Conference Players of the Year

Sure, January marks the beginning of a new year but for hoops fans it mainly marks the start of ACC basketball. Though it's true that since the ACC started it's football-fueled expansion there have been a few conference games in December, the real schedule starts in January. Just this weekend there were two double-overtime games, and a nice road win for the Heels, so the ACC is off to a good start.

The conference is also loaded. Notre Dame looked terrific in taking down the Heels tonight. The addition of Louisville, coupled with Syracuse the year before, has helped reorient the conference back to where it belongs - as the nation's pre-eminent hoops conference. In addition to three teams in the top 5 and five in the current top 20, two other ACC squads have been ranked this year.  That's seven teams - at a minimum - that should get bids to the NCAA tournament.

Tournament bids is one way to measure the strength of a conference; ditto final fours and championships. Another interesting way to do so is by looking at recent players of fhe year and how they have fared at the next level. The holiday break gave me a chance to look into how the last 10 POY in the big six conferences have done in the NBA, with some interesting findings.*

I broke the players into 6 categories: MVPs (6 pts); All stars (5); starters (3); in the rotation (2); earning a pro paycheck (1); busts (0).*

Using the categories here is how the conferences stack up:

SEC - 22

ACC - 21

Big 12 - 20

PAC 12 - 18

Big East - 16

Big 10 - 10

Though it's not a balanced hoops conference it's not surprising to see the SEC on top, buoyed by one MVP type, Anthony Davis, an all star in John Wall coupled with starters and solid rotation guys. The SEC also had the fewest busts.

The ACC picked up points with 4 starters (Reddick twice, Zeller, and Lawson) plus lots of rotation players. Surpisingly and embarrassingly, no recent ACC player of the year has made an NBA all star game. The conference that produced Jordan, Duncan, Worthy, Carter, etc. seems to have stopped producing them.**

The Big 12 rode two stars - Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin - with a good number of starters and rotation guys (Marcus Thornton, Glen Davis, Markieff Morris, Michael Beasley) adding points. The PAC 12 used the same formula, and scored better than expected, thanks to two All Stars in Kevin Love and James Harden plus some rotation guys (Josh Childress, Derrick Williams).

As expected the Big 10 and Big East, two conferences where players never seem to learn how to pass or shoot (with the exception of UConn) brought up the rear. The recent emergence of Randy Foye and Jeff Green were the Big East's saving graces. And who would have guessed that Draymond Green is the only Big 10 POY in the last decade to amount to anything in the League?***

* This is hardly the best way to look at player's impact. Kyrie Irving, for instance, only played 9 games for Duke so was never a candidate for player of the year, yet is an All Star. One and done players do not always win POY, though Davis and Wall did for Kentucky.

** An exception is Chris Paul, who in his two years at Wake was rookie of the year and first team all ACC, but lot POY honors to Jared Dudley and Tyler Hansbrough.

***  Michigan's Trey Burke may change that.

Random holiday sports blog

As the two-week holiday break comes to a close a variety of sports-related items come to mind and are hopefully blogable.  Two of those items were prompted by events Evan and I attended.

