One more blog about ... Marcus Paige

There are plenty of story lines to contemplate as we await Monday night's national championship game between Villanova and Carolina. Will a title wash away part of the guilt associated with the academic scandal at THE university of the people? Can we break our title tie with Duke and sit alone in third place (UCLA 11; Kentucky 8, but only 4 not won by a racist named Adolph; Indiana and Duke also have 5 titles)? How do we feel about the prospect of Roy passing Dean?

But win or lose, tomorrow night marks the end of the Marcus Paige era. How sweet would it be if Paige went out with a title? I know Roy really wanted Hansbrough to get one as a reward for staying four years, and of course Tar Heels everywhere were happy when Jawad Williams, Melvin Scott and Jackie Manuel went out as national champs four years after enduring an 8-20 season.

Paige, along with Brice Johnson and Joel James, going out a national champion would probably top both of those, for now familiar reasons. As I've nattered on before, in blogs tens of people have read, to me Marcus Paige represents the restoration of something important, the return of the Carolina Way. To get him a championship in the wake of that scandal would be incredible and meaningful.

Of course, being an Academic All American AND making big plays is the Carolina Way. Once again, when Carolina needed him the most in this Final Four, Paige made the play of the game.

Saturday night was not a perfect game, for the Heels or Paige. Looking back at the win over Syracuse, despite shooting it pretty well I imagine you felt like I did: Carolina won without having actually played that well. We got off to a shaky start, Brice picked up two fouls in the first 10 minutes, Syracuse held it's own on the glass for the first half, and then we had some weird turnovers in the second half - 3 live ball ones by of all people Marcus Paige.

Fortunately, Marcus Paige is Marcus Paige. His touch pass to redirect Jackson's pass to Meeks for a layup was Dean-esque. Marcus' huge 3 when Syracuse had cut the lead to single digits was the dagger into the Orange's chances.

That shot was a continuation of the pattern we've seen during this run from Paige: at Duke he got the big steal, then the big defensive play that resulted in an important layup; in the ACC tournament he buried Notre Dame from behind the arc; against Virginia he scored the go-ahead basket and helped shut down Malcolm Brogdon; etcetera etcetera in the NCAA tournament.

If that pattern continues on Monday night, I imagine it won't just be ol' Roy crying. Go Heels!

A few more thoughts:

• I love our chances. Villanova has been playing great basketball, and tomorrow night's matchup now seems obvious. But as we've seen throughout this tournament, the Heels have too many weapons. James is Exhibit A; he calmly came off the bench in the first half and sank two shots like he was tying his shoes. He's Carolina's ninth-best player. I don't think the Wildcats can stop everyone.
• That is the key point: everyone. Carolina is getting contributions from the whole team this tournament. Kennedy Meeks had 15 and 9. If I didn't have a stat sheet I would have assumed he was our high scorer; that's how important each of baskets appeared to be. However, Justin Jackson and Johnson (where's Polk?) bested Meeks with 16 points. Joel Berry barely had to shoot but had 10 assists. And of course Marcus had 13, Theo made plays including a big three, and Britt was solid especially on defense. Everyone is contributing.  
• I also expect to see a totally dominant Brice Johnson - it's his last game as a Tar Heel, too - versus Villanova. Not FSU dominant, but don't be surprised if he is Notre Dame dominant, somewhere in the 25 and 15 range. 

GO HEELS!

Return to the Final Four, and Return of the Carolina Way

The great run of this year's Tar Heel squad has been exhilarating for a number of reasons.  One, it's the Tar Heels!  Two, after too long of a stretch without an ACC championship or a Final Four (since 2008 and 2009, respectively) the Heels have reasserted their place at the top of our nation's basketball pantheon.  And three, and most importantly, this team has marked the return of the Carolina Way.

The academic scandal, which has tarnished both the basketball program and more importantly THE University of the People, has practically erased that Dean Smith-built standard.  But this year's team has resurrected the Carolina Way, in many different ways.

