Officials Control The Game

The officials lost control of the NC State-UNC game early on yesterday afternoon and it degenerated from there. John Thompson's philosophy at Georgetown was the officials are not going to call everything and his teams played that way. They were very physical, got away with murder, and it greatly influenced the outcomes of games, usually in their favor. NC State only uses 6 or 7 players throughout the course of the game and I don't know if that influences how they call a game or not, but yesterdays game was very physical and I have to question the timing of some of the calls. Reggie Bullock was called for a foul in which he whacked a NC State player on the back as he drove in for a shot, but the official did not make the call until the player actually missed the shot. Even the announcer made mention of the fact. James Michael McAdoo continually got mugged all day long, including a hip check that sent him flying across the lane (no call) but the most curious had to be the double call against Scott Wood and Dexter Strickland in the second half. Scott Wood gave a forearm shiver to Strickland and I saw no real retaliation by Strickland but Wood walks away holding his head so they call the double foul. The 'Heels did not shoot their first free throw of the game until there were about 5 minutes gone in the second half. Basketball is a game of skill, precision, and finesse. If I want to watch football or hockey, I will turn to a different channel or wait until the fall.

Classic Tarheel Basketball

The game yesterday versus North Carolina State was classic Tarheel basketball. The Wolfpack wore them out the first time they played about a month ago and the 'Heels had to fight like hell to make that score respectable by the end. This game was much different with a much better outcome. The 'Heels "small ball" lineup is allowing them to play better defense. They are quicker on the floor and put more pressure on the ball. Reggie Bullock had a monster game with 22 points and 13 rebounds, leading 4 Tarheels in double figures. Marcus Paige was more than up to the task against Leslie Brown with 14 points, 8 assists, and 0 turnovers including a couple of three pointers and a drive towards the basket towards the end of the game netting him a basket and an "and 1" that helped close it out. It was an impressive performance and they finished the game out strong instead of fading down the stretch. It was a game the 'Heels needed to make a statement in and the statement was emphatic with a 76-65 final score.

Three Point Shooting Contest

At the beginning of the game against Georgia Tech, I thought the Tarheels may have gotten into the spirit of the NBA All-Star weekend and started their own three point shooting contest. The problem was they weren't hitting any of them and they sure didn't hit any "money balls." The offense finally got untracked when James Michael McAdoo got involved just moving to the basket on some screen-and-rolls. He scored several easy baskets on his way to 22 points and 11 rebounds. Leslie McDonald easily had his best game since returning to the lineup with 15 points on 4 of 6 three point shooting. That helped to cover for P.J. Hairston's worst shooting game (4 of 15 and 1 or 7) since becoming a starter in "small ball". All of this added up to a 70-58 win for the 'Heels and they need to win the games they should from here on out until the ACC Tournament. Wins over State and Duke would also be a great help.

Starting To Gel

The smaller lineup, in their second appearance of the season, looks like they might be starting to gel. New starter P.J. Hairston has taken well to his new role, leading the way against Virginia with 29 points hitting 6 of 12 three-pointers. The 'Heels hit 13 of 28 from behind the arc. They also hit 22 of 30 from the free throw line. Putting up 93 points against ACC defensive leader Virginia and their 52.3 PPG was really impressive especially the 53 points in the second half. The odd man out in this new rotation seems to be Joel James but he is the least experienced of all of the Tarheels big men. That moves the Tarheels to 17-8 on the season and still on the far end of the NCAA bubble. They really do not have any quality wins against big time opponents and have not been able to get over that road hump. They have an opportunity to get off that schneid Tuesday night when they travel to Atlanta to play a young Georgia Tech team.

A Valiant Effort

Head Coach Roy Williams decided to change his starting lineup against Duke. He basically went with a four guard lineup with P.J. Hairston playing out of position at Power Forward. He was almost able to pull it off, building a 10 point lead in the first half before fading down the stretch and losing by 5. It is redundant to point out the fact that the 'Heels were only 13-23 from the free throw line. It is bad enough that they get to the line far less frequently than they have in the past several years but then to miss the opportunities that you do have..... As one of my old coaches use to say "it is a free throw. We are not asking you to hit a halfcourt shot to win the game." This smaller lineup may be the way for the 'Heels to go for the rest ofr the year. Hairston replaces Desmond Hubert in the starting lineup and now that Leslie McDonald is getting back to full strength, he becomes the sixth man coming off the bench.

The Ugly Truth

Yesterday's game against Miami was ugly in every sense of the word. I don't care how good ol' Roy is or isn't, he cannot pull enough rabbits out of the hat to turn this into an NCAA worthy team. He cannot turn Desmond Hubert into Tyler Hansbrough and he cannot turn Dexter Strickland into Wayne Ellington. On offense, they are playing 3 on 5 and on defense they are not as big or as athletic as they have been in the past, and with Duke looming on the horizon, it could get even uglier. I never thought I would say this in my lifetime but Miami is the class of the ACC in basketball. They just didn't beat Duke and North Carolina, they obliterated them. Granted the schedule has favored Miami in the first half of the ACC season with both of those games at home, but playing in the Dean Dome is not going to make them a better team. They have the potential, but the individual parts are not playing as one unit. It is like the timing belt is off and the engine is misfiring.

Turn The Paige

On Saturday against Virginia Tech, Marcus Paige became more of an offensive force than he has been all season long. 19 points on 4 of 10 three-pointers. He looked for his shot more in this game than he had all season. The comparison to last years Point Guard Kendall Marshall began immediately and were unwarranted. Any such comparisons are unwarranted. Two different players and two completely different styles. Paige has the potential to be more of an offensive force from the Point Guard position than Marshall was but Marshall may have been the best passing Point Guard in the history of college basketball. It is also quite obvious that Marshall went pro a year too soon as he is just now garnering any minutes with the Phoenix Suns in spite of being a middle first round draft pick. He needed to develop his shot and his offensive game more. Hopefully Paige will learn from his mistake.

Nothing Comes Easy

I don't believe anything is going to come easy for the North Carolina Tarheels this basketball season. The 'Heels had to go to Overtime to beat the Virginia Tech Hokies today 72-60 and the Hokies are one of the bottom feeders in the ACC this season. James Michael McAdoo led the way with 22 points, most on 15 foot jumpers from the free throw line against Virginia Tech's zone defense. Marcus Paige had a career high 19 points, hit 4 of 10 three-pointers, had 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. He keeps improving game-by-game. The 'Heels actually managed to get to the free throw line 27 times (about ten more times than their average), hitting 19, and for a change, their free throw shooting put them over the top and they were able to finish off the game. Jackson Simmons got a career high 18 minutes and only scored 2 points but I am still impressed by his play. He is always around the ball and always seems to be in position to make a play.