A Quality Win

Let me begin this post by saying I do not like John Calipari. I think he runs dirty programs as evidenced by the fact that as soon as he leaves a school, they get into trouble for some kind of recruiting violations and yet, he gets off scot free. I think the recruiting violations should follow him to his next school.
The UNC Tarheels finally played basketball today. They displayed the athleticism and playmaking that has been missing this season and pulled out a last minute win against a top ten ranked University of Kentucky team. The 'Heels made their share of mistakes but they are still a young team.
Tyler Zeller had a career game with 27 points, 11 rebounds, and 5 blocked shots. He took the game over in the last four minutes and that might have been the most important thing he did today. John Henson played another solid game and displayed the athleticism that he needs to use to be successful. You can tell that he has put in work on his free throw shooting but the two consecutive airballs he shot today didn't look too good. That might be the first time I have ever seen two consecutive airballs. For a five minute stretch in the first half, Harrison Barnes looked like the player that everyone thought was the #1 high school player in the nation last year. The rest of the game he disappeared and was a non-factor. In the last four minutes of the game, he had a turnover and forced two shots that could have been critical. Nobody wants him to succeed more than I do but he needs to let the game come to him rather than forcing most everything.
The bench made minimal contributions as the time was well distributed among the five players coming off the bench. There were definitely some serious signs of hope and maybe they can put it all together by ACC tournament time. I do not think they will conted for the regular season title.

College of Charleston

, The game against the College of Charleston the other night was once again an ugly game just like it was last year. The first half was especially ugly. I thought the 'Heels got beat to just about every loose ball, they got out rebounded, and they still had a one point lead going into halftime, 28-27. I felf a large part of that was due to the fact that leading scorer Andrew Goudelock was ice cold from the field.
The second half was a different story in so many aspects. Goudelock got hot (he finished with 28 points including 13 in a row at one point) but I agreed with Coach Roy Williams in that I thought Dexter Strickland played solid defense on him. He hit some very tough shots. They rebounded much better and showed some signs of putting together a transition game and scored several fast break baskets.
The 'Heels ended up winning 74-69 and John Henson led the way with 19 points doing most of his damage hitting baby hook shots near the basket. It was an offensive game he had never really shown me before. He was about the only one. Tyler Zeller had a bad shooting game and our starting guards (Drew II and Strickland) only scored 10 points and that is below their average of 12. I don't know if Drew II has lost confidence in his offensive game or what but I don't believe he is playing as good a floor game as he played last year either. I believe the team plays at a faster tempo with Kendall Marshall running the show. In my opinion, the most improved player on the team is Guard Leslie McDonald. He only had 9 points but hit two big three-pointers (the only two they hit the entire game) and he looks so much more confident and his shot looks much smoother than it did last year. You can tell he put in the work during the off season.

A 7-5 Regular Season

The Tarheels held off Duke yesterday in the final game of the regular season to give them a final record of 7-5 and guaranteeing them a winning record for the third year in a row. I can't help but think it could have been so much more but that is all in the past.
The Tarheels racked up over 500 yards of offense yesterday but left too many points on the field. They had a good combination of rushing and passing, had several long drives but one ended with a field goal and another ended in a missed field goal, both were very short attempts.
The 'Heels got contributions from quite a few people that have not appeared too much in the boxscores this year. Tight Ends Nelson Hurst and Christian Wilson made contributions both blocking and receiving, reserve Linebacker Herman Davidson had a key second half sack, and Wide Receiver Jheranie Boyd made a guest appearance with a catch and two rushes for 41 yards although he did drop a sure touchdown pass. It might be because they haven't thrown to him in so long but that might be the reason why they haven't thrown to him.
The Tarheels stars played solid games as well. TJ Yates had another solid game with 264 yards and a touchdown to Wide Receiver Joshua Adams, Wide Receiver Dwight Jones had 11 catches for 121 yards and has become the "go to guy", senior Anthony Elzy had one of the best games of his career with 116 yards rushing and a touchdown.
The bowl destination has yet to be decided but I have heard speculation that it might be the Music City Bowl in Nashville against possibly Tennessee, Georgia, or Kentucky. Those would be good but very difficult matchups for the 'Heels especially Tennessee. Todd Bray, the Freshman QB has really been throwing the ball around with quite a bit of success. Any of those matchups would be popular in the South as well.

