Another scattershot blog post

A variety of bloggable topics are available this weekend. Here goes:


World Series


I was initially surprised to see the Yankees comeback from an early 0-3 deficit.  But I shouldn't have.  Cole Hamels has been shaky this postseason, and unlike some of the Phillies these Yankees are professional hitters.   They swing at strikes, and fielded a relentless line up that even featured pitcher Andy Petite driving in a run.


[Interesting take on these Yankees today in the Times.]


The Phillies' approach last night was not as professional.  Case in point is Shane Victorino.  Batting in the third inning with the bases loaded and one out, Victorino came up after Jimmy Rollins walked - WALKED - to drive in a run and give the Phillies a 2-0 lead.  Most ball players know to take the first pitch if the previous hitter walked.  But Victorino was a bonehead twice, swinging at two balls waaaaayyyyy outside the strike zone to quickly put himself in the hole 0-2.


He eventually drove in a run - on a defensive swing - on a sacrifice fly but instead of breaking the game open with a hit, driving Petite off the mound in the process, Victorino's sacrifice ended the chance for a big, game -changing inning.

• Good column by Tom Boswell today that semi-explains why umpiring in baseball has declined so badly in recent years.  Bad umpiring/refereeing seems endemic to all sports these days but in baseball the umpiring stinks worse than in other sports.  From calling a terrible strike zone, to allowing hitters and pitchers go on a walkabout after every pitch, to missing fairly obvious calls this postseason - fair and foul balls, two runners on the same base, plays at first - baseball has a fairly serious issue to deal with. Boswell makes a good case that instant replay deserves a chance to solve some these problems.

Carolina football


Huge win for the Heels on Thursday night against Virginia Tech. There are almost too many story lines to talk about: a road win versus a ranked opponent, bouncing back from a terrible home loss the previous Thursday that also was a nationally televised game, coming back late in the game after falling behind due to a terrible turnover/interception by Yates.


The win was inspiring; the Heels could have mailed in the rest of their season and done what some so-called scribes had done and turned to basketball.  But instead they played with pride and determination and were rewarded with a meaningful and season-saving win.


The Heels will need to sustain that effort and focus if they truly want to save the season.  Carolina has four tough game left, versus Miami, at Boston College, and rivalry games versus NC State and Duke.  The Duke game is homecoming next week - Evan, Johnny, Alex and I will be there - and the Blue Devils is no pushover.  The Dukies are 5-3 after defeating Virginia in Charlottesville yesterday.  Beating the 'Hoos may not be that big a deal, then again the Heels lost to them in Chapel Hill.


Either way, I'm looking forward to spending a day and a half in Chapel Hill for homecoming (something I never thought I would ever want to attend).  This will actually be the fourth Duke-Carolina game in five years for Johnny, Evan and myself.


Wizards


Got to catch part of the Wizards win last night over the Nets. Arenas continues to look fantastic, and Andray Blatche off the bench almost matched Agent Zero's 32 points.  Brendan Haywood finished with 10 and 7 (a reverse of his opening-night numbers).


I may be the only guy I know who is paying attention; only 3 people voted in my favorite Wizards poll (and I think those 3 were me, Evan and Ariadne).


Heels in NBA


Of all the Heels in the NBA rookie Ty Lawson is probably off to the best start.  Lawson was the best player on the floor for Denver as they rallied to defeat Portland on opening night.  Lawson finished with 17 points in that game in 26 minutes.  He scored 7 in 17 minutes last night in another Nuggets win.


