A Game That Defines the Season

Last night's loss to Duke was more than a disappointing loss to our smug and lesser arch-rivals. The loss epitomizes why so many Tar Heel born, bred and dead fans feel uneasy about this team and it's lack of progress.

To me, there have been 3 themes - or problems - with this team, and all were on display last night in Chapel Hill.

1. This team is too dependent on Marcus Paige. I love Marcus Paige; in our new post-Wainstein era he is exactly who we need leading this team and frankly being the student face of the entire university. But the operative word there is lead. A leader leads but does not make every play, but that's what this team expects and all the opposing teams know it. As Jawad Williams tweeted (@worldwad) last night, someone else needs to step up and help Paige and this team win some games. Paige was magnificent last night vs. the Devils but needed help down the stretch but did not get much if any assistance. Finally, in a cruel twist considering recent events, an over reliance on one player is anti-Dean. One 'criticism' of Dean is that he was too egalitarian and team-oriented (yes, some idiots actually said that). Well, sharing the wealth is how you win games and championships. Look at Worthy-Perkins-Jordan, or Montross-Williams-Lynch-Phelps, or Lawson-Hansbrough-Ellington-Green, or Bird-McHale-Johnson-Parrish, or LeBron-Wade-Bosh, or Duncan-Parker-Ginobili-Popovich, Magic-Kareem-Worthy, Jordan-Pippen-Jackson, etc.
2. Point two is related to point one: the uneven development of the players on this team. Paige and Brice Johnson were both named third-team ACC, which seems about right. Johnson is the only player to have gotten better this year, and was the only other reliable Tar Heel on the floor versus the Devils besides Paige. Offensively Johnson is confident and has some great moves, is as athletic as you would imagine a state high jump champion to be, and does the work on the glass. But this team has been undone by a lack of progress from Kennedy Meeks and T.P. Tokoto and spotty  play from everyone else in the rotation: Britt, Jackson, Berry, James, Pinson. None of those guys are reliable contributors game to game. At the end of a season you should see more development from all the players, but especially from Meeks and Tokoto. Both could and should have been All-ACC players but instead they have looked lost down the stretch.
3. Which of course is maybe our biggest problem. In addition to being un-Dean in terms of players, it also appears that this team is very un-Carolina at the end of games. Your typical Tar Heels squad - the pre-broken wrist 2012  Kendall Marshall squad is probably the most recent example - is a well-oiled, smart and poised machine at the end of the season. But not this one. The late-game melt downs at Duke, at Louisville, and at home versus Virginia, State and the Devils could not be more frustrating or vexing. Of course, this problem is the sum of the first two issues. Who are these guys making all these unforced errors? Their jerseys say Carolina so my eyes believe it but my gut, my heart and the Carolina-blue blood coursing through my veins does not.

So what's next? It's hard to be optimistic at this stage of the season. To win the ACC tournament the Heels would have to go through Louisville (doable; we've practically beaten them twice already), Virginia (also doable especially if Meeks and Tokoto show up), and Duke. One of Dean's sayings is it's hard to beat a team three times in one season so I would love our chances to prove Dean right (again) and get some revenge against the Devils.

Even if this happens it's hard to imagine us going more than 2 or 3 games deep in the NCAAs. Another example of how un-Dean and un-Carolina team this teams seems to be. As sad as those 3 issues just discussed THAT may be the saddest admission of them all. 

Despite all that - GO HEELS!

Dook Game

I continue to feel detached about Carolina basketball in the wake of Dean's death.  That said, I imagine that feeling will dissipate once I tune in and catch my first glimpse of a self-satisfied, entitled, smug, Republican Duke student.

I envision the same thing will happen to Marcus Paige, Brice Johnson and Roy Williams, but I especially hope it happens to Kennedy Meeks and J.P. Tokoto.  We need those two back in 'Heels Peaking' rhythm, tonight and every night. Meeks is especially important; despite the presence of Okafor we should be the better team down low.

Look for those two to get on track, Paige to be Paige, and the Heels to beat down the Devils one more time.

GO HEELS!

Having trouble staying focused

My internal clock has started counting down to tomorrow night's Carolina-Duke game.  I'm anxiously looking forward to a resurgent Carolina squad winning for the 5th time in 6 years at Cameron.

 

Last week the Post's Mike Wise penned a silly article stating reasons why folks should stop hating Krzyzewski and by extension Duke.  But Wise failed to mention why most people hate on the Devils (besides the subliminally obvious one, that good people reflexively hate devils) - the Duke students.

 

I think most basketball fans and even most Carolina fans respect the Duke basketball program: they don't cheat; they win; their players graduate. And for me at least, I respect that though often not as athletic as some other teams Duke always plays an effective and aggressive man-to-man defense.  Unathletic teams often 'hide' behind a zone, but not Duke.

