Block Party

Brice Johnson had an old fashioned block party last night and Florida Gulf Coast University were the guests of honor. Johnson blocked six FGCU shots in the second half and eight for the game. A nickname that was used by FGCU a few years ago, "Dunk City", was referenced early in the game and Johnson had a party at the rim on the offensive end as well. FGCU was only down by a point at halftime but the Tarheels were able to turn up the defensive pressure in the second half and were able to secure the 83-67 win.

I was listening to the Tarheel radio show before the game with Jones Angell and Eric Monross and a statement that was made by Roy Williams was brought up where he said that this season's team was one of the most criticized and under appreciated teams that he had ever had. The press has really gone after the Tarheels this season whether they win or lose. The Tarheels have been the popular punching bag in college basketball by the sports media. No matter the upsets that occurred yesterday the Tarheel win was greeted with a ho hum attitude.

Gottlieb Goofs

There was a line in a Three Stooges skit that went something like "every time you think, you weaken the nation." The nation is much weaker thanks to Doug Gottlieb, CBS basketball "personality." At the beginning of the season, I was watching a North Carolina Tarheels game against UCLA and before the game began, Gottlieb was giving his "expert" analysis and he had to mention the UNC academic scandal one more time.

Before the UNC-Miami game, Gottlieb stated that he had been talking to "people" and said that Roy Williams was going to retire at the end of the season due to Coach Williams well documented health issues. Coach Williams addressed the issue after the game as only Coach Williams could. Williams denied that he is retiring for any reason whatsoever and the line about Gottlieb wearing his shorts backwards during the first part of a game he played in was funny.

Doug Gottlieb has his own sports talk radio show for CBS and they tried to schedule an interview with Roy Williams and UNC politely declined. Anyone that does sports talk of any kind knows that the dissenting opinion sells, controversy sells, and trying to be the first one out there with any information sells. Gottlieb has tried putting out there that Williams retirement was his "opinion" but he made it sound like his "opinion" was very informed and he had talked to those that were more knowledgeable about the situation and had behind the scenes information. I am happy to see that UNC turned down Gottlieb's request. By agreeing to his request for an interview, it would have given credence to Gottlieb's "opinion". He will not e able to sell that bit of controversy. Now if he could only put his shorts own right.

Taking A Powder At BC

A trip to Boston College was should have been just what the doctor ordered to cure the North Carolina Tarheels basketball team's road ills. The trip ended in a victory but seems to have made the Tarheels even sicker especially head coach Roy Williams. Williams had to leave the court with just under 15 minutes to go in the game due to an attack of vertigo. Assistant coach Steve Robinson, a long time Williams assistant and former head coach at Florida State, took over.

The Tarheels overcame a nine point deficit with 10 minutes to play for a 68-65 win over Boston College who came into the game 0-10 in ACC play. This is the same Boston College team that the Tarheels beat by 27 points in a lackluster effort a little over a week ago. Justin Jackson had his most impressive game since Thanksgiving with 20 points and even nailed a couple of three pointers for good measure. That was the Tarheels 20th victory on the season but it was not a strong showing against the worst team in the ACC.

A Little Magic

Brice Johnson showed he had a little bit of magic to his game with a career high eight assists against Syracuse and most of those assists were passes to Isaiah Hicks against the Syracuse zone for dunks or layups. Hicks tied a career high in points with 21 and set a career high in rebounds with eight. Johnson and Hicks games offset the Marcus Paige's lowest point total of the season with three.

Johnson's career high is assists comes the game after his career best 39 points and 23 rebounds against Florida State and for his efforts for the week, Johnson was named the ACC player of the Week for the second time this season. The Tarheels improved to 4-0 in the ACC for the first time in Roy Williams 13 seasons as the North Carolina head coach.

The Coaching Tree

The coaching tree at North Carolina begins with Dean Smith and has filtered down through a couple of generations now. Former Tarheel player Wes Miller, coached by Roy William, is in his fifth season at North Carolina-Greensboro and has a fairly impressive track record while in Greensboro. He won Coach of the Year honors in the Southern Conference while being the interim coach in his first season there.

North Carolina-Greensboro was North Carolina's final tune up before facing Clemson in the Atlantic Coast Conference opener. UNC-G was only 4-8 coming into the game but had previously lost to North Carolina State by only six points but it was a game the Tarheels should win fairly easily. I never feel good about these types of games because if the Tarheels don't win by 30 or 40 points I am left wondering what happened.

