Carolina and Duke

As dawn breaks on the 2017 NCAA basketball tournament I am feeling very good about the Tar Heels' chances.  Look for Joel Berry in particular to be a beast, and try to make up for the foul trouble that plagued him and Carolina in the ACC tournament semi-final loss.

It took me a while to recover from the ACC tournament.  When I was growing up in North Carolina it was a life or death event; only the ACC tournament champion would go to the big dance back then. So winning the ACC tournament is not necessary for your team to have a successful season, but not winning it still stinks.  

Much like the loss of an election to Donald Trump can make you question everything about America, one loss to Duke can do the same about the state of Carolina basketball.  Almost 2 days later I still can not get over that loss.

The U.S. blowing a 5-0 lead to the DR in the World Baseball Classic that night did not help, nor did Duke's win over Notre Dame. To demonstrate how chaotic this sports weekend was (I drafted most of this blog on Sunday, March 12th), the only safe harbor in the weekend sports storm was the Wizards!  The normally forgotten and formerly hapless 'Zards!

[Coincidentally, as I type this I'm listening to 'You've Got To Lose' by Cesar Rosas, off his solo record Soul Disguise.]

Anyway, the loss to the Devils prompted me to see if the 'data' supported my sour mood about my beloved Tar Heels. I looked at the last 10 years, specifically at: our over all record; ACC regular season and tournament performance; head to head vs. Duke; All-ACC selections; finally NBA All Star-game selections, to see how we stack up against the Dookies. This exercise also reminded me of ol' Roys quote about last year's squad:  "I've never seen such a good team talked about like it was a bad team" like the 2016 Final Four team, or something like that.  No matter what the data shows, the Heels have been very good lately.

Here are what the numbers say, and though they are impressive Stephen Miller's alma mater has a slight edge, especially since the end of the Tyler Hansbrough era. FYI, Hansbrough is currently playing for the Ft. Wayne Mad Ants in the D League, where he had 12 and 17 in their last game. Gulp.

I will start with the good news: overall, UNC is 134 and 109 versus the devils. The bad news is we have a six-game losing streak versus the school that taught Richard Nixon the law in the ACC tournament. Our loss on Friday also means we are now 49-50 versus the devils in our last 99 games (I am too old to make a Jay Z reference here). Finally, the worst number: in the last ten years we are 8-14 against our nemesis from the Bull City. 

Overall, we are 285-84, for a .772 winning percentage, over the last 10 years. Impressive stuff, but the devils are 295-68 for an astounding .812 winning percentage.  

The other pieces of good news for Heels fans are:

• We lead in first place finishes in the regular season, 6 to 1. Our overall ACC record is 124-46 in that span while Duke, owing to our 5-11 season in 2010, bests us with a 127-43 mark.
• UNC has had 4 ACC Players of the Year - Justin Jackson, Tyler Zeller, Ty Lawson and Tyler Hansbrough - against just 2 for Duke in Jahlil Okafor and Nolan Smith.  We also lead them in guys named Ty or Tyler.  
• Carolina has more NCAA wins, 25 to 22, and Final Four appearances, 3 versus 2, compared to the devils. We each have 7 losses in that ten-year span, with Dook losing twice in the first round. But at least they made the tournament those two years; the 2010 team is our blemish since we have only played in 9 of the last 10 NCAA tournaments while Duke is 10 for 10.

The flip side of those stats are:  

• They have 2 national championships to our one. UConn is the only other school with 2 championships in that span.
• Dook has 4 ACC tournament championships to our 2, and their record in the event is 19-6 while we are 17-8.
• Though we have had more ACC players of the year (4 to 2), they have had 12 first-team all ACC players to our nine.
• Thanks mainly to Kyrie "I believe the Earth is flat!" Irving, Ben Quayle's alma mater has had 6 NBA all stars in the last 10 years compared to only two for Michael Jordan's; Irving 3 times, Luol Deng twice and Carlos Boozer once. The last two UNC NBA all stars were Rasheed Wallace and Antawan Jamison, in 2008!  FYI, thanks for Chris Paul (9) and Tim Duncan (6) Wake Forest of all schools has had 16 NBA all stars in the last 10 years, with Jeff Teague picking up one selection.

