Heels Successfully Push Season Reset Button

Carolina's season started anew tonight, with 6 minutes left to go in the first half against the U.  From that point on, Carolina dominated, and in the process reinvigorated their season.

This game had BC written all over it.  A good team that came in unintimidated, and hit a number of difficult shots early to build a lead that Carolina could not whittle down - despite generally running their regular offense centered on getting Hansbrough lots of looks.  Jack McClinton was having a Tyrese Rice kind of half, and the Heels were down.

Perhaps the sheer number of touches Hansbrough got caused others to fall asleep, at least offensively, but whatever the reason Caroline trailed 24-32 with 6 and half minutes left in the opening stanza.  Despite Hansbrough's effectiveness - 17 points in 14 minutes - and Danny Green's great all around play, the Heels were down and the bad BC juju was starting to reemerge.

At that point the season turned, and it was turned by Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington.

Lawson started the season as the Tar Heels' best player.  With Hansbrough slowed by injuries Lawson led the Heels to their early successes in Maui, a home win against Kentucky and the huge blow out win over Michigan State.  But he's also been outplayed recently.

But Ty got his groove back the last four minutes of the first half - improbably on the defensive end.  Starting with a great hustling steal against McClinton at the four minute mark Lawson led Carolina's comeback, a comeback that turned an eight point deficit to a four point half time lead. The surge was made possible by his smothering defense on McClinton while Carolina's offense turned steals and blocked shots into fast breaks at the end of the first half.

Unlike the games against BC and Wake, Lawson outplayed an all-ACC caliber guard tonight.

In the second half Wayne Ellington relieved Lawson in turning around the season. After a scoreless first half Ellington really got his groove back - to say the least - hitting 7 three-pointers in the second half. During one stretch he hit 8 shots in a row and led Carolina to a 20 point cushion over the Canes.  Ellington had been in a funk all season really, and prior to the Miami contest his high for the season was TWO made threes in a game.

Having Lawson and Ellington back to their expected form once again makes this a dangerous team.  Even if Deon Thompson continues to struggle, having Hansbrough, Green, Lawson and Ellington hitting their collective strides - and hitting shots and playing defense - puts the swagger back and restores the aura for this year's Carolina basketball team.

A Few More Heel Notes

• Ed Davis got some of his groove back too tonight.  He had two huge blocks in the last four minutes of the first half, two offensive rebounds, and a nice put back.  He and Green had tremendous games on the defensive end tonight.
• An unsung hero was Bobby Fraser, who was on the floor the last two minutes of the first half guarding McClinton. Fraser still struggles mightily on offense, but he held McClinton scoreless at a key juncture of tonight's win. Interestingly, during that stretch Carolina had Frasor, Davis, Green, Hansbrough, and Ellington on the floor.
• Hansbrough is the MAN.  But you'll get an argument from many that Danny Green is indeed the MAN.  Regardless, those two kept Carolina in the game in the first half by their damnselves.  Hansbrough had 20 first half points and was a one-man band for much of that stanza.  Green had those two massive blocks in the first half and hit the three pointer at the end of the first 20 to give Carolina a 4 point margin.  Green finished the night with 12 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 blocks.
• Looks like Ginyard will red shirt this season. I feel sorry for him, but at least we'll have him next year where he can perhaps metamorphose into David Noel  
• How about that dunk by Miami's Daquan Jones?  One of the nastiest I've seen in a long time; it was Stackhouse-at Duke-esque.
• Wake looked impressive in winning at Clemson today.  They had too many talented bigs for the Tigers.
• During the telecast Vitale predictably shilled for a beleaguered coach, in this case Gary Williams.  He predicted a surprise win when in reality Maryland has been more renowned of late for surprise and shocking losses.  Not gonna happen Dickie V.

Anyway, Clemson - who is 0-55 in Chapel Hill for one of the most amazing records in sport - come to Carolina on Wednesday. Can't wait to see the Heels come out for that game, and to watch Lawson and Ellington help Green and Hansbrough make this a great season.  Go Heels!