UNC-G cut the lead down to 11 points on a couple of different occasions in the second half but North Carolina won going away 96-63. Kennedy Meeks is still out for North Carolina and I was hoping to see Freshmen Luke Maye and Kenny Williams get some quality minutes and I like what I am seeing from Maye and this was probably Williams best game as a Tarheel. Maye played 15 minutes and had five points and four rebounds and he showed off some range by hitting a three pointer from the top of the key. Williams grabbed a long rebound and took it strong to the basket for a layup. It is a long season and I am sure these two Freshmen will be counted on down the stretch to contribute key minutes off the bench. Maye was seen as more of a project coming into the seasonand because of North Carolina's depth up front, was not expected to get much playing time. Williams had a reputation for being a three point shooter in high school and while he has not yet got untracked from the three point line, he has shown the ability to take it strong to the basket.

The View From The Third Row

North Carolina Tarheels guard Marcus Paige got a great view of Texas game winning shot on Saturday because he had been knocked into about the third row when the shot took place. The long rebound had bounced out to the perimeter and Paige had attempted to box out for a potential rebound. #21 of Texas decided he needed that rebound position even more and slammed into the back of Paige.

I am biased because I am a Tarheel fan but the refs had no problem blowing their whistles the entire game (23 fouls on North Carolina, 22 on Texas) and yet they missed the most obvious call in the game. Roy Williams had this to say about the play (taken from insidecarolina.com "(Paige) is on the floor, and he didn't jump down there and roll around and start barking like a dog." The officiating is getting horrendous in every sport and the Tarheels were hosed in two different sports in two straight weekends.

The Louisville Slugger

The North Carolina Tarheels beat Louisville yesterday 70-60 to advance to the ACC semifinal round. The 'Heels will play #1 seed Virginia.

The game the 'Heels game played yesterday was maddeningly typical for this season. They play a bad half of basketball and they play a good half of basketball. Against Louisville, the first half was much worse than the second half but luckily for the Tarheels, the second half was much more important.

The Tarheels were down 37-32 at halftime and were down by as many as 10 points. It could have been and probably should have been much worse. Their shooting percentage was in the 30's while allowing Louisville to shoot about 50 percent. Head Coach Roy Williams had a jacket throwing fit and I don't know if that provided the inspiration or what but whatever works.

We also saw the worst of Brice Johnson in the first half (2 for 9 shooting, 4 points) and best of him in the second (6 for 8 shooting, 8 for 9 from the free throw line, and 6 of his 7 rebounds) for a total of 22 points. He rose to the occasion in the second half and carried the Tarheels to victory.

The Tarheels Defense was also vastly improved in the second half, holding Louisville to 23 points. The Tarheels went to a Zone defense in the second half and it seemed to take Louisville out of their game. They only hit 4 of 22 three pointers for the game and their shooting percentage plunged into the 30's.

It was a solid win for North Carolina over a higher ranked team but they only have about 24 hours to en joy this victory. A well coached Virginia team awaits them in the semifinals. The Tarheels neede to bring that intensity for another game.

The Four Corners

Roy Williams and the North Carolina Tarheels honored Dean Smith by starting today's game against Georgia Tech running the Four Corners offense. Roy Williams had on a vintage Dean Smith Sports Jacket and as soon as Marcus Paige gained control of the basketball, Roy Williams held up four fingers. It took about five seconds for the Tarheels to score as Brice Johnson went back door and Marcus Paige fed him the ball for a layup. The Georgia Tech players were not sure what was going on because I am sure they have never seen that before.

Dean Smith installed the Four Corners offense as a means to control the ball and kill the clock and to create easy scoring opportunities with a lead late in the game. Phil Ford was the force behind the Four Corners in the days before the shot clock.

Many point to the North Carolina- Virginia game in 1982 pitting James Worthy vs. Ralph Sampson as to why the Shot Clock was instituted in the college game. North Carolina went into the Four Corners offense nursing a 2 or 4 point lead with about 9 or 10 minutes to go in the game. They ended up winning the game because of the Four Corners and most fans felt that when Dean Smith took the air out of the ball, it changed the competitive balance of the game and did not give Ralph Sampson an opportunity to win the game.

The Tarheel Depth

The 2014-15 North Carolina basketball team probably has more depth on it than any Tarheel team in recent memory, maybe ever. They have nine players averaging double figures in minutes per game with a tenth, Joel James, averaging about 9 minutes a game. Usually by the start of ACC Conference play, the Tarheels rotation has weeded itself out to where only about eight players are getting minutes. Eleven players on the roster have played in all 14 games with a twelveth, Jackson Simmons, having played in 12 of the contests.

Over the past couple of seasons, Head Coach Roy Williams, has had to try non-traditional lineup combinations ("small ball", for example, from a few seasons ago). He has tried that same type of combination this season with Theo Pinson, Nate Britt, and Marcus Paige all being on the floor at the same time. North Carolina has a guard heavy roster. If they could all hit three-pointers that would be great but they are more ball handlers and putting on defensive pressure than they are shooters. Britt is probably the best on the ball defender on the team.