As I've joked with friends throughout the year, you know this squad - and every squad since the scandal broke - is not taking paper classes with majors clustered in the old and notorious  African-American and African Studies department.* This is a likable team of student athletes, personified by first-team Academic All American Marcus Paige. Roy seems to really love coaching them, and the warmth between the players and coach is evident: on senior night; in the locker room celebrations; on the dais of the post-game press conferences; everywhere.

It's also an old school, Dean-like team of upper classmen.  Eleven of the players are juniors or seniors, and the roster is made up of the kind of guys Dean used to guide from perplexed freshmen into all-Americans in four years, guys like Brice Johnson** or Isaiah Hicks.

Finally, seniors rule in the Carolina Way and that is certainly true of this year's team.  Brice Johnson has been our best player all season, but Marcus Paige has been our most important one down the stretch. I can not gush enough about Paige.  As I posted in my last blog, academically alone he's been huge post scandal.

However, consider the senior leadership Paige has shown in this exhilarating run.  At Cameron, his steal, defense and lay up singlehanded stopped Duke's run in the second half, and his free throws clinched that win. In the ACC tournament championship game he did it again; his defense helped keep Malcolm Brogdon in check, he led a run that gave Carolina the lead for good in the second half, and down the stretch had another key steal against the Hoos to stymie their come back.

And of course, after Notre Dame ran off twelve straight points to take a one-point lead who answered for Carolina?  With Brice on the bench with 3 fouls and UNC down one, Paige drove left and made a tough baseline jumper to give Carolina the lead, one they would never relinquish. That basket started an overpowering Carolina scoring run, aided by a key steal by Theo Pinson but punctuated by another great play by our Academic All American. That play started with Paige out jumping and out fighting Zach August for a rebound, then saving that rebound as he was falling out of bounds. Paige got the ball to Kennedy Meeks, who Wes Unselled a pass to Pinson who promptly threw an alley-oop to Hicks for a slam dunk.

A text book Carolina Way  fast break, started by a guy who epitomizes and is resurrecting the Carolina Way.

GO HEELS!

* That department has been reorganized and is now under the College of Arts and Sciences as the Department of African, African American and Diaspora Studies.
** That is literally true of Johnson, who has been named a first team All American by the AP and the Basketball Writers of America.

Why We Watch

This is why we watch, right?  A week after a home loss to Duke that demoralized me, a generally half-full kind of viewer of all things Carolina, the Heels are back and playing like, well Tar Heels!

The turnaround is another reminder that we are watching embryonic young hoopsters when we are watching college basketball. The cynicism, money and corporate control - NY Life ACC Tournament, with a logo underfoot athletes who will not get a dime - makes that easy to forget.

Carolina's play this week reminds us that kids aren't perfect and make mistakes - but kids can also improve and do so quickly. In the course of three games the Heels seem to have solved the three problems that have marred their entire season until now.

One, Marcus Paige has gotten some help. Granted, he made the biggest shot of the game versus Virginia on Friday night, but freshman Justin Jackson was our leading scorer. On Thursday, Brice Johnson was fantastic and it was Kennedy Meeks making big plays down the stretch on offense and defense. 

Two, the poise was there. Carolina was down 5 to Louisville at half but was steady and methodical in the second half to win going away. Better still was the poise displayed when Virginia made the inevitable run to cut the lead to one. On back-to-back possessions Carolina made great plays. Paige went to Meeks at the free thrown line, who in turn made the extra pass to Jackson for a lay up as the 35 second clock expired. On the next possession, after a time out with 6 seconds left on the shot clock, Paige dribbled into the lane, pumped fake right then pivoted left to hit the game-sealing floater. Classic Carolina.

Finally three, the Heels are spreading the wealth Dean style. Paige has continued his resurgence of late, Johnson has been excellent on both ends and on the boards, Meeks has made some big time plays and though plagued by turnovers J.P. Tokoto  has done the same and Joel Berry kept us afloat versus Louisville with a huge stretch in the first half.  