Here's a look at what the others Heels are doing so far:


Wayne Ellington: Ellington is playing, getting 23 min/game, while averaging 6 pts on 32% shooting; has yet to hit a three-pointer in two games.
Sean May: May is starting for 0-3 Sacramento but still playing 'out of shape' minutes, around 19 a game and averaging only 6 points a game.  I hope May gets healthy and gets his career on track.  He should be a good pro.
Brendan Haywood Off to a pretty good start - averaging 12 and 9 - though his timing on offense appears off as he returns from a wrist injury that kept him out of 79 games last year. Physically looks great, trim and agile.
Jawad Williams Has only played 2 minutes of mop-up time in one game, but hey he's in the NBA!
Rasheed Wallace Happily coming off the bench and playing a lot at crunch time, Ra is averaging 9 points a game. Twenty of his twenty-six shots have been three-pointers.
Raymond Felton Continues to struggle with his shot for the 1-2 Bobcats. Averaging 14 points (39% shooting) and 5 assists in 28 minutes a game. I still can't figure out why Ray has not become Chris Paul.
Marvin Williams Is third option on a young and dynamic Hawks team.   Averaging 12 points though 2 games.
Vince Carter The Magic are 2-0 with Carter, but Vince only played 15 minutes in their second game due to a sprained ankle (and did not play today versus the Raptors).  Carter is averaging 15.5 points a game on 55% shooting in two games.


Tyler Hansbrough, Danny Green, Brandan Wright and Antawn Jamison have yet to play this season due to injuries, and both Jerry Stackhouse and Rashad McCants have yet to sign with a team.  For a while rumors circulated that McCants would join Aris Thessaloniki (in my dad's hometown) in a Carolina-Hellenic Blue blog-driven move.


Completely Random

• What ever happened to Jurassic 5?  'Day at the Races' came on my iPod the other day, a song that hinted at their promise.  Maybe I missed something, but what happened to the group who rapped 'you're out of your league like Jordan was with baseball' and featured the 'verbal Herman Munster' as one of their members?
• Lots of comments on our Halloween 2009 iPod mix for our party last night. Most often asked question "Are we listening to ABC?"  With Halloween as the obvious theme the mix featured "Poison Arrow" - due to the word poison - "Back from the Dead" by Spinal Tap, the "Buttercup" theme from the Power Puff Girls soundtrack, and more cliched songs like "Thriller," "Dead Man's Party" and "Everyday is Halloween." 
• Sorry for some of the font problems with this page.  The software was upgraded and I have yet to find my comfort zone.

Next Year's Heels II

Get it?  The title is an homage to Larry Drew II,  the starting point guard for your defending national champs.

Going pro is a slam dunk for Lawson, who depending on the order of the draft, should go in the top 10.  He's improved his game and is ready for the next level.  That's the good news.   The bad news - news tempered by being paid to play basketball - is that the teams most in need of point guard help include backwaters like Golden State and Milwaukee.

At the Thursday press conference Roy Williams said he had spoken with 13 teams and was assured that Ellington would go in the first round thus a guaranteed, three-year contract.  I hope that's true.  Besides a guaranteed contract the great news for Ellington is that is projected to go late in the first round so will likely end up with a playoff team.  Interesting to note how many good teams don't have world-beaters at the 2.  Dallas and San Antonio, for instance, bring their best 2 guards off the bench (Terry and Ginobili, respectively).  Same for New Orleans, Houston and Denver who starts Duke scrub Dahntay Jones at 2.

The other significant draft news is that Gerald Henderson will enter the draft but not hire and agent.  Henderson will likely be drafted in Lawson territory so has probably played his last game as a Blue Devil (a game where he went 1 for 9 from the field in a loss to hometown team Villanova).  Duke will be good, but without Henderson they won't be THAT good. I'm not sure why folks like Caulton Tudor are so optimistic about Duke's chances next year.  Lance Thomas and Brian Zoubek have proven that they are NOT ACC-caliber talent, and the jury is still out on guys like Nolan Smith. Though Singler and Scheyer are great players Duke is still weak at point and on the boards (again).  Nationally they aren't as talented as Kansas or Michigan State, and even with their losses I don't think Duke measures up to Carolina either.

I was hoping Henderson would stick around one more year for another loss to Carolina in Cameron.  That guy deserves nothing but Tar Heel-induced misery.  Instead he joins luminaries like Greg Paulus in the list of players who will leave Durham having never won in Cameron against the Heels.