Carolina goes into overtime and beats Villanova last year and these numbers are practically even. But that is sports for you; we honor the effort but the winners get the spoils.  

Finally, for a more cynical take, how about the the 'curse of Harrison Barnes'?  Barnes came to Carolina as perhaps the most celebrated recruit of all time (in college basketball, not just at Carolina).  While he had a great two-year run in Chapel Hill, Barnes did not live up to the incredible hype (except for perhaps the last two-thirds of his freshman year), and injuries to Kendall Marshall and John Henson in 2011 and 2012 derailed any hopes of a national championship or even a final four.  He was supposed to be Jordan and Worthy, with a little Wayne Ellington (a great outside shooter), rolled into one player. Instead he was more of an rich man's Reggie Bullock (who I love, BTW; love Barnes, too).  

Conversely, Kyrie Irving enrolled at Duke at the same time. Injuries limited him to only 7 games in Durham, but since then he has stolen Barnes' mojo. He was the number one pick in the NBA draft, has become a perennial All Star, started on the U.S. Olympic team while Barnes barely played, and even hit the game winning shot in the NBA finals last year. Irving has basically had the career that Barnes was supposed to have.  He's become the transcendental talent of his generation, a title scouts bestowed on Barnes in high school.

In time Barnes may become that kind of basketball savant. He is a very good player, but for now in the shadow of Kyrie Irving. 

One more blog about ... Marcus Paige

There are plenty of story lines to contemplate as we await Monday night's national championship game between Villanova and Carolina. Will a title wash away part of the guilt associated with the academic scandal at THE university of the people? Can we break our title tie with Duke and sit alone in third place (UCLA 11; Kentucky 8, but only 4 not won by a racist named Adolph; Indiana and Duke also have 5 titles)? How do we feel about the prospect of Roy passing Dean?

But win or lose, tomorrow night marks the end of the Marcus Paige era. How sweet would it be if Paige went out with a title? I know Roy really wanted Hansbrough to get one as a reward for staying four years, and of course Tar Heels everywhere were happy when Jawad Williams, Melvin Scott and Jackie Manuel went out as national champs four years after enduring an 8-20 season.

Paige, along with Brice Johnson and Joel James, going out a national champion would probably top both of those, for now familiar reasons. As I've nattered on before, in blogs tens of people have read, to me Marcus Paige represents the restoration of something important, the return of the Carolina Way. To get him a championship in the wake of that scandal would be incredible and meaningful.

Of course, being an Academic All American AND making big plays is the Carolina Way. Once again, when Carolina needed him the most in this Final Four, Paige made the play of the game.

Saturday night was not a perfect game, for the Heels or Paige. Looking back at the win over Syracuse, despite shooting it pretty well I imagine you felt like I did: Carolina won without having actually played that well. We got off to a shaky start, Brice picked up two fouls in the first 10 minutes, Syracuse held it's own on the glass for the first half, and then we had some weird turnovers in the second half - 3 live ball ones by of all people Marcus Paige.

Fortunately, Marcus Paige is Marcus Paige. His touch pass to redirect Jackson's pass to Meeks for a layup was Dean-esque. Marcus' huge 3 when Syracuse had cut the lead to single digits was the dagger into the Orange's chances.

That shot was a continuation of the pattern we've seen during this run from Paige: at Duke he got the big steal, then the big defensive play that resulted in an important layup; in the ACC tournament he buried Notre Dame from behind the arc; against Virginia he scored the go-ahead basket and helped shut down Malcolm Brogdon; etcetera etcetera in the NCAA tournament.

If that pattern continues on Monday night, I imagine it won't just be ol' Roy crying. Go Heels!