By far the biggest development has been the play of Jackson. He quietly has gotten more consistent as the season has progressed but he exploded versus Virginia. Much has been written about his 4 three-pointers but he hit shots from all over the floor. I loved that he was aggressive to the hoop a number of times and did not 'settle' for being a one-dimensional shooter.  

All this could add up to Carolina's first ACC Championship since 2008. Growing up, an ACC Tournament title was almost a birthright for born, bred and dead Tar Heels like myself.  What a great capstone to an up and down season, one dominated by tragedies like the Wainstein report and the death of Coach Smith, an ACC title would make.  

On top of that, a win over Notre Dame would be another reminder that this is a game played by college kids, kids who can look nothing like Tar Heels one weekend and very Carolina the next.

GO HEELS! 

A Game That Defines the Season

Last night's loss to Duke was more than a disappointing loss to our smug and lesser arch-rivals. The loss epitomizes why so many Tar Heel born, bred and dead fans feel uneasy about this team and it's lack of progress.

To me, there have been 3 themes - or problems - with this team, and all were on display last night in Chapel Hill.

1. This team is too dependent on Marcus Paige. I love Marcus Paige; in our new post-Wainstein era he is exactly who we need leading this team and frankly being the student face of the entire university. But the operative word there is lead. A leader leads but does not make every play, but that's what this team expects and all the opposing teams know it. As Jawad Williams tweeted (@worldwad) last night, someone else needs to step up and help Paige and this team win some games. Paige was magnificent last night vs. the Devils but needed help down the stretch but did not get much if any assistance. Finally, in a cruel twist considering recent events, an over reliance on one player is anti-Dean. One 'criticism' of Dean is that he was too egalitarian and team-oriented (yes, some idiots actually said that). Well, sharing the wealth is how you win games and championships. Look at Worthy-Perkins-Jordan, or Montross-Williams-Lynch-Phelps, or Lawson-Hansbrough-Ellington-Green, or Bird-McHale-Johnson-Parrish, or LeBron-Wade-Bosh, or Duncan-Parker-Ginobili-Popovich, Magic-Kareem-Worthy, Jordan-Pippen-Jackson, etc.
2. Point two is related to point one: the uneven development of the players on this team. Paige and Brice Johnson were both named third-team ACC, which seems about right. Johnson is the only player to have gotten better this year, and was the only other reliable Tar Heel on the floor versus the Devils besides Paige. Offensively Johnson is confident and has some great moves, is as athletic as you would imagine a state high jump champion to be, and does the work on the glass. But this team has been undone by a lack of progress from Kennedy Meeks and T.P. Tokoto and spotty  play from everyone else in the rotation: Britt, Jackson, Berry, James, Pinson. None of those guys are reliable contributors game to game. At the end of a season you should see more development from all the players, but especially from Meeks and Tokoto. Both could and should have been All-ACC players but instead they have looked lost down the stretch.
3. Which of course is maybe our biggest problem. In addition to being un-Dean in terms of players, it also appears that this team is very un-Carolina at the end of games. Your typical Tar Heels squad - the pre-broken wrist 2012  Kendall Marshall squad is probably the most recent example - is a well-oiled, smart and poised machine at the end of the season. But not this one. The late-game melt downs at Duke, at Louisville, and at home versus Virginia, State and the Devils could not be more frustrating or vexing. Of course, this problem is the sum of the first two issues. Who are these guys making all these unforced errors? Their jerseys say Carolina so my eyes believe it but my gut, my heart and the Carolina-blue blood coursing through my veins does not.

So what's next? It's hard to be optimistic at this stage of the season. To win the ACC tournament the Heels would have to go through Louisville (doable; we've practically beaten them twice already), Virginia (also doable especially if Meeks and Tokoto show up), and Duke. One of Dean's sayings is it's hard to beat a team three times in one season so I would love our chances to prove Dean right (again) and get some revenge against the Devils.

