Opening Round

In the words of Larry David, the first week of games in the NCAA tournament have been 'pretty, pretty good.'  I'd like to espouse on the entire week - NC State beating Xavier, the other 12 seeds ALL winning, etc. - but of course my twin poles* are Carolina's scintillating win and Duke's equally scintillating loss.

As a basketball game the UNC-Providence tilt was a great one. Both teams made shots and made plays all game. It's not unusual to see ugly games this time of year, with games that are filled with mistakes and missed shots; this was not one of those. Both teams played hard and played well.

For my money, despite my love for Marcus Paige and as great as he was late, this game was won by Brice Johnson.  He competed on both ends of the floor, and in this one his defense matched his always reliable offense. Brice did it all well.  He hit his array of half hooks and put backs, and made two big free throws down the stretch.

On D, he had two massive blocked shots after Bryce "Second coming of Harold The Show Arceneaux" Cotton had willed Providence to a 5 point lead.  And Johnson excelled throughout in executing one of THE cornerstones of Carolina basketball - the wall on defense.  Carolina started playing Cotton to drive, and on the times we did stop him it was often Johnson providing the back line defense.

As great as Cotton was Johnson turned out to be the best Bryce/Brice on the floor.

For a few minutes there thanks to Cotton and Mercer Carolina fans had to confront reliving two of the worst days in our hoops history - the loss to Arceneaux and Weber State in the first round in 1999, and 1979's Black Friday when the Tar Heels and the Devils both lost in the first round.** 

It was a head-scratching display by the Devils, as an ACC team coached by a Hall of Famer looked nervous and scared down the stretch. Conversely, Mercer looked confident and consistently made shots and plays. The body language from Rodney Hood after he was called for traveling said it all.  

This Devils team was weak at the point and down low all season, and both flaws were certainly exposed by the Bears. When Quinn Cook is the brains of the operation, you are in trouble. 

That is probably an overly harsh assessment of Cook.*** Hood and Jabari Parker both played nervously and badly, and when that happens this Devils team is going to lose, simple as that.

Still, kudos to Krzyzewski for his classy visit to the Mercer locker room to congratulate the Bears on their win. It takes a confident and centered man to do that, and I'm sure the players and staff from Mercer were touched by his words and visit.  A very Dean-like mover from a blue Devil.

Some more March Madness Musings
    
I still love Carolina's chances to win 5 more games. They had to play tough and smart to beat Providence, and did.  GO HEELS!

If the Heels don't win it all I hope that Virginia does. If the Hoos do not, I would happily root for Wichita State, where Eddie Fogler used to coach. Their coach, Greg Marshall, seems far too happy with himself (the greatest sin to the ancient Greeks) but it would be a great story.

Here are my round of 32 picks BTW: 
Florida - Pitt will give them a game though, thanks to their new-found offense
Stephen F Austin - riding a winning streak AND the mojo of that four-point play
Syracuse - Dayton will run out of gas
Kansas - Ho hum; Stanford can't hang with Jayhawks
Virginia - Scare from Coastal Carolina will make them better
Michigan State - Ho hum
Carolina - Marcus Paige is GOD
Villanova - No comment on this game
Arizona - See Villanova comment
ND State - These guys our pretty good, SD State untested
Creighton - A little bit better than Baylor
Wisconsin - Much better than Oregon
Wichita State - Chip on their shoulder leads them to win over Kentucky blue bloods
Louisville - They are much better than the team they are playing
Mercer - Call them butter because they are on a roll!
Michigan - This will be a great game that the Wolverines will win late          

*  I can not believe the CBS play-by-play guy used the word 'pollack' to describe Gonzaga's Polish-born center - and to do so while calling the game with Mike GMINSKI! Kudos to the G-man, who is one of the best color commentators in America, for immediately calling him out.

** Who knows, if this was 2019 maybe we would have lost. Or Carolina fans should play 19 in the lottery?

*** I think it's safe to say that Cook easily joins Laettner, Wojo, and Redick on the list of most loathesome Devils of all time.  That guys loves himself and his fellow right-wing boobs from Durham WAY too much, and thus he makes that dubious list.