A few more thoughts:

• I love our chances. Villanova has been playing great basketball, and tomorrow night's matchup now seems obvious. But as we've seen throughout this tournament, the Heels have too many weapons. James is Exhibit A; he calmly came off the bench in the first half and sank two shots like he was tying his shoes. He's Carolina's ninth-best player. I don't think the Wildcats can stop everyone.
• That is the key point: everyone. Carolina is getting contributions from the whole team this tournament. Kennedy Meeks had 15 and 9. If I didn't have a stat sheet I would have assumed he was our high scorer; that's how important each of baskets appeared to be. However, Justin Jackson and Johnson (where's Polk?) bested Meeks with 16 points. Joel Berry barely had to shoot but had 10 assists. And of course Marcus had 13, Theo made plays including a big three, and Britt was solid especially on defense. Everyone is contributing.  
• I also expect to see a totally dominant Brice Johnson - it's his last game as a Tar Heel, too - versus Villanova. Not FSU dominant, but don't be surprised if he is Notre Dame dominant, somewhere in the 25 and 15 range. 

GO HEELS!

Return to the Final Four, and Return of the Carolina Way

The great run of this year's Tar Heel squad has been exhilarating for a number of reasons.  One, it's the Tar Heels!  Two, after too long of a stretch without an ACC championship or a Final Four (since 2008 and 2009, respectively) the Heels have reasserted their place at the top of our nation's basketball pantheon.  And three, and most importantly, this team has marked the return of the Carolina Way.

The academic scandal, which has tarnished both the basketball program and more importantly THE University of the People, has practically erased that Dean Smith-built standard.  But this year's team has resurrected the Carolina Way, in many different ways.

As I've joked with friends throughout the year, you know this squad - and every squad since the scandal broke - is not taking paper classes with majors clustered in the old and notorious  African-American and African Studies department.* This is a likable team of student athletes, personified by first-team Academic All American Marcus Paige. Roy seems to really love coaching them, and the warmth between the players and coach is evident: on senior night; in the locker room celebrations; on the dais of the post-game press conferences; everywhere.

It's also an old school, Dean-like team of upper classmen.  Eleven of the players are juniors or seniors, and the roster is made up of the kind of guys Dean used to guide from perplexed freshmen into all-Americans in four years, guys like Brice Johnson** or Isaiah Hicks.

Finally, seniors rule in the Carolina Way and that is certainly true of this year's team.  Brice Johnson has been our best player all season, but Marcus Paige has been our most important one down the stretch. I can not gush enough about Paige.  As I posted in my last blog, academically alone he's been huge post scandal.

However, consider the senior leadership Paige has shown in this exhilarating run.  At Cameron, his steal, defense and lay up singlehanded stopped Duke's run in the second half, and his free throws clinched that win. In the ACC tournament championship game he did it again; his defense helped keep Malcolm Brogdon in check, he led a run that gave Carolina the lead for good in the second half, and down the stretch had another key steal against the Hoos to stymie their come back.

And of course, after Notre Dame ran off twelve straight points to take a one-point lead who answered for Carolina?  With Brice on the bench with 3 fouls and UNC down one, Paige drove left and made a tough baseline jumper to give Carolina the lead, one they would never relinquish. That basket started an overpowering Carolina scoring run, aided by a key steal by Theo Pinson but punctuated by another great play by our Academic All American. That play started with Paige out jumping and out fighting Zach August for a rebound, then saving that rebound as he was falling out of bounds. Paige got the ball to Kennedy Meeks, who Wes Unselled a pass to Pinson who promptly threw an alley-oop to Hicks for a slam dunk.

A text book Carolina Way  fast break, started by a guy who epitomizes and is resurrecting the Carolina Way.

GO HEELS!

* That department has been reorganized and is now under the College of Arts and Sciences as the Department of African, African American and Diaspora Studies.
** That is literally true of Johnson, who has been named a first team All American by the AP and the Basketball Writers of America.

Cliched Tournament Preview

It may come as a surprise, but in the 4 brackets I've filled out (ESPN, Dean Loves You and Sierra Club at CBSSports and Baseball America) I have Carolina - that's North Carolina - winning the national championship each time!

