This Year's Model

Hard to believe this is my first blog, let alone blog about Carolina basketball, in months.  I'll admit that the combination of some lingering ennui about Carolina athletics in the wake of the on-going embarrassment involving the football team and the African-American studies department (perhaps combined with getting older) has kept me off line.

But as is often the case, a win over a rival like NC State has rekindled my enthusiasm.  The switch to a smaller lineup has seemingly resuscitated this year's basketball team AND the Carolina Hellenic Blue blog.

I shouldn't attribute too much to Saturday's nice win over the Pack since the Heels have actually been playing better of late. After getting spanked in Coral Gables by Miami Carolina has outplayed Duke yet lost due to some terrible foul shooting and one Blue Devil run in the second half, scored 93 points versus a tough Virginia team, won on the road at Georgia Tech (which is actually news in the Roy Williams era), before taking down NC State on Saturday.

The wins are justifiably credited to Carolina's new small line up and more specifically to the insertion of PJ Hairston into the starting line up at small forward. More on that move in a minute.

What makes each of those games significant is not only did Carolina play well and win 3 of those 4 contests, but that Carolina finally started doing what every good Carolina team usually does - which is do what they want to do, and impose their will on the game and their opponent.

Against Duke we got shots we wanted and were aggressive, but the win over the Wahoos is the best example.  Virginia likes to control tempo, but the Heels would not allow that to happen. They rebounded, ran the floor and made shots against Virginia's tough, pack-line defense.

That takes talent, but almost more importantly it takes confidence and a faith in your teammates and coach. It took a while for a young team, especially for our freshman point guard, to develop that confidence.

But now it's here, and it's fun to watch.

The interesting this about this year's model is the style of play the Heels are imposing on their opponents.  In a word, that style is very 'un-Carolina.'

For practically 60 years, to the days of Frank Maguire but canonized during the Dean Smith era, Carolina basketball has featured a "big man down low, feed the post first, inside out" offense.  Those big men could often run the floor, and other attributes such as getting shots in transition before the defense gets set have characterized Carolina basketball.


The recent run of powerhouse teams assembled by Roy Williams took that model to a different level with a dominant big man balanced by one or two lights out shooters on the wing and a terrific point guard.

First and foremost, Carolina's offense has always prioritized getting a good - or better yet easy - shot. Logically, the closer a player is to the basket - from either a pass down low or on a fast break or the secondary break - the easier the shot so the Heels have always looked inside first.

This year's team does NOT do that, in fact CAN NOT do that, and therefore makes this year's squad the most un-Carolina-like team since ....when?  Ever?

Even before the recent switch to a four guard lineup, the 2013 Heels were unbalanced and did not fit into the historical arc of Carolina basketball.

This year's team, with four guards and a power forward, is more like a modern NBA line up (or even dare I say recent Duke teams). Folks may have noticed that this year's NBA all star team ballot did not include a category for center; you voted for 2 back court players and 3 in the front court.  The three-point line and in my opinion Magic Johnson and the age of big guys who can handle have completely changed the game of basketball. Instead of going down low first, to a Hansbrough or Sean May or Eric Montross - or to a Kareem or Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain - today's basketball revolves around players who can slash to the rack and drive and dish, or positionless, offensive-polyskilled freaks like LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwayne Wade and Kevin Durant (or Michael Jordan for that matter).

You have to give ol' Roy credit for making that work this year (or criticize him, I suppose, for failing to recruit a successor to the May-Hansbrough-Zeller line).

But he does deserve credit. This small line up is starting to believe in itself, and obviously the coach is a big part of that. He's getting defense from a three-point specialist, great rebounding from his small forward, and leadership and savvy from his 150-pound freshman point guard.

And this weekend, this most un-Carolina line up did a great job of playing smart, winning Tar Heels basketball - and winning a rivalry game to boot.*

Go Heels!

 * and got me blogging again!

A Few More Thoughts 

• NC State LOOKS really good, and I wonder why they have struggled at times this year.  They have plus-talent at the one, two, four and five.  Richard Howell is particularly impressive. I guess the easiest explanation is one that came into play on Saturday; C.J. Leslie disappeared at times.  Credit Hairston for some great defense, too.
• It looks  like the ACC will have 5 teams - Carolina, Duke, NC State, Virginia and Miami - in the NCAA tournament, but that's it unless Maryland or FSU run the table in Greensboro.
• Two years ago I was convinced that Tony Bennett was in over his head at Virginia, but I was wrong.  A program seems to be building in Charlottesville.
• Though the Heels are doing well I don't see an first-team all ACC players on the roster.  My first team all-ACC team is Larkin, Plumlee, Howell, Joe Harris, and either Kenny Kadji or Erik Green.  Reggie Bullock and maybe Hairston could be second or third-team members.  