I'm a fan of the NBA, but can not get into the playoffs yet.  These first-round series always seem tedious and rarely produce an upset, though Dallas taking down San Antonio does qualify as one even with Ginobili on the bench for the Spurs.  The NBA should restore some legitimacy for the regular season - which is long enough - and reduce the number of teams that make the playoffs.

I'll blog more on the NBA playoffs in a could of more rounds.

NATS UPDATE

Well, the Mets have put an end the Nats' 6-game, 8-inning winning streak.  Going into the weekend series Washington had been hitting the ball well, but that has ended in cavernous Taxpayer Stadium.  The Nats' anemic hitting in New York joins their bad pitching and shoddy defense for an 'in the toilet' trifecta!

Next Year's Heels

While waiting for my championship t-shirt and commemorative DVDs, I can't help but be tantalized by the thought of Wayne Ellington returning to the Heels next season for his senior season.

Lately draft prognosticators have restated that Hansbrough will go in the second half of the first round, and that Lawson will go between the 10th and 20th pick. With his improved outside shooting Lawson's a lottery pick to me but his size keeps him from going in the first 10 picks.

But Ellington continues to be a projected second-round selection. Players who go in the first round get a guaranteed, three-year contract. However, there is no such guarantee for second-rounders.

In addition to his uncertain draft status, coming back would allow Ellington to be the MAN next year. Not only would Carolina's offense revolve around him - when was the last time, if ever, Carolina ran their offense around their 2-guard? Never? - but Ellington would be among the favorites for ACC player of the year.

The projected line up of Drew II, Ellington, Ginyard, Thompson and Davis, with Graves, Zeller, uber-freshman Hanson and one of the freshman guards backing up Drew, is tantalizing to say the least.

Some random hoops notes:

• Thanks to the two recent championships it seems like it was a million years ago that Matt Doherty was the coach in Chapel Hill. In light of FIU signing Isiah Thomas as their head coach, it's interesting to note that Doherty has not exactly set the world on fire since leaving Carolina. After a year at Florida Atlantic in Boca Raton, one of FIU's biggest rivals, Doherty is now the head coach at Southern Methodist University. According to ESPN, "SMU has gone from 17 losses to 20 to 21 in Doherty's three seasons in Dallas." Hard to believe that guy had the keys to the Carolina basketball program.
• Almost as weird as seeing Thomas go to FIU was the news that Greg Paulus may enroll at Michigan to play quarterback. Like his brother, the back up quarterback at Carolina, Greg Paulus was one of the best high school quarterbacks in the United States, and chose Duke basketball over Notre Dame football. The Paulus/Michigan story may be even odder than the Thomas/FIU one. The former is a marginal player trying to latch on to a marquee athlethic program, while the latter is a marquee college basketball player trying to latch on to a marginal college basketball program.
• For the record, FIU does have two NBA alums: Raja Bell and Carlos Arroyo (who now plays in Israel).
  

NCAA Preview

I'm a little nervous three hours before tip-off, but mainly calm. Some of that is age, but I think most of that calm comes from the Carolina basketball team. Their resolve and determination, coupled with pretty phenomenal talent, should be enough to win Carolina's fifth NCAA championship tonight (sixth overall if you count, as Carolina does, a team in the 1920s that was voted the number one team in the nation).

Michigan State will be very tough, especially on the boards, but the Heels should prevail. Offensively, teams that shoot the three effectively are the ones most likely to give Carolina problems, and the Spartans are not a great three-point shooting team. The Heels' three-point defense has been very effective in the last two games, so that will probably not be a problem tonight.

The bigger threat is probably from the crowd and the hype around playing for a downtrodden state. Adrenaline can make up for a lot. Hopefully Carolina starts strong and keeps the crowd from getting into the game early and effectively.

But bottom line, I can't see Michigan State stopping all of Carolina's weapons. If they focus on Hansbrough down low, that leaves things open for Ellington and Green. Finally, the home-state team will not be able to stop Ty Lawson. Travis Walton will probably guard Lawson, but he's similar to Oklahoma's Warren, another taller, longer guard. Warren couldn't stop Lawson, and neither will Walton.