What a difference a year makes. On the eve of the 2015 tournament I typed a rather negative blog about the state of college athletics and the hypocrisy of the NCAA tournament in particular.  Speaking of hypocrisy, the official bracket of the official website of the official broadcast partner of the NCAA (CBSSports.com) actually says "Don't Bet On It!"  In keeping with that admonition, I regret to inform my employer and my brother's employer that I therefore can not pay the $5 or $10 entrance fee for the Sierra Club or BA pools. 

Of course, my negativity was in part based on the residue of a lackluster regular season for the Heels, even though they made the sweet 16 and played in the ACC tournament final, but more to the point the lingering academic scandal at the University of the People. Also a year ago Kentucky entered the tournament with another team, an undefeated one at that, loaded with rent-a-players biding their time between their senior year of high school and the NBA Rising Stars game.  It seemed that college basketball had sullied both the bad programs and even the good ones like my alma mater.

Instead of being negative on the eve of this tourney I'm more of a hypocrit.  Forget the scandal for now and the big money polluting college hoops; this year I love our team and the Heels' chances! Some of that is due to my deepening love for Marcus Paige and his epitomization of Dean's Carolina Way. But most of it is due to the recent play of Carolina. The Heels have won 7 of their last 8, and the one game they lost they avenged in the ACC tournament final. Their last 4 wins have been at Duke, two blow outs over Pitt and Notre Dame, and the tough win over the Cavaliers for the ACC championship.  That's a big-time winning streak.

The extra ingredient that has wratcheted up my enthusiasm (and thus the hypocrisy) has been the return of the trademark Carolina poise. Poise and grace under pressure, playing smart, have been central parts of the Carolina Way.  The Heels had that as recently as 2012, when Kendall Marshall looked poised to lead the Heels to another national championship until he broke his wrist in the closing seconds of our second round win over Creighton.  But this team, even with Paige, lacked that Dean-inspired, George Lynch-like poise.

Ironicly, the home loss to the devils may have triggered some growth and development from this year's team. After the Duke loss Carolina had to turn around and host number 11 Miami.  The Heels could have felt sorry for themselves and mailed it in, but instead ol' Roy helped Carolina get their heads straight and UNC blew the Canes out by 25 points.

They were poised in Durham in getting their revenge, with Brice Johnson and Joel Berry having big games - with Paige making the play of the game AND the clinching free throws.  

In the ACC tournament final Paige, Johnson and Berry again led the charge, but don't forget about Isaiah Hicks calmly making a 12 foot jumper in the lane with the shot clock winding down and the Heels clinging to a 3-point lead with less than 30 second left in the championship game.  Hicks was not intimidated by the situation. He was poised. He is a Tar Heel and plays the Carolina Way.

Anyway, add that up and I love our chances.  Go Heels!

Here is my quick look at the other 67 teams and the rest of the tournament:

• My brackets are almost all chalk. My elite 8 is Kansas (1) v. Miami (3); Oregon vs. Oklahoma (1 & 2); Virginia vs. Michigan State (1 & 2); and of course UNC v. Xavier (2).
• My Final Four is all ACC and Big 12. I have us beating the Wahoos in another nail-biter, Kansas beating Oklahoma, then the Heels smithing what ever demons ol' Roy has left by beating the Jayhawks.
• Overall I think Oregon has the easiest draw while Kansas has the hardest.  Virginia may finally slay their nemesis in the Spartans. 
• Carolina's toughest game will likely be against Kentucky, but I don't see the Wildcats having enough  to stop both our frontcourt AND our backcourt.
• I do not predict many upsets, and most of those are mild ones: Iowa over 'Nova; Notre Dame over WV; Cal over Maryland; Cuse over Dayton, but that's about it.
• My one exception of course is UNC-Wilmington beating the devils, and I would not be surprised if St. Joe's beats Oregon and goes to the sweet 16.
• But remember - don't bet on it!

Feeling it, but not feeling it (yet)

The start of the college basketball season, more to the point the Carolina basketball season, was a silver lining to a weekend dominated by barbarism.  But even then, the lingering effects of the academic scandal has tempered that Carolina blue escape. 

