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.
