a Hansbrough night; the win instead evoked Wayne Ellington, Danny Green, Ty Lawson.  Safe to say the Heels have not shot it this well since the first half against Michigan State in the 2009 championship game. 

There were two distressing things about last year (of course, there were more than two; there we eleven ACC losses, and 17 overall).  For me, the two most distressing things were: the lack of offense, and the lack of getting what Carolina basketball was.

Last night's performance shows this year's squad may - again, it's only one game - get it.  Besides the great shooting and excellent passing and ball distribution, I offer this great quote from Leslie McDonald (a career high 16 points on 5-for-9 with four threes):  "We attack the middle, give it to the big men, they pass it out, and we're getting shots."

Not only are they getting shots - THAT'S Carolina basketball.

A few more notes before my battery dies:

• Harrison Barnes looked like an all-American in the first half.  He was pretty assertive and looked for his shot without forcing things.  He was scoreless in the second half but had an impressive game nonetheless.
• Zeller was a bit more aggressive last night, which was nice to see.  Loved the alley-oop off the patented Carolina back screen.
• Did not notice Larry Drew II in this game, which is good. He got the ball to where it needed to go, but it seemed like in the first half the game went through Barnes not Drew II.
• Kendell Marshall had 9 assists in less than 20 minutes.  Like this guy alot.
• McDonald had a beautiful stroke last night.  Excellent rotation.
• But in addition to the shooting, the story of the game for me was once again John Henson.  Not that his filled out the box score like he did against Lipscomb, but rather in the way he flowed and reacted.  He is some more comfortable this season.  Expect HUGE things from our thin power forward this season if he flow continues.

Everything is better

Everything is better when Carolina wins.  George Will once said his friends who were Cardinals fans grew up to be happy, optimistic and liberal, and his friends - like him - who were Cubs fans grew up to be unhappy, cynical and conservative.  


Being a Carolina fan is like the Cardinals fans in Will's quote - to be a Tar Heel is be happy and optimistic. You knew Carolina would play a certain way - smart, feeding the post, getting good shots and making good decisions - and be extremely successful as a result.


This season has been more Cubs, but today's win was pure Cardinals.  For a day at least, Carolina looked like Carolina.  They rebounded, they fed the post and attacked the basket relentlessly thus generating good shots, and they played smart and excellent defense. 


Putting up a wall on defense - not taking a charge but stopping penetration or redirecting the ball where you want it to go - is a Carolina trademark, and today against the Deacons the Heels excelled. Carolina's walls repeatedly cut off penetration and forced them to become a jump-shooting team.  As a result the Deacons, who are not a good shooting team, had a tough day on offense.  


And when Heels like Deon Thompson or Tyler Zeller or Will Graves were not putting up walls, John Henson was blocking shots.  He was magnificent in the first half on defense.  


Capping off the great walls and shot blocking was the clutch defense of Leslie Macdonald, who drew two big charges. Macdonald was Henson's equal in the magnificence department.  


It was a yin-yang performance by the freshmen. Henson was great in the first half; Macdonald especially good in the second. Henson was a force on defense blocking shots and rebounding; Macdonald was an aggressive and confident and clutch hoopster on the offensive end, almost Danny Green-esque. 


Not only was it a great win, on the road, snapping a losing streak, and hopefully leading to some momentum in the last two games of the regular season and going into the ACC tournament but it also gave one hope for the future, both the rest of this season and the next. It's exciting to think about how players like Henson, Macdonald, Drew, Zeller and Strickland could explode after a year of adversity and seasoning. 


Best of all, for the first time since the win at State, Carolina looked like Carolina again.  The Heels rebounded, ran the floor, fed the post, consistently made the smart play, and played great defense for 40 minutes in Winston-Salem.  I've said it before and I'll say here one more time - losing is bad enough, but what made this team difficult to watch was the way they lost.  This team consistently made un-Heel like plays: bad passes, questionable effort, quick shots, you name it.  


But tonight? Pure Carolina


And when this team was pressed and the game tightened up late, the Heels responded like . . . well, Tar Heels.  They didn't panic, they didn't get the 'woe is me' thing going that Roy has talked about, they didn't choke. 


Instead, the 2010 Heels made plays.  Tough, big-time, plays.


