Reset - for Paige and for Tar Heels everywhere

I think it's safe to say the Tar Heels hit the reset button on the 2014-2015 season after their come from behind win versus Louisville in Chapel Hill on Saturday.  More than two months into this season, and the team still felt off, stuck in neutral.  For every good win, over Ohio State in Columbus or the back-to-back wins over UCLA and Florida, there were equally odd losses to Iowa at home coupled with the 'meh' games at Kentucky and against Butler.

Ditto the players. Brice Johnson and Kennedy Meeks entered the season with altered bodies and great expectations. Both have played well at times, but there remain nagging questions about their offensive inconsistency.

But of course the biggest example of a player stuck in neutral, searching for a rhythm and flow, was Marcus Paige.  

Not only is he our best player, the pre-season ACC player of the year and first team All-American, Paige carries the burden of being an actual student-athlete. He's asked to make shots, lead the Heels to championships, AND lead Carolina out of our post-Wainstein funk.   

We, or at least folks like me, need him to save the team and help restore our alma mater's reputation.

That's a lot on the slender shoulders of the Iowa junior. But with 8.5 seconds left and the Heels down one, Paige found to way to balance all those responsibilities - or at least figured out a way to bank them high off the glass and into the basket - and lead the Heels to their most important win of the season.

A play that big, to cap off a comeback that important, can save a season for a team and a player.  

And when that player is Marcus Paige it makes us, Tar Heels everywhere, feel better about Carolina - Dean's Carolina, the institution we believe in and cherish, THE university of the people - too.*

GO HEELS! 

* I may be overdoing it a bit, but as you can tell I love Marcus Paige. He's as Dean as they come. Anyway, we'll find out if he has turned around our season on Wednesday versus State. It will be quite a game, if for no other reason it will be State's 'we just beat the crap out of Duke' mojo versus our 'The Marcus Paige who single-handedly took down the Wolfpack in Raleigh last year is BACK.'

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP NOTE

If you only read one article about tonight's college football championship game read this one from the Post: Students Try to Find Their Place For College Football National Championship Game. The networks and big six conferences lined up the money, sponsors, boosters, capitalist pigs, and the athletes but forgot about the students. Big time college sports don't need to be reformed; they are fundamentally corrupt.   

Conference Players of the Year

Sure, January marks the beginning of a new year but for hoops fans it mainly marks the start of ACC basketball. Though it's true that since the ACC started it's football-fueled expansion there have been a few conference games in December, the real schedule starts in January. Just this weekend there were two double-overtime games, and a nice road win for the Heels, so the ACC is off to a good start.

The conference is also loaded. Notre Dame looked terrific in taking down the Heels tonight. The addition of Louisville, coupled with Syracuse the year before, has helped reorient the conference back to where it belongs - as the nation's pre-eminent hoops conference. In addition to three teams in the top 5 and five in the current top 20, two other ACC squads have been ranked this year.  That's seven teams - at a minimum - that should get bids to the NCAA tournament.

Tournament bids is one way to measure the strength of a conference; ditto final fours and championships. Another interesting way to do so is by looking at recent players of fhe year and how they have fared at the next level. The holiday break gave me a chance to look into how the last 10 POY in the big six conferences have done in the NBA, with some interesting findings.*

I broke the players into 6 categories: MVPs (6 pts); All stars (5); starters (3); in the rotation (2); earning a pro paycheck (1); busts (0).*

Using the categories here is how the conferences stack up:

SEC - 22

ACC - 21

Big 12 - 20

PAC 12 - 18

Big East - 16

Big 10 - 10

Though it's not a balanced hoops conference it's not surprising to see the SEC on top, buoyed by one MVP type, Anthony Davis, an all star in John Wall coupled with starters and solid rotation guys. The SEC also had the fewest busts.

The ACC picked up points with 4 starters (Reddick twice, Zeller, and Lawson) plus lots of rotation players. Surpisingly and embarrassingly, no recent ACC player of the year has made an NBA all star game. The conference that produced Jordan, Duncan, Worthy, Carter, etc. seems to have stopped producing them.**

The Big 12 rode two stars - Kevin Durant, Blake Griffin - with a good number of starters and rotation guys (Marcus Thornton, Glen Davis, Markieff Morris, Michael Beasley) adding points. The PAC 12 used the same formula, and scored better than expected, thanks to two All Stars in Kevin Love and James Harden plus some rotation guys (Josh Childress, Derrick Williams).

As expected the Big 10 and Big East, two conferences where players never seem to learn how to pass or shoot (with the exception of UConn) brought up the rear. The recent emergence of Randy Foye and Jeff Green were the Big East's saving graces. And who would have guessed that Draymond Green is the only Big 10 POY in the last decade to amount to anything in the League?***

* This is hardly the best way to look at player's impact. Kyrie Irving, for instance, only played 9 games for Duke so was never a candidate for player of the year, yet is an All Star. One and done players do not always win POY, though Davis and Wall did for Kentucky.

** An exception is Chris Paul, who in his two years at Wake was rookie of the year and first team all ACC, but lot POY honors to Jared Dudley and Tyler Hansbrough.

***  Michigan's Trey Burke may change that.

Oh well

Not the greatest game last night for the Heels, but a win is a win and Carolina is now 19 and 6, and 9 and 2 in the ACC.