I Tivoed Friday's opening game versus Temple, and watched it after our eleventh grade pot luck with a mix of interest and disinterest. Typing that sentence was unimaginable just a few years ago. But I have to admit I wasn't that excited even though this team could win Carolina's sixth national championship and Roy's third.   

Carolina's descent to the level of just any other school with a big time sports program, as opposed to the school that did things the right way, is part of the issue. I also find it harder and harder to ignore the general tawdriness and outright hypocrisy of college sports.  There is little to no justification for big time colleges and universities supporting minor league football and basketball leagues.

But if you read Ross Douthat's Sunday column in The New York Times you start to realize that perhaps the entire college system, not just athletics, is corrupt. Colleges seem to have lost their sense of higher purpose. In that regard the shift from teaching to research mirrors the shift from amateurism to big money sports programming (played by athletes who do not get paid, let alone collect workers compensation or other benefits).  

And that makes it hard, at least harder, to be a fan.

Nonetheless, I'll offer up a few more hoops notes:

• One other reason I may have felt a little disinterested is that Carolina's best student-athlete, Marcus Paige, was hurt.  I still enjoyed watching, but maybe I would have felt more invested if the player I know goes to class, loves learning and is a Dean-worthy kid wasn't in street clothes.
• That said, this is a tantalizing team that I imagine I WILL get invested in.  One reason is they are talented and deep. Even without Paige the Heels' back court has played especially well in our first two games.  Joel Berry II looks self assured and savvy running the offense, and more aggressive with his shot; Nate Britt seems to be a legit 3-point shooter and has always been a heady point guard; and Theo Pinson has been Alvin Robertson*-like in displaying a complete floor game - so far.  
• And our front court will be almost unmatched. Kennedy Meeks has lost more weight and could be this season's Sean May.  Against Temple he had 3 blocks!  Brice Johnson will continue to be a double-double machine and could get even better if he continues to mature.  Isaiah Hicks may be the best back up power forward in the ACC; do not be surprised when he carries this team a few games or halves this season, and Joel James is a great back up five (and also a good student).  
• Justin Jackson, who was impressive down the stretch last season to salvage an up and down freshman year, has been the only player to underwhelm - but it's only been two games.  

Finally, the silver lining to this scandal HAS to be that all the players are taking and attending real classes.  How embarrassing to have to say that as a Tar Heel.  But the fact that they are once again real students will make rooting for them doable.  I assume I will come around.  GO HEELS!

* Alvin Robertson is one of only 4 players in the history of the NBA, and the only non-center, to log a quadruple double.  Can you name the three centers who have done so?   

March Whatever

I titled this post March Whatever due to the sense of inevitability and lack of excited that frames this year's NCAA tournament.

The big story is Kentucky's quest for an undefeated season and John Calipari's second national championship, which coincidentally will match the number of final four appearances his teams have had to forfeit (UMass, Memphis). Is there any excitement watching this mix of one-and-done and McDonald's All American players, led by one of America's smarmiest coaches? No, there isn't. It's no fun.

The other stories aren't much better. Every year it seems the tournament gets more and more hyped, more and more corporate, and less and less entertaining. The charm of the tournament is the underdogs, but this year the NCAA selection committee picked underachieving name brands like UCLA and Indiana instead of more interesting teams such as Dayton, Richmond or even Miami. It's a corporate, brand-name tournament played by student-athletes who put far more into the NCAA than they get out.

Finally, there's Carolina. Last year, I had our team winning the national championship as I usually do. That team defeated Kentucky, Duke, Louisville, and Michigan State, the top four teams in the preseason polls, so were a legit threat.  Carolina, Dean-style basketball resurfaced in Greensboro last week for 3.75 games to produce some hope for the NCAA tournament, but one reason for a whatever is this team is probably a year away from a legit pick to go 6-0 and winning another national championship.

So for all those reasons, it's March Whatever for me. Despite that - GO HEELS! 

Here are a few more hoop notes for now, with my picks for the tournament coming tomorrow (Tuesday) night.

Three must-read articles have come out in the last week: my classmate Scott Price's piece in Sports Illustrated about UNC, John Feinstein's column on Syracuse and the ACC, and Barry Jacobs' column on the ACC tournament. 

