Feeling it, but not feeling it (yet)

The start of the college basketball season, more to the point the Carolina basketball season, was a silver lining to a weekend dominated by barbarism.  But even then, the lingering effects of the academic scandal has tempered that Carolina blue escape. 

I Tivoed Friday's opening game versus Temple, and watched it after our eleventh grade pot luck with a mix of interest and disinterest. Typing that sentence was unimaginable just a few years ago. But I have to admit I wasn't that excited even though this team could win Carolina's sixth national championship and Roy's third.   

Carolina's descent to the level of just any other school with a big time sports program, as opposed to the school that did things the right way, is part of the issue. I also find it harder and harder to ignore the general tawdriness and outright hypocrisy of college sports.  There is little to no justification for big time colleges and universities supporting minor league football and basketball leagues.

But if you read Ross Douthat's Sunday column in The New York Times you start to realize that perhaps the entire college system, not just athletics, is corrupt. Colleges seem to have lost their sense of higher purpose. In that regard the shift from teaching to research mirrors the shift from amateurism to big money sports programming (played by athletes who do not get paid, let alone collect workers compensation or other benefits).  

And that makes it hard, at least harder, to be a fan.

Nonetheless, I'll offer up a few more hoops notes:

• One other reason I may have felt a little disinterested is that Carolina's best student-athlete, Marcus Paige, was hurt.  I still enjoyed watching, but maybe I would have felt more invested if the player I know goes to class, loves learning and is a Dean-worthy kid wasn't in street clothes.
• That said, this is a tantalizing team that I imagine I WILL get invested in.  One reason is they are talented and deep. Even without Paige the Heels' back court has played especially well in our first two games.  Joel Berry II looks self assured and savvy running the offense, and more aggressive with his shot; Nate Britt seems to be a legit 3-point shooter and has always been a heady point guard; and Theo Pinson has been Alvin Robertson*-like in displaying a complete floor game - so far.  
• And our front court will be almost unmatched. Kennedy Meeks has lost more weight and could be this season's Sean May.  Against Temple he had 3 blocks!  Brice Johnson will continue to be a double-double machine and could get even better if he continues to mature.  Isaiah Hicks may be the best back up power forward in the ACC; do not be surprised when he carries this team a few games or halves this season, and Joel James is a great back up five (and also a good student).  
• Justin Jackson, who was impressive down the stretch last season to salvage an up and down freshman year, has been the only player to underwhelm - but it's only been two games.  

Finally, the silver lining to this scandal HAS to be that all the players are taking and attending real classes.  How embarrassing to have to say that as a Tar Heel.  But the fact that they are once again real students will make rooting for them doable.  I assume I will come around.  GO HEELS!

* Alvin Robertson is one of only 4 players in the history of the NBA, and the only non-center, to log a quadruple double.  Can you name the three centers who have done so?   

March Madness

An unsatisfying ACC basketball weekend* was salvaged by Virginia smiting the Devils in the championship game AND a pretty good draw for the Tar Heels in the NCAA tournament. The tragedy side of my Greek psyche was expecting much worse on Sunday. 

ACC Tournament
It was obviously good to see Duke lose.  Any day that Krzyzewski is sad is a good day for America.  As I posted on twitter over the weekend, Duke is like the Tea Party: some individual alums/members are nice, but as a whole both are bad for the country.

NCAA Tournament  
It is hard to quibble with the selection committee's work on the NCAA tournament. I was very glad to see six ACC teams, including N.C. State, make it. That is second to the Big 12's seven bids (actually they got eight if you count Nebraska though they apparently are in the Big 10 now - who knew? -  which by the way has 12 members, while the Big 12 has only 10 members.  Thanks football!)

Of course, I will quibble a little bit.  I agree with most Americans that BYU did not deserve an invitation to the big dance; they were very bad down the stretch.  Actually Nebraska should not have made it either; their one marquee win was over Michigan State without their two best players.

