Why We Watch

This is why we watch, right?  A week after a home loss to Duke that demoralized me, a generally half-full kind of viewer of all things Carolina, the Heels are back and playing like, well Tar Heels!

The turnaround is another reminder that we are watching embryonic young hoopsters when we are watching college basketball. The cynicism, money and corporate control - NY Life ACC Tournament, with a logo underfoot athletes who will not get a dime - makes that easy to forget.

Carolina's play this week reminds us that kids aren't perfect and make mistakes - but kids can also improve and do so quickly. In the course of three games the Heels seem to have solved the three problems that have marred their entire season until now.

One, Marcus Paige has gotten some help. Granted, he made the biggest shot of the game versus Virginia on Friday night, but freshman Justin Jackson was our leading scorer. On Thursday, Brice Johnson was fantastic and it was Kennedy Meeks making big plays down the stretch on offense and defense. 

Two, the poise was there. Carolina was down 5 to Louisville at half but was steady and methodical in the second half to win going away. Better still was the poise displayed when Virginia made the inevitable run to cut the lead to one. On back-to-back possessions Carolina made great plays. Paige went to Meeks at the free thrown line, who in turn made the extra pass to Jackson for a lay up as the 35 second clock expired. On the next possession, after a time out with 6 seconds left on the shot clock, Paige dribbled into the lane, pumped fake right then pivoted left to hit the game-sealing floater. Classic Carolina.

Finally three, the Heels are spreading the wealth Dean style. Paige has continued his resurgence of late, Johnson has been excellent on both ends and on the boards, Meeks has made some big time plays and though plagued by turnovers J.P. Tokoto  has done the same and Joel Berry kept us afloat versus Louisville with a huge stretch in the first half.  

By far the biggest development has been the play of Jackson. He quietly has gotten more consistent as the season has progressed but he exploded versus Virginia. Much has been written about his 4 three-pointers but he hit shots from all over the floor. I loved that he was aggressive to the hoop a number of times and did not 'settle' for being a one-dimensional shooter.  

All this could add up to Carolina's first ACC Championship since 2008. Growing up, an ACC Tournament title was almost a birthright for born, bred and dead Tar Heels like myself.  What a great capstone to an up and down season, one dominated by tragedies like the Wainstein report and the death of Coach Smith, an ACC title would make.  

On top of that, a win over Notre Dame would be another reminder that this is a game played by college kids, kids who can look nothing like Tar Heels one weekend and very Carolina the next.

GO HEELS! 

Stay away from the epsom salts!

It what could be a foreshadowing of NCAA tournament's past, Carolina is dealing with another injury during the ACC tournament.

John Henson's wrist injury may not be as serious as Ty Lawson's toe was in 2009, but of course Heels fans would take the result.  Lawson's dad famously prescribed Epsom salts for the ankle, a remedy that did not work (and could have cost Carolina the National Championship!).*

What's interesting about last night's win over Maryland was how mature the Heels looked without Henson, the defensive player of the year and a first team all-ACC standout. 

The Heels methodically ground down the Terps in a workman like way, distributing the offense and sharing the load defensively. Harrison Barnes was great taking it to rack, and Reggie Bullock had another Bullock game - doing everything and doing it well.

Tyler Zeller was steady if unspectacular as he dealt with lots of defensive attention down low, and James Michael McAdoo continued his upward trajectory with excellent all-around play punctuated with another dunk, this one of his own making as he drove baseline for a freak-nasty finish in the second half.

But as it has been of late, K Butter was once again the story.  He got the Heels going early with the pass, and helped finish Maryland late with his offense.  I was going to blog 'steadily improving offense' but the time for that participle has passed.  Kendall Marshall possesses a legit and effective offensive game.  He is no longer Derrick Phelps or King Rice.  This guy is becoming more like Raymond Felton and Ty Lawson, a threat to score at anytime.

As good as Marshall has been, the story today will continue to be Henson's wrist. The Heels may not need him today but they would tomorrow - and obviously over the course of the next month.  As long as he heels like Lawson did - and as long as Marshall plays like Lawson, too - the Heels will be all right.   

Just stay away from the Epsom salts.

* not really; got a little over heated.  GO HEELS!

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.

Heels Fold Down the Stretch in College Park

Disheartening loss, to say the least, against Maryland yesterday in College Park.  The Heels cruised to a 16-point lead early in the second half, and still led by nine with two minutes left before a few bad plays and some good shooting by the Terps led to the third loss of the season.

The game was close early, but Carolina casually dominated the middle 30 minutes of the contest. Ty Lawson asserted himself in the second half and Carolina got scoring from all five starters. The casual play masked the fact that the Heels weren't shooting well.  Lawson only had 2 assists, mainly due to missed shots as both Green and Ellington were only 1 for 5 from three. Carolina dominated the offensive glass, which can also mask a bad shooting night if you are getting second and third shots.