Scott's piece is worth reading even though it's a little too cynical and broad. I still have faith that UNC will restore the Carolina way and that the University of the People will get it right. Scott quotes my former professor John Shelton Reed quite a bit, too. The SI piece posits that Carolina started losing it's way when Jordan and the Dean Dome turned a plucky and liberal program into a national brand, a process augmented by the world wide leader in sports hyping the UNC-Duke rivalry. 

The common thread through all three articles is the ACC now represents all that is wrong in college athletics. There are no more student athletes, just unpaid workers building a successful brand of entertainment and sports programing (the ESP of ESPN). It used to have a down-home tournament for fans of a geographically-compact conference; now its tournament is an east-coast roadshow in fairness to teams - not schools - that range from south Florida to New England to Indiana.

Worst of all, Feinstein points out that not only has its football-fueled expansion and money-loving ruined the quaintness of the basketball tournament, it has tainted the ACC's highest and mightiest. Who would have thought that Dean Smith's school could host an academic scandal, Duke would ignore two instances of sexual assault, and Syracuse would have to forfeit more than 100 wins due to academic schemes to keep players eligible?

Worst of all, to me at least, these problems are not that hard to fix: make freshmen ineligible, or follow baseball's example of holding a high school draft and if you don't sign with a team you can not be drafted again until you complete your junior year; play fewer regular-season games - 8 in football, 20 in basketball; 25 in baseball.  Those reforms would restore the quaintness of college athletics, keep the athletes in class more, and make sure that academia not corporate, name-brand, money-loving broadcasters set the agenda.

This year's NCAA tournament may make me shrug 'whatever' but these scandals make me embarrassed and ashamed for caring so much about college basketball. 

Beating NC State

For a native North Carolinian, someone Tar Heel born, it is hard to top beating NC State - in anything but especially basketball, especially especially at Reynolds.

Saying Reynolds is proof that I am a native but also reflects how growing up Duke was not the biggest rival for the Heels. In the 70s, the Blue Devils were home to Rand Paul and other right wingers in training but they hardly featured good basketball players.  That was NC State.

Kudos to the Pack for playing a tough game versus the Heels, and I never thought I would ever type 'kudos to Mark Gottfried' but he deserves credit for making NC State basketball relevant again. Ask the Dookies if State is back. Unlike Carolina, who has won 17 of the last 18 versus the Pack, Duke has lost two in a row to State at the RBC Center, 3 in a row on that floor including the loss to Mercer.

Of course, more kudos are due to Marcus Paige, who for the second year in a row took down the Wolfpack with 23 points, 9 assists, 4 steals and no turnovers. But unlike last year's duel with T.J. Warren, Paige had considerable help from J.P. Tokoto, Isaiah Hicks, and the entire roster on Wednesday night.  Tokoto was great on defense and came up with some big steals and hoops late, and Hicks was especially huge as he posted a career high in points with Brice Johnson in foul trouble. Kennedy Meeks and Nate Britt also made big-time plays for the Heels throughout the contest.

It was a win-win win: a great victory versus the Pack IN Raleigh, and another reason to love Marcus Paige.

GO HEELS!

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.   

Not THAT sad of a day

What is the best way to start a blog about one of the saddest days of the year, the day when the Tar Heels stop playing basketball?

It should not be just about one game, the final game of the season, but I suppose one has to start there. Oddly enough, it does not feel that bad, reviewing the loss to Iowa State.  The Heels played well, rebounded much better in the second half, and made shots.

Though it was a tough loss, that game contained many of the things that made this year's squad interesting and fun to watch, and also likeable.  What's not to like about a team that beats Michigan State IN East Lansing, beats the defending national champs, and smites all of our main rivals - Duke, NC State and Kentucky - in one season?

Sunday's game was a microcosm of the entire season.  It had J.P. Tokoto spinning and dunking, with a few steals, mid-range jumpers, even a bad turnover; Kennedy Meeks at his Little Sean May/taking down Louisville AND Michigan State best; Leslie McDonald finally getting to play and contributing - even Jackson Simmons taking a charge.*

It featured James Michael McAdoo keeping his head up, his persistence finally being rewarded as his drives to the basket resulted in points late.  It was JMM displaying the calm and leadership we sometimes take for granted, and then having the toughness to hit 2 big free throws.