• One was going to see 'Grudge Match' starring Robert 'Raging Bull' De Niro and Sylvester 'Rocky' Stallone.  I'm not going to review the film, which was better than I expected (despite Kevin Hart's complete lack of self respect/minstrel show-like performance) and had an ending that was not obvious or formulaic. There were many mostly-tongue-in-cheek homages to the Rocky movies, which struck me most obviously during the climactic fight between De Niro and Stallone. Once that sequence started I found myself rooting hard for Stallone.  How can anyone root against Rocky?  I stopped watching that franchise after number III, but 'Grudge Match' reminded me how great the first Rocky film was, and how great of a character Rocky Balboa was, I mean IS. 
• in 'Grudge Match' Stallone's character is an out and out liberal. He buys dolphin-safe albacore tuna which he pulls out of a reusable shopping bag while standing in front of a Union Yes sticker on his fridge in a house without a TV but with an artist studio where he fashions small sculptures out of reclaimed scrap metal. All that's missing is NPR on the radio, some free trade coffee and a copy of The New York Times.
• Our second event was last night's disappointing loss to the Tyler Hansbrough-less Toronto Raptors. Though it was only one game, one in which the Wizards came out inexplicably flat and only had about 6 productive minutes the entire game, the loss was another reminder about how cursed DC sports teams are. And the biggest curse is the one of expectations. The 2013 Nats and Washington football team are the most obvious examples, but the 'Zards are doing their part. Every time they come close to .500 they stink up the joint, as they did again on Friday night in dropping their record to 14-16. The only good news is that in the Eastern Conference they are still the 5 seed for the playoffs, and that John Wall is playing like an All Star.
• I guess Washington sports resembles our current political situation. Breaking even is the best we can do - perhaps the most we can expect - with a Democrat in the White House, Dems in charge of the Senate but crazies in charge of the House.
• The best basketball news of the break - NBA division - has got to be Kendall Marshall signing and now excelling with the Lakers. K Butter had 20 points and 15 assists in last night's win over the Jazz. Here's hoping he can build on that and craft the successful NBA career he deserves.
• Speaking of the NBA, I still can not understand how limited Hansbrough's success has been. Some of it has been injuries, but I thought on effort alone he would be more established and successful at this point in his career. Carolina's best NBA player now is probably Ty Lawson, though injuries have slowed him down lately after a great start to the season. Danny Green seemed poised for the title after last year's breakout performance in the NBA finals but has been replaced in the starting line up by Marco Belinelli. 
• San Antonio's starting line up features 4 players - Belinelli, Parker, Splitter and Tim 'U.S. Virgin Islands' Duncan - born outside the 50 United States. Not to be outdone, their in-state colleagues the Texas Rangers' starting line up will likely feature players from EIGHT different countries (if you count Puerto Rico; Japan, Korea, Curacao, DR, Venezuela, Cuba, and the U.S.) on opening day. And the Mavericks' best player is from Germany, their point guard from Spain, and their center from Haiti. Ironic that one of America's most nativist states features sports teams with so much diversity.
• GO HEELS! My ACC preview is coming soon.

Stay away from the epsom salts!

It what could be a foreshadowing of NCAA tournament's past, Carolina is dealing with another injury during the ACC tournament.

John Henson's wrist injury may not be as serious as Ty Lawson's toe was in 2009, but of course Heels fans would take the result.  Lawson's dad famously prescribed Epsom salts for the ankle, a remedy that did not work (and could have cost Carolina the National Championship!).*

What's interesting about last night's win over Maryland was how mature the Heels looked without Henson, the defensive player of the year and a first team all-ACC standout. 

The Heels methodically ground down the Terps in a workman like way, distributing the offense and sharing the load defensively. Harrison Barnes was great taking it to rack, and Reggie Bullock had another Bullock game - doing everything and doing it well.

Tyler Zeller was steady if unspectacular as he dealt with lots of defensive attention down low, and James Michael McAdoo continued his upward trajectory with excellent all-around play punctuated with another dunk, this one of his own making as he drove baseline for a freak-nasty finish in the second half.

But as it has been of late, K Butter was once again the story.  He got the Heels going early with the pass, and helped finish Maryland late with his offense.  I was going to blog 'steadily improving offense' but the time for that participle has passed.  Kendall Marshall possesses a legit and effective offensive game.  He is no longer Derrick Phelps or King Rice.  This guy is becoming more like Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson, a threat to score at anytime.

As good as Marshall has been, the story today will continue to be Henson's wrist. The Heels may not need him today but they would tomorrow - and obviously over the course of the next month.  As long as he heels like Lawson did - and as long as Marshall plays like Lawson, too - the Heels will be all right.   

Just stay away from the Epsom salts.

* not really; got a little over heated.  GO HEELS!

Quick Look at Heels in the NBA

I like the NBA, and am glad it's back.  Of course, as a Washingtonian the NBA is a relative term since our hometown Wizards keep getting jokier and jokier.  And I'm just talking about this year, not Gilbert Arenas bringing guns into the locker room.

First it was Andray Blatche tweeting for folks to stop criticizing him for criticizing the coach and organization. Nothing new there. But last night the Wizards reached new heights when they failed to list Roger Mason Jr., a DC native by the way, on their active roster.  When he entered the game, illegally, Mason was thrown out by the referees and the Wizards were given a technical. 

With the Wizards less than blog worthy, it's of course time to turn to the Tar Heels.

With the season a week old, here is a quick look at the 12 Tar Heels - which I think is second to Connecticut, believe it or not - in the NBA in order of minutes played.