Even if this happens it's hard to imagine us going more than 2 or 3 games deep in the NCAAs. Another example of how un-Dean and un-Carolina team this teams seems to be. As sad as those 3 issues just discussed THAT may be the saddest admission of them all. 

Despite all that - GO HEELS!

Beating NC State

For a native North Carolinian, someone Tar Heel born, it is hard to top beating NC State - in anything but especially basketball, especially especially at Reynolds.

Saying Reynolds is proof that I am a native but also reflects how growing up Duke was not the biggest rival for the Heels. In the 70s, the Blue Devils were home to Rand Paul and other right wingers in training but they hardly featured good basketball players.  That was NC State.

Kudos to the Pack for playing a tough game versus the Heels, and I never thought I would ever type 'kudos to Mark Gottfried' but he deserves credit for making NC State basketball relevant again. Ask the Dookies if State is back. Unlike Carolina, who has won 17 of the last 18 versus the Pack, Duke has lost two in a row to State at the RBC Center, 3 in a row on that floor including the loss to Mercer.

Of course, more kudos are due to Marcus Paige, who for the second year in a row took down the Wolfpack with 23 points, 9 assists, 4 steals and no turnovers. But unlike last year's duel with T.J. Warren, Paige had considerable help from J.P. Tokoto, Isaiah Hicks, and the entire roster on Wednesday night.  Tokoto was great on defense and came up with some big steals and hoops late, and Hicks was especially huge as he posted a career high in points with Brice Johnson in foul trouble. Kennedy Meeks and Nate Britt also made big-time plays for the Heels throughout the contest.

It was a win-win win: a great victory versus the Pack IN Raleigh, and another reason to love Marcus Paige.

GO HEELS!

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.

Lost Weekend in Chapel Hill

It's not often when things go better in Fayetteville then they do in Chapel Hill, but that's what happened this Thanksgiving weekend for the staff of Carolina Hellenic Blue.

Thanksgiving in the 'ville was great as all 18 of our immediate family went to my parents house to celebrate, eat, and play foot, whiffle and kick ball games (in person, not video or computer games).

The weekend in Chapel Hill, and the games played there, were not so great.

First, we lose to Duke, which is bad enough, in football. The loss allowed the Devils to advance to the ACC championship game, so beating them would have been doubly sweat. To make matters worse, Carolina should have won that one going away.  The Heels dropped two touchdowns, and dropped an interception on Duke's game winning drive.  Those 3 mistakes doomed the Heels on Saturday.

Second, later that day the Carolina women's soccer team - the most dominant dynasty in the history of sports, winners of 21 of the previous 31 NCAA championships including last year's title - lost in the elite 8 to UCLA 0-1.  I think the Heels had never lost in the elite 8 in 32 NCAA tournament appearances.

Finally, and third, was Sunday night's shabby loss on the road to UAB. It was a classy move for 'ol Roy to go to Birmingham in honor of his former player and assistant Jerod Haase.  Usually, the big name school does not travel to the up-and-coming one, but Roy is Roy.

What we did not expect was Carolina to play terribly for 40 minutes and lose to the Blazers. Coming off an exhilarating win over Louisville the Heels looked listless and completely out of sync, with no one looking more discombobulated and down right untalented than James Michael McAdoo.  

The Heels looked like a team that had not played in a week, which was the case, and it showed early as no one other that J.P. Tokoto looked interested.  Marcus Page tried, but clearly the UAB defense was focused on stopping him, and they did. 

Without Page we needed at least one or two more guys to step up to help Tokoto, and usually reliable Brice Johnson almost did, Kennedy Meeks and Joel James could not give any sustained effort, and McAdoo had a serious case of Mac-A-Don't.

The lay off and the inexperience of this team, at least the inexperience of this P.J.-less rotation, is enough to cause me to shrug this one off as 'one of those games' that happen early in a season with a team like this one, a team still learning and figuring things out. 

The flip side is, it's hard to shrug off how bad McAdoo played. He not only looked soft when he attacked the rim, but he made terrible decisions - a three pointer, really? - and was inactive; he even had trouble catching the ball or grabbing loose balls or boards.

