This was one of the North Carolina Tarheels "what might have been" seasons if there ever was one. If John Henson didn't get hurt, they had an excellent chance to win the ACC tournament and if Kendall Marshall didn't break his wrist, they might have won the National Championship. What might have been...
North Carolina has had several seasons much like this. Teams with championship aspirations that were derailed by injuries. The 1977 season when Point Guard Phil Ford got hurt in the NCAA tournament and the 'Heels limped into the Finals against Marquette comes to mind. The 1984 season when Ricky Blanton of LSU took out Freshman point Guard Kenny Smith with a cheap shot resulting in another broken wrist is another classic example.
This season ended pretty much the same way. When Point Guard Kendall Marshall went down with a broken right wrist on a hard foul by a Creighton player, the Tarheels chances took a super sized hit and their season didn't last much longer. At North Carolina it all begins and ends with the Point Guard.
The Tarheels started out as the preseason #1 team. It quickly became apparent after the first few games that the Tarheels chemistry wasn't quite there but I was confident it would be there by the end of the season.
The Tarheels were playing their best basketball of the season when Kendall Marshall went down. Marshall himself was playing near perfect basketball. He had stepped up his offense, he was hitting three pointers, and he had already obliterated the ACC season assist record.
It is ironic that after one play he made against Creighton, Marshall was headed back down court and the camera focused on him. I saw him mouth the words "This is my game!" Unfortunately that would also be his last game of the season. What might have been....
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Missing Kendall Marshall
The North Carolina Tarheels willed their way to a win over the Ohio University Bobcats last night 73-65 in Overtime to move on to the Elite Eight. They had to do so without the services of Point Guard Kendall Marshall and his absence was greatly felt. Freshman Point Guard Stillman White got his first career start and he did not play badly- 2 points, 6 assists, and 0 turnovers.
The Tarheel offense did lack the continuity that it has under Marshall. What Marshall has not been getting a lot of credit for is that he has stepped up his offensive game over the course of the past 5 or 6 games before he got hurt. His three point shooting, his ability to drive to the basket, and of course, his ability to distribute have all been amped up during that time.
Tyler Zeller (20 points and a career high 22 rebounds) and Reggie Bullock (17 points, 5 of 10 from the three point line) were Carolina's saving grace last night. That game epitomized winning ugly but the key is that they are moving on to the next game.
The 'Heels face Kansas next and I would rather the 'Heels play Kansas. Playing North Carolina State a fourth time this season would have been tough. I believe the Wolfpack was playing the most solid basketball of any team in the tournament. They shot less than 30 percent against the Jayhawks and that was their undoing.
I have to admit that I got a certain amount of satisfaction out of the fact that Clark Kellogg's son played for Ohio University and the North Carolina Tarheels are the team that put them out of the NCAA tournament.
The young Kellogg played a solid game and I am glad that CBS did not allow Clark Kellogg to announce the game.
The Tarheel offense did lack the continuity that it has under Marshall. What Marshall has not been getting a lot of credit for is that he has stepped up his offensive game over the course of the past 5 or 6 games before he got hurt. His three point shooting, his ability to drive to the basket, and of course, his ability to distribute have all been amped up during that time.
Tyler Zeller (20 points and a career high 22 rebounds) and Reggie Bullock (17 points, 5 of 10 from the three point line) were Carolina's saving grace last night. That game epitomized winning ugly but the key is that they are moving on to the next game.
The 'Heels face Kansas next and I would rather the 'Heels play Kansas. Playing North Carolina State a fourth time this season would have been tough. I believe the Wolfpack was playing the most solid basketball of any team in the tournament. They shot less than 30 percent against the Jayhawks and that was their undoing.
I have to admit that I got a certain amount of satisfaction out of the fact that Clark Kellogg's son played for Ohio University and the North Carolina Tarheels are the team that put them out of the NCAA tournament.
The young Kellogg played a solid game and I am glad that CBS did not allow Clark Kellogg to announce the game.