1. Ty Lawson, 32 minutes - Averaging 22 points and 3 assists. He's emerged as the best Tar Heel in the NBA
2. Raymond Felton, 32 - A solid 13 and 7 assists for Portland
3. Antawn Jamison, 30 minutes - Hanging on after 13 years in the league, currently averaging 14 points a game for Cleveland
4. Tyler Hansbrough, 28 - Practically playing starters minutes as Pacers sixth man.   Has two double-doubles this year and averaging 11 points and 11 boards despite terrible shooting percentage
5. Marvin Williams, 26 - Has helped Hawks to 3-0 start with 14 points and 8 boards
6. Wayne Ellington, 31 - With an asterisk, since he did not play in the Timberwolves first two games but came off the bench last night to score 13 points.
7. Vince Carter, 19 - Coming off bench for Mavericks
8. Brendan Haywood, 19 - Starting for defending champs with Tyson Chandler gone, but not playing that well.  Averaging 5 and 5 for 1-3 Dallas.
9. Ed Davis, 19 - Sixth man for Toronto Raptors
10. Brandon Wright - Has played in one game for Mavericks and still trying to get his NBA career going after 4 years in league
11. Danny Green, 6 - Limited minutes but has played in all 3 games for Spurs this year. Was playing in Slovenia with Deon Thompson during lock out.
12. Jerry Stackhouse, 6 - Still in the NBA after 16 years, with Marvin's Hawks.

GO HEELS!  

Another scattershot blog post

A variety of bloggable topics are available this weekend. Here goes:


World Series


I was initially surprised to see the Yankees comeback from an early 0-3 deficit.  But I shouldn't have.  Cole Hamels has been shaky this postseason, and unlike some of the Phillies these Yankees are professional hitters.   They swing at strikes, and fielded a relentless line up that even featured pitcher Andy Petite driving in a run.


[Interesting take on these Yankees today in the Times.]


The Phillies' approach last night was not as professional.  Case in point is Shane Victorino.  Batting in the third inning with the bases loaded and one out, Victorino came up after Jimmy Rollins walked - WALKED - to drive in a run and give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.  Most ball players know to take the first pitch if the previous hitter walked.  But Victorino was a bonehead twice, swinging at two balls waaaaayyyyy outside the strike zone to quickly put himself in the hole 0-2.


He eventually drove in a run - on a defensive swing - on a sacrifice fly but instead of breaking the game open with a hit, driving Petite off the mound in the process, Victorino's sacrifice ended the chance for a big, game -changing inning.

• Good column by Tom Boswell today that semi-explains why umpiring in baseball has declined so badly in recent years.  Bad umpiring/refereeing seems endemic to all sports these days but in baseball the umpiring stinks worse than in other sports.  From calling a terrible strike zone, to allowing hitters and pitchers go on a walkabout after every pitch, to missing fairly obvious calls this postseason - fair and foul balls, two runners on the same base, plays at first - baseball has a fairly serious issue to deal with. Boswell makes a good case that instant replay deserves a chance to solve some these problems.

Carolina football


Huge win for the Heels on Thursday night against Virginia Tech. There are almost too many story lines to talk about: a road win versus a ranked opponent, bouncing back from a terrible home loss the previous Thursday that also was a nationally televised game, coming back late in the game after falling behind due to a terrible turnover/interception by Yates.


The win was inspiring; the Heels could have mailed in the rest of their season and done what some so-called scribes had done and turned to basketball.  But instead they played with pride and determination and were rewarded with a meaningful and season-saving win.


The Heels will need to sustain that effort and focus if they truly want to save the season.  Carolina has four tough game left, versus Miami, at Boston College, and rivalry games versus NC State and Duke.  The Duke game is homecoming next week - Evan, Johnny, Alex and I will be there - and the Blue Devils is no pushover.  The Dukies are 5-3 after defeating Virginia in Charlottesville yesterday.  Beating the 'Hoos may not be that big a deal, then again the Heels lost to them in Chapel Hill.


Either way, I'm looking forward to spending a day and a half in Chapel Hill for homecoming (something I never thought I would ever want to attend).  This will actually be the fourth Duke-Carolina game in five years for Johnny, Evan and myself.


Wizards


Got to catch part of the Wizards win last night over the Nets. Arenas continues to look fantastic, and Andray Blatche off the bench almost matched Agent Zero's 32 points.  Brendan Haywood finished with 10 and 7 (a reverse of his opening-night numbers).


I may be the only guy I know who is paying attention; only 3 people voted in my favorite Wizards poll (and I think those 3 were me, Evan and Ariadne).


Heels in NBA


Of all the Heels in the NBA rookie Ty Lawson is probably off to the best start.  Lawson was the best player on the floor for Denver as they rallied to defeat Portland on opening night.  Lawson finished with 17 points in that game in 26 minutes.  He scored 7 in 17 minutes last night in another Nuggets win.