Survive and Advance

If last night's overtime win over Ohio is not the definition survive and advance, I don't know what is.

Kendall Marshall's injury was the biggest thing to overcome.  Marshall did not dress for the game, and is unlikely to play on Sunday, too.  Last night the Heels also had to survive:

• Harrison Barnes having the worst basketball game a Tar Heels player can EVER have; he missed tons of shots, turned the ball over half a dozen times, and repeatedly made bad decisions
• The team had 13 turnovers at half, more than the total number of turnovers in the previous 4 games, and finished with 24 for the game. Carolina won a game in which it turned it over 24 times!
• Every Carolina fan's worst nightmare, a team that can bomb away from 3.  In the words of Jay Bilas, the Bobcats were 'good, I mean really, really good.' They made shots, at least everyone except Cooper did.
• Overcome is too strong of a word to describe 'freshman Stillman White's first ever start' but that certainly was a challenge. I think this angle has been underplayed: how many freshman point guards - arguably the toughest position in hoopdom - get their FIRST ever start in a sweet 16 game?  Has that ever happened before?

But the Heels did overcome all those challenges, and gutted out a tough and important win. This game was so tough and difficult that it frankly felt like a loss - and I'm just talking about the fans. I can't imagine how exhausted and relieved the students and coaches must have been when the game finally ended.

Like I said, it felt like and certainly was a case of survive and advance. Barely.

How did Carolina manage that?

Reggie Bullock and Tyler Zeller, with some clutch shots from John Henson, White and even Barnes.

Bullock was the reason Carolina won that game. Period.  In a game where Zeller was virtually unchallenged and finished with a visionary 20-20 double-double, Bullock hit the biggest shots and made the biggest plays. His 3s in the second half were all killers, and each of the 4 he made came with the score tied or the lead at one, and he picked up some key boards. For the game the Kinston native was 5 for 10 from three, had 10 boards for another double-double, and had 5 assists, too. 

Another great sign from Bullock: in 3 NCAA games he is 10 for 21 from deep.  He's playing fantastic basketball.

Fantastic basketball certainly describes Tyler Zeller's night. Carolina was much taller than Ohio so it figured that our front line would excel.  Zeller dominated the first half in particular and was big late, too.  In addition to the 20 points and 23 boards, Zeller had 4 blocks included two athletic ones where he also kept the ball in bounds. It's funny to think that the ACC Player of the Year is somehow underrated, but he is.  Ol' Roy should have drawn up that last play in regulation for Psycho Z, too. 

Of course that last play went to Barnes, who lost the ball going up.  Hard to figure out Barnes, isn't it, despite having played seventy-plus games in Chapel Hill?  Last night he was simply terrible for 43 of the 45 minutes. 

Of course, in those two minutes he may have saved the game and season.  His four-point play that tied the game at 57 with less than 3 minutes to play - yes, the Heels trailed Ohio by 4 late - has huger than huge.  And his one-minute take over of overtime in effect ended the game. But how does one explain his waxing and waning concentration?  Or is that it?  I don't know.

Early in the game he was aggressively taking the ball to the rack.  But once again Barnes had trouble finishing, and so the rest of the game he wandered the perimeter missing shots.  When he wasn't doing that, he was losing the ball off the dribble - his ball handling skills have not improved much - or making lazy passes.  

But for a few game-winning plays, the concentration was there and Barnes made big plays.  To me, concentration equals finishing so I think it must be that, or it could have simply been Marshal being out. After all, Barnes' play vexed many a Tar Heels fan when Drew II was running the point.

But I don't want to even hint that White's play was like Drew's.  White played 32 minutes, made 6 assists against no turnovers in his first ever start.  And as I mentioned before, his first start was not against Elon or Mississippi Valley State it was in the 'frigging' - or is it 'flippin' - sweet 16.  

Defensively, Roy kept White - not Bullock - on Cooper, Ohio's best player for most of the game, and it worked. It was probably a combination of good D and boneheadedness that contributed to Cooper's Barnes-esque 3 for 20 night, but give White credit.  He kept Cooper in front of him, pushed him out past the 3 point line, and effectively kept him off balance all night.

The one downside to White's night was his passes inside to Zeller and Henson. Too often, especially in the second half, White tried bounce passes instead of going over to the top to Carolina's bigs.  So though he finished with 0 turnovers, I imagine a few of Zeller's and Henson's were a result of catching some sloppy passes from White and Justin Watts.  Some of that is Ohio's fault; they did a great job of making up for being shorter by clogging and overplaying the passing lanes.  Against Kansas on Sunday, White needs to to a better job feeding the post.

