Everything is better

Everything is better when Carolina wins.  George Will once said his friends who were Cardinals fans grew up to be happy, optimistic and liberal, and his friends - like him - who were Cubs fans grew up to be unhappy, cynical and conservative.  


Being a Carolina fan is like the Cardinals fans in Will's quote - to be a Tar Heel is be happy and optimistic. You knew Carolina would play a certain way - smart, feeding the post, getting good shots and making good decisions - and be extremely successful as a result.


This season has been more Cubs, but today's win was pure Cardinals.  For a day at least, Carolina looked like Carolina.  They rebounded, they fed the post and attacked the basket relentlessly thus generating good shots, and they played smart and excellent defense. 


Putting up a wall on defense - not taking a charge but stopping penetration or redirecting the ball where you want it to go - is a Carolina trademark, and today against the Deacons the Heels excelled. Carolina's walls repeatedly cut off penetration and forced them to become a jump-shooting team.  As a result the Deacons, who are not a good shooting team, had a tough day on offense.  


And when Heels like Deon Thompson or Tyler Zeller or Will Graves were not putting up walls, John Henson was blocking shots.  He was magnificent in the first half on defense.  


Capping off the great walls and shot blocking was the clutch defense of Leslie Macdonald, who drew two big charges. Macdonald was Henson's equal in the magnificence department.  


It was a yin-yang performance by the freshmen. Henson was great in the first half; Macdonald especially good in the second. Henson was a force on defense blocking shots and rebounding; Macdonald was an aggressive and confident and clutch hoopster on the offensive end, almost Danny Green-esque. 


Not only was it a great win, on the road, snapping a losing streak, and hopefully leading to some momentum in the last two games of the regular season and going into the ACC tournament but it also gave one hope for the future, both the rest of this season and the next. It's exciting to think about how players like Henson, Macdonald, Drew, Zeller and Strickland could explode after a year of adversity and seasoning. 


Best of all, for the first time since the win at State, Carolina looked like Carolina again.  The Heels rebounded, ran the floor, fed the post, consistently made the smart play, and played great defense for 40 minutes in Winston-Salem.  I've said it before and I'll say here one more time - losing is bad enough, but what made this team difficult to watch was the way they lost.  This team consistently made un-Heel like plays: bad passes, questionable effort, quick shots, you name it.  


But tonight? Pure Carolina


And when this team was pressed and the game tightened up late, the Heels responded like . . . well, Tar Heels.  They didn't panic, they didn't get the 'woe is me' thing going that Roy has talked about, they didn't choke. 


Instead, the 2010 Heels made plays.  Tough, big-time, plays.


Whether we're talking about: big three-pointers, two by Graves and one by Larry Drew II late (at one point the Heels were 7 of 9 on threes in the second half; the game is a lot easier when you shoot it well); a great double team by Drew and Graves in the corner to force Wake to burn their last timeout; Macdonald's charge late; or Graves' big rebound with about a minute left, the Heels made plays.


No play, however, was bigger than the one Macdonald and fellow freshman Dexter Strickland made with just under a minute left.  Wake had cut the lead to 3.  Instead of worrying or calling time out, the Heels performed like Heels.  As the Deacons were still celebrating their made three-pointer freshman Strickland, in the game due to Drew's brain lock at the free-throw line, quickly pushed the ball ahead in the mode of Felton and Lawson, and fed Macdonald for a quick and easy lay up.   


Then on the ensuing Wake possession a wall put up by Deon and Marcus Ginyard led to Macdonald sliding his feet and taking his big charge that sealed a great and satisfying win.  


And everything is better when the Heels win.


A few random notes:

• It was a great team win.  Everyone who played contributed.
• Kudos to Larry Drew, who had his best game since the Michigan State win in December.  He was aggressive and tough, and did not get down after a rough start to the second half.  His three late was huge, though his free throw woes were almost hugely bad. 
• Our point guards did a great job guarding Ish Smith today.  In Chapel Hill, Drew did a horrible job containing him, but tonight was the opposite.  Drew played Smith to drive, and let the notoriously iffy outside shooter bomb - and miss - from the perimeter. 
• Will Graves really stepped up in the second half.  His shooting was big time, but he also was choice on defense and the boards.  Like all the Heels, he made plays all over the floor tonight, but none bigger than his two threes late.
• It is not a coincidence that the Heels have looked better now that Zeller is back. He's a talented and gifted player who also knows how to play.  He is better than Deon or the Wears at getting position and asserting himself down low.
• Deon did not shoot it well, but his defense in the second half was great. Ditto Marcus Ginyard, who did not force anything on the offensive end and combined with Thompson and Graves for numerous walls and stops. 
• Like I said, it was a total team effort led by the magnificent play of Macdonald and Henson.  Both not only excelled and led their team to victory, they were having fun out there tonight.  Great to see, and great to win.

GO HEELS!