 The bad news: 

• for the second straight game the Heels got good looks, good looks that they missed.  We jacked up 27 threes last night, making only 5 for a 19 percent clip;
• the 27 threes were a symptom of impatience on offense.  When we attacked Wake's zone we did well, making almost 48 percent of our 2-point shots.  

The good news:

• only 8 turnovers.  Part of that is Wake's do-nothing zone, part of it is improved play by Barnes, and Marshall's steady running of the offense.  Besides the low number, I was heartened by back up point guard Dexter Strickland's ZERO turnovers in 31 minutes (or the same number of jump shots he hit);
• the Heels played some pretty good defense last night, holding Wake to 38 percent shooting;
• when Harrison Barnes was aggressive, which he generally was in the second half, he looked great; he's clearly been working on his dunking/explosiveness.  Barnes also had 4 assists last night;
• despite missing some shots from outside Leslie McDonald had a nice overall game;
• and almost best of all, Jon Henson was fantastic on defense.  He left quite a few points on the rim in the second half last night, but defensively he was fantastic.

Go Heels!

Quick ACC blog

Interesting games last night in the ACC.  


The marquee game was Duke at Maryland.  I'm not a big General Greivis fan but late in the game, after Duke had asserted itself and taken a second-half lead, he made play after play to lead the Terps to their 12th win in the conference.  


Gary Williams has a right to feel pretty smug.  Two seasons after alums were screaming for his firing and the Post ran a 5-part series about how far Maryland has fallen he's got a team that looks average on paper (of course, games aren't played on paper, they're played on ESPN) in first place in the ACC.  It's easy to forgot how much success he's had in College Park.  


If Carolina doesn't win the ACC tournament I won't mind rooting for Maryland in the NCAA tournament.


Duke, on the other had, seems poised for yet another late season swoon, one I hope picks up momentum on Saturday night against the Heels. One weird feature of Duke basketball lately - since the Shane Battier-Jason Williams juggernaut - has been Krzyzewski's inability to develop any quality depth. As a result Duke teams of recent years always look gassed late in the year.


That seemed to be on display late in the game versus Maryland, where John Scheyer and Nolan Smith missed open shots that they had knocked down earlier in the game. Despite having decent size - Lance Thomas, Brian Zoubek and not one but TWO Plumlees - the Blue Devils continue to be a jump-shooting team. And if you have tired legs it's hard to be a good jump shooting team. 


The Plumlees, who seem to be athletic and skilled, only played 22 minutes last night. Seems like you should give them, and back-up point guard Andre Dawkins, more time especially when you consider that Singler played 40 minutes and Scheyer and Smith each played 38.  


Finally, one underreported story that obviously hurts Duke's depth has been the number of transfers lately. I'm assuming most of those are due to Krzyzewski being a demanding task master.  Just in the last 2 seasons Duke has lost 3 players - Elliott Williams (Memphis), Taylor King (Villanova) and Firstname Thompson (Northwestern) - who are contributing at schools playing big time college basketball.


ACCents:

• Add my voice to the chorus of critics who think football-driven expansion has hurt ACC basketball. Last night fewer than 4,000 fans showed up for Virginia's game at Boston College. It was spring break and Boston is a pro-sports town, but still, 4,000 fans?  BC should not be in the ACC.
• Miami made more sense in that the conference already had one Florida member, but they continue to draw flies for basketball, both in Coral Gables and on the road. Miami's game in Chapel Hill was not a sell. That's not the U's fault, but they do not generate ANY basketball buzz and probably never will.
• The only school that made sense to add was Virginia Tech. A geographic fit, natural rival for Virginia, and they have a hoops fan base. Last night they had a sell out for NC State, and almost all the fans stuck around last weekend when a water main break delayed the start of their game versus Maryland by 3 hours. 

ACC Preview

With Sierra Club closed for the holidays I've had time to make my fearless predictions for the upcoming ACC basketball season.  As it was last year, and really ever since 'ol Roy returned to Chapel Hill, it appears to be Carolina and Duke at the top, with as usual Clemson - joined this year by FSU - on the periphery.  


Looking back at last year's predictions I accurately predicted 4 out of 12 spots: UNC first; Duke tied for second (I predicted with Clemson but they tied with Wake); Virginia in 11th (at 4-12); Georgia Tech last (they finished 2-12; I predicted 3-13).  I was close with Virginia Tech, who finished at 7-9 and tied for 7th place after I predicted 8-8 and in 6th.


I really missed FSU; I thought they would finish at 6-10 and in 9th place but Leonard Hamilton surprised us all by going 10-6, finishing in 4th place, playing in the ACC tournament finals, and qualifying for the NCAA tournament.


It was kind of the same story with Wake Forest.  I predicted them to finish at 9-7 but their hot start to the ACC resulted in an upset of Carolina and a final record of 11-5.