Here's a look at what the others Heels are doing so far:


Wayne Ellington: Ellington is playing, getting 23 min/game, while averaging 6 pts on 32% shooting; has yet to hit a three-pointer in two games.
Sean May: May is starting for 0-3 Sacramento but still playing 'out of shape' minutes, around 19 a game and averaging only 6 points a game.  I hope May gets healthy and gets his career on track.  He should be a good pro.
Brendan Haywood Off to a pretty good start - averaging 12 and 9 - though his timing on offense appears off as he returns from a wrist injury that kept him out of 79 games last year. Physically looks great, trim and agile.
Jawad Williams Has only played 2 minutes of mop-up time in one game, but hey he's in the NBA!
Rasheed Wallace Happily coming off the bench and playing a lot at crunch time, Ra is averaging 9 points a game. Twenty of his twenty-six shots have been three-pointers.
Raymond Felton Continues to struggle with his shot for the 1-2 Bobcats. Averaging 14 points (39% shooting) and 5 assists in 28 minutes a game. I still can't figure out why Ray has not become Chris Paul.
Marvin Williams Is third option on a young and dynamic Hawks team.   Averaging 12 points though 2 games.
Vince Carter The Magic are 2-0 with Carter, but Vince only played 15 minutes in their second game due to a sprained ankle (and did not play today versus the Raptors).  Carter is averaging 15.5 points a game on 55% shooting in two games.


Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Brandan Wright and Antawn Jamison have yet to play this season due to injuries, and both Jerry Stackhouse and Rashad McCants have yet to sign with a team.  For a while rumors circulated that McCants would join Aris Thessaloniki (in my dad's hometown) in a Carolina-Hellenic Blue blog-driven move.


Completely Random

• What ever happened to Jurassic 5?  'Day at the Races' came on my iPod the other day, a song that hinted at their promise.  Maybe I missed something, but what happened to the group who rapped 'you're out of your league like Jordan was with baseball' and featured the 'verbal Herman Munster' as one of their members?
• Lots of comments on our Halloween 2009 iPod mix for our party last night. Most often asked question "Are we listening to ABC?"  With Halloween as the obvious theme the mix featured "Poison Arrow" - due to the word poison - "Back from the Dead" by Spinal Tap, the "Buttercup" theme from the Power Puff Girls soundtrack, and more cliched songs like "Thriller," "Dead Man's Party" and "Everyday is Halloween." 
• Sorry for some of the font problems with this page.  The software was upgraded and I have yet to find my comfort zone.

Next Year's Heels II

Get it?  The title is an homage to Larry Drew II,  the starting point guard for your defending national champs.

Going pro is a slam dunk for Lawson, who depending on the order of the draft, should go in the top 10.  He's improved his game and is ready for the next level.  That's the good news.   The bad news - news tempered by being paid to play basketball - is that the teams most in need of point guard help include backwaters like Golden State and Milwaukee.

At the Thursday press conference Roy Williams said he had spoken with 13 teams and was assured that Ellington would go in the first round thus a guaranteed, three-year contract.  I hope that's true.  Besides a guaranteed contract the great news for Ellington is that is projected to go late in the first round so will likely end up with a playoff team.  Interesting to note how many good teams don't have world-beaters at the 2.  Dallas and San Antonio, for instance, bring their best 2 guards off the bench (Terry and Ginobili, respectively).  Same for New Orleans, Houston and Denver who starts Duke scrub Dahntay Jones at 2.

The other significant draft news is that Gerald Henderson will enter the draft but not hire and agent.  Henderson will likely be drafted in Lawson territory so has probably played his last game as a Blue Devil (a game where he went 1 for 9 from the field in a loss to hometown team Villanova).  Duke will be good, but without Henderson they won't be THAT good. I'm not sure why folks like Caulton Tudor are so optimistic about Duke's chances next year.  Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek have proven that they are NOT ACC-caliber talent, and the jury is still out on guys like Nolan Smith. Though Singler and Scheyer are great players Duke is still weak at point and on the boards (again).  Nationally they aren't as talented as Kansas or Michigan State, and even with their losses I don't think Duke measures up to Carolina either.

I was hoping Henderson would stick around one more year for another loss to Carolina in Cameron.  That guy deserves nothing but Tar Heel-induced misery.  Instead he joins luminaries like Greg Paulus in the list of players who will leave Durham having never won in Cameron against the Heels.

I'm a fan of the NBA, but can not get into the playoffs yet.  These first-round series always seem tedious and rarely produce an upset, though Dallas taking down San Antonio does qualify as one even with Ginobili on the bench for the Spurs.  The NBA should restore some legitimacy for the regular season - which is long enough - and reduce the number of teams that make the playoffs.

