News, actual NEWS, from Carolina's romp over Tennessee State

Though most of the story lines stayed the same - John Henson showing off his new and improved offensive arsenal, Harrison Barnes looking like Harrison Barnes with a couple of particularly sweet moves, Kendall Marshall dropping a record number of dimes - there was some actual new news from Carolina's latest romp over 'a team that will or has made the NCAA tournament in 2011 or 2012 but isn't nearly as good as Carolina."

The Heels were led by Reggie Bullock's 23 points on their way to a relatively easy 102-69 win.  Coming into the season the Heels only had one semi-legit concern, at least talent wise.  With Leslie McDonald, arguably the Heels' best outside shooter, out for the season there were - are? - concerns regarding whether Carolina has enough outside shooting.   

North Carolina's imposing front line of Tyler Zeller,  Henson and Barnes is practically unstoppable.  But the Heels will still need outside shooting to keep teams from playing a packed-in zone (a la Virginia) and daring Carolina to beat them from the outside.  Barnes is part of that solution; though he will likely take fewer threes he is also expected to make a higher percentage.  

But the other half of the answer to the McDonald question is Bullock.  He had his moments last year despite battling a balky knee that eventually ended his season early.  This year, a healthy Bullock needs to actually turn into the McDonald of last year, especially the version down the stretch in 2011.  McDonald eventually developed into a confident offensive player off the bench, one the Heels relied on.

[It could be a three-part answer if you factor in P.J. Hairston, but I don't want to make that kind of assumption for a freshman even though Hairston is very, very good].

Bullock had been a little underwhelming so far this season but against Tennessee State looked fantastic. He was confidently stepping into his shot and even drove a few times to the hole.  Shooting is as much mental as it is physical, so that kind of night could launch a great sophomore campaign for Bullock - and answer the one question that lingers with this year's Carolina team.

GO HEELS!

Extra points

• How great was Bullock's night?  It rendered a 15-assist night for Marshall a mere footnote.  K-Mar now has 38 assists in his last 3 games, which I think is a Carolina record, including 2 fifteen assist efforts. The Heels shot 62 percent versus Tennessee State, and are shooting 53 percent for the season. The main reason for those gaudy stats is Marshall (and playing teams that were on the short side so we could easily feed the post).  Henson has gotten better, but so has Marshall. 
• Tennessee State head coach John Cooper was once an assistant coach at Fayetteville State University, located in the city in which I am blogging from right now! 

Wizards Continue to Slide

Evan and I witnesses another terrible loss by our hometown Wizards tonight, to the suddenly respectable Oklahoma City Thunder, final score 98-110.  Losing to the Thunder is not as shameful as it used to be.  The terrible nature of this loss is that for 3 quarters the Zards led or controlled the game.

But with 52 seconds left in the third quarter, and with Washington nurturing a 76-73 lead, Brendan Haywood left the game for a breather.  With B-Hay resting the Thunder went on a 22-14 run, relentlessly attacking the rim in Haywood's absence. One drive was by Fayetteville native Eric Maynor, who had a nice game off the bench.

When Haywood returned the Wizards made it close again, but the versatile Thunder started hitting from outside, Arenas turned it over a few times, and the game was over.

I think it is safe to say the 10-20 Wizards officially stink (nonetheless, I still like going to the PhoneBooth, and love the Wizards Holiday Pack that I got for Christmas; 2 tickets to 3 games - OKC, New Orleans, and Sean May's Sacramento Kings - plus an XXL Arenas jersey).

It is probably time to admit that the Arenas-Jamison-Butler magic can not be recreated and that Arenas, who was fantastic for 3 quarters tonight, is still not the player he used to be before his multiple knee surgeries.  Perhaps he'll round into form after a few more games, or that he is still not in basketball shape.  

Gil's $110 million contract makes him untradeable but don't be surprised if Butler is packaged for Tracy McGrady or Kevin Martin.  McGrady to Washington is unlikely, though, since that would mean two, oft-injured, former all-star, highly-paid guys - who need to ball in their hands a lot - on one team.

Random Notes

• You can text messages to the scoreboard at the Verizon Center, and tonight my 'It's Gilbert's World, We Just Live In It' message was posted.  My 'Oklahoma's Senators Are Crazy' message did not. 
• I was really impressed by Kevin Durant and Jeff Green, and the Thunder in general.  In two years if their core stays together - those two, plus point guard Russell Westbrook - this team could really make some noise.  
• Ditto the Wizards foes the night before, the Memphis Grizzlies, who feature maturing talents like Rudy Gay, Mike Conley, Zach Randolph, Marc Gasol, and OJ Mayo.  If the NBA had an U-25 league those two teams would battle it out for the championship.  
• It's hard to believe what Durant can do at 6'10 (though his legs are as skinny at 5'7' Earl Boykins').  Durant had no trouble generating a good shot, has a great midrange game and can take it to the rack despite his skinny frame.  He doesn't appear that interested in rebounding, but his offensive game is unmatched for a player of his size and age (only 21 years old).
• I was almost more impressed by Jeff Green, and his versatility.  He hit two three-pointers mixed in with some very acrobatic drives and rebounds.  I remember him as almost a lunch-pail kind of forward at Georgetown but he looked like a developing All-Star tonight in his return to the Verizon Center.