I thought the U would do better than 7-9 (I picked 9-7).  I must have gotten them mixed up with BC, who I thought would go 7-9 but instead went 9-7.  I also missed Maryland by one game, which turned out to be their late-season upset of the eventual national champs.  The Terps ended up at 7-9 and qualified for the NCAA tournament, while I predicted 6-10


This year could very well mimic last season, with the biggest changes being a rising Georgia Tech and a sinking Boston College.  I underestimated BC last year, and their bad non-conference losses convinced me to do the same this year.  Before I get to my team-by-team break down, here is my predicted order of finish for the 2010 ACC:


Carolina 12-4
Duke 12-4
Clemson 9-7
FSU 9-7
Virginia Tech 8-8
Georgia Tech 8-8
Maryland 7-9
Miami 7-9
Wake 7-9
NCSU 6-10
Boston College 6-10
Virginia 5-11


One huge factor is the unbalanced schedule.  Virginia Tech in particular benefits, as does Wake Forest. Conversely, Georgia Tech and to a lesser degree BC suffer.   The teams that play Virginia and NC State four times are the lucky ones.


Teams


Carolina
Despite playing the toughest schedule in the country - let alone the ACC - Carolina is still a work in progress and has not answered many questions as it heads into conference play.  In Monday's win against Rutgers the Heels were still experimenting with line ups. At different points in the game Carolina featured a small line up: Drew-Strickland-Graves-Thompson-Davis; and a big/huge line up: Drew-Wear-Wear-Zeller-Davis as Roy continues to look for some flow and consistency.  

The good news is Will Graves has been a bit better from the outside, Dexter Strickland has had back-to-back great games, and Ed Davis and Tyler Zeller have developed.  Davis appears to be the key; if he demands the ball and gets a lot of shots, as he did in the nice win over Michigan State, the Heels thrive.  


But Larry Drew is still inconsistent and the entire team continues to be sloppier with the ball than one would expect 13 games into the season. Finally, Deon Thompson and Marcus Ginyard have been up and down, sometimes from half-to-half let alone game-to-game. Neither have been David Noel, an unrealistic expectation since in 100 years of Carolina hoops there has only been a handful of leaders like the athletic forward from Durham (George Lynch, James Worthy?).


The bright side is Carolina is talented enough, and most of the league mediocre enough, for the Heels to finish in first place at 12-4, at least 11-5.


Duke
I see Duke matching Carolina at 12-4 or 11-5.  Duke - and John Scheyer - has looked good in defeating Gonzaga in Cameron, but struggled against a mediocre Wisconsin team in Madison. Look for the Dukies to mimic that pattern this year as they lose on the road to upper echelon teams like Carolina, Georgia Tech, Clemson, and likely Maryland and perhaps even Miami, though I think Carolina's 4-game winning streak at Cameron may end this season.


Clemson
I always pick Clemson third, at least since Oliver Purnell established himself as the third-best coach in the ACC of late (though Gary Williams should be considered the third-best coach since he is one of three current ACC coaches with a national championship).  Trevor Booker is back and Demontez Stitt is more experienced at the point. It's hard to see this team winning less - or more - than 9 games this year.


Florida State
There appears to be talent in Tallahassee despite the graduation of Toney Douglas. The problem is it's sitting next to Leonard Hamilton. Solomon Alabi leads a fairly experienced squad, and the Noles have already stolen a road game at Georgia Tech. Like Clemson, they seem a lock for 9 wins, with winnable games at Maryland and at home versus Georgia Tech.  If they win those two they could finish third with 10 or 11 wins.


Virginia Tech
Perhaps the most intriguing team in the ACC.  A decent amount of talent returning, led by Malcolm Delaney and Jeff Allen. And the Hokies have actually won some tough games so far: at Penn State; at Iowa; and over Georgia on a neutral floor. I have them going 8-8 but they could finish 9-7 with a win at Virginia or at NC State or Boston College.  This team could move up in the standings if they have some luck.


Georgia Tech
Second most intriguing team in the ACC is the Yellow Jackets.  They feature super-freshman Derrick Favors and returnees like Gani Lawal.  The Jackets should finish 8-8 if they win one or two road games (Virginia, but the rematch with FSU in Tallahassee will be huge) and defeat Duke or Carolina in Atlanta.


Maryland
I can't wait for Greivis Vasquez to graduate so I can stop reading his endless variations on the 'us against them' quote in The Post.  Look for the Terps to underachieve again this year and repeat their 7-9 record of a season ago.  Problem for Maryland is they have lost all three of their important non-conference games, to Villanova, Cincinnati, and Wisconsin. Last year, wins over Michigan and Michigan State helped them qualify at 7-9 for the NCAA tournament. But I don't think they will be so lucky this season.


Miami
The Hurricanes lost Jack McClinton but have a slew of young players and surprisingly have already defeated Minnesota and South Carolina, two decent teams.  If the U beats Duke in the Gables and/or defeats a team like Virginia on the road they could finish with as many as 9 wins.  If they do - with wins over Duke, Minnesota, and the Gamecocks - the Hurricanes should return to the NCAA tournament.


Wake Forest
Hard to gauge the Deacons, who have lost at home to William and Mary but travelled to Spokane and defeated Gonzaga.  Chances are both Dino Gaudio and the Zags are overrated, so I have Wake going 7-9 without any road wins in the ACC, though if they somehow upset the Heels at home or Virginia on the road they could go 8-8.  A number of their road games are winnable - at NC State, at Miami - but I'm cynical about Wake's chances.


NC State
Looks like another down year for the Pack. Things have gotten so bad at State I actually feel sorry for their students and coach Sidney Lowe (well, not their students).  State has defeated Jeff Lebo's average Auburn Tigers and Marquette, but has also lost to Northwestern and a rebuilding Arizona squad.  Looks like another 6 win season for the Wolfpack.


