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.