Hard to believe this is my first blog, let alone blog about Carolina basketball, in months. I'll admit that the combination of some lingering ennui about Carolina athletics in the wake of the on-going embarrassment involving the football team and the African-American studies department (perhaps combined with getting older) has kept me off line.
But as is often the case, a win over a rival like NC State has rekindled my enthusiasm. The switch to a smaller lineup has seemingly resuscitated this year's basketball team AND the Carolina Hellenic Blue blog.
I shouldn't attribute too much to Saturday's nice win over the Pack since the Heels have actually been playing better of late. After getting spanked in Coral Gables by Miami Carolina has outplayed Duke yet lost due to some terrible foul shooting and one Blue Devil run in the second half, scored 93 points versus a tough Virginia team, won on the road at Georgia Tech (which is actually news in the Roy Williams era), before taking down NC State on Saturday.
The wins are justifiably credited to Carolina's new small line up and more specifically to the insertion of PJ Hairston into the starting line up at small forward. More on that move in a minute.
What makes each of those games significant is not only did Carolina play well and win 3 of those 4 contests, but that Carolina finally started doing what every good Carolina team usually does - which is do what they want to do, and impose their will on the game and their opponent.
Against Duke we got shots we wanted and were aggressive, but the win over the Wahoos is the best example. Virginia likes to control tempo, but the Heels would not allow that to happen. They rebounded, ran the floor and made shots against Virginia's tough, pack-line defense.
That takes talent, but almost more importantly it takes confidence and a faith in your teammates and coach. It took a while for a young team, especially for our freshman point guard, to develop that confidence.
But now it's here, and it's fun to watch.
The interesting this about this year's model is the style of play the Heels are imposing on their opponents. In a word, that style is very 'un-Carolina.'
For practically 60 years, to the days of Frank Maguire but canonized during the Dean Smith era, Carolina basketball has featured a "big man down low, feed the post first, inside out" offense. Those big men could often run the floor, and other attributes such as getting shots in transition before the defense gets set have characterized Carolina basketball.
The recent run of powerhouse teams assembled by Roy Williams took that model to a different level with a dominant big man balanced by one or two lights out shooters on the wing and a terrific point guard.
First and foremost, Carolina's offense has always prioritized getting a good - or better yet easy - shot. Logically, the closer a player is to the basket - from either a pass down low or on a fast break or the secondary break - the easier the shot so the Heels have always looked inside first.
This year's team does NOT do that, in fact CAN NOT do that, and therefore makes this year's squad the most un-Carolina-like team since ....when? Ever?
Even before the recent switch to a four guard lineup, the 2013 Heels were unbalanced and did not fit into the historical arc of Carolina basketball.
This year's team, with four guards and a power forward, is more like a modern NBA line up (or even dare I say recent Duke teams). Folks may have noticed that this year's NBA all star team ballot did not include a category for center; you voted for 2 back court players and 3 in the front court. The three-point line and in my opinion Magic Johnson and the age of big guys who can handle have completely changed the game of basketball. Instead of going down low first, to a Hansbrough or Sean May or Eric Montross - or to a Kareem or Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain - today's basketball revolves around players who can slash to the rack and drive and dish, or positionless, offensive-polyskilled freaks like LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwayne Wade and Kevin Durant (or Michael Jordan for that matter).
You have to give ol' Roy credit for making that work this year (or criticize him, I suppose, for failing to recruit a successor to the May-Hansbrough-Zeller line).
But he does deserve credit. This small line up is starting to believe in itself, and obviously the coach is a big part of that. He's getting defense from a three-point specialist, great rebounding from his small forward, and leadership and savvy from his 150-pound freshman point guard.
And this weekend, this most un-Carolina line up did a great job of playing smart, winning Tar Heels basketball - and winning a rivalry game to boot.*
Go Heels!
* and got me blogging again!
A Few More Thoughts
But as is often the case, a win over a rival like NC State has rekindled my enthusiasm. The switch to a smaller lineup has seemingly resuscitated this year's basketball team AND the Carolina Hellenic Blue blog.