Boston College
The Eagles surprised everyone by winning 9 games last year and defeating Carolina in Chapel Hill.  And they have beaten Michigan on the road this season. But they have also lost to Harvard for the second year in a row, St. Josephs, and to lesser teams like the University of Northern Iowa and Rhode Island (they did beat UMass, so are 1-2 vs. the Atlantic 10).  Like last year, I'm predicting a 6 (maybe 7) win season.


Virginia
The Cavaliers hired Tony Bennett, the defensive-minded coach of Washington State and son of legendary coach Dick Bennett, to clean up after Dave Leitao.  I have a feeling this guy will be severely overmatched in the ACC, especially regarding recruiting.  Virginia has already lost four times, to Penn State - at home - and to average teams like Auburn, South Florida and Johnny Dawkins' Stanford Cardinal.  So Bennett is already 0-2 vs. teams coached by former ACC point guards.  Five wins would be impressive this year for Virginia.


The good news is ACC play is right around the corner, so the speculation and predictions will yield to actual games.  My hope is that my prediction for the Heels comes true, but also that things go the right way for bubble teams such as Virginia Tech and Miami and the ACC gets six or seven teams into the NCAA tournament.  It would also be great if someone other than Carolina went deep into the tournament, especially teams like Clemson or Georgia Tech as a way of showing that the ACC is more than a two-team league.


I hope these predictions spark some commentary, and remember to vote in the www.carolina-hellenicblue.blogspot.com poll, too.


Go Heels!

Bad Week For the ACC Gets Worse

First, the two best teams in the conference - Georgia Tech and Clemson - both lost to mediocre, in-state SEC rivals in football.

Then, for the first time in the 11 year history of the event, the conference lost the ACC-Big 10 challenge in basketball. 

Carolina did its part, handily dispatching Michigan State. And kudos to Maryland and especially Boston College for winning road games. The Eagles beat a ranked Michigan team, as did Miami in defeating Minnesota in Coral Gables. Virginia Tech also won a road game, but against a pretty bad Iowa squad.

But all six of the games the ACC lost were bad losses. Duke lost on the road to a good Wisconsin team. But the Badgers, not exactly a running team, looked quicker than the Blue Devils. What's up with that?

Sure, Virginia is rebuilding but how can you lose at home to Penn State. Terrible.

Northwestern is supposed to be decent this year but it's still a team NC State should  have  handled since the game was in Raleigh.

The only semi-legit losses - SEMI - were by FSU and Wake Forest.

Florida State lost to a good Ohio State team on the road. That's to be expected from FSU; no matter how talented the Seminoles NEVER ever seem to rise to the challenge (see last year's ACC tournament final, their loss in the first round of the NCAA tournament, etc.).

Considering that Wake Forest was coming off a home loss to William and Mary (a team of two players!), losing to a top-10 team like Purdue is almost a moral victory. Wake fans must be getting nervous. This team has stunk since February. The Dino Gaudio honeymoon is clearly over.

But the worst loss by far was by Clemson. The Tigers blew a 23-point second half lead at home in losing to half-way decent Illinois. Down the stretch Clemson did not do a good job of getting the ball to Trevor Booker, and generally panicked on their home court in the face of the Illini's press and urgent play. Horrible.

Losing the ACC-Big 10 challenge for the first time is not the end of the world but is disappointing nonetheless. With the Big East expected to have a down year the Big 10 now has the upper hand in the mythical battle for the title of the strongest conference in America.

But this year's challenge could have real consequences for ACC bubble teams.  Clemson in particular should make sure and win 9 or 10 ACC games; ditto for Florida State, who has lost both of its important non-conference games (Ohio State and Florida). 

On the other hand, Boston College and Miami really helped themselves so in the end it may even out. The ACC could still receive 6 and maybe 7 bids: Carolina, Duke, Maryland, Georgia Tech (who defeated Sienna last night), Clemson, and one or two from the group of FSU/UM/BC/Wake Forest).

World Cup Draw is Tomorrow (Dec. 4th)

The draw for the 2010 World Cup is tomorrow and will be shown live on ESPN.  Four pots will be used to determine the eight, four-team, groups.

Pot 1 consists of the seven highest-seeded teams (Brazil, Spain, Argentina, England, Germany, Netherlands, Italy) plus host South Africa. The US is in pot 2, a mix of Asian and North American teams, and Greece is in Pot 4, European teams. Pot 3 is Africa and South America.

To me, the best case scenario for the U.S. is: South Africa, the weakest team in Pot 1, by far; Uruguay or Algeria, the only two bad teams in Pot 2; and Slovakia from Pot 3. But according to the Washington Post and ESPN, Switzerland would be the best match up for us for the European pot.

I really hope that Greece and the US are in separate groups. I would love to see the U.S. play - and defeat - Greece in the final.  What are the odds of that?

Best case for Greece is to draw: South Africa; North Korea, arguably the worst team in the World Cup; and Algeria.

Worst case for both teams is to draw Brazil and a team like Ivory Coast from Pot 3.

Anyway, tune in tomorrow.

Thinking about Lawson's big toe

Hard to be too upset about Carolina’s loss yesterday to Florida State in the semi-finals of the ACC tournament. Even without Lawson the Heels were in this game and had a one point lead with a little over a minute left.