As you know, Tar Heels love to brag about how humble we are. Nonetheless, I'll point out that I correctly picked Carolina to defeat Villanova by 14, accurately predicted that the Heels would win by 12 over Oklahoma, and was off by one point on the Gonzaga spread (I said 22, final score was by 21).

So my prediction for tonight is an eleven point win for the Heels, led by balanced scoring and tougher than expected defense. I'm sticking with my pick of Ellington leading Carolina to the win, but with Lawson having another strong game and being named MVP of the Final Four.

GO HEELS!

On to Monday night

The second half went according to plan and the Heels held on to defeat Villanova by 14.  And as good as Ellington and Lawson were, the best player on the floor for the final 20 was Danny Green.  

Villanova hit shots and turned the Heels over coming out of halftime and cut the lead to five points.   At that point, Green hit two big threes around an old-fashioned three-point play by Lawson - after one of Hansbrough's four steals - to practically ice the win for North Carolina.  

Green has done that all season, hitting so many game-changing shots that I've lost count. But tonight, as it always is with Danny Green, it was about his total game not just his three-point shooting.  As was the case when he ripped an offensive rebound away from the Griffin brothers, Green had a big offensive rebound he simply wanted more than two Wildcats in the second half.  Ditto with a big blocked shot and charge that he took to end Villanova's second half run. He's a deity in my book.

  

Green's second half play looks even bigger when you look at the overall play of both teams. Neither team was very smooth on offense, with Carolina leaving good shots on the rim and stubbornly missing lots of free throws. The silver lining, besides Green, is that Ellington hit two key baskets at key times and Lawson continued to push the ball up court.   But Carolina missed shots because they missed shots.  Villanova missed mainly due to Carolina's defense.  Every Wildcat shot seemed to be contested. Carolina's defensive intensity and aggressiveness on offense wore out Villanova, who as predicted were overwhelmed by the Heels' defense, focus, and talent.

That focus and toughness and improvement on defense, coupled with the fact that on offense Carolina has been able to get any shot they want all tournament long, will hopefully lead to their 5th NCAA title on Monday night.

GO HEELS!

One last note; one reason the second half had no flow was the referees, who generally stunk and I thought called a self-conscious game.  In the first half, they appeared spooked by both teams being in the double bonus and swallowed their whistles.  In general, college officiating is getting worse and worse, so bad that Sport Illustrated noted that the college game is much rougher than the NBA.  And the flow and beauty of basketball - and offense - suffer mightily.  Here's hoping the NCAA adopts two great NBA rules: no hand checking, and the 'no-charge zone' under the basket.  The way games are officiated now in the NCAA the defense has a big advantage.  

That style of play is one reason why I keep criticizing the Big East. That league is way too physical and as a result is simply bad and unattractive basketball.  Ironic that that overrated conference will - in effect - have 3 refs on the floor Monday night but no teams playing for a national championship.

First Half

So far so good for the Heels.   As predicted, Carolina got off to a great start and led by as many as 17 behind Wayne Ellington and Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson.  Late in the half North Carolina got a little sloppy and left some shots on the rim, allowing Villanova to close to within nine.

Offensively, the Heels are getting whatever they want.  Davis and Zeller left a few shots on the rim, and the refs decided to swallow their whistles late in the half to keep Hansbrough off the line.  But the Heels are getting the shots they want.  

Defensively the Heels were a little loose.   Look for that to tighten up in the final 20, and look for Lawson to take charge.  But bottom line, I think Carolina's talent will overwhelm the Wildcats in the final 10 minutes.  This game is being played at Carolina's pace, a pace Villanova will not be able to keep up with for much longer.

GO HEELS!

I Hope This Run Continues

If Carolina wins their fifth NCAA championship this weekend it will conclude a great great week. Passing the lands bill, visiting the White House, Ariadne getting admitted and deciding to attend Burke next year, her performance in the Phantom Tollbooth where she was fantastic as Tock - she has a real gift for acting, and has great timing, facial expressions, can ad lib, and is funny and charismatic, but I'm biased -  Evan already hitting the cover off the ball and doing a good job in the play too, AND Carolina in the Final Four is almost too much for me to handle.