I don't think it's time to panic, but in a bizzaro world where things go better in Fayetteville we need McAdoo to be McAdoo and help Page, Johnson and Meeks overcome the loss of Hairston and make things right in Chapel Hill. 

GO HEELS! 

A Great Week to be a Tar Heel (after a rough couple of months)

After months and months of dissonance, from P.J.Hairston's mistake filled summer to the latest reminders that the Carolina football program is an embarrassment to the University, some semblance of order was restored to Tar Heel Nation last week. 

Two great things happened.

One, Dean Smith was awarded the highest honor that an American can earn, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. More than a great Tar Heel, Dean is a great American. For many, and certainly for me, he embodies everything good about Carolina. Not the basketball program - Carolina.  

To be, rather than to seem.*  Could a guy born in Kansas be any more a Tar Heel?

In recounting why we has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom we are once again reminded why he is a great American. Dean was an active citizen on top of being a successful basketball coach. Sure he graduated 98 percent of his players, won an Olympic gold medal, won two national championships, and did it the right way.  But Dean also cared about the well being of his fellow citizens, and worked to make our country, not just Carolina, better. Whether he was integrating parts of North Carolina, advocating for gay marriage or against the death penalty, Dean knew that to truly be an American one has to be an active citizen engaged in making ours a more perfect union.  

Two, perhaps in honor of Dean Carolina looked like Carolina on Sunday in defeating the defending national champs on a neutral floor.  

What a game! Roy said it after the win but after 4 lackluster games the team seemed to finally stop looking at the bench hoping for Hairston to come in and bail them out (I can't include Leslie McDonald in the same sentence as Hairston; that guy has been in Chapel Hill for 4 years and yet has NO identity or presence it seems). 

The great news is the guy they need is already on the floor in the person of Marcus Paige. He finished strong down the stretch last year, and his progress along with Hairston and James Michael McAdoo was enough to make Heels giddy for this season, at least until the troubles with PJ surfaced this summer. Against Louisville, we saw Paige emerge as a two-headed monster who could dish like Marcus but score like P.J. 

It was fantastic to watch, and exciting to think about how Paige will only get better as he gets stronger. He's already a smart player - of course a Carolina player - and his skills will keep growing. Paige is going to have a monster year for the Heels.

Remember, this is Carolina. As great as Paige was the win reached the giddy level due to the contributions from the entire team.  There are many to choose from, but I'll start with Nate Britt.

Even in wins, such as the ones over Oakland and Richmond, Britt has generally been pretty bad.  His performance against Holy Cross prompted me to tweet 'that my biggest fear is that Britt turns into Adam Boone.' 

Against Louisville he stopped going north-south a la Boone and aggressively attacked the rim and even displayed a deft touch, too! He's a freshman so we should cut him some slack on his learning curve, but it was great to see him play with confidence and poise against an opponent like Louisville. 

Paige and Britt moved the ball, Carolina style, for 40 minutes as everyone contributed to a great win. 

Speaking of freshman AND moving the ball, how about Kennedy Meeks?  He looked like Sean May in ways ridiculous - he's chubby! - and sublime - look at those outlet passes, soft hands and soft touch around the basket.

We saw Paige coming, and knew Meeks and players like Isaiah Hicks and Britt were touted recruits, but I'm not sure if anyone other than ol' Roy saw Brice Johnson coming on the way he has so far.

He is this team's X factor.  His energy and skill off the bench have been phenomenal - so far.  Johnson appears to have a nose for the ball and scoring, and has become that third guy, along with Paige and McAdoo, that every successful basketball team needs.

If Johnson and Paige keep playing at this level, Britt and Meeks keep growing and getting more comfortable, and McAdoo starts acting like Mac-a-do instead of Mac-a-doesn't, this team will continue to be fun to watch AND make a run at an ACC championship - even without Hairston.