Still, it stinks to lose no matter the circumstance.

Winning without Lawson was hard enough. But the task became impossible with Danny Green having an off weekend. He missed a variety of good looks – everything from open threes to an alley-oop dunk to a few tip-ins and lay-ups – yet nothing worked for him the entire game. A few makes from Green and the Heels pull off this game.

With Lawson out and Green in the wrong kind of funk, Carolina relied on great performances from Wayne Ellington and strong second half from Hansbrough to stay in the game. This was one of Ellington’s best games of the season. Without Lawson to set him up Ellington created a variety of shots for himself, everything from his trademark threes to a number of nifty and aggressive drives to the basket.

After a first half spent getting double-teamed down low Hansbrough did a nice job creating space and had a nice half on his was to another double double, passing Sam Perkins for first place on the Carolina rebound list in the process.

As he was against Virginia Tech the day before, Bobby Frasor was solid with only two turnovers but was incredibly passive on offense. Deon Thompson, who apparently played with a sprained ankle suffered late in the Virginia Tech game, and Ed Davis each had some decent moments, but for most of the game Carolina only had two guys who could score.

Finally, I was impressed with FSU’s shooting. I’m sure ol’ Roy is unhappy with Carolina’s defense, but to me it seemed the Seminoles hit a number of tough shots. FSU hit 10 of their first 12 shots against Carolina to start the second half.

Despite FSU’s hot shooting, Danny Green’s cold shooting, and Lawson’s bad big toe the Heels still were in a position to win this game. And it still stinks to lose.

MORE ACC MUSINGS

• I thought FSU played very well yesterday, which is why watching them lose to Duke today is so maddening. How can a team be so intense and productive one day, then wilt completely the next? The Noles simply did not step up today against the Devils.
• There is good news coming out of this weekend. One is the play of Ellington. Two, Lawson is quoted at InsideCarolina.com as saying his toe will be healthy by Thursday for the NCAA tournament. Thompson’s sprained ankle should be Tar Heeled by then, too. Three, Green has not had back-to-back-back bad game this season so his funk should be cured by Thursday.
• With Lawson on the bench, purposely held out by Roy so his toe could get better, this tournament was obviously tainted for Heels fans. Still, it stinks watching Duke win and Dukies happy. Though this year’s Duke squad boasts two relatively un-offensive players in Jon Scheyer and Kyle Singler, Henderson is as big of a smug, gut-less, right-wing, country-club asshole as any Duke player in history, a long list that includes (in no particular order): Henderson, Danny Ferry, Shane Battier, Corey Maggette, Bobby Hurley, J.J. Reddick, Daniel Ewing, Greg Paulus, Quinn Snyder, Billy King, Jay Heaps, Brian Davis and the king of them all, Christian Laettner (Krzyzewski-era only).
• In the spirit of the Obama administration, here is my list of inoffensive Dukies. Besides Scheyer and Singler, the short list includes Elton Brand, Jay Bilas (for his work with ESPN), Tommy Amaker and maybe Grant Hill (inoffensive but I've always enjoyed rooting against him). Since two of those guys are on this year’s team I guess we are living in the golden age of tolerable Dukies.

Of course, I'll post more on the NCAA tournament brackets later tonight.

ONE HELLENIC UPDATE

I encourage my fellow Hellenes and phil-Hellenes to vote for the Gabby Awards presented by Greek American magazine. I know voting on this blog is often lame but with the Gabby's you can honor "excellence amongst Greek Americans and to reward those who embody it."  Nominees include Tina Fey, Arianna Huffington, Ted Leonsis and Nick Markakis. 

ACC Tournament Semi-finals

Great day of basketball today highlighted by the Heels gutting out a 79-76 win without Ty Lawson.  

I worked from home this afternoon, and got to watch the Heels, then half of the FSU-Georgia Tech game, most of the AU-Holy Cross game to determine the Patriot League champion, and then the Maryland-Wake Forest game (I'm blogging between that game and the Duke-BC game).

Carolina had to grind out their win over Virginia Tech without Lawson. It was odd to see the Hokies run more often and more effectively than the Tar Heels. Carolina compensated by effectively feeding the post for 40 minutes and Hansbrough, Thompson and Ed Davis had very nice games, especially Hansbrough and Davis.  Even Tyler Zeller, who didn't play that many minutes, scored a big and tough basket late.

The Heels augmented their low-post offense with two mini-runs: one led by Hansbrough and Davis in the first half, and Ellington in the second.  In the end, it was Hansbrough who closed out the win on his way to 28 points. Not only did Psycho T score our last six points, but got a big turnover in the final minute when he tied up Virginia Tech's Thompson.

Hansbrough's play was one of four consecutive stops Carolina made down the stretch.  In general, I thought Carolina's defense was pretty good today against the Hokies.

The Heels play FSU in the semi-finals Saturday afternoon.  Florida State looked ok in surviving their game against an energized Georgia Tech.  It will be an interesting game for the Heels without Lawson.   Carolina will no doubt try to go down low as much as possible but FSU's front line is athletic and big.  We'll need a good game from Ellington and especially Danny Green, who was uncharacteristically cold today.

GO HEELS! 