Villanova will be a tough game but one I expect Carolina to win in the same way they handled Gonzaga or Duke this year, especially the game at Cameron.  Don't be surprised if Carolina leads early, Villanova goes on a run to make it close or take the lead at half before Lawson and Ellington assert themselves in the second half and Carolina ends up winning by 12 to 16 points.  The Heels will end up wearing out the Wildcats, and Carolina's talent will eventually overwhelm Nova.

Not too much else to say about that game, but that won't stop me from making two more points.   One, Villanova has more scorers than Oklahoma did but I expect Carolina's defense to replicate what they did against the Sooners.  The Heels did a great job moving on defense and playing the passing lanes in the regional final win. 

And two, their improved defense is one reason the Heels should prevail but the most important factor is their resolve. I like the way everyone from Roy to the walk-ons has reference last year's flop in the first half against Kansas.  That memory has produced a very focused North Carolina squad, one that should handle Villanova tonight.

FINAL FOUR FULMINATIONS

•  I'm sentimentally picking Michigan State to defeat Ed and Jim's Huskies.  A state school representing an economically-battered state playing in Detroit is too sentimental of a story for me to pick against (at least in the semi-final).  Plus, everyone who plays for Michigan State is from Sparta so it's the only Greek squad in the tournament.
  
• Greece picked up 4 points this week in tying then defeating Israel in World Cup 2010 qualifying.  Greece leads their group but is essentially tied with Switzerland.  Mark you calendars for the first week of September when Ellas plays their home and home series against the inventors of the kookoo clock!
• I follow Greek soccer fairly close, and would like to do the same for MLS.  We usually go to a few United games, and the women's league is back this season so I bet we'll go to the two or three United-Freedom doubleheaders planned for RFK.  I think MLS would be better served if they moved their season up or back a few weeks.   Instead, they launch their season during March Madness and around opening day for baseball and no one, least of all ESPN or sports TV, seems to pay much attention.  I'd start earlier, in February if possible when the sports scene has a lull between the Super Bowl and March Madness/MLB opening day.
• Finally, congrats to Run-DMC for being admitted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.  The trio made their mark rapping over rock records, and their songs featured hip-hop beats and lots of guitar and became a bridge between hip-hop and rock and roll.  Their song and video for 'King of Rock' is a punk rockish kiss off to mainstream rock and roll, complete with a great anti-Beatles lyric that makes fun of John Lennon's death ('there's three of us but we're not the Beatles;" the Meatmen had a similar song called "One Down Three To Go").   Lots of punks/scenesters listened to Run-DMC, Public Enemy, etc. back then.  Ironic that their greatest 'hit' - their cover of Aerosmith's 'Walk this Way' ended their career. Covering a classic rock song cost them their street cred with hip-hop fans and with punk rockers, and both groups of fans stopped buying Run-DMC records after that album came out.

What a win

An exhilarating - way too exhilarating - win tonight over LSU.  Carolina closed like Mariano Rivera against LSU to gut out the win and secure a place in the sweet 16.

LSU came out of halftime looking like Greece versus the US at the 2006 world championships by hitting 9 of their first 10 shots. I'm not sure if Carolina came out lackadaisical or cocky after their nice to run the end the first half, or LSU simply came out fired up, but the Tigers started hitting shots from all over the floor.

Conversely, Carolina looked tentative, especially Hansbrough and Thompson.

But that's when Ty Lawson shook off his bad toe and the bad juju.  He started by hitting two three-point shots to blunt the Tigers' new-found momentum.  Carolina finally tightened up the D a bit - led by Bobby Frasor (3 steals in 17 minutes!) and Ed Davis (9 points/7 boards/2 blocks in 25 minutes) but also Danny Green after Roy 'talked' to him on the bench. Then Ty Lawson started doing what Ty Lawson does: aggressively and repeatedly taking the ball to the rack.   