 

But their students, as well as the school itself, stir my strong anti-Duke feelings.  It's a private school full of kids with an overdeveloped sense of entitlement.  That's why winning in Cameron is so sweet; watching their Devils lose seems to rattle a Dookie's world view.  Luckily, Carolina students and alumni have a more balanced perspective.  

 

And of course, there is the politics and karma of each school.  Carolina is the public, liberal school that produces folks like Paul Wellstone, Terry Sanford, Walker Percy, John Shelby Spong, Michael Jordan, Charles Kuralt, Tom Wicker, Mia Hamm, and Superchunk.  Duke, on the other hand, is a private institution given to producing right-wing nuts like Richard Nixon, Elizabeth Dole, both Rand and Ron Paul, Ken Starr and other low lifes such as Christian Laettner. 

 

One last thing, the good guys lead the all-time series 130 to 99.  And the best guy, Dean Smith, had a lifetime  record of 59-35 versus Duke, and was 24-14 versus Krzyzewski. Krzyzewski even has a losing record versus Dean in Cameron.  

 

Krzyzewski has a lifetime losing record, 34-35, against the Tar Heels a record that I'm confident will get worse after our next visit to Rand Paul's house on Wednesday night.

GO HEELS!

Planes, Trains, but Mainly Airports

So after weeks of not blogging – too much drill baby drill work, Easter and holy week, spring break, my aunt’s funeral, college basketball, opening day, etc. – my recent odyssey in Chicago has prompted me to post again.

It was a weird 24 hours. I arrived at Washington’s National Airport – ironically our most convenient airport – at 2 pm Eastern Time to catch a 4:30 flight to Chicago on my way to the Bay Area for the Western Wilderness Conference. I will finally arrive (I’m typing this on my flight from Chicago) at the airport in San Francisco 29 hours later.

Here’s my itinerary.

I arrived at National early to do a conference call at 3 pm. But even before getting to the airport my ridiculous trip was interrupted by something serious. While waiting for a Yellow Line train at the Gallery Place Metro stop I learned that a women had been stuck by a train at Mount Vernon Square station in an apparent suicide attempt. She survived and was pulled out from under the train (last I heard) but of course trains were not moving through Gallery Place.

I decided to grab a cab to the airport, and was reminded once again how easy it is to get to National. From Gallery Place it took 11 minutes, so I had plenty of time to go through security – which was hassle free - with time to make my conference call.

The call ended at 4 and boarding for my 4:45 United flight was supposed to start at 4:15 but when I went to the gate it was a mob scene. Due to thunderstorms and winds in Chicago, United’s hub, everything was backed up. We finally boarded our flight around 6 pm, taxied onto the apron of the runway then waited another hour and a half for skies to clear in Chicago. Yadda yadda yadda, I didn’t arrive in Chicago until 9 pm central time, 10 minutes after the last flight from O’Hare had left for San Francisco. Our Sierra Club travel agent rebooked me onto a 6:40 am flight – that I changed to an 8:30 flight - and recommended the airport Hilton. 

But as I tried to change my seat assignment at 7:30 am this morning I learned that that flight was cancelled. After calling United I found out the next direct flight to SFO that had seats was at 2:00.  I was given another center seat, but after saying ‘after all I’ve been through I have to sit in the center?’ the United staffer gave me an aisle seat.

She also gave me a ticket to stand by on a noon flight, a flight I later found out was so overbooked I was 72^nd on the stand by list even though I had checked in almost 5 hours ahead of time.

But the 2 pm flight is working out great. In addition to an aisle seat I was given a ‘Premier’ boarding pass so was able to board with Zone 1 right after first class, and I got to watch ‘Crazy Heart’ as my movie.

Here are some more random musings about this trip:

• On par, O’Hare is not a bad airport to be stuck in. The one huge downside, both of the airport and the airport Hilton, is no free Wi-Fi! Having to pay for Wi-Fi in an airport or hotel is simply an injustice (speaking of injustice, Duke winning the national championship in another one.  Butler deserved to win that game and close out a storybook NCAA tournament, but instead the big, bad right-wing school killed Little Red Riding Hood).

• My iPhone made the lack of Wi-Fi doable. As for O’Hare, some of the terminals themselves are interesting; I like the neon light show in the tunnel between terminals B and C, and there is some nice public art between the United and American terminals, too. There’s also a children’s museum and a nice display about Medal of Honor winner and pilot John O’Hare, the airport’s namesake.  As you can tell, I killed time between breakfast with four works calls and a very long walk around O’Hare.