GO HEELS!

Lost Weekend in Chapel Hill

It's not often when things go better in Fayetteville then they do in Chapel Hill, but that's what happened this Thanksgiving weekend for the staff of Carolina Hellenic Blue.

Thanksgiving in the 'ville was great as all 18 of our immediate family went to my parents house to celebrate, eat, and play foot, whiffle and kick ball games (in person, not video or computer games).

The weekend in Chapel Hill, and the games played there, were not so great.

First, we lose to Duke, which is bad enough, in football. The loss allowed the Devils to advance to the ACC championship game, so beating them would have been doubly sweat. To make matters worse, Carolina should have won that one going away.  The Heels dropped two touchdowns, and dropped an interception on Duke's game winning drive.  Those 3 mistakes doomed the Heels on Saturday.

Second, later that day the Carolina women's soccer team - the most dominant dynasty in the history of sports, winners of 21 of the previous 31 NCAA championships including last year's title - lost in the elite 8 to UCLA 0-1.  I think the Heels had never lost in the elite 8 in 32 NCAA tournament appearances.

Finally, and third, was Sunday night's shabby loss on the road to UAB. It was a classy move for 'ol Roy to go to Birmingham in honor of his former player and assistant Jerod Haase.  Usually, the big name school does not travel to the up-and-coming one, but Roy is Roy.

What we did not expect was Carolina to play terribly for 40 minutes and lose to the Blazers. Coming off an exhilarating win over Louisville the Heels looked listless and completely out of sync, with no one looking more discombobulated and down right untalented than James Michael McAdoo.  

The Heels looked like a team that had not played in a week, which was the case, and it showed early as no one other that J.P. Tokoto looked interested.  Marcus Page tried, but clearly the UAB defense was focused on stopping him, and they did. 

Without Page we needed at least one or two more guys to step up to help Tokoto, and usually reliable Brice Johnson almost did, Kennedy Meeks and Joel James could not give any sustained effort, and McAdoo had a serious case of Mac-A-Don't.

The lay off and the inexperience of this team, at least the inexperience of this P.J.-less rotation, is enough to cause me to shrug this one off as 'one of those games' that happen early in a season with a team like this one, a team still learning and figuring things out. 

The flip side is, it's hard to shrug off how bad McAdoo played. He not only looked soft when he attacked the rim, but he made terrible decisions - a three pointer, really? - and was inactive; he even had trouble catching the ball or grabbing loose balls or boards.

I don't think it's time to panic, but in a bizzaro world where things go better in Fayetteville we need McAdoo to be McAdoo and help Page, Johnson and Meeks overcome the loss of Hairston and make things right in Chapel Hill. 

GO HEELS! 

A Great Week to be a Tar Heel (after a rough couple of months)

After months and months of dissonance, from P.J.Hairston's mistake filled summer to the latest reminders that the Carolina football program is an embarrassment to the University, some semblance of order was restored to Tar Heel Nation last week. 

Two great things happened.

One, Dean Smith was awarded the highest honor that an American can earn, the Presidential Medal of Freedom. More than a great Tar Heel, Dean is a great American. For many, and certainly for me, he embodies everything good about Carolina. Not the basketball program - Carolina.  

To be, rather than to seem.*  Could a guy born in Kansas be any more a Tar Heel?

In recounting why we has awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom we are once again reminded why he is a great American. Dean was an active citizen on top of being a successful basketball coach. Sure he graduated 98 percent of his players, won an Olympic gold medal, won two national championships, and did it the right way.  But Dean also cared about the well being of his fellow citizens, and worked to make our country, not just Carolina, better. Whether he was integrating parts of North Carolina, advocating for gay marriage or against the death penalty, Dean knew that to truly be an American one has to be an active citizen engaged in making ours a more perfect union.  

Two, perhaps in honor of Dean Carolina looked like Carolina on Sunday in defeating the defending national champs on a neutral floor.  