Colorado and Stanford, two Pac 12 schools, are also more suited to the NIT than the NCAA. If I was on the committee I would have dropped those four in favor of Wisconsin Green Bay, Louisiana Tech (who beat Nebraska I think),  Florida State and probably SMU and Larry Brown.

How could the selection committee pass on Larry Brown?

I keep scratching my head about Clemson, too. They finished with 10 wins in the ACC including one over Duke, yet never seemed to merit much consideration. It is great to have six teams in but the ACC probably should have gotten seven. 

So there is some quibbling over the teams but only a few on the seeding. UCLA probably should not be a 4, BYU should be in the NIT let alone a 10 seed, Kentucky is one of those nightmare 8 seeds, but that's about it.  

The number one seeds, however, seem obvious and just. 

But like many Americans I can not believe that Louisville is a 4 seed.  They seem like a 2 seed the way they have been playing lately.

Louisville is a reminder of the rigor that is the Midwest bracket. I guess the selection committee was not impressed by Wichita State's strength of schedule since they gave them a brutal path to follow if the Shockers hope to make consecutive trips to the Final Four.  
  
Their second round game could be against a Tennessee team that blew out Virginia. Get past the Vols and Kentucky or Kansas State could await. Both K teams are tough outs from tough conferences. If the Shockers go to the Sweet 16 they could see Louisville - who they will likely lose to - and if they make it past the defending national champs would likely see Michigan, another team that made the Final Four last year.

My only real upset pick is North Dakota State over Oklahoma. I have NC State winning two games including over St. Louis in the 2nd round, and George Washington over Memphis.  

I DON'T buy into most of the trendy upset picks.  VCU will not lose to SF Austin, and I do not buy into the Harvard thing.  Finally, I see Syracuse getting their act together enough to beat W. Michigan but lose to Ohio State.  

My bracket is here: http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/group?groupID=407767&invitesource=email&inviteuser=MjUzNDkxA&ex_cid=invite-email-tcmen  You can also join my group, Marcus Paige is GOD, from there. 

TAR HEELS
Unlike last year, Carolina got a great draw in 2014.  Iowa State and Villanova will be tough, but I love our chances of getting another shot at Virginia and going to the final four. Once there I have the Heels beating Louisville - again - then winning one for Dean, whose last game was a loss to Arizona in the 1997 Final Four.  This time ol' Roy will win one for his mentor and take down the Wildcats for the National Championship - or something like that.

GO HEELS! GO DEAN! GO AMERICA!




* The best basketball news of the weekend was attending the Wizards' scintillating win over the Nets of Brooklyn.  John Wall kept the Zards close until Drew Gooden - DREW GOODEN - took over in the 4th quarter and scored 11 of his 21 points to lead Washington to the win. This is a fun team led by a player, Wall, who has really grown as a leader and a shot maker.  It will be interesting to see the Wizards in the playoffs. 

More Carolina Basketball, more Dean, and Phil Ford

It was more of the same yesterday as Carolina basketball, the style invented and developed by Dean Smith, triumphed over Kentucky for another marquee win for this year's squad.

It was not the most ascetically pleasing contest but it was a win - which IS Carolina basketball.

So is going inside, something the Heels did repeatedly and effectively; so is going to the free throw line; so is sharing the ball and having multiple players contribute.  

The 'sharing the wealth' is becoming the hallmark of this fun and successful team. This year's Heels, especially Marcus Paige, J.P. Tokoto, Brice Johnson, James Michael McAdoo, Kennedy Meeks, Johnson, are fun to watch.  Last year's team had a disjointed feel, a team that had fans nervous for much of the season. The schedule was an exercise in watching Roy try to find combos that worked despite a flawed lineup with too many shooting guards and not much else. High points such as the win at FSU and the 'run' to the ACC tournament final felt like found money, not expected wins.