Whether we're talking about: big three-pointers, two by Graves and one by Larry Drew II late (at one point the Heels were 7 of 9 on threes in the second half; the game is a lot easier when you shoot it well); a great double team by Drew and Graves in the corner to force Wake to burn their last timeout; Macdonald's charge late; or Graves' big rebound with about a minute left, the Heels made plays.


No play, however, was bigger than the one Macdonald and fellow freshman Dexter Strickland made with just under a minute left.  Wake had cut the lead to 3.  Instead of worrying or calling time out, the Heels performed like Heels.  As the Deacons were still celebrating their made three-pointer freshman Strickland, in the game due to Drew's brain lock at the free-throw line, quickly pushed the ball ahead in the mode of Felton and Lawson, and fed Macdonald for a quick and easy lay up.   


Then on the ensuing Wake possession a wall put up by Deon and Marcus Ginyard led to Macdonald sliding his feet and taking his big charge that sealed a great and satisfying win.  


And everything is better when the Heels win.


A few random notes:

• It was a great team win.  Everyone who played contributed.
• Kudos to Larry Drew, who had his best game since the Michigan State win in December.  He was aggressive and tough, and did not get down after a rough start to the second half.  His three late was huge, though his free throw woes were almost hugely bad. 
• Our point guards did a great job guarding Ish Smith today.  In Chapel Hill, Drew did a horrible job containing him, but tonight was the opposite.  Drew played Smith to drive, and let the notoriously iffy outside shooter bomb - and miss - from the perimeter. 
• Will Graves really stepped up in the second half.  His shooting was big time, but he also was choice on defense and the boards.  Like all the Heels, he made plays all over the floor tonight, but none bigger than his two threes late.
• It is not a coincidence that the Heels have looked better now that Zeller is back. He's a talented and gifted player who also knows how to play.  He is better than Deon or the Wears at getting position and asserting himself down low.
• Deon did not shoot it well, but his defense in the second half was great. Ditto Marcus Ginyard, who did not force anything on the offensive end and combined with Thompson and Graves for numerous walls and stops. 
• Like I said, it was a total team effort led by the magnificent play of Macdonald and Henson.  Both not only excelled and led their team to victory, they were having fun out there tonight.  Great to see, and great to win.

GO HEELS!

Well, Carolina is back

After what seemed like years in the wilderness, Carolina basketball returned tonight in the unlikely setting of Raleigh, North Carolina.


In defeating NC State, the Heels accomplished a number of things: ended a 3-game losing streak; won their first tough road game; got back into the ACC regular season race; restored some confidence, and built up confidence in the freshman.


But all that pales to the best thing the Heels did - they looked like Carolina.  They were smart, they were poised, they were determined on defense and on the boards.  And best of all, the Heels returned to the tactic that has made them the most successful college basketball program of the modern era: they fed the post and got good shots.


Led by Deon Thompson, who clearly decided to play some inspired Tyler Hansbrough-like basketball, the Heels consistently went down low - and were rewarded almost every time.  It's hard to remember the Heels taking many bad shots.  Deon was aggressive and active, and Ed Davis looked almost as good.  After one bad shot to start the game Easy Ed got into rhythm both offensively and defensively.  


A lot of that credit has to go to Larry Davis, who only had one turnover on the road in a hostile arena.  A great bounce-back game for him in terms of decision making and shot making.  His drive for an old fashioned three-point play to seal the win was fantastic.


And his back up, Dexter Strickland, was simply an assassin. His cold-blooded three with 12 minutes left, his steals that led to fast breaks, his confident play left me giddy.


Thompson, Drew and Strickland led the Heels to victory tonight, but it really was a team effort.  That effort was most evident on the defensive end, where for a key 8-minute stretch the Wolfpack failed to score.   It was empty trip after empty trip for NC State, trips that ended in either steals - by Thompson, Strickland and one of the Wears - or blocked shots by Thompson and John Henson.  


Henson had his best game as a Heel. He flowed, was aggressive and literally created havoc for State with his ball hocking and shot blocking. Henson's effort reminded me of Wes Miller coming off the bench in 2006 at Duke to take over the game during a key but limited stretch of play.


Finally, kudos to 'ol Roy for getting this team's groove back in the last 6 days.  


A great win, any way you look at it, but greater still when you see Carolina winning while looking like Carolina.


GO HEELS!


And Kentucky lost, and we beat the junior tea baggers on their home floor!