Of course, the Heels could use Hairston and even McDonald if for no other reason that as deep as our front court is (McAdoo, James, Tokoto, Hicks, Meeks, Simmons, Hubert all played and scored versus Louisville) our back court is equally thin (yes, that was walk on, fourth-string point guard Wade Moody getting first-half minutes).

This squad will make some noise nationally, too, and this team will keep being tested as the Heels play a brutal schedule. The Heels still have games against Kentucky and Texas, and at Michigan State before turning to the ACC with new rivals like Syracuse in addition to games versus Duke (overrated in my opinion with a weak front court) and FSU (under rated), etc. 

But this week the Heels showed we have the talent to be Carolina, Dean's Carolina.  Forget Hairston.  With Paige, Johnson, etc. we have enough talent and skill to go win a lot of games and go a long way. 

GO HEELS!

A Few Random Notes

• Kudos to Chapel Hill's Superchunk for, among other things, including the North Carolina state motto, 'to be rather than to seem,' in their song "Your Theme." If you are not listening to "I Hate Music" you are under utilizing the gift of hearing.
•  I was embarrassed to see Carolina send letters to Marvin Austin, Greg Page and Robert Quinn stating that those three should no longer associate with UNC or come back to Chapel Hill.  Did the same letter go to Butch Davis and his staff?  I am not absolving the players from associating with agents, etc. but to single out the student-athletes instead of the coaches and adults in charge is embarrassing.
• Dean is the STANDARD.  The athletic department, especially the football program,  needs to remember that; what would Dean do?

Predictable results from Heels, Barnes versus BC

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

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

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

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

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

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


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


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


GO HEELS!

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! 

On second thought

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

As few extra points:

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

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.

Almost a perfect day

Great to see (though I missed most of the game on a plane) pull out a tough win yesterday over Washington.  Best part was we got contributions from everyone, especially Strickland on D and O. 

Harrison Barnes was once again his clutch self nailing that huge 3 late, Zeller was steady and unstoppable in the second half, and KButter5 had a great second half.

Downside was not much defense on anyone not named Isaiah Thomas.  But got to give it up for Strickland's effort on Washington's best player.

The other downside, Duke pulling it out against Michigan.

And though I'm not happy when the Hansbrough family is sad great to see FSU make it to the Sweet 16.  My years in Tallahassee have made FSU my (distant) second-favorite ACC school.  Not only did the Noles advance, over a Big East team, it gives the ACC 3 teams in the Sweet 16 - the most of any conference.

The dozens of readers of this space now I think the Big East is overrated, and this weekend's games prove it.  Odd to see Marquette as one of the survivors.   UConn makes sense, and I'll be pulling hard for the Huskies to beat Dook if they manage to defeat Arizona (a tough out),  but I thought Pitt was the only other legit Big East team.  I guess I gave that un-offfensive minded conference too much credit.

GO HEELS!

Travel Notes

I type this in the Frankfurt Airport, a nice enough place but not very efficient.  Getting our boarding passes and going through security here took forever.  

But the good news is we'll be in Athens in a few hours, and Ariadne has been a great travel companion - very mellow - despite some difficult connections.

Speechless, Part II

Another phenomenal game by Harrison Barnes today at the ACC tournament.  Unguardable gets thrown around a lot, in fact today by Clemson coach Brownell, but Barnes WAS truly unguardable on his way to 40 points in a tough win over the Tigers.  I was shocked to see he missed 5 shots all day.  To state H-Barn is playing with confidence would be an understatement.  

Barnes kept Carolina a float in the first half was Marshall and Henson had underwhelming first halfs, and Tyler Zeller barely made an impact.  

Ditto the second half as Barnes was incredibly efficient on offense.   Actually the entire team stepped it up; Henson was all over the place on D and on the boards and started to score in the second half, and Marshall shook off his funk, too.  Finally, down the stretch in regulation and in overtime Barnes and Zeller hit clutch basket after clutch basket.