I'll blog more on the NBA playoffs in a could of more rounds.

NATS UPDATE

Well, the Mets have put an end the Nats' 6-game, 8-inning winning streak.  Going into the weekend series Washington had been hitting the ball well, but that has ended in cavernous Taxpayer Stadium.  The Nats' anemic hitting in New York joins their bad pitching and shoddy defense for an 'in the toilet' trifecta!

A godly Sunday

Did you know that if you do a Google search for the phrase "Danny Green Is God" this website is the first - and last I checked only - site that pops up? 

I hope that phrase turns into a few more hits, and after today I wouldn't be surprised.  Danny Green dominated the first half against Oklahoma as the Heels cruised to a 72-60 win.   Where to start in reviewing Green's game?  He hit threes, drove to the basket, played great help defense.  

But for me two plays stand out. One was his offensive rebound and put back against the Griffin twins.  He simply out muscled and out willed both brothers on that play.  I predicted that Hansbrough would out will Griffin; on that play Green did. Two, I loved his little pull up 8 footer with about three minutes left when Oklahoma was flirting with a comeback.  Instead of launching a three - as he did three years ago in the regional final against Georgetown - Green put the ball on the floor and sank an easier shot.  A smart play that was the final nail in this win.

And what a win.  For the second game in a row Carolina calmly dismantled a foe that on paper was supposed to be a challenge. But today Carolina was never really threatened.  The Heels jumped out to an early lead behind Green and Tyler Hansbrough - and did not look back as they moved on to their second Final Four in a row, third in five years, ninth in the last eighteen.

The second half started much like the first, but instead of Green it was Ellington hitting two shots, Lawson hitting from three and driving the lane, and Deon Thompson getting and making great looks.   The rout was on and the lead eventually grew to 21 points before some sloppy play made the game look closer than it was.  The Heels dominated.

In fact, the domination was so complete that it made me wonder if Oklahoma was actually any good.  Other than Blake Griffin, who is incredibly agile, the Sooners looked like a high school team against the Heels.  One good player and that's it.

I'm surprised Jeff Capel (Fayetteville South View High, and Duke) didn't call a few timeouts to tell his team to stop shooting so many threes.  Oklahoma had absolutely NO offense other than Griffin.  So let me know, why did folks think Oklahoma was any good?

Then again, he is a Dookie so I shouldn't have expected much.  And I went to Smith, not Southview.

But the other story here is how good Carolina's defense was.  They effectively doubled Griffin, particularly in the first half when Hansbrough was on the floor.  For a guy who got his 22 and 12, his play was a non-factor on the final outcome.

Chalk up another dominant win for the Heels.  A dominant win where Hansbrough was in foul trouble, Ellington broke his streak of more than 20 double-figure games after finishing with only 9 points, where our fifth option on offense is our third leading scorer.   That's how good this team is.   I like our chances next weekend.

A FEW MORE NOTES

• Today's game was a battle of the last two states to hold the designation of "The Worst and Most Embarrassing Senate Delegation."  The title had resided with my home state for six years when we had Jesse Helms and Lauch Faircloth "representing" the Tar Heel State.  But now Oklahoma wins that title hands down with Tom Coburn and James Inhofe representing the Sooner State in the Senate.
• The referees really stunk in this game.  They called too many ticky-tack fouls against both teams, and as a result the game had absolutely no flow or pace.
• Louisville, the overall number one seed, looked as bad as Oklahoma today in choking to Michigan State.  They were completely out-classed by a Spartans team that was not intimated.  The Cardinals looked tight and nervous and were playing not to lose.  They cracked under the stress of making the Final Four and the pressure from Michigan State's defense.  
• That game was also a testament to Tom Izzo, who wins every season yet seems underrated.
• One of the most shocking parts of today's game was the commentary of usually off-base Clark Kellogg.  Kellogg was on the money 3 times today: calling out Capel and Oklahoma for being too reliant on Griffin for all their offense; comparing Danny Green to all the wonderful things baking soda can do (for baking, cleaning, as an air freshener, etc.);  and for pointed out that while Griffin was enjoying his home run trot after a freak-nasty dunk Ty Lawson had raced to the other end of the floor for two points.

That play summed up the game.   Griffin had some nice dunks, but the Sooners had nothing else.   A motivated and balanced Carolina team played a great game - especially on defense - and are on their way to the Final Four.  

Oh yeah, and Danny Green is god!