• Food wise I did okay, too.  Last night there was only a Starbucks open but I found a nice chicken-cheddar sandwich and an excellent granola-blueberry-strawberry yogurt parfait there for dinner. This morning I had an egg and cheese sandwich with hash browns from the Billy Goat Tavern in the ‘Jazz Food Court.’  The Billy Goat is the Greek-owned establishment made famous by John Belushi (cheeburger cheeburger cheeburger, no coke Pepsi), and I got to eat while listening to Miles Davis’ ‘Kind of Blue’ in the background.

• I went back to the ‘Jazz Food Court’ for lunch at the Zoot Diner. I had a decent turkey sandwich but enjoyed my desert of chocolate covered raisins from ‘Nuts on Clark’ better. I’m hoping that both Zoot and Nuts are local, Chicago businesses.

• Oddly enough, when I asked for peanuts or pretzels on the flight to San Francisco they said ‘no.’ Are you allowed to take off without those two foods? Does the FAA know that?

• It’s the midwest so it makes sense, but everyone I talked to at the airport, particularly the United employee who gave me the aisle seat but also the security people to the cashier at Zoot who happily gave me another copy of my receipt, were incredibly nice.

• This may be especially true at a large facility like O’Hare but you seem to run into every single type of human being at the airport. Every continent is represented, you hear dozens of languages, you bump into the abled and disabled, young and old, etc.  The only people I didn’t run into were assholes. 

• One thing that struck me at the ‘Jazz Food Court’ was how many ethnic Chinese were eating the Chinese food. There was a flight leaving for Beijing near by, so by Chinese I don’t mean Chinese-Americans. I kind of assumed Chinese food in the U.S. is a little dumbed down but at least today real Chinese were loving it; maybe it’s more authentic here than I thought.

• As I mentioned I had a ‘Premier’ boarding pass but I still had to board after first and business class.  First class passengers get to walk on an actual red carpet when they board, which seems a little excessive.  First class on a westbound flight seems different. On the east coast, first class is full of serious folks in suits. On this flight there are a number of fat dudes in jeans and sweat pants in first class, many sporting van dykes and sloppy hair cuts.

This trip, along with our problematic flights to and from Athens via Paris last summer, is another reminder to avoid connecting flights whenever possible (which I’m doing on my return flight). So even though National is our most convenient airport I think next time I fly to the ‘fat-guys in first class’ coast I’ll use Dulles (BTW, Alaska Airline has a non-stop to Seattle from National, the Ted Stevens Memorial flight).

Despite all the delays and hassles, I still like to travel. I also finished watching ‘Up in the Air’ on this trip.  At one point George Clooney opines that things like family and responsibility slows you down, and if you slow down you die faster.  Of course, that is completely wrong.  Family, and especially kids, speed up time. And as I found out today traveling like he does in that movie can make time stand still.

Not very satisfying

To say the least, today was NOT a very satisfying day of basketball.  

The 'best' news of the day - and boy is THAT a relative term - was Carolina qualifying for the NIT.  The Heels play William and Mary on Tuesday night.  Hard to get excited about that, even with the nostalgic return to Carmichael. Pretty interesting imagery; Carmichael signifies a return to an era of less hoopla and hype, but also is an acknowledgement that though not actually going back in time the 2010 season was a step back for the program. 

Speaking of going back in time, interesting to juxtapose Carolina's recent national success with Duke's recent run at the ACC tournament.  Their win today gave Duke 18 ACC titles, one more than Carolina; the Devils really piled up the wins during the Guthridge-Doherty era but have also won the last two championships.  I think it is the only major hoops category where the Heels trail the Devils.  

That's not the only role reversal.  In the late 1980s and early 1990s, when Duke went to 7 Final Fours in 9 years, many commentators and fans opined that Krzyzewski and Duke had broken with tradition and were emphasizing national success over ACC success.  I remember Dean complaining at the time that though the Heels were winning 3 ACC championships during that span everyone thought Carolina was slumping.  

But as you know, that has now flip-flopped.  Duke has won 9 out of the last 12 ACC tournaments but has only been to the Final Four three times in that span (not counting this year), and have not made the Final Four since 2004 (haven't made it past the sweet 16 actually). Carolina has been to the Final Four three times just since 2004, and has won two National Championships in the last 5 years. And during that 12-year ACC run Carolina has been to more Final Fours, 5 to 3, than Duke.

So Duke has done well regionally but Carolina much better nationally, with more Final Fours and National Championships - both in the last 12 years and overall - than the right-wingers from Duke.

Duke's lack of success in the NCAA tournament - despite nice runs in the ACC tournament - may also be a testament to how weak the conference has been since coaches like Dean Smith, Bobby Cremins, Jim Valvano and even Jeff Jones have left, and since football expansion.  Except for Gary Williams, the ACC has been an easy conference to dominate post-Dean - that is until Roy showed up. 