What a game! Roy said it after the win but after 4 lackluster games the team seemed to finally stop looking at the bench hoping for Hairston to come in and bail them out (I can't include Leslie McDonald in the same sentence as Hairston; that guy has been in Chapel Hill for 4 years and yet has NO identity or presence it seems). 

The great news is the guy they need is already on the floor in the person of Marcus Paige. He finished strong down the stretch last year, and his progress along with Hairston and James Michael McAdoo was enough to make Heels giddy for this season, at least until the troubles with PJ surfaced this summer. Against Louisville, we saw Paige emerge as a two-headed monster who could dish like Marcus but score like P.J. 

It was fantastic to watch, and exciting to think about how Paige will only get better as he gets stronger. He's already a smart player - of course a Carolina player - and his skills will keep growing. Paige is going to have a monster year for the Heels.

Remember, this is Carolina. As great as Paige was the win reached the giddy level due to the contributions from the entire team.  There are many to choose from, but I'll start with Nate Britt.

Even in wins, such as the ones over Oakland and Richmond, Britt has generally been pretty bad.  His performance against Holy Cross prompted me to tweet 'that my biggest fear is that Britt turns into Adam Boone.' 

Against Louisville he stopped going north-south a la Boone and aggressively attacked the rim and even displayed a deft touch, too! He's a freshman so we should cut him some slack on his learning curve, but it was great to see him play with confidence and poise against an opponent like Louisville. 

Paige and Britt moved the ball, Carolina style, for 40 minutes as everyone contributed to a great win. 

Speaking of freshman AND moving the ball, how about Kennedy Meeks?  He looked like Sean May in ways ridiculous - he's chubby! - and sublime - look at those outlet passes, soft hands and soft touch around the basket.

We saw Paige coming, and knew Meeks and players like Isaiah Hicks and Britt were touted recruits, but I'm not sure if anyone other than ol' Roy saw Brice Johnson coming on the way he has so far.

He is this team's X factor.  His energy and skill off the bench have been phenomenal - so far.  Johnson appears to have a nose for the ball and scoring, and has become that third guy, along with Paige and McAdoo, that every successful basketball team needs.

If Johnson and Paige keep playing at this level, Britt and Meeks keep growing and getting more comfortable, and McAdoo starts acting like Mac-a-do instead of Mac-a-doesn't, this team will continue to be fun to watch AND make a run at an ACC championship - even without Hairston.

Of course, the Heels could use Hairston and even McDonald if for no other reason that as deep as our front court is (McAdoo, James, Tokoto, Hicks, Meeks, Simmons, Hubert all played and scored versus Louisville) our back court is equally thin (yes, that was walk on, fourth-string point guard Wade Moody getting first-half minutes).

This squad will make some noise nationally, too, and this team will keep being tested as the Heels play a brutal schedule. The Heels still have games against Kentucky and Texas, and at Michigan State before turning to the ACC with new rivals like Syracuse in addition to games versus Duke (overrated in my opinion with a weak front court) and FSU (under rated), etc. 

But this week the Heels showed we have the talent to be Carolina, Dean's Carolina.  Forget Hairston.  With Paige, Johnson, etc. we have enough talent and skill to go win a lot of games and go a long way. 

GO HEELS!

A Few Random Notes

• Kudos to Chapel Hill's Superchunk for, among other things, including the North Carolina state motto, 'to be rather than to seem,' in their song "Your Theme." If you are not listening to "I Hate Music" you are under utilizing the gift of hearing.
•  I was embarrassed to see Carolina send letters to Marvin Austin, Greg Page and Robert Quinn stating that those three should no longer associate with UNC or come back to Chapel Hill.  Did the same letter go to Butch Davis and his staff?  I am not absolving the players from associating with agents, etc. but to single out the student-athletes instead of the coaches and adults in charge is embarrassing.
• Dean is the STANDARD.  The athletic department, especially the football program,  needs to remember that; what would Dean do?