The game seemed to turn with Green was whistled for his fourth foul.  Maybe Green had been playing great D against Vasquez, a guy you hate to lose to, or perhaps they missed his drives to the basket.  Either way, Carolina eased up a bit without Green on the floor.

But by far the most disheartening part of this loss is blowing a 9-point lead with two minutes left in a game Carolina was winning going away.  You'd expect a veteran team, a team that kept it's composure at Cameron, in Tallahassee and in Miami, to do the same against Maryland.  But some missed free throws, one bad decision by Lawson late (to dribble through a triple-team the final minutes), the call against Hansbrough (home teams often get that call) all led to blowing a lead and losing in overtime.

Then again, there is some consolation (though not much) in losing in overtime to a desperate team with their season on the line.  Carolina didn't catch any breaks down the stretch (Dean always said you need as much luck as talent to win) and Maryland made plays. So the Heels lost. 

There is no need to push the panic button. After all, Carolina lost in College Park in 2005 and that squad famously recovered.  And you can bet ole' Roy will use this loss to keep the Heels focused the rest of the way.

A few more random notes:

• Three hours after watching Carolina lose I watched 'Taking Chance' on HBO.  The movie about a Marine escorting a dead colleague from Iraq, and the effect it has on him and the citizens he meets on their journey from Delaware to Montana, was incredibly moving and elegiac.  Most of you know I'm not a fan of the armed forces, but I really felt sympathetic to all the characters in this movie.
• Back to more mundane matters; the ACC should get the most bids in the NCAA tournament this year.  That is especially true when it come to the Big 10. Not only did the ACC win the made for TV challenge against our friends in the Great Lake region (with Carolina and Duke humiliating Michigan State and Purdue in road wins) but any conference that features a game where a team wins with 38 points in 40 minutes (Illinois lost at home to Penn State, 38-33, on Wednesday) should be a one-bid league. In fact, that kind of game should cost scholarships or TV money as an affront on college basketball's good name.
• The Nats, despite signing Adam Dunn, are becoming the Big 10 of baseball. Both MLB and the Nationals continue to embarrass our national past time.  The lingering steroids era is well chronicled. But GM Jim Bowden, Jose Rijo and the Nats look either incompetent - at best - or completely corrupt in their signing of an allegedly 16-year old prospect. I don't know what's more shameful: dealing with a Dominican street agent who is a friend of Rijo's rather than the player's agent; or the fact that Rijo claims to have scouted Esmailyn González for two years before signing him.  So Rijo could not tell this kid was 14 when he first started scouting him?  He couldn't tell the difference between a 14 year old and an 18 year old? I hope it's a simple case of Rijo being a moron instead of a case of Rijo figuring out a way to get a friend a chunk of Gonzalez' signing bonus.
• Both Rijo and Bowden have got to go. Bowden is a hack.  Rijo does not appear much better.  And their relationship is shady. The Nats' Dominican facility is owned by Rijo, and two years ago Bowden and Rijo embarrassed the organization when it was revealed that Dominican prospects had to stay at a Rijo-owned hotel even though it was still not finished. No wonder the FBI has questioned both in connection with an investigation into shady dealings among Dominican street agents.
• FSU's win at Virginia Tech yesterday was huge.  It cements the Seminoles as an NCAA tournament team.  But it also tightened up the standings in the ACC. The top four teams get a bye in the first round of the ACC tournament so no one wants to come in fifth place; with their loss at Duke tonight the Deacons are in that slot.  
• But things are still fluid. Carolina and Clemson will finish with 13 and 10 wins, respectively, but spots 3 to 6 are up in the air.
• Duke (8-4) has games at Carolina, at Maryland, at Virginia Tech and home versus FSU.  One can easily see Duke losing three of those games and finishing 9-7.  
• Maryland (6-6) goes to NC State and Virginia and has Duke and Wake at home.  Three wins gets them to 9-7.  
• Wake (7-5) has home games against NC State and Clemson, who will be out for revenge after losing to the Deacs in Littlejohn, and play at Maryland and Virginia.  Going 2 and 2 gets Wake to 9-7.
• Florida State already has 8 wins, with home games against Clemson and Virginia Tech and road games at Duke and Boston College left.  FSU will win at least one game to get to 9 victories, with the BC game particularly huge in terms of ACC tournament seeding.  You can also see them finishing with three wins and 11 total victories. If they do that the Seminoles could finish second in the ACC!  
• At 7-6 BC has an outside chance to get to 10 wins. Besides the big game versus FSU, the Eagles play Georgia Tech and a resurgent NC State in Raleigh.  
• Virginia Tech is 6-6 with games remaining against the four best teams in the conference: home versus Duke and Carolina, on the road at Clemson and Florida State.  They could go 8 and 8 - it's hard to see them winning more than two of these games - but more likely 6 and 10.  
• Finally, Miami has a decent chance to get to 8-8 which might be enough when you consider how solid the ACC is this year.  The U is 5-8 with winnable games versus Georgia Tech, NC State, and Virginia, though the latter two are on the road. NC State in particular will be a tough out.
• Even at 5-7 State could make it to 8-8 or 9-7.  They've played well at home lately, and host BC and Maryland in big big games for all three teams, but travel to Miami and Wake so 7-9 seems more likely.
• No matter how you look at it, it will be quite a finish.

