Seven Month Winning Streak Ends

The Heels lost for the first time since April last night, snapping their seven-month winning streak.


Obviously, a lot has changed in those seven months.  And while most things have aged in that time the Heels have gotten younger, and that youth was exposed in the first 10 minutes of the second half last night versus Syracuse. 


It was exposed last night, but on display since the first exhibition game a month ago.  One by-product of having a young and new team is that Roy is still experimenting with line ups, rotations, and substitutions - and the players are doing the same thing.  Until things fall into place the Heels will lack the flow and synchronicity synonymous with Carolina basketball.


That lack of flow was on full display in the first 10 minutes of the final 20 in Madison Square Garden.  In the face of a physical and determined Orange the Heels looked tentative and unsure, short arming shots and even short arming passes that led to fast break points. 


It's a bi-product of games played by 20-year olds, but it was odd to see how calm and determined Carolina was in the first half compared to the second. The Heels trailed early 0-8 but calmly made plays and attacked Syracuse's zone very well. 


Again, in the second half it was a different story.  Syracuse simply outmuscled our tall but skinny front line in the paint. As the noted philosopher Mike Tyson once said: 'everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.'  The Heels' stayed with the plan in the first half; in the second half they didn't.


Finally, these are the kind of games - and growing pains - we expected from this team. The Heels have had similar stretches of sloppy play in each of their games this season. You can get away with that kind of play against Valparaiso and FIU and even a Big 10 team like Ohio State. Clearly, the margin of error is much thinner against a team like Syracuse.   


The good news for Heels fans is this team has quality guys (Ginyard, Thompson, though he had a terrible trip to NY), is talented enough (Davis, Zeller, Henson) and has the best coach in the country.  So I'm confident Carolina will figure it out, and get better as they get ready to face more tough competition in Michigan State, Kentucky and Texas.  


And not only will this team get better, conversely they can't get any younger.

First Real Win of the Season

A look back at last night's win over Ohio State, Carolina's first real test of the young season, reveals a number of story lines, almost too many for one game.

• The team resembled the 2009 national champs to start the game, methodically and calmly dominated a top-20 team from a power conference, and quickly built a double-digit lead;
• In fact, the game reminded me of the win over Villanova in the Final Four. Offensively, the Heels did what they wanted while forcing a seemingly good team into a terrible shooting night before they (Villanova/OSU) regroup and make a run in the second half only to be stymied by . . .
• As part of their mimicking of the defending national champs, Deon Thompson looked like Hansbrough, going to the line a lot early; Marcus Ginyard and especially Will Graves looked like Danny Green, and hit shots from all over the court; Graves did not settle for threes and had two nice takes to the rack in the first half;
• Carolina threw waves of players at the Buckeyes, and it paid off defensively and offensively as the Wears, Tyler Zeller and Justin "The Microwave" Watts contributed mightily off the bench;

Mixed in with good story lines were some bad ones, too. The offense looked a little herky-jerky with not much flow. And the Heels lost their concentration late and were guilty of some sloppy and panicky turnovers, play that made this team look very, very young.  Which, of course, it is.


And Larry Drew missed 3 of 4 free throws late to create a ripple of nervousness. But to his credit, Drew went on to hit four more free throws - including two to make it a two-possession game with 11 second left - to seal the win. 


We may look back at those last two free throws as the moment when Larry Drew officially became a big-time point guard.  Tonight's game versus Syracuse will be our first chance to test that theory.


Drew also hit a big three late to keep Ohio State at bay. For me, the three-point shooting and the multiple big plays made late - made by multiple players - were THE biggest and best story lines. 


Drew, Ginyard, and Graves all took turns hitting import three-pointers last night. And I imagine each generated huge cheers from the couches of Tar Heel Nation. 


Thompson and Ginyard also made big-time basketball plays late. Thompson made a great pass to Drew for his 3, and Ginyard had a key steal and a big board to compliment his three-point basket and played a great floor game for 40 minutes. Exactly what you would expect from the two senior leaders on this team.


As sloppy as the ending of this game was - and one can rightfully complain about a lack of concentration and the failure to put a team away - this was a nice win in Carolina's first real test (a win with Ed Davis a non-factor due to foul trouble). If the rest of the seaon features leadership and play making from Ginyard and Thompson, Drew II stepping up when needed, good outside shooting from Graves, Ginyard, Watts, etc. and waves of talent - especially on the front line - this team will be even funner to watch that I expected.


GO HEELS!  

Back to sports

After a 900-word blog on a serious matter it's back to sports. 


This week features three important and interesting games, starting with tomorrow's do or don't World Cup qualifier between Greece and Ukraine.  The teams played to a scoreless tie on Saturday in Athens, so it's a pretty straightforward scenario (for the most part; this is after all futbol): the winner qualifies for the 2010 World Cup.  Ukraine has to win to advance, however Greece can advance if the game ends in a tie if both teams score - advancing on away goals since Ukraine did not score in Athens.


The game is in Ukraine, in a city called Donetsk, and the weather will not be Mediterranean.  High is supposed to be 2 degrees Celsius so the Ukraine will have the home field and home weather advantage.


The game will be shown live on ESPN2 at 12:55 pm if you have a TV in your office/want to set your DVR.


From what I can tell from watching some Greek TV and visiting some web sites it appears that Greeks are very frustrated with this team - but especially with their legendary German coach Otto Rehagel.  The team looked tentative on Saturday, and Rehagel has been criticized for not starting Angelo Charisteas and for taking Fanis Gekas out with 20 minutes left in regulation.  Rehagel engineered what has to be one of the biggest upsets in soccer history, Greece's 2004 European championship, but as it is in any sport, in any land, that good will only lasts so long.  Many expect him to resign as head coach if Greece does not advance tomorrow.


Test for Carolina
While not playing do or don't games like the Hellenic side of this blog, Carolina does face it's first real test this week.  On Thursday the Heels travel to Madison Square Garden to take on Ohio State in the Coaches vs. Cancer semi-finals.  No Crusaders (B ABBEY and Valpo), no Dean Dome, just a tough game on a neutral floor against a top-25 team from a power conference.


On Friday night the Heels play either Cal (the only legit team in the Pac 10 this year; want proof, UCLA lost to Cal State Riverside last night) or Syracuse for either the Coaches vs. Cancer championship or the consolation game.

We'll see if the Heels played down to the competition in Sunday's uninspiring win over Valparaiso, or if this squad really IS a top 10 team - this early in the season. My gut tells me the Valpo game was an aberration.  The Heels may not be experienced enough to win on Thursday night (also on ESPN 2, BTW) or at all in New York, but I bet they will play well and cut down the turnovers and rotate better on defense.  I'm predicting big games from Ginyard and Thompson - and for Graves to find his stroke - and two surprising wins for Carolina this week.

The two games in New York kick off a brutal stretch for the young Heels.  They return to Chapel Hill for tilts versus Gardner-Webb and Nevada but then host Michigan State in the Big East-ACC challenge. [Man, we've played them a lot lately, but when the Spartans play the Heels it's the ideal Carolina Hellenic Blue blog match up.] 

After a breather against Presbyterian the Heels go on the road again for difficult games at Kentucky (remember, the 2006 Heels won a bid game in Lexington led by Reyshawn Terry and David Noel, who did THIS that game) and against Texas in the first basketball game in the new, obscene Texas Stadium on December 19th.

We'll know a lot more about this team in a month, that's for sure.