So led by Bullock and Zeller, the Heels survived and advanced. This game said volumes about those two, but let's also give it up for Carolina's toughness. It would have been easy to get down and feel sorry for yourself in a game like this, even though it's an opponent from the Mid-American Conference.  But the Heels did not fold when the game looked bad.  When we were down four I had my doubts and fears.

Luckily, Carolina stayed Carolina, the Heels ran a great play out of the boxed set to get Bullock that open 3 that he calmly drained to start the overtime, and the Tar Heels made enough smart and tough plays to win that game - and of course survive and advance.

GO HEELS!

A few hoops notes:

• Tough loss for the Wolfpack last night; they did not get down or back down late either and had two excellent chances to win or at least tie that game. But a great bounce back season for NCSU, who finally seems to have found the right coach in Mark Gottfried.  He seems to be a great combination of Lowe's charisma, Sendek's basketball know-how, and Sloan's competitiveness (and if he's Jewish, even some of Valvano's ethnicity!).
• Anyway, I relish the return of the Carolina-State rivalry that I grew up with.  
• That rivalry may return to center stage next season if as rumored Duke's Austin Rivers opts to leave early for the NBA. Duke only has one recruit next year coming in and may not be as good with a Curry-Plumlees-Kelly-Thornton-Dawkins line up.
• I thought all the teams that won last night looked pretty good, especially Kentucky and Ohio State. This weekend's Elite 8 games all look like good ones, except Louisville versus Florida (I have the Gators winning that one).  There are few things worse than watching Pitino coach (watching Calipari is one), but I'd add watching a Pitino protege match 'wits' with his mentor.
• I'm going with a Kentucky - though Baylor looked impressive, too - Florida, Ohio State and Carolina final four.

THAT felt good

Yes, Carolina's win over rival NC State felt good - real good.

It's always good to beat a rival, and to beat them convincingly.  I was a tad nervous about this game; State has gotten better under new coach Mark Gottfried (quick quiz: how many current ACC  coaches have had one of their teams ranked number 1? - answer via Comments below) and there was still some lingering post-FSU angst.

But this game was more than a thorough beat down - at one point Carolina led State by 31 points in the second half - of the Wolfpack.  There were many story lines in this win.

1. Probably the biggest story was playing without the Dex Factor.  Strickland is Carolina's best defender and back up point guard, but in addition to those traits is also the Heels' toughest player.  I was anxious to see if Reggie Bullock could do all the things Dex does.  

No worries.  It looked like Bullock played great defense, rebounded well, and his offense came around in the second half.  And new back up point guard Stillman White looked okay, too, even hitting a three late in the game.

2. Tyler Zeller keeps improving.  I think most Heels were unhappy with the way Psycho Z started the season, mainly due to weak hands and the occasional disappearing act on offense.  Those fears have melted away lately, as Zeller has had double-figure rounding games in 9 of the last 11 games and his scoring is up, too.  He was aggressive and unstoppable against the Pack.

3. When Kendall Marshall is setting you up, almost anyone becomes unstoppable.  He was fantastic on Thursday night with his passing and offensive, both in terms of controlling the tempo AND shooting.  I love the fact that Marshall is not simply jacking up 3s in order to 'keep defenses honest.'  K-Marsh is taking it to the rack with authority (though not velocity) and shooting 3s, and his all-around game continues to get better and better.

4.  Marshall's defense has also improved this season, and lately the team defense has been excellent. State had trouble getting - let alone making - good shots.  Bullock was great on State's sharpshooter Scott (Wood), the run and jump was utilized effectively, and of course down low John Henson, Zeller, James Michael McAdoo and Harrison Barnes intimidated, changed and blocked numerous shots, and rebounded well.  As any born and bred fan knows, boards, blocks and steals lead to fast break points, and those runs killed State.

5. Finally, despite some early foul trouble we saw another focused performance from Harrison Barnes.  He had a number of spectacular plays against State and has had back-to-back games where he has shot the ball well.  

The focus of this team is back.  I am not sold on the notion of a 'good' loss, especially one as shocking as the one in Tallahassee, but that may end up being the case for this year's team.  Coming into the season, it was obvious that the Heels had as much or more talent than any other squad in the country.  But mentally we've seen some lapses, mainly at UNLV and in Tallahassee but also in wins over lesser teams such as BC or even Nicholls State.  The Wizards-esque beat down the Tar Heels absorbed 2 weeks ago may have cured Carolina of any lingering thoughts that a superbly talented team simply needs to 'turn it on' to win games. 

Being cured of that feels good - just like beating State.

GO HEELS!

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!

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!