Monday, March 19, 2012
Physical vs. Dirty
In the Associated Press write up after yesterday's Creighton vs. North Carolina game, the writer used the word "physical" to describe Creighton's style of play. My definition of physical is a team that is diving after loose balls, setting solid screens, and playing hard nose man-to-man defense.
There is a big difference between physical and dirty. What Creighton did during yesterday's game was play cheap, dirty basketball and it cost North Carolina one of its star players and arguably the best point guard in college basketball, Kendall Marshall.
The dirty play started early in the game. John Henson returned to action with a heavily wrapped left wrist and Creighton guard Grant Gibbs started hacking away at it after the whistle early on in the game. John Henson had posession of the ball under the UNC basket and a foul had already been called on another Creighton player. Gibbs took a couple of hard hacks at his wrist. The play resulted in John Henson picking up a technical foul when he got in Gibbs' face. What sealed the deal for me was Gibbs winking at his bench. Announcer Clark Kellogg, in my opinion one of the worst announcers in college basketball, said he did not know what Gibbs' "intent" was. The intent to injure was there and John Henson knew it. I wonder if Kelloggs perception would have changed if that was his son, who plays for Ohio University, getting hacked on.
Creighton's Center, Gregory Echenique, decided early on that there was no way that he could match Tyler Zeller's skill level so he was going to try to hammer him every time he made a move. Echenique's idea of an offensive move was to lower his shoulder and bang Zeller off of him. Of course Clark Kellogg applauded his efforts the entire game because why worry about skill when you can try to pound them into submission.
The key moment of that battle had to be when Echenique gave Zeller a double forearm shiver to the chest and slammed him to the floor. Echenique had been upset because on the previous offensive posession by Creighton, he had thrown up an errant shot and he immediately started motioning to the officials that he thought Zeller had pushed him on the play. Rather than play on, he decided to take matters into his own hands. UNC's shot was already in the air and Zeller was just below the free throw line, when Echenique turned and faced Zeller, and hit him with both of his forearms. Neither player was remotely close to being in rebounding position. That was by the purest of definitions, a cheap shot. The refs conveniently called nothing, Clark Kellogg remained silent, Jim Nance mentioned there was no foul called on that incident, and the UNC fans booed heartily.
The final moment came when Creighton player, Ethan Wragge, clotheslined Kendall Marshall as he drove in for a layup. Wragge was out of position on the play, his back was turned to Marshall, and he took a backhanded swipe at Marshall as he drove by. Wragge caught him across the shoulder and chest with the backhand swipe, sending Marshall airborn and onto the floor. The result was two free throws and a broken right wrist for Kendall Marshall. The refs actually called a foul on that play.
Creighton couldn't beat the Tarheels with their basketball skills so they turned it into a cheap shot contest. That contest they easily won. The refs let it continue throughout the entire game and they penalized John Henson with a technical foul as a result. All that did was motivate the North Carolina team as they easily won the basketball skills contest. It is a shame that one backhanded swipe could ultimately cost UNC a shot at the national championship.
There is a big difference between physical and dirty. What Creighton did during yesterday's game was play cheap, dirty basketball and it cost North Carolina one of its star players and arguably the best point guard in college basketball, Kendall Marshall.
The dirty play started early in the game. John Henson returned to action with a heavily wrapped left wrist and Creighton guard Grant Gibbs started hacking away at it after the whistle early on in the game. John Henson had posession of the ball under the UNC basket and a foul had already been called on another Creighton player. Gibbs took a couple of hard hacks at his wrist. The play resulted in John Henson picking up a technical foul when he got in Gibbs' face. What sealed the deal for me was Gibbs winking at his bench. Announcer Clark Kellogg, in my opinion one of the worst announcers in college basketball, said he did not know what Gibbs' "intent" was. The intent to injure was there and John Henson knew it. I wonder if Kelloggs perception would have changed if that was his son, who plays for Ohio University, getting hacked on.