Lots of Random Things

• Got to give it up for Bobby Frasor, who played 37 minutes. It was his first start as Carolina's point guard since his sophomore year. He wasn't spectacular, and he had another bad shooting night, but he did a good job feeding the post and had only 1 turnover.
• This game was a nice advertisement for Carolina's depth. Frasor started, Drew played 14 minutes, and Ed Davis was a horse down low in scoring 10 impressive points with 6 boards.  Zeller only played 4 minutes but contributed 4 points and 3 boards.  And little used Justin Watts got 5 minutes in the first half.  Watts looked pretty good and set a nice screen for Hansbrough.
• Maryland looked good, but Wake looked awful today. As a result Maryland makes the ACC semifinals.  Grevieis Vasquez had a great game for the Terps, but it was a team effort as Maryland beat up the taller front line of Wake Forest. Maryland outscored the Demon Deacons in the paint and out rebounded Wake.  
• The win should get Maryland in the NCAA tournament; they now have wins over Carolina, Michigan State, Michigan and Wake Forest.  So the ACC should get at least seven teams in the big dance: Carolina, Wake, Duke, FSU, Clemson, Boston College and Maryland.
• I never thought I would regret watching a Big East game, but I wish I had stayed up to watch the six-overtime game between UConn and Syracuse.  As a result of that game, I will not pick either team to go far in the NCAA tournament. I imagine both teams are toast, emotionally and physically. 
• Congrats to Ty Lawson for being named ACC Player of the Year. My heart was with Tyler Hansbrough, but Lawson is a deserving winner.  He was the most important player on the best team in the conference, and usually the most dominant player on the court. 

Hellenic News 

• If you're in DC, mark your calendars for the annual 'Congressional Salute to Greek Independence Day' on April 1, from 6 pm to 8 pm, in room 334 of Cannon House Office Building, sponsored by the Congressional Hellenic Caucus and the American Hellenic Institute. As a Greek-American lobbyist I will most certainly attend this event so let me know if you want to join me. You need to RSVP; for more information visit: http://ahiworld.org/announcements/gid/index2.html.

• In addition to the reception, there are two resolutions pending in Congress recognizing Greek Independence Day and the Cretan resistance to the Nazi invasion and occupation during World War II. More information on each bill is below. H.Res. 227: Rep. Carolyn Maloney [D-NY]: Recognizing and appreciating the historical significance and the heroic human endeavor and sacrifice of the people of Crete during World War II and commending the PanCretan Association of America. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hr111-227,  H.J.Res. 39: Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen [R-FL]: Recognizing the 188th anniversary of the independence of Greece and celebrating Greek and American democracy. http://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=hj111-39.  FYI, Maloney represents Astoria, Queens; for Ros-Lehtinen, there are lots of Greeks in south Florida.

• One piece of bad Hellenic news: Panathinaikos lost - in Athens - on Tuesday and were eliminated from the UEFA Champions League.  After tying Villareal on the road with an all-important away goal, the Greens came back to Athens needing only a scoreless tie to make the round of 8.  But instead Panathinaikos' defense completely fell apart, and they lost to Villareal 1-2. Tough loss in Athens in a game the Greens should have won.

Quick ACC Basketball blog

Maryland looked like an NIT team in their loss to Virginia on Saturday.  And they looked very very tight for most of the contest as the weight of this game took it's toll.  Their 7-9 record means that unless they win the ACC tournament, or perhaps if they advance to the final, they will not make the NCAA tournament again this year.

Boston College won yesterday, on a last second shot by Rakim Sanders, to secure their ninth ACC win. Their conference record and wins over Carolina and Wake make them a lock.

Obviously, the big story for me is Duke at Carolina on Sunday. But the biggest game in terms of the NCAA tournament is Virginia Tech at FSU. Tech needs a win to get to 8-8 in conference, and have another marquee win to add to the resume.

If Tech loses the ACC will have three teams at 7-9 - Miami being the third - who have to use the conference tournament to play themselves into the big dance.  And the tournament is stacked with top level teams including Carolina going for their third straight ACC championship.

The ACC is the best conference in the country this year, so one or two 7-9 team may get in simply for surviving conference play.  Right now the ACC only has six teams in (Carolina, Duke, Wake, BC, Clemson, and FSU) and deserves at least eight, so two of those 7-9 teams could get in especially if they win at least one game in the ACC tournament.

Duke has played better of late, avoiding their patented late season swoon of the last couple of years, but I feel great about the Heels' chances today.  Despite the emergence of Elliott Williams the Devils have no one who can stop or slow down Ty Lawson.

They also don't have anyone who can stop Tyler Hansbrough.   Look for both Tys to have big days today, especially Hansbrough. Psycho-T looks like a nice guy but seems to really hate the Dukies.  I think Gerald Henderson knows one reason why.

It will be an emotional day as Hansbrough, Danny Green and Bobby Frasor play their last game in Chapel Hill.  Hansbrough is one of the all time greats, in both college and Carolina basketball, and I and millions of other Heels fans will miss his play and his pure Carolinabasketballiness.

But even if they cut down the nets this year that class will always be special for their 2006 run. Easy to forget that Carolina went into that season with four freshman - those three plus Marcus Ginyard - and not much else.  Of course, that 'not much else' including two of my favorite Heels of all time - David Noel and Reyshawn Terry - who led the young Heels to an improbable run that year. 

How lucky are we as Heels fans to be able to watch those back to back classes, first May-Felton-McCants (with Manuel, Williams, Williams in there too) then Hansbrough-Green-Frasor (with Lawson-Ellington right behind)?