I think many Tar Heels fans felt the same way heading into this season, especially with Hairston sidelined indefinitely.  But this team has cured any of those unsettling thoughts and feelings. Led by Marcus Paige this year's team almost reminds me of the early 90s Heels, great teams with some great players - Eric Montross and one of the greatest Heels of all time in George Lynch - but without a dominant superstar (Worthy, Jordan, Jamison, May, Hansbrough, Lawson, etc.).*

That lack of a superstar and the use of a deep bench (Henrik Rodl, Kevin Salvatori, Scott Cherry) led many to dub the '93 Heels the ultimate Dean Smith team, where the whole was greater than the sum of it's parts. Dean's humility and Carolina collective triumphed over our society's obsession with celebrity and ego.

And like the '93 team, or any successful team, these Heels simply make plays. Whether we are talking about drives by Paige or McAdoo or Tokoto or Nate Britt, tip ins by Tokoto, Meeks, Joel James or Desmond Hubert, key boards or baskets by Johnson, great passes by Meeks or Paige, or huge steals by Tokoto, these Heels - every Heels player - make plays when they need to make plays.

As great as the win was over Kentucky, the program that blends the worst of Duke (smug entitlement) and NC State (low-brow anti-intellectualism) the half-time ceremony honoring Dean Smith for receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom was even better.

If you have not seen it yet click here. The speeches by Dean's wife, who talked about his commitment to social change, and from Montross were great.  But I want to focus on Phil Ford.

Dean Smith's relationship with Ford epitomizes why Dean is Dean, the kind of person - not basketball coach - we should all emulate.

Ford was an elite basketball player; he won an Olympic gold medal in 1976 (for Dean - and the U.S.), was the ACC and national player of the year his senior year, and the NBA rookie of the year.  

Seven years later his career was over, derailed by the cocaine culture of the early '80s and alcoholism.  He washed out of the NBA in 1985. 

Carolina and Dean did not turn their back on one of the greatest Tar Heels of all time. Dean hired Ford as an assistant coach in 1988. He prospered, and was such a good recruiter that many assumed that Dean had groomed him as his likely successor.

How cool would that have been? Dean to Guthridge to Ford? That's got to be one of the biggest 'what ifs' in Carolina history!

The plan was derailed for good when Ford's demons reappeared, and he plead guilty to DUI in both 1997 and 1999. The second DUI cost him the JV coaching job and his position as lead recruiter under Bill Guthridge. 

Ford left Chapel Hill when Matt Doherty insisted on bringing in his own staff (sheesh, that guy...) but Dean's Carolina family continued to help Ford as he worked as an NBA assistant for Larry Brown in Detroit and New York before returning to Chapel Hill to work for the Education Foundation.

Dean never made a big deal about helping Ford get his life back together; what could be more un-Deanlike?  

Isn't that what one's life should be about, helping those who need a little help? That's why Dean is Dean, one reason why he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Honor, and the main reason folks like us love him and Carolina so much.

Go Heels!

A Few More Things

•  How great was it to see McAdoo back on track?  Much has been made of his aggressive play on offense, but he outplayed Randall on both ends of the floor.
• Foul trouble and perhaps some Dean-like insouciance led to Roy playing Jackson Simmons and Desmond Hubert at the same time in the second half yesterday.  Ol' Roy got away with it even though Simmons looked super nervous bricking 4 late free throws.
• A month ago I was afraid that Britt was the second coming of Adam Boone. Man, was I wrong.  Every minute of every game you can see his confidence and game grow.  In the 3 big wins - against the top three teams in the preseason top 25 - he has been fantastic.  His coast to coast drive late was one of the plays of the game, and like Paige he is money at the free throw line.  His play gives the Heels tremendous balance, especially if he and Tokoto can make an occasional three pointer. 

* I know you knew that list; I just liked typing it.   

 

 

Not Epic, But Still Great

What a great comeback win for the Heels today.  Sure, it wasn't the kind of epic, '8 points in 17 seconds' Carolina comeback that has helped make the program famous.  After all, Maryland is down a bit this year and the Heels were only down 9 with about 15 minutes to go.