Pretty lackluster day for the NCAA tournament, too.  It looks like a fairly boring bracket; there are too many weak teams like Utah State, Minnesota, and Florida in this year's field, and it would NOT be a big surprise to see the top 2 seeds in each regional advance to the elite eight.

And not to sound too Duke obsessed, but they got a very easy bracket.  A second-round game versus Louisville could be difficult, and Baylor is supposed to be tough. But the Waco-based hoopsters might not make that far, having to play Notre Dame and Villanova for the right to take down the Devils (an enticing prospect for a Baptist school).  That said, I expect Duke to lose in the second or fourth round due to fatigue.

The bad news for Syracuse is they will have to go west, through Salt Lake City, to reach the Final Four.  The good news is the long flight to Utah may be their biggest inconvenience.   The west regional looks pretty tame, with an overrated 2 seed, Kansas State, and slumping 3 and 4 seeds (Pitt and Vanderbilt, respectively).  Perhaps Butler will give the Cuse a game, but that may be it.

The other brackets are much tougher, especially the midwest. Kansas should advance in the Midwest, but could be tested by UNLV in the second round and by either Ohio State or the winner of Georgetown-Tennessee.  To me, Tennessee if one of the few intriguing teams in the tournament, and I'll be rooting for ACC/neighbor Maryland to make some noise in that region.

Kentucky may have the toughest bracket.  They have to deal with either Temple or Wisconsin, both potential giant killers in the round of 16, then may have to take on West Virginia in the battle of "States that want the US to continue with our 19th century energy policy." 

So my final four are: Kansas, Syracuse, West Virginia, and my crazy wild card pick, Baylor.

Random NCAA Notes:

• Virginia Tech got hosed. The third-place team in the ACC is one of the best 65 best teams in the country - period.  Case closed.  But especially when compared to moops like Utah State and Florida.
• A sentimental favorite is Notre Dame, with Ben Hansbrough at the two guard spot.  Can the Hansbroughs make it back-to-back Final Fours?
• Temple is one dark horse pick for the sweet 16.  The A-10 is a quality mid-major, and the Owls defeated Villanova this year and have a good draw (though Cornell is a tough out). 
• Besides Duke the ACC teams have challenging draws.  Maryland will likely get Michigan State in the second round, with Kansas waiting.  
• Tech will probably defeat Oklahoma State but gets Ohio State as a reward.  The Yellow Jackets match up well with the Buckeyes but that will be a tough foe.
• Florida State gets Gonzaga then perhaps Syracuse.  No way the Noles win more than one game in the tournament.  
• Texas and Wake Forest meet in a 'man are we in a slump' first-round game.  Texas finished 7-9, with Wake one game better in their last 16 games at 8-8.  Hard to have any faith in Wake, but luckily they play a team playing just as bad as they are.  Either team will likely get run over my Kentucky in the second round.
• Clemson should give Oliver Purnell his first NCAA win over Missouri (another undeserving team) before probably bowing out to West Virginia though the Tigers will give the Mountaineers a game.  That will be in interesting second round match up.

Marcus Ginyard Karma

For whatever reason - actually the main reason is blind, Carolina-bred optimism - I like our chances as the Heels head to Durham to take on the right-wingers from Duke tonight.


There is lot of karma on both sides, but I think we have more: our four-game winning streak at Cameron, our own modest two-game winning streak, giving classy seniors Ginyard and Thompson a great way to go out (Ginyard said winning at Duke would be akin to April's national championship for him), Duke overconfidence and pressure to finally give their senior's a win over Carolina at Cameron.


All that could add up to a win.


But more importantly the Heels are playing better.  Ginyard seems healthy, Thompson showed some toughness in the win over Miami, Drew is making better decisions, and though rusty at least Tyler Zeller is back.


Last night, ESPN Classic reran the 2006 win in Cameron that started the current winning streak.  It was great reliving that game, and fun to watch Tyler Hansbrough dominate one more time, a fast Bobby Frasor making plays and clutch free throws, David Noel being David Noel, Rey-Rey's rebounding, key contributions by Byron Saunders, and Danny Green foreshadowing him big play-making with key plays late.


But I was most excited to remember how well Ginyard played in that game.  He finished with 11 points off the bench - Carolina's starting lineup was Hansbrough, Terry, Noel, Frasor and Wes Miller, with a pretty talented bench; what a team - including a back-breaking coast-to-coast lay up off a missed free throw.


So I'm placing my faith in Marcus Ginyard tonight.  I'm even about to visit his hometown, Alexandria, Virginia, this morning for a visit to the Toyota dealer.  That's just too much karma for the Heels, and will hopefully be too much for the Devils tonight, too.


As always, GO HEELS!