Of course, this year isn't over yet.  Here's to seeing each class end their runs the same way.  Go Heels!

Two Quick Merow-Manuel Notes

• Alison won the raffle for a new MacBook at our school's auction last night. Cool news for the one member of our family you regularly uses our old desktop computer.
• So far Ariadne has heard back from one of the three schools she applied to, and it was good news as she was admitted to St. Andrews in Potomac.  She's very excited to be admitted, but also excited about a school that has a modern dance department.  We should hear from Edmund Burke and The Field School, her other two schools, early next week. 
• Finally, though I voted for Anoop Desai, this week I would vote for Barack Obama since he overturned the Bush ban on stem cell research.  And said he said wanted to strengthen the endangered species act . . . 

Heels Tough Out Road Win in Blacksburg

Carolina did a nice job closing out a tough road game tonight in defeating Virginia Tech, on senior night in Blacksburg, 86-78. 

The Heels controlled the game - the Hokies never led - but could not put Virginia Tech away until late in the game. That in itself is great news. Carolina has not been great in closing out games.  Even in games they've won - at Florida State and at Miami, for instance - the Heels lost leads late.  And of course there's the Maryland game.

Losing on the road in the ACC is nothing to be ashamed of, even for a team as talented as this year's squad. But winning on the road tonight is something to be proud of. Similar to the Terps, the Hokies were desperate for a win. Carolina's offense didn't flow for 40 minutes straight, but they did have 3 significant spurts to build and hold a lead. My man Danny Green hit a big three with 8 and half minutes left to stop one Hokies run, and down the stretch Hansbrough and Lawson made enough baskets - and barely enough free throws - to ice it. 

And in the last four minutes, Carolina's defense kept Virginia Tech's desperation from turning into points. So on both offense and defense, Carolina toughed it out, and put a good team away, for a nice win against a desperate team playing on senior night.  Good stuff.

A Few More Notes

• A large portion of Carolina's defensive toughness was provided by Virginia-native Ed Davis.  In the first half Davis scored and in the second he controlled the defensive end of the floor.  He altered or blocked a number of shots - 6 to be exact - during various Virginia Tech runs and played a very effective 17 minutes.  In less than a half he finished with 8 points, 4 boards and 6 blocks.
• Wayne Ellington and Hansbrough carried Carolina in the first half, with help from Deon Thompson and Davis.  Ellington got back on track from 3 in the initial stanza, and in the second half had a few nice drives to finish with 15 points.
• As they did against Georgia Tech, Carolina did a great job feeding the post especially in the first half. It was great to see Hansbrough have back to back great games, as Psycho T finished with 22 and 15. Deon and Davis also got some great looks in the first half.
• Danny Green was off for most of the game, but when his team needed him he hit two big trademark 3s.  Danny Green, BTW, is god!
• In the second half Green hit his two 3s, Carolina kept going to Hansbrough, but the last half of the game was controlled by Ty Lawson. He did a great job picking his spots to drive, pass or feed the post.  Smart and in control the entire second half.

So another quality road win against a tough team. The Heels made plays on both ends of the floor and closed out a team playing their final road game.  A good night's work for the Heels as they head into a bittersweet day: the final home game for Bobby Frasor, Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough against Duke this weekend.

A few random notes:

• Two ACC teams really hurt their chances to make the NCAA tournament tonight.  With the loss Virginia Tech needs to defeat FSU in Tallahassee on Saturday to finish 8-8 in the ACC. 
• But the team that REALLY shot themselves in the foot is Miami.  They lost to Georgia Tech, granted in Atlanta, for their ninth loss. The U will need to beat NC State in their final game at home, then probably win two games in the ACC tournament to make the NCAAs for the second year in a row.
• But the Wolfpack will be a tough out.  They defeated Boston College tonight, and the Pack can finish 7-9 if they defeat the U.  If they do that, then win a couple in the ACC tournament, NC State could conceivably make the tournament.
• Despite the loss, BC can finish with 9 wins if they take care of Georgia Tech in Chestnut Hill this weekend.
• Finally, Maryland is probably out after losing their ninth game last night to Wake.  

Lots of action this week in the ACC, and coming up this weekend. Carolina, Duke, Wake, Clemson, FSU, and BC are in; Virginia Tech can play themselves in with a win in Tallahassee.   Then on to the ACC tournament for Miami, NC State and maybe Maryland.  

GO HEELS!

Almost forgot the other big Tar Heel win tonight - Anoop Desai is back on American Idol after winning wild card night!  Anup is a native of Chapel Hill, and I think has two degrees from Carolina. 

Heels Get Back On Track

Pure Carolina basketball was once again on display yesterday as the Tar Heels dismantled the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets 104-74. The Heels did all the things preached by Dean Smith - fed the post early in each possession, ran every time they could, played the passing lanes (12 steals), and did not shoot an inordinate amount of three pointers. After an uncharacteristic - and un-Tar Heel like - collapse in the last 2 minutes at Maryland, Carolina played Carolina-style basketball for (the final) 35 minutes.  That usually means winning, and against a young team like Tech it means winning by 30.