And it featured Marcus Paige. There are plenty of adjectives to choose from in describing his play on Sunday and this year.  The best one is Tar Heel.

There are but a handful of Tar Heels who are extra special for their innate toughness, tenacity, brains, leadership - an understanding of the values stamped on Carolina basketball by Dean Smith. It is a short list: Bobby Jones, Phil Ford, Jimmy Black, George Lynch and David Noel.  Many others, like Kendall Marshall and Ademola Okulaja to name a few, come close. But it's a short list.

Marcus Paige is already one of those all time Tar Heels.

One reason so many of us care so much about Carolina basketball is that it ties us to the University we love.  The reason basketball is so central to our connection, again, is Dean.  His humility, wisdom and excellence are what we think of when we think of Carolina.

Not Carolina basketball - Carolina.

For me, Marcus Paige evokes the same thing. He is the personification of all of Dean's Carolina values. At a time when the athletic program is doing all it can to embarrass the University, Paige - an Academic and athletic All-American - restored the values that make Carolina CAROLINA.

He led the comeback, once again, against Iowa State, but his turnover late may have cost Carolina the game (though ISU's incredible shooting, and our spotty transition defense that left too many shooters too open, had more to do with it).

But can we - do we - really blame Paige for not being perfect, after the season he had, after the plays he made, and more importantly the way he carried himself, the way he epitomized why we love Carolina basketball and Carolina?  No.

Marcus Paige, Tar Heel.

GO HEELS!

* The game also did NOT feature Brice Johnson.  More on that next blog.  I will also look at ahead at next year, which looks very bright since Marcus Paige just tweeted that he is returning next year.

March Madness

An unsatisfying ACC basketball weekend* was salvaged by Virginia smiting the Devils in the championship game AND a pretty good draw for the Tar Heels in the NCAA tournament. The tragedy side of my Greek psyche was expecting much worse on Sunday. 

ACC Tournament
It was obviously good to see Duke lose.  Any day that Krzyzewski is sad is a good day for America.  As I posted on twitter over the weekend, Duke is like the Tea Party: some individual alums/members are nice, but as a whole both are bad for the country.

NCAA Tournament  
It is hard to quibble with the selection committee's work on the NCAA tournament. I was very glad to see six ACC teams, including N.C. State, make it. That is second to the Big 12's seven bids (actually they got eight if you count Nebraska though they apparently are in the Big 10 now - who knew? -  which by the way has 12 members, while the Big 12 has only 10 members.  Thanks football!)

Of course, I will quibble a little bit.  I agree with most Americans that BYU did not deserve an invitation to the big dance; they were very bad down the stretch.  Actually Nebraska should not have made it either; their one marquee win was over Michigan State without their two best players.

Colorado and Stanford, two Pac 12 schools, are also more suited to the NIT than the NCAA. If I was on the committee I would have dropped those four in favor of Wisconsin Green Bay, Louisiana Tech (who beat Nebraska I think),  Florida State and probably SMU and Larry Brown.

How could the selection committee pass on Larry Brown?

I keep scratching my head about Clemson, too. They finished with 10 wins in the ACC including one over Duke, yet never seemed to merit much consideration. It is great to have six teams in but the ACC probably should have gotten seven. 

So there is some quibbling over the teams but only a few on the seeding. UCLA probably should not be a 4, BYU should be in the NIT let alone a 10 seed, Kentucky is one of those nightmare 8 seeds, but that's about it.  

The number one seeds, however, seem obvious and just. 

But like many Americans I can not believe that Louisville is a 4 seed.  They seem like a 2 seed the way they have been playing lately.

Louisville is a reminder of the rigor that is the Midwest bracket. I guess the selection committee was not impressed by Wichita State's strength of schedule since they gave them a brutal path to follow if the Shockers hope to make consecutive trips to the Final Four.  
  