Auburn, Cam Newton, and the NCAA

With everything that is going on with Cam Newton and Auburn, I have grown to admire the administration at the University of North Carolina more and more everyday. As soon as reports started surfacing about any improprieties that went on with Tarheel football players, they were immediately pulled from the team until their names could be cleared or some other determination could be made. That probably cost the team some wins but the administration made the right decision in taking what actions they did.
By stark contrast, the coaching staff and the administration at Auburn went straight to denial mode. There is no doubt in my mind that Cam Newton is the best college football player out there and is probably deserving of the Heisman Trophy. There seems to be no doubt in anyone's mind that his father took a ton of money for his son's services, and whether Cam Newton knew about it or not (which I really find hard to believe), his father was still a representative of his family. Auburn decided to take no action and leave him on the playing field and they have kept racking up wins and stayed near the top of the rankings. If the NCAA finds him guilty of any wrongdoing, I think they should throw the book at Auburn. They should make them vacate all of the wins and issue any other sanctions they deem necessary because the administration at Auburn chose to ignore the smoke following their star player around.

a tough Tarheel week

This was a tough week in Tarheel sports. The 'Heel football team lost one more time to the NC State Wolfpack. TJ Yates had yet another 400 yard passing game but once again, they left too many points on the field. They had a breakdown on special teams at the wrong time and could not get over that hump. There have been flashes this year from some of the underclassmen that gives you hope for next season but, as a Tarheel fan, I am about the here and now. Donte Paige-Moss finally showed me something against State and he might actually have a chance to live up to the hype of being one of the top ranked prospects when he came out if high school as Dwight Jones is finally beginning to show. The potential is definitely there although the NCAA could still rain on that parade.
It looks like the basketball team is only going to be slightly above average again this year. I have to be honest. Harrison Barnes has really not shown me anything. He is forcing shots, his shooting percentage is very low, and he is making bad decisions. I am probably expecting to much as he is only a Freshman but he is not ready to be the number one draft pick next year. The rest of the team is playing worse. The starting guards are only averaging 12 points a game and I can't remember a Tarheel team ever having a starting shooting guard only averaging 7.4 points a game after five games. They don't have any of the traditional senior leadership and Junior Tyler Zeller looks like he is the only one that comes to play every night. He just doesn't appear to be a vocal leader. As a team the Tarheels are only shooting around 40 percent and they are not getting many easy baskets from their transition game. The fast break is a rarity on this years team. It looks like it may be another long year. When does the Tarheel baseball season start?

Wide Right Part Whatever

UNC 37, Florida State 35. All I can say is what a game. Going in to the game, I have to admit that I was expecting the worst. Florida State was coming off a tough loss and the 'Heels barely squeaked by FCS William and Mary. It was homecoming at Florida State, they had never won there before, and the deck was stacked against them.
Offensive Coordinator John Shoop came out and did what I have wanted him to do all season long. Open it up, let TJ Yates throw the ball, and rack up some yards. Part of today's plan may have had to do with the fact that they were down to their fourth string running back, Hunter Furr, by the end of the game. He ended up leading the team in rushing (27 yards on 3 carries) but they were the most important rushing yards of the game as they were driving for Casey Barth's game winning field goal. It still took a "wide right" by Florida State to seal the deal but I'll take it. It is about time the football gods smiled on the 'Heels this season.
The real story of the game was TJ Yates and his school record 437 passing yards. Dwight Jones has become "the man" among ACC wide receivers. 8 Catches for 232 yards and a touchdown. Jhay Boyd and Eric Highsmith have all but disappeared for whatever reason. Redshirt Freshman Joshua Adams had some big time catches and his first collegiate touchdown.
The defense took on a "bend but don't break" philosophy and played shut down football in the second half. The only points they scored came off a 1 yard drive as a result of a botched snap to the punter.
What a Game!!