GO HEELS!

ACC Tournament Semi-finals

No surprises on day two of the ACC tournament.

Carolina handled FSU despite allowing the Seminoles to shoot almost 50 percent. The outcome was never really in doubt once the Heels took the lead half way through the first half behind Hansbrough, Ginyard and Ellington's shot near the end of the half.

But for much of the first half the Heels seemed to be playing down to the level of the competition.

The most significant development of the first half actually happened before the game started when Ty Lawson was introduced as the starting point guard. Lawson looked ok, and I agree with other commentators who noted that he still is not at full speed.

Though he didn't start Quentin Thomas had another great game off the bench, with 4 points, 3 assists, a couple of assists and a block in eighteen minutes. Q only had one turnover, and in general the Heels took care of the ball to finish with only 10 turnovers.

In the second half Carolina was much more focused and much more productive, at least on offense and the boards. In the first half the Heels were actually out rebounded, but fixed that in the second half. Carolina also repeatedly fed the post and Hansbrough finally went to the foul line after 3 halves of not shooting a free throw. Ellington also had a nice half, and though he didn't shoot well Danny Green made a number of nifty plays and passes, and the Heels maintained a comfortable lead for most of the game before eventually winning 82 - 70.

BTW, there was a big piece on Hansbrough in USA Today this week.

Though it wasn't the most exciting or well played game, it still was a nice win. FSU is a pretty decent team with a lot of scorers. And the Seminoles were playing for a shot - granted a very long shot - at the NCAA tournament. Finally, as Dean always said it's hard to beat a team three times in a season.

The Heels now play Virginia Tech today at 1:30. You may recall the Thomas-led Heels defeated the Hokies by 39 points about a month ago. That humiliation was the turning point of the season for Virginia Tech; after that game coach Seth Greenberg had each player sign a pledge (I pledge to: play hard for my teammates, give my all, listen to the coaches, be a good student, etc.). That seems to have worked as Tech recovered to finish with 9 wins in conference.

Their win over Miami yesterday - a competitive though inelegant game - should be enough to get them into the field of 64. But I assume Virginia Tech will play as if they need one more win - against a marquee opponent like the Heels - to punch their ticket.

That said, I imagine the game will be close early before the Heels pull away methodically for a 20 point win.

Other ACC Tournament Thoughts

• Duke eventually pulled away from Georgia Tech last night to set up a semi-final game versus Clemson. That should be a good game, but my money is on Duke and a rematch for the ACC championship between Carolina and Duke.
• One thing that gives me pause is the way Clemson dispatched BC. Granted, it's BC, but more than the score I was impressed by the way Clemson played. The Tigers were focused and aggressive. I still think Duke will win but it will be a good game.
  
• I watched the second half of the Duke-Tech game with long time friend - and friend of this blog - Joe Pillow, in for a visit from Seattle (where Joe reports it is hard to watch enough Carolina hoops), my former badminton partner from Carolina Mary Cotter and her husband at a gay sports bar on U Street called Nellie's. Prior to that we went to my new favorite DC spot The Saloon (No TV; No Standing) for some quality craft beer from Germany and Belgium - and some terrible dip called mirza.
  
• Finally, I wasn't crazy about Roy's introducing Hansbrough to a referee at the end of the game yesterday. Perhaps he did it tongue in check, and it did not come up in his post-game press conference. But it looked like he was showing up the refs a bit, and bottom line Dean would never do that.

Other Random Hoops Thoughts

• Nice piece by Feinstein (2 references in 2 days for the Duke grad!) about American University Jeff Jones in today's Post. American defeated Colgate for the Patriot League championship and their first appearance - after 41 years of hoops - in the NCAA tournament.
  
• As most of you know, Jones played and coached at Virginia before being fired by his alma mater. Jones took the Cavaliers to the tournament 5 times in 8 years; conversely the Wahoos have been lost in the hoops wilderness ever since under Pete Gillen and Dave Leito. Anyway, congrats to Jones and AU, the university closest to our home and thus the one I hope my kids go to (if they don't go to Carolina, of course).
• Interesting to note that Gary Williams and Jimmy Lynam both coached at AU. But the most infamous player or coach in AU history is probably . . . ? Hint - his first name is the same as a famous muppet. Who knows that answer?