Creighton's Center, Gregory Echenique, decided early on that there was no way that he could match Tyler Zeller's skill level so he was going to try to hammer him every time he made a move. Echenique's idea of an offensive move was to lower his shoulder and bang Zeller off of him. Of course Clark Kellogg applauded his efforts the entire game because why worry about skill when you can try to pound them into submission.
The key moment of that battle had to be when Echenique gave Zeller a double forearm shiver to the chest and slammed him to the floor. Echenique had been upset because on the previous offensive posession by Creighton, he had thrown up an errant shot and he immediately started motioning to the officials that he thought Zeller had pushed him on the play. Rather than play on, he decided to take matters into his own hands. UNC's shot was already in the air and Zeller was just below the free throw line, when Echenique turned and faced Zeller, and hit him with both of his forearms. Neither player was remotely close to being in rebounding position. That was by the purest of definitions, a cheap shot. The refs conveniently called nothing, Clark Kellogg remained silent, Jim Nance mentioned there was no foul called on that incident, and the UNC fans booed heartily.
The final moment came when Creighton player, Ethan Wragge, clotheslined Kendall Marshall as he drove in for a layup. Wragge was out of position on the play, his back was turned to Marshall, and he took a backhanded swipe at Marshall as he drove by. Wragge caught him across the shoulder and chest with the backhand swipe, sending Marshall airborn and onto the floor. The result was two free throws and a broken right wrist for Kendall Marshall. The refs actually called a foul on that play.
Creighton couldn't beat the Tarheels with their basketball skills so they turned it into a cheap shot contest. That contest they easily won. The refs let it continue throughout the entire game and they penalized John Henson with a technical foul as a result. All that did was motivate the North Carolina team as they easily won the basketball skills contest. It is a shame that one backhanded swipe could ultimately cost UNC a shot at the national championship.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
ACC Tournament- Vs. North Carolina State
The 'Heels won a hard fought game this afternoon over their rival North Carolina State 69-67 and the Wolpack had their chances to win. Kendall Marshall's 8-foot bank shot with about 10 seconds to go proved to be the winning margin.
The Wolfpack faithful were all screaming charge on Kendall Marshall's drive to the basket. After seeing multiple angles and listening to many interpretations of the play, I believe #3 Johnson for the Wolfpack initiated the contact and then flopped backwards trying to sell the charge. They both met at the same point and #3 flopped. If he would have maintained his defense, Marshall probably wouldn't have hit that shot.
On the last play of the game, a 3/4 court pass to Richard Howell, there was nothing to call a foul on. Three players went up for the ball, two from UNC and Howell, no one had posession, and Howell started flailing his arms around like he was in the act of shooting. He never had posession of the ball.
The absence of John Henson was obvious. I thought the Wolfpack had free reign in the lane and that is where they scored the majority of their points. The Wolfpack had no one to fear to block their shot. James Michael McAdoo had a solid game but UNC recorded no blocked shots in this game. I hope he can play tomorrow or it may be another ugly game.
The unsung hero in this game for the Tarheels was Senior reserve Justin Watts. He played 4 different positions in the game and stole the pass that basically sealed the deal for North Carolina. He only had 2 points but he played a much bigger role and may have to again tomorrow.
The Wolfpack faithful were all screaming charge on Kendall Marshall's drive to the basket. After seeing multiple angles and listening to many interpretations of the play, I believe #3 Johnson for the Wolfpack initiated the contact and then flopped backwards trying to sell the charge. They both met at the same point and #3 flopped. If he would have maintained his defense, Marshall probably wouldn't have hit that shot.
On the last play of the game, a 3/4 court pass to Richard Howell, there was nothing to call a foul on. Three players went up for the ball, two from UNC and Howell, no one had posession, and Howell started flailing his arms around like he was in the act of shooting. He never had posession of the ball.
The absence of John Henson was obvious. I thought the Wolfpack had free reign in the lane and that is where they scored the majority of their points. The Wolfpack had no one to fear to block their shot. James Michael McAdoo had a solid game but UNC recorded no blocked shots in this game. I hope he can play tomorrow or it may be another ugly game.