Well, I was close - but the game wasn't

Where to begin in talking about last night's 18-point beat down of the right-wing boobs/devils from Durham?  

So many things to talk about, from Tyler Zeller's double double and dominance, to the important bench play of James Michael McAdoo, PJ Hairston and Justin Watts (great D when Bullock got into foul trouble), to Harrison Barnes' confident shooting and dagger late, to John Henson's second-half play on offense and a key stop late on D, to Reggie Bullock doing a little bit of everything, and finally to Kendall Marshall being Kendall Marshall+ controlling a game's tempo and hitting big shots. 

But I'll start here, with my pre-blog.  

We knew Carolina had to do three things to win last night - go to Zeller, rebound and go over screens on defense.  To say they succeeded on all of those endeavors is to state the obvious and make an understatement.

Led by 'In Z We Trust," the Heels dominated the boards. And it was pure dominance, as Carolina was quicker to the ball all night. It was not Duke choosing to concede the glass and send 4 guys back on D to stop Carolina's transition, it was a desire to win that part of the battle - and the Heels did.  

And as any Tar Heel born, Tar Heel bred, waiting to be Tar Heel dead fan knows, rebounding leads to transition baskets. Carolina's board work and transition game is what lead to that awe-inspiring 24-point halftime lead.

The other key was our defense on the three-pointer. As it has been in North Carolina's 5 other recent wins in Cameron, the Heels went over ball screens and forced Duke to step inside the three-point line all night. Reggie Bullock in particular was fantastic - again an understatement - on defense. He is so smart, and big, and good, I can't stop gushing about this guy.

How much gushing?  I told my brother after the game that Bullock's play reminds me of George Lynch. 

That's right, I went there - George Lynch.  Yes, Bullock has been THAT good.

But the key to beating the devils is to take away the three, and with this team to stop Austin Rivers, and led by Bullock the Heels did that for a full 40 minutes last night.  

To recap, the pre-game blog stressed: Zeller, rebounding and going over screens - and I predicted a final score of Carolina 86, devils 73.  Close enough, and happily not a close score as the Heels blew out the devils in Cameron, again, for another ACC regular season championship. 

• I've blogged it before, I'll blog it again: there is nothing like beating Duke in Cameron. For me, the worst thing about Duke is not Krzyzewski or their players (usually not their players, since this IS the alma mater of Christian Laetnner, J.J. Reddick, etc.) or anything basketball related; after all, you have to respect a team that plays hard, wins, graduates their players, etc. But the Duke student body - right now training the next Rand Paul or Richard Nixon! - is another matter. It's simply great to puncture their sense of boorish and arrogant entitlement for one night.
• I was surprised to read Tarheelblue.com's Adam Lucas' column this morning that kind of wondered if Carolina had the stomach to come back from last month's tragic loss to Duke in the Dean Dome. Did anyone really question that? I didn't. Isn't Roy Williams our coach? Isn't he a protege of Dean Smith?  Enough said. Plus, isn't Kendall Marshall our point guard, Tyler Zeller our anchor? Coming back - and keeping losses in perspective - is as Carolina blue as rebounding, transition baskets, and pointing at the passer.
• If I ever suffer a serious medical condition - a heart attack, get into a car accident, etc. - please DO NOT call 911, please call Kendall Marshall instead. That guy is phenomenal. He was a maestro last night, and his offensive game continues to get more confident and more important. There is nothing that Marshall can not do.
• Another key was James Michael McAdoo. Early in the season I blogged on his importance as our only real big off the bench. With Z in some foul trouble last night McAdoo was huge, and his two Johnny on the spot plays, the Blake Griffin-esque dunk and the tip in late -were huger than huge.
• Finally, if I'm a Duke senior the last name I want to see on Carolina's roster is Tyler or Ty.  It's official name is Cameron Indoor Stadium, but our pals Hansbrough, Lawson and Zeller have unofficially dubbed that place Ty(ler)'s House.

Anyway, what a great win.  

GO HEELS!