It took an entire team effort to win this game.  Clemson played some very tough basketball today against the Heels.  They were very active defensively, and offensively Clemson has some scorers.  Their recent history has been as a defensive team, grinding out games.  But with Stitt, Tanner Smith, and Jennings the Tigers have some fire power, too.   They are a tough team and were a tough out today that required Carolina's A+ game.

Man, did they hire the right coach, too; I would not be surprised to see Brownell lead a less-obnoxious Rick Barnes-like renaissance in Clemson.

So now, the game of games this season: Carolina versus Duke for the ACC tournament championship and perhaps a number one seed.  I love our chances, as we have handled Duke both times we've played them this year.

But mainly it's about Harrison Barnes.  This guy could be getting Carmelo Anthony-hot at the right time.  Last week in Chapel Hill against the Devils he was unstoppable, which was just a prelude to today's version of unstoppable.   Of course, in addition to Barnes I think Zeller, Henson and Knox are too much for Duke inside, too.

GO HEELS!
Of course, if I was literally speechless this would not be much of a blog post. 

Two straight solid wins

After a couple of lackluster games I like the way the Heels played this week.  Very methodical wins, with contributions from everywhere on the floor and from multiple players in winning at State and tonight at home versus a desperate Maryland team.

The State win was probably more impressive due to the hostile atmosphere - and that we were down early 9 to 19.  But behind our shooting guards Dexter Strickland and Leslie McDonald - and some nice play by Justin Knox - the Heels led at half in Raleigh.

The final 20 minutes belonged to Harrison Barnes. I loved the way we came out of the locker room determined to do what Dean Smith always preached: do what we want to do, not what the other team wants us to do.  Barnes and Zeller hit baskets early in the half, and Barnes - with some more impressive dunks - Henson and Marshall put it away down the stretch with Reggie Bullock of all people making a huge, Wolfpack-momentum stopping old-fashioned 3-point play along the way. 

In short, the entire team made plays all night, but especially in the second half, to defeat State for the 10th straight time and 19th in the last 20.

Tonight versus Maryland the beat went on. Barnes got us going early and Zeller was a beast throughout the game as they both finished with more than 20 points.  Henson seemed to have at least that many blocks, Marshall and Strickland were dropping dimes on every possession, and McDonald finished burying the slump he killed in Raleigh with 15 points (a nice mix of 3s, jumpers and an offensive rebound put back).

Another total team effort in a game the Heels led comfortably for most of the night.  When Maryland made runs in the second half, each one was answered by a Barnes drive or Zeller shot down low.   We got a little sloppy, but at the same time the Heels were never seriously threatened by the Terps.

So as we head into the last week of the regular season the Heels stand at 12 and 2 in conference, 14-0 at home, and with a nice head of steam.  Without Chris Singleton the Heels will likely be favored at FSU; ditto for their home rematch against the right-wing boobs from Durham. 

Who would have predicted this kind of season in November?

A few notes:

• There's a lot of justified talk about Kendall Marshall's poise, but how about his leadership?  It's easy to forget how quickly he took over this team, and Marshall has thrived as the team leader.  Early this season there was speculation that Barnes, with his Hansbrough-like work ethic, would become the young leader of this year's Heels squad. But this is Marshall's team now.
• John Henson is now 6 for his last 6 at the free throw line.  So it's now official, other than some occasional bad decision making, this guy has no weaknesses.
• Great to see Barnes hit shots early, and I'm also glad that he went to the glass a lot in the second half.
• Maryland played tough, but the real silver lining for Gary Williams' team is the duo of Terrell Scoglin and Jordan Williams. Scoglin hit shots from all over the floor on his way to 26 points, and as impressive as Zeller and Henson were Williams was their equal with 16 points and 19 boards.
• Happy to see Virginia Tech win (for the conference) and happier to see Duke lose (for the greater good).  But neither team looked good to me last night.  Virginia Tech can not run an offense to save their life, and in ACC games at least Kyle Singler looks terrible. If Nolan Smith is not hot Duke seems to have trouble running offense; they seem to be a much worse offensive team then they were last year.  I would love to have time to do a comparison.
• GO HEELS!