It was great to see Hansbrough get involved early.  Carolina did a great job with their spacing on offense and as a result Psycho-T had lots of room to maneuver and get open down low.  Then my man Danny Green led a one-man spurt to put the game away early in the second half.  Other than Ellington, who missed all three of his three-pointers, the offense really flowed yesterday.  

Finally, odd as it may sound for someone who did not make a field goal, Lawson dominated the offense side of the ball and set the tone for the game despite hitting only four free throws.   Carolina passed the ball very well the entire game.  Some games, like against Duke, Lawson needs to take over.  In others, he needs to feed the post.   I think he is starting to figure that out. 

• Paul Hewitt reminds me of the rental-car agent in a Seinfeld episode, the one who gives away Jerry's car even though he had a reservation. To paraphrase, "Hewitt knows how to get talent, he just doesn't know how to hold it." Chris Bosh, Thaddeus Young, Javaris Crittendon, Ishmael Mohammed are all Tech guys who left early and play in the NBA. 
• I like Crittendon, who is getting some decent minutes for our hometown Wizards in what should be his junior year in Atlanta.
• Bobby Frasor had a nice game, hitting three two-point shots including one nifty drive with a ball fake.  I think he needs to do that more rather than exclusively settling for jacking up threes. 
• Carolina's bench scored 25 points (29 if you count the deep bench players/walk ons).  Zeller seemed much more comfortable and finished with 8 points.  And Ed Davis continued to be Ed Davis.  I loved his Olajuwon-esque turn around in the first half.
• In addition to watching the Heels win by 30 is was great to listen to Gus Johnson and Greg Anthony work the game. Johnson loves calling games; check out his greatest hits on YouTube. And Anthony, though he's a high-profile Republican, is insightful and precise with his language.  They make a nice team.
• The Post has set it's sights on the Maryland mens basketball. Two weeks after a three-part series on Gary Williams, today's paper has a long piece on the interaction between Under Armour, the Baltimore-based apparel company founded by a Terp grad, and potential recruits. The relationship is dicey since the founder of the company is also a member of the Maryland Board of Trustees.
• I'm obviously very biased, but for my money the only conference worth watching is the ACC.  Everyone knows Big 10 games are brutal contests that lack any kind of offensive flow.  The Big East is not much better; no one in that conference seems to know how to get up and down the floor and most Beast games seem to be in the 60s (though Pitt did score 89 yesterday at Seton Hall). It's a Herb Sendek league. 
• And speaking of Sendek, his Arizona State team needed overtime to score 49 points yesterday. They lost, 49-51 to Washington State.  I have a morbid fascination with these low scoring games.  ASU and WSU only turned the ball over 16 times - combined - and took a combined 21 free throws for the game.  That means not many drives to the basket or bad passes but LOTS of missed and probably open shots; they likely didn't drive because they were getting open looks.  Both teams milked the shot clock and missed lots of shots, and played bad non-ACC basketball.  ASU will probably make the tournament but will stink it up once they do.
• Big win for Boston College at home earlier in the week against FSU, and then a big win by FSU over Clemson (who has lost two in a row) yesterday.  It looks like right now the ACC has six locks for the NCAA tournament: Carolina, Duke, Wake, Clemson, Florida State and Boston College.  Miami, which has a very favorable schedule, should get in if the U win their last two games and finishes at 8-8.  
• The ACC has on outside shot at 9 bids, and deserves the most.  At 6-7 Maryland needs at least two wins in their last three games, no small task.  The Terps go to NC State tonight followed by a home game against Wake then another road game at Virginia.  All three will be tough. The Terps really needed to beat Duke in College Park on Wednesday, but as is often the case suffered a bit of an emotional let down after their big win over the Heels.  
• Virginia Tech is 7-7 and is still not dead yet.  They host Carolina on Wednesday in a must win game, similar to the Maryland game for the Tar Heels.  A win gives the Hokies a 500 record in conference and another marquee win.  They close the season at FSU, so neither game will be easy.  
• Finally, I got a chance to watch 'Battle for Tobacco Road" the other day on HBO.  It's worth watching for a number of reasons: Dean, Worthy, and Jordan get plenty of screen time, and it's a nice reminder that historically Carolina leads the series by more than 30 wins, that Krzyzewski has a lifetime losing record against Carolina (despite the Gut and DOH years) and that Roy will make that record even worse.  I'm surprised that the series did not put more emphasis on how each school graduates its players and doesn't cheat, but in general they did a nice job.

Nats Note

Jim Bowden finally fell on his sword today and resigned as the Nationals' General Manager.  We should be happy that he didn't miss the sword or screw that up, too.   Though his scrap heap line up led to an unexpected 81 win season three years ago, the bottom line is his moves led to a102-loss season to debut a new taxpayer funded stadium (with another retread, Odalis Perez, throwing the first pitch!).

Bowden was finally undone by the signing and tawdry and shallow mea culpas surrounding the signing of  one-time teenager "Smiley" Gonzalez. Ironically, he resigned as some of his moves may be poised to pay off. Bowden did bring Lastings Milledge, Adam Dunn, Josh Willingham, Jesus Flores and Elijah Dukes to DC, and he did draft Ryan Zimmerman, Jordan Zimmerman, and other prospects. That's a decent amount of talent, talent he won't be around to see develop thanks to his inept handling of the Gonzalez signing.  

Despite those moves, he will not be missed.

PS - Congrats to Fire Jim Bowden blogger Steven Biel.