What a win

An exhilarating - way too exhilarating - win tonight over LSU.  Carolina closed like Mariano Rivera against LSU to gut out the win and secure a place in the sweet 16.

LSU came out of halftime looking like Greece versus the US at the 2006 world championships by hitting 9 of their first 10 shots. I'm not sure if Carolina came out lackadaisical or cocky after their nice to run the end the first half, or LSU simply came out fired up, but the Tigers started hitting shots from all over the floor.

Conversely, Carolina looked tentative, especially Hansbrough and Thompson.

But that's when Ty Lawson shook off his bad toe and the bad juju.  He started by hitting two three-point shots to blunt the Tigers' new-found momentum.  Carolina finally tightened up the D a bit - led by Bobby Frasor (3 steals in 17 minutes!) and Ed Davis (9 points/7 boards/2 blocks in 25 minutes) but also Danny Green after Roy 'talked' to him on the bench. Then Ty Lawson started doing what Ty Lawson does: aggressively and repeatedly taking the ball to the rack.   

The ACC player of the year had a number of tough takes for baskets, with a few and-1s too. It was inspirational on more than one level: a guy stepping up when his team needs him, a guy excelling while playing on a bad wheel that visibly bothered him in the first half; a guy sacrificing his body on defense (2 of Carolina's 11 steals).  In the end he scored 21 of his 23 team-high points in the second half.  Great stuff from a great player.

But Lawson didn't do it alone.  Wayne Ellington was Georgelynchesque tonight, making plays all over the floor. He was 9 for 16 overall and 3 for 6 on three-pointers to finish with 23 huge points.  But his excellent shooting only tells part of the story. Ellington was strong on every part of the floor, and finished with the points plus 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot.  He was also strong on defense, and had two nice 'wall' plays in addition to the steals.  And on Danny Green's huge three down the stretch Ellington made a game-changing play when he tapped a loose ball, volleyball-style, to his teammate.  As great as Lawson was, Ellington was his equal.

Hansbrough was very strong in the first half, then seemed intimidated a bit in the second.  Still, he had his own big shot down the stretch too to extend the lead.

Those three, plus Frasor and Davis, helped the Heels really tighten up the defense down the stretch. Frasor in particular had a two important steals during the decisive Carolina run to put the game away,  The Heels eventually figured LSU out, and their oft-maligned defense came up strong in the last 10 minutes of tonight's game.

Bottom line, it looks like Lawson is back.  Five days of rest should help Ty recover in time for the sweet 16 next week  As long as he feels good, I'm feeling good.

ONLY A FEW MORE NOTES

• I hope that 3 gets Danny Green back on track. He looked very tentative today, but to his credit he took that second three to help put the game away.  If Green is on and Lawson is healthy - and tonight for Carolina that was for only about 15 minutes - the Heels are unstoppable.  
• So much for conference loyalty: the Dukies were repeatedly shown cheering on LSU.  I doubt the Devils will make it that far, but I'd love to beat them for a third time in the Final Four.
• Oh yeah, Go Longhorns (even if they are coached by Dean enemy Rick Barnes)!
• Roy did something tonight that he and Dean are usually reluctant to do: he called time out three minutes into the second half during the massive LSU run.  Tar Heel fans recall that Roy did NOT do that during the Kansas onslaught in last year's national semi-final.

Heels Look Good; Rest of College Basketball Looks Boring

The Heels rolled behind Wayne Ellington, Tyler Hansbrough and Bobby Frasor to an easy 40 point win over Radford in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

Even with Ty 'Nine Toes' Lawson on the bench the Heels still ran to more than 100 points.  Sure, it was only Radford but scoring 100 points in 40 minutes of play is almost always worth noting, and the Heels did it with their back up point guard (technically their third-string point guard since Frasor has primarily played the 2 this season).

As predicted here at Carolina and Hellenic Blue, Wayne Ellington led the way. The offense was very very efficient, especially to at the end of the first half and beginning of the second, and the Heels generally got any shot they wanted.

It was also good to see Danny Green score in double figures and end up with his first career double-double.  A relieved Green gave a small fist pump when he scored his first basket.  

Next up for the Tar Heels is LSU, who defeated Butler.  Lawson may play, but I would not be surprised if he is held out one more game. LSU won the very weak SEC, and I don't think they match up well with Hansbrough, Deon Thompson, or Ed Davis down low.  

Carolina's win was the only bright spot in what can be generously described as a lackluster first round of games.  Some games were partly interesting, led by our Nebraska Avenue neighbor American University's 10 point halftime lead over Villanova.  But the Eagles eventually faded and lost by 13.