The Real Season

For any Tarheel fan, the real season in Tarheel country is basketball season. Even during Mack Brown's best seasons in Chapel Hill, everyone was still looking forward to basketball season. That is definitely the case this season especially with the NCAA mess and suspension festival that has become UNC football.
The Tarheel basketball team played an exhbition game last night against Barton College and it went about as expected at least as far as the score goes, 108-67. What I look for in games like this is overall performance, turnovers, defense, taking advantage of fastbreak opportunities, and how well they run their halfcourt offense.
In this particular game I was more interested in the play of the highly tauted freshman class. The stat line didn't look so good. Preseason All-American Harrison Barnes (the first freshman ever named to the pre-season All-American team) had a shaky debut. 7 points on 2 of 9 shooting but 6 turnovers, Reggie Bullock had 10 points on 4 of 10 shooting, and point guard Kendall Marshall had only 1 point but led the team with 9 assists. From what I have read, he is more in the mold of a "classic" Carolina point guard. He is not much of an offensive threat yet but he is a good passer and from all accounts, can run a team.
The biggest weakness for the 'Heels this year is going to be depth on the inside. They do not have a true center even listed on the roster and at 7'1", Tyler Zeller is listed as a Power Forward. He had 25 points and 14 rebounds last night and against a much smaller team, that is the kind of monster game that you would expect him to have. I am most curious to see how much John Henson (10 and 11 last night) has developed his game in between his freshman and sophomore seasons. Last season I thought he was a Small Forward trapped in a 6'10" body. I thought he was more effective at the end of the season playing on the inside as compared to the perimeter at the beginning of the season. He can definitely be a shot blocking force on the inside. I really don't know anything about Alabama transfer John Knox outside of the fact he is the other big body in the middle. All it is going to take is one turned ankle or a knee injury or a jammed finger on someone in the middle and it completely changes the dynamics of the team and the fortunes of the season.
The "x-factor" on this seasons team may be Junior Justin Watts, whose playing time has been sporadic in his first two seasons. He is the heir apparent to William Graves playing time whose college basketball career came to a sudden end after being kicked off the team. I wonder if Graves hung out with members of the football team.

at least they won

The game against a very good FCS William and Mary team would fall into the category of "at least they won." I watched the game on my trusty Dell laptop on espn3.com and the first half was ugly to watch from both an offensive and defensive standpoint and the second half wasn't much better. They just didn't play with any emotion on either side of the ball so I don't know if they still had a Miami hangover or what. They will end up having to play the team managers and waterboys if they lose any more players. You could feel the absence of Zach Pianalto on T.J. Yates interception on the second series of the game as he and Ryan Taylor just were not on the same page. The Mike Paulus, the QB transfer from North Carolina to William and Mary, we saw in the first half was the player North Carolina recruited in 2006. The Mike Paulus we saw in the second half was the player that played at North Carolina. It helped the the 'Heels defensive line finally got a little bit of pressure on him to the tune of three sacks. It was just a plodding, boring game that I thought could have used some more passing and spreading the field a little bit more. Dwight Jones has started turning into the player that everyone thought he was going to be coming out of high school (8 catches for 104 yards) and Jhay Boyd from Gastonia has all but disappeared after his breakout game against LSU (1 catch for -1 yards)and T.J. Yates seems to have lost the confidence he had earlier in the season. Johnny White had another monster game (160+ yards) and it would be tough for me to imagine what the 'Heels record would be if he had gotten caught up in the NCAA mess in Chapel Hill.

Midseason report card

I have to give the Tarheels an "incomplete" for the midseason grades and I might as well give them an "incomplete" on the season as well. This grade is a direct result of the NCAA and academic mess that has become North Carolina Tarheel football in 2010. These problems are going to reach much farther than 2010. The 'Heels have been forced to play some freshmen, especially on defense, that more than likely would have been red-shirted this season. Players like Tre Boston, Jabari Price, Tim Jackson, and Kareem Martin could have used a year in the weight room but instead they are logging major minutes on the field. I must admit that coming into the season i believed that Quarterback T.J. Yates would have been supplanted by Redshirt Freshman Bryn Renner by the 3rd or 4th game. I have never been fond of Offensive Coordinator John Shoop's play calling, I think Yates holds on to the ball too long, and I don't understand half-ass play fakes on 3rd and 10, but throw in do everything back Johnny White and their offense has been better than expected. The suspensions have particularly hurt the defense but they have not played badly either. All of this basically adds up to a 4-3 record and makes you wonder "what might have been?" and I really hate that.

Tarheel love

Hello,
my name is Dan and I live in the mountains of Western North Carolina, very close to where Tarheel basketball coach Roy Williams grew up. I have always been a Tarheel fan in all sports and I will never profess to have any inside information or anything else but this blog is designed to more state my opinion on everything that I see and read that is Tarheel sports related. Reader participation is encouraged, that is if I develop an audience, and hopefully it will takeoff from there.