The ACC player of the year had a number of tough takes for baskets, with a few and-1s too. It was inspirational on more than one level: a guy stepping up when his team needs him, a guy excelling while playing on a bad wheel that visibly bothered him in the first half; a guy sacrificing his body on defense (2 of Carolina's 11 steals).  In the end he scored 21 of his 23 team-high points in the second half.  Great stuff from a great player.

But Lawson didn't do it alone.  Wayne Ellington was Georgelynchesque tonight, making plays all over the floor. He was 9 for 16 overall and 3 for 6 on three-pointers to finish with 23 huge points.  But his excellent shooting only tells part of the story. Ellington was strong on every part of the floor, and finished with the points plus 3 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals and a blocked shot.  He was also strong on defense, and had two nice 'wall' plays in addition to the steals.  And on Danny Green's huge three down the stretch Ellington made a game-changing play when he tapped a loose ball, volleyball-style, to his teammate.  As great as Lawson was, Ellington was his equal.

Hansbrough was very strong in the first half, then seemed intimidated a bit in the second.  Still, he had his own big shot down the stretch too to extend the lead.

Those three, plus Frasor and Davis, helped the Heels really tighten up the defense down the stretch. Frasor in particular had a two important steals during the decisive Carolina run to put the game away,  The Heels eventually figured LSU out, and their oft-maligned defense came up strong in the last 10 minutes of tonight's game.

Bottom line, it looks like Lawson is back.  Five days of rest should help Ty recover in time for the sweet 16 next week  As long as he feels good, I'm feeling good.

ONLY A FEW MORE NOTES

• I hope that 3 gets Danny Green back on track. He looked very tentative today, but to his credit he took that second three to help put the game away.  If Green is on and Lawson is healthy - and tonight for Carolina that was for only about 15 minutes - the Heels are unstoppable.  
• So much for conference loyalty: the Dukies were repeatedly shown cheering on LSU.  I doubt the Devils will make it that far, but I'd love to beat them for a third time in the Final Four.
• Oh yeah, Go Longhorns (even if they are coached by Dean enemy Rick Barnes)!
• Roy did something tonight that he and Dean are usually reluctant to do: he called time out three minutes into the second half during the massive LSU run.  Tar Heel fans recall that Roy did NOT do that during the Kansas onslaught in last year's national semi-final.

NCAA Preview

No secret that I have the Tar Heels winning their second national championship in 5 years, and their 5th NCAA championship overall (and Roy's second) in all my brackets.  As long as Lawson is healthy - and Hansbrough is Hansbrough - the Heels have too many weapons and should win the National Championship.  As important as Lawson and Hansbrough are to Carolina, I'm picking Wayne Ellington to lead the Heels to the championship.  I love the way he asserted himself in the ACC tournament, and I expect every Heel to be very focused over the course of the next three weeks.

For the record I am in three pools: Sierra Club, Joey Pillow's alumni and the king of them all, the PIRG/Drumtra pool.  And as many of you know, I usually pick who I want to win rather than who I think will win.  But even with that 'system' in place, other than picking the Heels to win it all, I had some trouble with each of my brackets.  

The South is the easiest to fill out; I see Carolina advancing to the Final Four after beating Oklahoma in the regional final, avenging a loss to Gonzaga two years ago along the way.  I have WKU beating Illinois, and Temple upsetting Arizona State and Syracuse. I think both the 'Cuse and UConn will tank in the tournament. I've already seen some folks predict a Clemson win over Oklahoma but the Tigers are 7-7 in their last fortnight of games. Though I generally blindly root for ACC teams I've lost my faith in the Tigers.

My picks in the East are pretty conventional - Pitt beating Duke in the regional final. Duke has a good draw with a chance for a rematch against VCU in the sweet 16. I have the Rams beating UCLA and Villanova; beating Nova may be a stretch. I want to pick local school American University to beat Nova in the first round, but that will be tough too. I've lost any good feeling for FSU but have them making the 16 and losing to Pitt. But Pitt always chokes and the Noles match up pretty well with the Panthers with lots of bigs. I've seen the Panthers play a few times, and just don't think their back court is that good. Toney Douglas - who is that good - could lead the Noles to an upset but I doubt it. Anyway, I have Pitt beating both FSU and Duke which stinks for the Big East-ACC thing.