Today, East Tennessee State hung with number 1 seeded Pitt for 36 minutes before losing, and Morehead State trailed Louisville by 2 at half before losing by 18 points.  So three close and interesting games, but not much excitement overall in the tournament.

Nicaa Noodlings

• Carolina's score is noteworthy for another reason; outside of UConn no one else in the field knows how to score.  Most games seem to be in the 60s or lower 70s, including high seed teams like Pitt (72) and Louisville (74).  Scoring in the 70s is okay if you're playing a good team, but not when you are playing a 16 seed.
• BC and Clemson thoroughly embarrassed the ACC. Clemson looked terrible and made a Big 10 team look efficient on offense. They should ashamed of their play and total lack of concentration against an NIT-quality opponent in Michigan. BC was just bad. Tyrese Rice played like a frustrated freshman not a seasoned senior.  The Eagles also made a plethora of bone headed fouls, passes, and mistakes.  How they beat Carolina in Chapel Hill I'll never know.
• Maryland played a spirited game against Cal, and Duke took care of business after a slow start to defeat Bingamton. So the ACC is 3-2 with Wake and FSU about to play tonight.
• Hard not to notice the empty seats in every locale, except for Greensboro where Carolina and Duke are both playing.  It seems like the NCAA books too many of these games in venues that are too big.  But there were empty seats in Philadelphia even though Villanova was playing. 
• So far I was correct about Dayton defeating West Virginia, and Western Kentucky taking down Illinois.  But was wrong about all the Utah schools - I had all three advancing - the Arizona schools - I had them both losing - and Virginia Commonwealth.  

Quick ACC Basketball blog

Maryland looked like an NIT team in their loss to Virginia on Saturday.  And they looked very very tight for most of the contest as the weight of this game took it's toll.  Their 7-9 record means that unless they win the ACC tournament, or perhaps if they advance to the final, they will not make the NCAA tournament again this year.

Boston College won yesterday, on a last second shot by Rakim Sanders, to secure their ninth ACC win. Their conference record and wins over Carolina and Wake make them a lock.

Obviously, the big story for me is Duke at Carolina on Sunday. But the biggest game in terms of the NCAA tournament is Virginia Tech at FSU. Tech needs a win to get to 8-8 in conference, and have another marquee win to add to the resume.

If Tech loses the ACC will have three teams at 7-9 - Miami being the third - who have to use the conference tournament to play themselves into the big dance.  And the tournament is stacked with top level teams including Carolina going for their third straight ACC championship.

The ACC is the best conference in the country this year, so one or two 7-9 team may get in simply for surviving conference play.  Right now the ACC only has six teams in (Carolina, Duke, Wake, BC, Clemson, and FSU) and deserves at least eight, so two of those 7-9 teams could get in especially if they win at least one game in the ACC tournament.

Duke has played better of late, avoiding their patented late season swoon of the last couple of years, but I feel great about the Heels' chances today.  Despite the emergence of Elliott Williams the Devils have no one who can stop or slow down Ty Lawson.

They also don't have anyone who can stop Tyler Hansbrough.   Look for both Tys to have big days today, especially Hansbrough. Psycho-T looks like a nice guy but seems to really hate the Dukies.  I think Gerald Henderson knows one reason why.

It will be an emotional day as Hansbrough, Danny Green and Bobby Frasor play their last game in Chapel Hill.  Hansbrough is one of the all time greats, in both college and Carolina basketball, and I and millions of other Heels fans will miss his play and his pure Carolinabasketballiness.

But even if they cut down the nets this year that class will always be special for their 2006 run. Easy to forget that Carolina went into that season with four freshman - those three plus Marcus Ginyard - and not much else.  Of course, that 'not much else' including two of my favorite Heels of all time - David Noel and Reyshawn Terry - who led the young Heels to an improbable run that year. 

How lucky are we as Heels fans to be able to watch those back to back classes, first May-Felton-McCants (with Manuel, Williams, Williams in there too) then Hansbrough-Green-Frasor (with Lawson-Ellington right behind)?

Of course, this year isn't over yet.  Here's to seeing each class end their runs the same way.  Go Heels!

Two Quick Merow-Manuel Notes

• Alison won the raffle for a new MacBook at our school's auction last night. Cool news for the one member of our family you regularly uses our old desktop computer.
• So far Ariadne has heard back from one of the three schools she applied to, and it was good news as she was admitted to St. Andrews in Potomac.  She's very excited to be admitted, but also excited about a school that has a modern dance department.  We should hear from Edmund Burke and The Field School, her other two schools, early next week. 
• Finally, though I voted for Anoop Desai, this week I would vote for Barack Obama since he overturned the Bush ban on stem cell research.  And said he said wanted to strengthen the endangered species act . . . 