Their second round game could be against a Tennessee team that blew out Virginia. Get past the Vols and Kentucky or Kansas State could await. Both K teams are tough outs from tough conferences. If the Shockers go to the Sweet 16 they could see Louisville - who they will likely lose to - and if they make it past the defending national champs would likely see Michigan, another team that made the Final Four last year.

My only real upset pick is North Dakota State over Oklahoma. I have NC State winning two games including over St. Louis in the 2nd round, and George Washington over Memphis.  

I DON'T buy into most of the trendy upset picks.  VCU will not lose to SF Austin, and I do not buy into the Harvard thing.  Finally, I see Syracuse getting their act together enough to beat W. Michigan but lose to Ohio State.  

My bracket is here: http://games.espn.go.com/tournament-challenge-bracket/en/group?groupID=407767&invitesource=email&inviteuser=MjUzNDkxA&ex_cid=invite-email-tcmen  You can also join my group, Marcus Paige is GOD, from there. 

TAR HEELS
Unlike last year, Carolina got a great draw in 2014.  Iowa State and Villanova will be tough, but I love our chances of getting another shot at Virginia and going to the final four. Once there I have the Heels beating Louisville - again - then winning one for Dean, whose last game was a loss to Arizona in the 1997 Final Four.  This time ol' Roy will win one for his mentor and take down the Wildcats for the National Championship - or something like that.

GO HEELS! GO DEAN! GO AMERICA!




* The best basketball news of the weekend was attending the Wizards' scintillating win over the Nets of Brooklyn.  John Wall kept the Zards close until Drew Gooden - DREW GOODEN - took over in the 4th quarter and scored 11 of his 21 points to lead Washington to the win. This is a fun team led by a player, Wall, who has really grown as a leader and a shot maker.  It will be interesting to see the Wizards in the playoffs. 

What a week

Quite the week for the Tar Heels: a big win against Kentucky; a frustrating yet explainable loss to Texas; then the big loss, when Carolina announced that P.J. Hairston would not be reinstated, ending his Carolina career before his junior year could even start.

But first, back to the Texas game. Not much to be said about that one, other than this is the kind of season this team is going to have. They're young, so will confound Tar Heel nation by coming out flat some games or missing tons of free throws.  The Heels played pretty well, and despite the sluggish start had tied the game midway through the first half.  

Then Carolina starting missing free throws, which kills a team twice - especially when you miss that many. One is you are obviously leaving points, free ones at that, on the rim.  Secondly, missed free throws and empty trips keep a team from picking up any momentum. That can wear you out physically and mentally, and it was evident versus Texas.

Also evident, for the first time this season, was Leslie 'Acutally I do indeed play for the Tar Heels' McDonald. Long an afterthought during his time in Chapel Hill, Leslie looked good in making 4 of 9 three-point shots.  For better or worse, he is now a key player, one the Heels will depend on to balance the offense and open things up for McAdoo but especially Meeks and Johnson and Hicks, who is likely to play more with Joel James hurt. 

Of course, most of us were counting on P.J. Hairston to play that role. Carolina's leading scorer from last season became tantamountly tantalizing as fans envisioned adding a player with his offensive game, particularly his outside and free throw shooting, and toughness to a team that has already beaten Kentucky, Michigan State and Louisville. 

I am of two minds on Hairston.  He clearly made some mistakes, with the biggest one being that he kept making the same one - speeding in a car rented by an individual of questionable character to put it mildly - over and over.  Even after being pulled over once he committed the same offense two more times.  Not good.

That said, he went to class while he was held out of nine games, and by all accounts was mature about the suspension, competed hard in practice, and was a good team mate.  Oh yeah, he was also embarrassed.  You would think that would mean something with the NCAA, but I guess not.

Hairston will likely go into the 2014 draft, an opportunity he turned down in favor of coming back to school last year.  Not exactly the way things are supposed to go for a student-athlete, especially one at Carolina. 

This team has shown that even without Hairston they can and will have a great season.  I wish the same could be said for P.J. Hairston.

GO HEELS!