Thanksgiving in the ville

Didn't get a chance to blog during the Thanksgiving holiday in Fayetteville due to the lack of wi-fi at my folks' house (disappointing legions of fans).  


However, there are some good wi-fi places in the 'ville, namely the 'Coffee Scene' near my parents house across from the Westwood shopping center.  Not coincidentally, it's Greek-owned by one of my first baby sitters, Kiki (Parrous)  Manis.  It's a funky, family-owned joint with good coffee.  It's so funky and cool and urbane that you would forget you were in Fayetteville (if not for the Roses and Food Lion across the street in the downscale Westwood Shopping Center).


Another place is 'Rude Awakening' coffee shop on one of the rehabilitated blocks on Hay Street downtown. We went downtown on Friday night for the annual Dickens Christmas celebration. There is the some there there as Fayetteville has worked hard to made downtown a destination. For 30 years of downtown was full of notorious strip clubs and seedy bars and Hay Street was synonymous - all over North Carolina - with prostitution and drugs.  


But give Fayetteville credit - they wiped out the seedy blocks, and there are a number of local businesses now on Hay Street: Rude Awakening, an art-house theater that packed in audiences to watch Michael Moore's 'Fahrenheit 911', and a half-dozen restaurants ranging from a brew pub to a diner to a couple new American cuisine places.  


So if you ever visit Fayetteville hit the Coffee Scene and downtown and help Fayetteville make a comeback.


Evan would move to Fayetteville tomorrow if he could.  He loves North Carolina almost as much as I do, and would like nothing more than to move anywhere close to my parents or his cousins Paul and Alex.


A Few Random Notes

• Of course, if we visit God's Country we have to visit the Southern Part of Heaven.  On Friday we met Johnny and his family at Time Out for lunch (so Ariadne and Alison could enjoy a chicken and cheddar biscuit; with our homecoming visit Evan's eaten 3 of those in the last month).  
• The boys then headed to Fetzer Field to watch the most dominant dynasty in the history of sports, the Carolina women's soccer team.  The Heels jumped out to an early 3-0 lead on their way to a 5-2 win over Wake Forest in a NCAA regional final.  The win means the Heels qualified for their 25th final four (out of 28 years of NCAA women's soccer tournaments) and will shoot for their 21st - 21st! - national championship next weekend.
• It's obviously a skilled and talented team but I was most impressed by Carolina's first goal.  Jessica McDonald ran down a pass and reached it just before it went out of bounds in the corner.  Barely slowing down McDonald nailed a perfect cross - on the run -  into the box where Carolina's All-Everything Casey Nogueira (a North Carolina native, BTW) headed it in for a 1-0 lead. 
• On a down note, the Carolina football team saw their 4-game winning streak snapped at rival NC State on Saturday afternoon, 27-28.  The Heels played well, especially in the first half.  But mistakes cost them, especially a key fumble at the goal line in the first quarter, some terrible penalties on State's first drive of the second half, and a blocked field goal was too much for the football Heels to overcome.  State's offense was also able to move the ball against Carolina's impressive defense, something ranked teams like Miami and Virginia Tech were not able to do.  The loss will likely keep the Heels out of the Chic-fil-a Bowl on New Year's Eve in Atlanta, and the Heels will probably end up in Charlotte's Meineke Car Care Bowl (a terrible name, not nearly as romantic as the original Continental Tires Bowl) in late December.
• That said, this was a pretty good year for the Heels and Butch Davis.  Most of the defense will return, and the young offensive line has really improved down the stretch so this team could be scary-good next year.

Finally, a few caustic notes

• Regardless of the details, Tiger Woods lost whatever manhood he had over the weekend. Anyone who totals his car running into a FIRE HYDRANT and has to have his wife rescue him by smashing his windshield with a gold club has NO manhood left. 
• For the latest example of how disgusting capitalism is, check out the front page of today's SundayStyles section of The New York Times. Above the fold is a series of photos of a 10-year old girl being surprised in school by her father as he returns from Iraq. At the bottom of the page is an ad for Gucci complete with pouty/bored/wealthy/stupid looking models.  We value one thing, the market another.