But it WAS a game where Carolina took repeated blows to the head - from Stoglin and Len in the first half, from the referees, from their own turnovers, and from a hostile crowd - all game long.  The great news is the Heels refused to get knocked out - though they were knocked down - and eventually rallied to win 83 to 74.

This game had upset written all over it.  Actually, not all over it - but it was in the margins, and that writing got bigger and bigger as the first half progressed.  Harrison Barnes looked bothered by his ankle, Kendall Marshall was turning it over, John Henson looked unfocused and our bench intimidated.

Only the surging Tyler Zeller kept the upset story from developing  He was excellent again today - he played a man's game on his way to 22 and 7 despite 4 fouls and only 22 minutes - and continues to peak as the season progresses.  We even saw some emotion from Psycho Z today during Carolina's decisive second half run.

But as it was last year, and again of late, Harrison Barnes asserted himself with some scintillating play in the final 15 minutes in College Park to lead the Heels.  After Carolina fell behind by 9 points, Barnes took over and hit a variety shots from all over the floor - 3s, drives, and a clutch pull up jumper with 3 minutes to go.  The only common denominator?  Every shot he took was a tough one.  Barnes' focus was freaky and inspirational - and the deciding factor in today's win.

Zeller and Barnes were excellent today but they got plenty of help in the second half from Marshall and Henson.  Marshall was spectacular in the second half, both with his big three-pointer and his timely drives to the hoop and trademark passes.  He finished with a career high of 16 assists, a ridiculous stat that does not come close to quantifying how precise he was in the last 15 minutes of this win.

After 30+ minutes of ragged play and bad shooting Henson joined the fun late, too.  His stone-cold turnaround jumper late was Rasheed-esque, and defensively he was huge down the stretch with a game-changing block that went a long way in silencing the Comcast Center crowd.

Finally, kudos to Reggie Bullock for some great plays late on offensive, 11 points and 5 boards, and a game-long harassment of Terrell Stoglin.  Stoglin got his points but missed 13 of his 21 shots and late he was gassed and could not buy a basket, much of that due to Bullock. 

Not epic, but still a great road win.  Not epic, but a comeback that saw every Tar Heels player make a big play in the second half.   Not epic, but the kind of road win that gives a team lots of confidence and swagger.

GO HEELS!

A few more Heels notes:

• Looking for another reason to be disgruntled about the next round of ACC expansion? With 16 teams in basketball, each team will only play one team twice a year in a home-and-home series every year. That means that Carolina will only play State twice a year once every three years (four times total in 3 years as part of the regular rotation).  BOO on that.
• Finally, I do not have a problem with John Henson's dunk as time expired.  There was time on the clock, Maryland had a player come over to try to stop him, and frankly it was a fitting and emphatic exclamation point on a big road win.
•  
• And finally, finally, folks probably remember that Michael Jordan's epic 'rock the cradle' dunk came in College Park as time expired on a UNC road win.  So Henson's dunk had some historical precedent. 

UGH

What a dreary game - and win - over Wake Forest the other night.  But a road win is always good, even against a hapless, hopeless, fanless opponent like the Demon Deacons.

There were a few shoots of grass that popped up through the rubble created by bricking so many shots.

One, Tyler Zeller keeps getting better.  As Carolina fans remember, he peaked during the post season last year, and continues on that track in 2012.  

Two, I thought the defense was pretty good.  Once again the Heels rotated and helped well, put up numerous walls, and played the passing lanes aggressively. Reggie Bullock in particular played great on D.

Three, Kendall Marshall's offensive game took another step forward. We've always known that Marshall is a smart player and of late he has been applying those smarts to his offense.  He's making great decisions on when to drive and when to take a three-pointer, decisions as spot-on as the ones he makes when directing the offense.  By the end of the season will there be anything this guy CAN'T do?

GO HEELS!