Thorough Dismantling

What a thoroughly satisfying - and just plain thorough - dismantling of the right-wing boobs from Durham tonight. Led by Ty Lawson, Carolina did what they wanted to in the second half on their way to a 101-87 thrashing of the Blue Devils.

The win means Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green and Bobby Frasor end their careers undefeated at Cameron. Duke's class of 2009 spent $160,000 for a second-rate education and never got to see Duke beat Carolina. That's what you get when your alumni number Richard Nixon, Ken Starr, Elizabeth Dole, Henry Hyde and some other right-wing boobs I probably missed.

It also means that Krzyzewski is now 32-37 lifetime against Carolina (with a lifetime losing record IN CAMERON against Dean, I might add).

Carolina got contributions from everyone. Thompson was aggressive early in scoring 10 points in Singler's grill and Frasor, who had missed his previous 12 three pointers, buried three 3s to give Carolina an early lead. I had a feeling Frasor would have a good game, a la 2006, and he did.

Late in the first half Duke got rolling and Carolina got sloppy and lost it's aggressiveness. The combo led to a Duke surge and an 8 point half-time lead. It could have been much much worse, but Danny Green hit a huge, nerve-calming three to keep Carolina's head above water.

I imagine folks noticed that instead of panicking during Duke's run Roy 1) did NOT call a time out, and 2) actually went to his bench to protect Hansbrough, who had two fouls, and give Lawson a blow. I liked the calm way the team reacted to that run. Pure Carolina; we'll take your best shot, but we are going to beat you in the second half.

And man, did they EVER beat down Duke in the final 20 minutes. I bet Roy reminded Lawson in the locker room that he was unstoppable against Duke's very weak back court. And he was, scoring 21 second-half points, mostly on lay ups as he repeatedly blew by any Duke defender assigned to 'guard' him. Lawson was completely dominant.

But it was a team effort. The second half swamping was methodical, pure, simple and total. There were a few big plays - Hansbrough's three to boost the lead back to 12 with the shot clock winding down, the steals by Green and Ellington early in the second half - but it was mainly Carolina playing smart Carolina basketball. They moved the ball, got the ball down low, got great looks, and shot more than 60 percent in the second half. Almost all of that was due to Lawson's total game.

Carolina scored at will in dropping 101 points IN CAMERON. Duke's vaunted defense had held teams to an average of 61 points a game. The Heels scored 57 in the second half!

The good-hearted liberals from Chapel Hill played great defense in the second half. They played the passing lanes, denied the ball, and kept guys like Henderson in check.

Frasor was the final piece of the puzzle. His early threes were big, but he played 27 minutes and completely dominated Henderson on defense.

Simply a great great win. As I blogged after the win at N.C. State, it is great to beat Duke, even better at Cameron in front of their spoiled capitalist-pig fans, better still to dominate them so totally. But even better than all that, it's just great to watch Carolina play Carolina basketball - running, moving the ball efficiently and moving without the ball, playing smart, staying calm, storming back, winning a big game.

The Heels were much better than Duke, and lead the lifetime series 130-97. And that gap will get wider as long as Roy is on the bench. This is Carolina's sixth win in the eight games against the Devils.

Tonight was just a great Carolina win, made sweater by the opponent and the venue.

A Few More Thoughts

• Duke showed their true, bitch-ass colors more than a few times tonight. And one instance, Singler's stupid and petulant elbow to Hansbrough's jaw, gave Carolina two free throws and some momentum early in the second half. A stupid and typical Duke play.
• But Duke's biggest scalawag is Gerald Henderson. Frasor ate him up in the second half, taking him completely out of his game. How did Henderson react? By elevating his game? No, but with two cheap shots to Hansbrough late in the game. At least he didn't elbow him in the face, so I guess that's progress.
  
• Hansbrough was not as dominant as Lawson, but he had a magnificent second half. He drew a charge on the perimeter, played great defense when Carolina was switching on screens, hit that big three, got some big boards - Hansbrough played smart Carolina basketball. Hansbrough hit a similar big three against Duke in 2006 (but I imagine you knew that already).
• Duke's point guards are terrible. I wouldn't be surprised if Duke limps along the rest of the season and finishes with a whimper. Book them to lose in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

Go Heels!