I shouldn't attribute too much to Saturday's nice win over the Pack since the Heels have actually been playing better of late. After getting spanked in Coral Gables by Miami Carolina has outplayed Duke yet lost due to some terrible foul shooting and one Blue Devil run in the second half, scored 93 points versus a tough Virginia team, won on the road at Georgia Tech (which is actually news in the Roy Williams era), before taking down NC State on Saturday.
The wins are justifiably credited to Carolina's new small line up and more specifically to the insertion of PJ Hairston into the starting line up at small forward. More on that move in a minute.
What makes each of those games significant is not only did Carolina play well and win 3 of those 4 contests, but that Carolina finally started doing what every good Carolina team usually does - which is do what they want to do, and impose their will on the game and their opponent.
Against Duke we got shots we wanted and were aggressive, but the win over the Wahoos is the best example. Virginia likes to control tempo, but the Heels would not allow that to happen. They rebounded, ran the floor and made shots against Virginia's tough, pack-line defense.
That takes talent, but almost more importantly it takes confidence and a faith in your teammates and coach. It took a while for a young team, especially for our freshman point guard, to develop that confidence.
But now it's here, and it's fun to watch.
The interesting this about this year's model is the style of play the Heels are imposing on their opponents. In a word, that style is very 'un-Carolina.'
For practically 60 years, to the days of Frank Maguire but canonized during the Dean Smith era, Carolina basketball has featured a "big man down low, feed the post first, inside out" offense. Those big men could often run the floor, and other attributes such as getting shots in transition before the defense gets set have characterized Carolina basketball.
The recent run of powerhouse teams assembled by Roy Williams took that model to a different level with a dominant big man balanced by one or two lights out shooters on the wing and a terrific point guard.
First and foremost, Carolina's offense has always prioritized getting a good - or better yet easy - shot. Logically, the closer a player is to the basket - from either a pass down low or on a fast break or the secondary break - the easier the shot so the Heels have always looked inside first.
This year's team does NOT do that, in fact CAN NOT do that, and therefore makes this year's squad the most un-Carolina-like team since ....when? Ever?
Even before the recent switch to a four guard lineup, the 2013 Heels were unbalanced and did not fit into the historical arc of Carolina basketball.
This year's team, with four guards and a power forward, is more like a modern NBA line up (or even dare I say recent Duke teams). Folks may have noticed that this year's NBA all star team ballot did not include a category for center; you voted for 2 back court players and 3 in the front court. The three-point line and in my opinion Magic Johnson and the age of big guys who can handle have completely changed the game of basketball. Instead of going down low first, to a Hansbrough or Sean May or Eric Montross - or to a Kareem or Bill Russell or Wilt Chamberlain - today's basketball revolves around players who can slash to the rack and drive and dish, or positionless, offensive-polyskilled freaks like LeBron James, Dirk Nowitzki, Dwayne Wade and Kevin Durant (or Michael Jordan for that matter).
You have to give ol' Roy credit for making that work this year (or criticize him, I suppose, for failing to recruit a successor to the May-Hansbrough-Zeller line).
But he does deserve credit. This small line up is starting to believe in itself, and obviously the coach is a big part of that. He's getting defense from a three-point specialist, great rebounding from his small forward, and leadership and savvy from his 150-pound freshman point guard.
And this weekend, this most un-Carolina line up did a great job of playing smart, winning Tar Heels basketball - and winning a rivalry game to boot.*
Go Heels!
* and got me blogging again!
A Few More Thoughts
- NC State LOOKS really good, and I wonder why they have struggled at times this year. They have plus-talent at the one, two, four and five. Richard Howell is particularly impressive. I guess the easiest explanation is one that came into play on Saturday; C.J. Leslie disappeared at times. Credit Hairston for some great defense, too.
- It looks like the ACC will have 5 teams - Carolina, Duke, NC State, Virginia and Miami - in the NCAA tournament, but that's it unless Maryland or FSU run the table in Greensboro.
- Two years ago I was convinced that Tony Bennett was in over his head at Virginia, but I was wrong. A program seems to be building in Charlottesville.
- Though the Heels are doing well I don't see an first-team all ACC players on the roster. My first team all-ACC team is Larkin, Plumlee, Howell, Joe Harris, and either Kenny Kadji or Erik Green. Reggie Bullock and maybe Hairston could be second or third-team members.
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