Carolina Hellenic Tragedy

What a terrible loss.  Have any Carolina teams endured two terrible defeats in one season?  First FSU, now Duke?  

Of course, there is one huge difference in those two games; against FSU, the Tar Heels were horrible. But last night was truly tragic in that from the 8 minute mark in the first half (after a relatively slow start) to the 4 minute mark in the second - a span of 24 minutes - Carolina was dominant. Dominant. 

The Heels were better than Duke but lost. If that's not the definition of a Greek-style, Carolina tragedy, I don't know what is.

And it was Greek style. Similar to the Greek myths our heroes soared only to be dragged back down to earth in the end by the (blue) devil(s).

How else do you explain Kendall Marshall driving, dishing and dominating, then making a sloppy pass and turning it over with less than 2 minutes left?

Explain Harrison Barnes dominating and scoring at will for most of the second half, but missing two of four free throws late and turning it over on an albeit highly questionable charging call?  He was tripped but still should have made a better decision before barreling down the lane (perhaps it was hubris, the greatest sin in the eyes of the ancient Greeks.)

Or John Henson owning the glass but failing to box out Ryan Kelly after a missed three, allowing him to follow his shot and score?

And finally, the most tragic figure of the night, Tyler Zeller. He was unstoppable, especially the first half. But the devil dragged him down the most cruelly, as he missed two big free throws late, tipped in Kelly's missed three for 2 big points for Duke with under a minute left, then had to cover Austin Rivers(tyx) on the game winning shot.

No gods were ever more cruel, and few losses were so tragic.  

The loss put most Heels fans in the world of another Greek word: agony.  The root of the English word is the Greek word for 'game,' more accurately 'contest.'  To the Greeks, athletic contests were literally agonizing.  Sounds familiar 24-hours later, doesn't it?

A few more Heels notes: 

• We've all known free throw shooting was an accident waiting to happen.  Well, that accident was last night.
• I just rewatched most of the second half, and it did seem that Duke got away with an inordinate number of flops and travels. Much of that game was game was badly officiated; McAdoo was whistled for two borderline calls in particular late.
• That said, JM McAdoo had some spectacular moments in the second half.
• What's worse, losing due to costly and atypical mistakes, or losing to a one-man band?  Austin Rivers was phenomenal last night. Watching it live it looked like Carolina defenders were too often going underneath screens. But upon further review he made quite a few shots with a hand in his face. Rivers was a stone-cold assassin.
• But you have to give the entire Duke team credit. They would not go away, would not let Carolina close this game out. They believed if they hung in there long enough, something good might happen.
• Tough to lose when Carolina played so well for so long. One more free throw, one less own-goal tip in, and we win this game.  Tragedy.