For me the Midwest, featuring teams I either don't like such as Louisville or teams that seem overrated such was Wake, is the toughest bracket to prognosticate.  Rick Pitino's Cardinals squad is good but has been bad on the road this year, and you know I hate picking a Pitino-coached team. But Wake looked so bad against Maryland I have no faith in them, so by default the Cardinals make the regional final. The other half of that draw is the toughest one for me to predict. I'm intrigued by Dayton and Kansas, and expect BC to defeat Michigan State in a battle of lackluster teams. In the end I have Louisville defeating Wake Forest, Kansas defeating Boston College, then Louisville making the final four.  Then again, my first draft had Kansas in the four.

When I first made my picks for the West, I realized I had three of last year's Final Four teams returning after picking Memphis to advance. A gassed UConn makes this a very weak bracket in my opinion. If Washington gets past Purdue I see them taking down a tired UConn team in the sweet 16. On the other half of that bracket I guess Missouri could beat Memphis but I doubt it. So I have Memphis defeating Washington in the regional final.

That means Carolina beating Pitt in one semi-final, Louisville beating Memphis in the other. In a rematch of last year's regional final Carolina, led by Wayne Ellington, wins another national championship.

A Few Random Thoughts

• I think the tournament will be a redemption tour of sorts for Hansbrough. Gonzaga held him under 10 points in that loss two years ago, so Hansbrough will get his revenge if the Bulldogs advance.  But I also expect Hansbrough to outplay Blake Griffin and DeJuan Blair if Carolina plays Oklahoma and Pitt.  Psycho T wants to go out with a championship, and his will is Jordanesque.  Don't be surprised if he outplays everyone - even Ellington or Lawson.
• Though I love political underdogs, I'm no fan of Cinderellas.  I like watching good basket, not a less than talented team get lucky and eliminate a better team.  
• This year I'm picking two double-digit seeds, Temple and Virginia Commonwealth, to make the sweet 16.  Both are 11 seeds.  VCU is led by Fayetteville native Eric Maynor (Westover High School).
• I have some other double-digit seeds winning one game, but picking Western Kentucky over Illinois is NOT an upset. Neither is Utah State over Marquette. Both the Illini and Golden Eagles are missing key players due to injuries.
• My one semi-legit upset is Dayton over a very strong West Virginia team.  Dayton is my one destiny pick (at least for one round).
• In my opinion, there are only two teams in the field that did not deserve a bid. Arizona is about as worthy as Virginia Tech but some how made it in. Ditto Wisconsin, who stinks and has no good wins outside of the Big 10. There are too many Big 10 teams in. I would have taken Minnesota or Michigan, but not both and kept Wisconsin at home.
• In there stead I would have taken San Diego, St. Marys, and an ACC team.
• Finally, most folks have probably heard that President Obama has Carolina winning the national championship in his bracket.  Obama made the same pick last year, which may have owed more to the looming North Carolina primary than anything else.  But this year it's pure hoops.

World Baseball Classic

While watching the NCAA tournament I'll keep one eye on the World Baseball Classic.  It's too bad these two events overlap since both deserve undivided attention.

The WBC is getting to crunch time, and last night's come from behind win for the USA over Puerto Rico was a great game.  Not only that, but it felt like a big game.  The Americans won thanks to a three-run rally in the bottom of the ninth. The big hit was David Wright's two-run double, but Tar Heel Brian Roberts had a big hit and great at bat in the ninth.  His single, after being down 0-2 in the count, kept the rally going and Roberts eventually scored the tying run.

The win put the US in the final four along with Venezuela, Korea, and the winner of tomorrow night's game between defending WBC champ Japan and long-time world power Cuba, a game so big I'm planning to TiVO it and watch it between college basketball games.

