It has taken me about 5 days to recover from the beat down the Tarheels received at the hands of Florida State last Saturday so I can only imagine what the team is going thru.
I coached high school basketball at a small, private Christian school for a couple of seasons and I could tell when my team was in for a lackluster performance. Early in the season it provided motivation for the games that followed. At the end of the season, it was too late. We had already mailed it in.
As soon as the Florida State game was over, the so called experts were already predicting a free-fall to mediocrity and that was the end of the season for the Tarheels. The prediction was they had mailed it in. Even Roy Williams said he felt they had gotten complacent. Nine straight home games can do that to you.
Before the season even started, so many comparisons were made between this years Tarheel team and the last Tarheel championship team of 2009. The biggest differences between the two teams are leadership and the will to win.
Tyler Hansbrough had a will to win that was second only to Michael Jordan in North Carolina basketball history. He could put the team on his back and will them to win. He also had a great supporting cast but he was the emotional leader, on and off the court.
Harrison Barnes does that in spurts. There has been a few games that he has carried the team but he has completely disappeared in so many others. This years team needs an emotional leader. A player that can get them fired up when the team needs it. Most of this years players are mild-mannered and prefer to let their actions on the court speak for them. Sometimes that is not enough.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
Sunday, January 8, 2012
The NCAA Finally Got Something Right
It was reported yesterday that the NCAA had granted North Carolina Tarheel Fullback Devon Ramsay a sixth year of eligibility. He was forced to sit out the last 9 games of the 2010 season due to the NCAA's investigation into North Carolina's football program. Their original decision ruled him as permanently ineligible due to academic fraud but they later reversed that ruling and he was allowed to return to the football team.
He was injured in the first game of the 2011 season against James Madison that caused him to miss the rest of what was then his senior season. The NCAA arbitrarily ruled against him in 2010 and this by no means rights the wrong of the NCAA but it does give Devon Ramsay a chance to finish his career on the field.
I do not know how important the Fullback is to new North Carolina Tarheels' Head Coach Larry Fedora's offense but that is irrelevant. He will be allowed to play and finish out his career.
He was injured in the first game of the 2011 season against James Madison that caused him to miss the rest of what was then his senior season. The NCAA arbitrarily ruled against him in 2010 and this by no means rights the wrong of the NCAA but it does give Devon Ramsay a chance to finish his career on the field.
I do not know how important the Fullback is to new North Carolina Tarheels' Head Coach Larry Fedora's offense but that is irrelevant. He will be allowed to play and finish out his career.
Saturday, January 7, 2012
The Start Of ACC Play
The North Carolina Tarheels opened up ACC play against Boston College in Chapel Hill this afternoon. The 'Heels won going away 83-60 as Harrison Barnes led the way with 25 points, Tyler Zeller had 20, and John Henson had 14. Kendall Marshall had 11 assists and an uncharacteristic 6 points.
Boston College started 5 Freshmen and have 9 on the roster and were only 5-9 going into the game. They played a hard, physical game and actually closed to within 59-50 after an 18-7 run in the middle of the second half.
That is when Roy Williams challenged his team to "finish the game like they are supposed to" and they went on a 24-10 run to close it out. I really didn't like the way they finished because I thought they exhibited poor clock management and did not run their offense. With a little bit less than 3 minutes to go, instead of working the clock and getting quality shots, P.J. Hairston, Reggie Bullock, and even Harrison Barnes were jacking up 3's like they were down by 5 points.
This years Tarheels basketball team is a frustrating team to watch. They play great in stretches and they have developed the bad habit of playing up or down to the level of their competition. There are times when they look like an average team. Their defense has more than their fair share of breakdowns and lapses, at times they struggle to keep the opposition from getting offensive rebounds, and their free throw shooting is a glaring weakness, especially as many times as they get to the free throw line. Point Guard Kendall Marshall is only shooting 59% from the free throw line and he is the one that needs to be closing games out at the line.
Boston College started 5 Freshmen and have 9 on the roster and were only 5-9 going into the game. They played a hard, physical game and actually closed to within 59-50 after an 18-7 run in the middle of the second half.
That is when Roy Williams challenged his team to "finish the game like they are supposed to" and they went on a 24-10 run to close it out. I really didn't like the way they finished because I thought they exhibited poor clock management and did not run their offense. With a little bit less than 3 minutes to go, instead of working the clock and getting quality shots, P.J. Hairston, Reggie Bullock, and even Harrison Barnes were jacking up 3's like they were down by 5 points.
This years Tarheels basketball team is a frustrating team to watch. They play great in stretches and they have developed the bad habit of playing up or down to the level of their competition. There are times when they look like an average team. Their defense has more than their fair share of breakdowns and lapses, at times they struggle to keep the opposition from getting offensive rebounds, and their free throw shooting is a glaring weakness, especially as many times as they get to the free throw line. Point Guard Kendall Marshall is only shooting 59% from the free throw line and he is the one that needs to be closing games out at the line.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)