The unsung hero in this game for the Tarheels was Senior reserve Justin Watts. He played 4 different positions in the game and stole the pass that basically sealed the deal for North Carolina. He only had 2 points but he played a much bigger role and may have to again tomorrow.
ACC Tournament Vs. Maryland
The Tarheels knocked off Maryland in their opening game of the ACC Tournament 85-69 as they had their most balanced scoring attack since the beginning of the season. They placed 5 players in double figures and narrowly missed a 6th as PJ Hairston had 9 points off the bench. Kendall Marshall added 12 Assists.
John Henson went down early in the game on a hard foul and landed awkwardly on his wrist. It is being described as a sprained left wrist and although he tried returning, he was lost for the rest of the game and maybe for the tournament. That will be hard to overcome.
James Michael McAdoo replaced Henson and played with the most confidence that he has displayed all season long. He was strong on the boards and made his shots with a great deal of confidence. It was easily his best game of the season.
John Henson went down early in the game on a hard foul and landed awkwardly on his wrist. It is being described as a sprained left wrist and although he tried returning, he was lost for the rest of the game and maybe for the tournament. That will be hard to overcome.
James Michael McAdoo replaced Henson and played with the most confidence that he has displayed all season long. He was strong on the boards and made his shots with a great deal of confidence. It was easily his best game of the season.
The ACC Tournament
As far as sports are concerned, The ACC tournament has always been my favorite time of year. Growing up, it was the only day of the year that my Mom would let me skip school. That "tradition" started when I was in about the 6th grade.
The Tarheels were always the #1 or #2 seed so they would always play at 12 or 7. I used to tell Mom I needed to be home by 12. Mom would come pick me up at school so I could be home in time for the games to start or she would let me stay out of school altogether. I would usually go shoot baskets at halftime to help burn off some energy.
I particularly remember the 1982 ACC Tournament. It was Michael Jordan's Freshman year but he was only about the third best player on that team behind James Worthy and Sam Perkins.
That tournament was epic especially the Final against Ralph Sampson and the University of Virginia. Ralph Sampson was 7'4" and very athletic and there had never been another player like him before. It was his Senior year and he had been a thorn in the 'Heels side the whole time he had been at Virginia. The story I always heard was that he almost picked the 'Heels over Virginia but couldn't disappoint his grandmother by leaving the state to go to college.
UNC won the tournament final against Virginia 47-45 but that game is credited for bringing about the shot clock in college basketball. UNC had a 4 or 6 point lead with about 8 minutes to go and went into Dean Smith's famous 4 corners offense to kill the clock. I watched that game with my father and we both thought that Dean Smith went into that offense way too early but it worked out for them.
The Tarheels were always the #1 or #2 seed so they would always play at 12 or 7. I used to tell Mom I needed to be home by 12. Mom would come pick me up at school so I could be home in time for the games to start or she would let me stay out of school altogether. I would usually go shoot baskets at halftime to help burn off some energy.
I particularly remember the 1982 ACC Tournament. It was Michael Jordan's Freshman year but he was only about the third best player on that team behind James Worthy and Sam Perkins.
That tournament was epic especially the Final against Ralph Sampson and the University of Virginia. Ralph Sampson was 7'4" and very athletic and there had never been another player like him before. It was his Senior year and he had been a thorn in the 'Heels side the whole time he had been at Virginia. The story I always heard was that he almost picked the 'Heels over Virginia but couldn't disappoint his grandmother by leaving the state to go to college.
UNC won the tournament final against Virginia 47-45 but that game is credited for bringing about the shot clock in college basketball. UNC had a 4 or 6 point lead with about 8 minutes to go and went into Dean Smith's famous 4 corners offense to kill the clock. I watched that game with my father and we both thought that Dean Smith went into that offense way too early but it worked out for them.