GO HEELS!

Please, no wagering (at least based on these picks).

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. 

Heels Tough Out Road Win in Blacksburg

Carolina did a nice job closing out a tough road game tonight in defeating Virginia Tech, on senior night in Blacksburg, 86-78. 

The Heels controlled the game - the Hokies never led - but could not put Virginia Tech away until late in the game. That in itself is great news. Carolina has not been great in closing out games.  Even in games they've won - at Florida State and at Miami, for instance - the Heels lost leads late.  And of course there's the Maryland game.

Losing on the road in the ACC is nothing to be ashamed of, even for a team as talented as this year's squad. But winning on the road tonight is something to be proud of. Similar to the Terps, the Hokies were desperate for a win. Carolina's offense didn't flow for 40 minutes straight, but they did have 3 significant spurts to build and hold a lead. My man Danny Green hit a big three with 8 and half minutes left to stop one Hokies run, and down the stretch Hansbrough and Lawson made enough baskets - and barely enough free throws - to ice it. 

And in the last four minutes, Carolina's defense kept Virginia Tech's desperation from turning into points. So on both offense and defense, Carolina toughed it out, and put a good team away, for a nice win against a desperate team playing on senior night.  Good stuff.

A Few More Notes

• A large portion of Carolina's defensive toughness was provided by Virginia-native Ed Davis.  In the first half Davis scored and in the second he controlled the defensive end of the floor.  He altered or blocked a number of shots - 6 to be exact - during various Virginia Tech runs and played a very effective 17 minutes.  In less than a half he finished with 8 points, 4 boards and 6 blocks.
• Wayne Ellington and Hansbrough carried Carolina in the first half, with help from Deon Thompson and Davis.  Ellington got back on track from 3 in the initial stanza, and in the second half had a few nice drives to finish with 15 points.
• As they did against Georgia Tech, Carolina did a great job feeding the post especially in the first half. It was great to see Hansbrough have back to back great games, as Psycho T finished with 22 and 15. Deon and Davis also got some great looks in the first half.
• Danny Green was off for most of the game, but when his team needed him he hit two big trademark 3s.  Danny Green, BTW, is god!
• In the second half Green hit his two 3s, Carolina kept going to Hansbrough, but the last half of the game was controlled by Ty Lawson. He did a great job picking his spots to drive, pass or feed the post.  Smart and in control the entire second half.

So another quality road win against a tough team. The Heels made plays on both ends of the floor and closed out a team playing their final road game.  A good night's work for the Heels as they head into a bittersweet day: the final home game for Bobby Frasor, Danny Green and Tyler Hansbrough against Duke this weekend.

A few random notes:

• Two ACC teams really hurt their chances to make the NCAA tournament tonight.  With the loss Virginia Tech needs to defeat FSU in Tallahassee on Saturday to finish 8-8 in the ACC. 
• But the team that REALLY shot themselves in the foot is Miami.  They lost to Georgia Tech, granted in Atlanta, for their ninth loss. The U will need to beat NC State in their final game at home, then probably win two games in the ACC tournament to make the NCAAs for the second year in a row.
• But the Wolfpack will be a tough out.  They defeated Boston College tonight, and the Pack can finish 7-9 if they defeat the U.  If they do that, then win a couple in the ACC tournament, NC State could conceivably make the tournament.
• Despite the loss, BC can finish with 9 wins if they take care of Georgia Tech in Chestnut Hill this weekend.
• Finally, Maryland is probably out after losing their ninth game last night to Wake.  

Lots of action this week in the ACC, and coming up this weekend. Carolina, Duke, Wake, Clemson, FSU, and BC are in; Virginia Tech can play themselves in with a win in Tallahassee.   Then on to the ACC tournament for Miami, NC State and maybe Maryland.  

GO HEELS!

Almost forgot the other big Tar Heel win tonight - Anoop Desai is back on American Idol after winning wild card night!  Anup is a native of Chapel Hill, and I think has two degrees from Carolina.