Heels Fold Down the Stretch in College Park

Disheartening loss, to say the least, against Maryland yesterday in College Park.  The Heels cruised to a 16-point lead early in the second half, and still led by nine with two minutes left before a few bad plays and some good shooting by the Terps led to the third loss of the season.

The game was close early, but Carolina casually dominated the middle 30 minutes of the contest. Ty Lawson asserted himself in the second half and Carolina got scoring from all five starters. The casual play masked the fact that the Heels weren't shooting well.  Lawson only had 2 assists, mainly due to missed shots as both Green and Ellington were only 1 for 5 from three. Carolina dominated the offensive glass, which can also mask a bad shooting night if you are getting second and third shots.

The game seemed to turn with Green was whistled for his fourth foul.  Maybe Green had been playing great D against Vasquez, a guy you hate to lose to, or perhaps they missed his drives to the basket.  Either way, Carolina eased up a bit without Green on the floor.

But by far the most disheartening part of this loss is blowing a 9-point lead with two minutes left in a game Carolina was winning going away.  You'd expect a veteran team, a team that kept it's composure at Cameron, in Tallahassee and in Miami, to do the same against Maryland.  But some missed free throws, one bad decision by Lawson late (to dribble through a triple-team the final minutes), the call against Hansbrough (home teams often get that call) all led to blowing a lead and losing in overtime.

Then again, there is some consolation (though not much) in losing in overtime to a desperate team with their season on the line.  Carolina didn't catch any breaks down the stretch (Dean always said you need as much luck as talent to win) and Maryland made plays. So the Heels lost. 

There is no need to push the panic button. After all, Carolina lost in College Park in 2005 and that squad famously recovered.  And you can bet ole' Roy will use this loss to keep the Heels focused the rest of the way.

A few more random notes:

• Three hours after watching Carolina lose I watched 'Taking Chance' on HBO.  The movie about a Marine escorting a dead colleague from Iraq, and the effect it has on him and the citizens he meets on their journey from Delaware to Montana, was incredibly moving and elegiac.  Most of you know I'm not a fan of the armed forces, but I really felt sympathetic to all the characters in this movie.
• Back to more mundane matters; the ACC should get the most bids in the NCAA tournament this year.  That is especially true when it come to the Big 10. Not only did the ACC win the made for TV challenge against our friends in the Great Lake region (with Carolina and Duke humiliating Michigan State and Purdue in road wins) but any conference that features a game where a team wins with 38 points in 40 minutes (Illinois lost at home to Penn State, 38-33, on Wednesday) should be a one-bid league. In fact, that kind of game should cost scholarships or TV money as an affront on college basketball's good name.
• The Nats, despite signing Adam Dunn, are becoming the Big 10 of baseball. Both MLB and the Nationals continue to embarrass our national past time.  The lingering steroids era is well chronicled. But GM Jim Bowden, Jose Rijo and the Nats look either incompetent - at best - or completely corrupt in their signing of an allegedly 16-year old prospect. I don't know what's more shameful: dealing with a Dominican street agent who is a friend of Rijo's rather than the player's agent; or the fact that Rijo claims to have scouted Esmailyn González for two years before signing him.  So Rijo could not tell this kid was 14 when he first started scouting him?  He couldn't tell the difference between a 14 year old and an 18 year old? I hope it's a simple case of Rijo being a moron instead of a case of Rijo figuring out a way to get a friend a chunk of Gonzalez' signing bonus.
• Both Rijo and Bowden have got to go. Bowden is a hack.  Rijo does not appear much better.  And their relationship is shady. The Nats' Dominican facility is owned by Rijo, and two years ago Bowden and Rijo embarrassed the organization when it was revealed that Dominican prospects had to stay at a Rijo-owned hotel even though it was still not finished. No wonder the FBI has questioned both in connection with an investigation into shady dealings among Dominican street agents.
• FSU's win at Virginia Tech yesterday was huge.  It cements the Seminoles as an NCAA tournament team.  But it also tightened up the standings in the ACC. The top four teams get a bye in the first round of the ACC tournament so no one wants to come in fifth place; with their loss at Duke tonight the Deacons are in that slot.  
• But things are still fluid. Carolina and Clemson will finish with 13 and 10 wins, respectively, but spots 3 to 6 are up in the air.
• Duke (8-4) has games at Carolina, at Maryland, at Virginia Tech and home versus FSU.  One can easily see Duke losing three of those games and finishing 9-7.  
• Maryland (6-6) goes to NC State and Virginia and has Duke and Wake at home.  Three wins gets them to 9-7.  
• Wake (7-5) has home games against NC State and Clemson, who will be out for revenge after losing to the Deacs in Littlejohn, and play at Maryland and Virginia.  Going 2 and 2 gets Wake to 9-7.
• Florida State already has 8 wins, with home games against Clemson and Virginia Tech and road games at Duke and Boston College left.  FSU will win at least one game to get to 9 victories, with the BC game particularly huge in terms of ACC tournament seeding.  You can also see them finishing with three wins and 11 total victories. If they do that the Seminoles could finish second in the ACC!  
• At 7-6 BC has an outside chance to get to 10 wins. Besides the big game versus FSU, the Eagles play Georgia Tech and a resurgent NC State in Raleigh.  
• Virginia Tech is 6-6 with games remaining against the four best teams in the conference: home versus Duke and Carolina, on the road at Clemson and Florida State.  They could go 8 and 8 - it's hard to see them winning more than two of these games - but more likely 6 and 10.  
• Finally, Miami has a decent chance to get to 8-8 which might be enough when you consider how solid the ACC is this year.  The U is 5-8 with winnable games versus Georgia Tech, NC State, and Virginia, though the latter two are on the road. NC State in particular will be a tough out.
• Even at 5-7 State could make it to 8-8 or 9-7.  They've played well at home lately, and host BC and Maryland in big big games for all three teams, but travel to Miami and Wake so 7-9 seems more likely.
• No matter how you look at it, it will be quite a finish.

GO HEELS!