Sunday, March 4, 2012
The Coach K Butt Kiss-athon
I don't know why but every sports anchor, commentator, and play-by-play person in college basketball feels somehow obligated to kiss Coach K's butt. Hall of Famer Dick Vitale's lips are usually leading the charge. There are several of them, namely Jay Bilas and Jay Williams, that are ex-Duke players and I can almost understand their obligation.
According to these Duke cheerleaders every move Coach K makes is pure genius, none of his moves are open to be second guessed, and to hear them tell it, Coach K is the greatest basketball mind since James Naismith.
When UNC blew the ten point lead to Duke a few weeks ago and lost, on one of the ESPN sports talk shows, they had an entire panel critiquing Roy Williams down to his reaction and his body language after the game. I wonder if that same panel will be critiquing UNC and Roy Williams now that they pasted Duke at their fortress known as Cameron Indoor Stadium and have reeled off 8 wins in a row since the Duke game. I am thinking probably not since it is a whole lot easier to jump off the bandwagon than it is to get back on.
According to these Duke cheerleaders every move Coach K makes is pure genius, none of his moves are open to be second guessed, and to hear them tell it, Coach K is the greatest basketball mind since James Naismith.
When UNC blew the ten point lead to Duke a few weeks ago and lost, on one of the ESPN sports talk shows, they had an entire panel critiquing Roy Williams down to his reaction and his body language after the game. I wonder if that same panel will be critiquing UNC and Roy Williams now that they pasted Duke at their fortress known as Cameron Indoor Stadium and have reeled off 8 wins in a row since the Duke game. I am thinking probably not since it is a whole lot easier to jump off the bandwagon than it is to get back on.
Duke Can Suck It
The Coach K Public Relations machine known as Duke can suck it. As a Tarheel fan, last nights 88-70 win over Duke may be the most satisfying win ever. It was especially gratifying to see Tarheel and all-around good guy Tyler Zeller have an outstanding game. It was also a game for the ACC regular season championship.
When Coach K first started coaching in the ACC, he railed against UNC and the ACC saying that Dean Smith did whatever he wanted to and the ACC let him and he referred to that as the "Dean Smith rules." Now Coach K does whatever he wants to and gets away with it but I have never heard him refer to it as the "Coach K rules."
Going into halftime, I thought Coach K made a classless move by sending his lackey, Associate Head Coach Chris Collins, to do the interview with ESPN. I am pretty sure the ACC has informed its head coaches to cooperate with the media and I think that Chris Collins handled it well. The point is, that should have been Coach K's ferret face in front of ESPN's camera but I am sure he didn't want to have to try to explain a 24 point halftime deficit. The PR machine couldn't put a positive spin on that big of a number.
Duke Center Miles Plumlee is a classic Duke big man in the tradition of Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, and more recently Greg Newton. Plumlee is a solid player but all of the complaining and gesturing to the refs about calls takes away from his game. Seeing him crying at the end of the game when he fouled out on Duke's Senior Night was somehow apropos.
When Coach K first started coaching in the ACC, he railed against UNC and the ACC saying that Dean Smith did whatever he wanted to and the ACC let him and he referred to that as the "Dean Smith rules." Now Coach K does whatever he wants to and gets away with it but I have never heard him refer to it as the "Coach K rules."
Going into halftime, I thought Coach K made a classless move by sending his lackey, Associate Head Coach Chris Collins, to do the interview with ESPN. I am pretty sure the ACC has informed its head coaches to cooperate with the media and I think that Chris Collins handled it well. The point is, that should have been Coach K's ferret face in front of ESPN's camera but I am sure he didn't want to have to try to explain a 24 point halftime deficit. The PR machine couldn't put a positive spin on that big of a number.
Duke Center Miles Plumlee is a classic Duke big man in the tradition of Danny Ferry, Christian Laettner, and more recently Greg Newton. Plumlee is a solid player but all of the complaining and gesturing to the refs about calls takes away from his game. Seeing him crying at the end of the game when he fouled out on Duke's Senior Night was somehow apropos.
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