The Centers on North Carolina's team- Kennedy Meeks, Joel James, and Desmond Hubert- all get playing time. Meeks is the only true offensive threat of the three but James' game is developing nicely. He can occasionally hit a mid-range jumper and throw in an old school Sky Hook to keep the other team off balance. Hubert is good for a few rebounds and an ESPN highlight worthy block shot per game.

East Carolina

As a true Tarheel blue fan, I am glad the Tarheels play East Carolina in basketball as well. After some let down losses to Butler and Iowa, the Tarheels bounced back with a 108-64 win over East Carolina. They raced out to a 48-29 halftime lead and improved to 6-2. Brice Johnson had a double-double in the first half and finished with 19 points and 17 rebounds, J.P. Tokoto had 19 points and 8 assists, and Kennedy Meeks also had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Nate Britt was the only other double figure scorer with 10 points.

The Tarheels need to quit playing during Carolina Panthers games on Sundays. I was busy watching the Panthers destroy the Saints 41-10 in the Superdome to put themselves back in the NFC playoff picture so I only caught the highlights of the East Carolina game. I also religiously poured over the stats like I normally do and 60% shooting and 17-22 at the free throw line was Light Years ahead of what they shot against Iowa. The focus in the East Carolina game was on getting the ball inside as they only shot 7 three-pointers (only hitting 1) after only going 4-23 against Iowa. According to Roy Williams, the overall play was going to be better and it was. Sometimes a team just needs the proper motivation.

Roy Williams Is All Things Tarheel Sports

Head North Carolina Basketball Coach Roy Williams called into Head Football Coach Larry Fedora's radio show the other night in a show of support for the Tarheels Football team. "Roy from Chapel Hill" predicted a Tarheel victory over Georgia Tech this coming Saturday night and I am sure that Coach Fedora appreciated it. I hope Coach Williams knows his football as well as he does his basketball.

Roy Williams is a great ambassador for North Carolina Tarheel athletics and for the school itself. He can regularly be seen at football and baseball games as well as women's basketball games. The phone call was not the first time that he has offered a public show of support either.

Project Players

Dean Smith used to always have on his teams at least one "project player". These players were not that highly heralded coming out of high school but had some potential to turn into a valuable starter or a key reserve off the bench by the end of their four years. Warren Martin, Kevin Salvadori, and Hubert Davis come to mind. Warren Martin couldn't catch a pass without traveling when he was a Freshman but by the time he was a Senior, he was averaging about 10 points and a couple of blocked shots a game. This years team has several project players with tons of potential but probably shouldn't be starting and/or logging 20 to 30 minutes a game. J.P. Tokoto probably has the most upside of these projects. He is probably the most athletic player the Tarheels have had since Vince Carter. He glides up and down the court and he is definitely the highest flyer they have had since Vince Carter. He is working hard on expanding his basketball skill set and may already be the best passer on the team. Joel James is probably the biggest project. He is listed at 6'10" and 280 pounds but he only played 2 years of high school basketball before coming to UNC. He takes up a lot of space in the middle and also needs to work on his basketball skill set. The Point Guard position has always been the toughest to play at UNC and since Roy Williams started his tenure at UNC, the position has been amped up a little bit to run the Supersonic engine that is the Tarheel offense. Nate Britt was brought to UNC as an under study to Marcus Paige but got thrust into the starting role when Paige had to slide over and assume P.J. Hairston's position. Britt needs to develop an offensive game to go with running the show. All of these projects will probably all be good players by the time they finish their four years. The climate of college basketball has changed as the McDonald's All-Americans are only staying one year now. Teams need these project players to perform a lot sooner than usually expected and their learning curve gets very steep as a result.

Death, Taxes, And a Tarheel Victory Over Clemson

There are three sure things in life if you are a Tarheel basketball fan: Death, Taxes, and a victory against Clemson in Chapel Hill. The latest victory, an 80-61 victory last night, was the 57th in a row over Clemson in Chapel Hill, and was a very solid offensive showing against a Clemson team that was ranked 10th in the nation in total defense. James Michael McAdoo led the way with 22 points and played a great overall game and Marcus Paige chipped in with 15. Leslie McDonald had 12 points and Kennedy Meeks had 11 points and 3 blocked shots in his third start on the season. The 'Heels played with a "sense of urgency" is the phrase that Roy Williams kept using. The 'Heels played like their basketball season depended on it and at 12-7, every game might from this point on out. The 'Heels are 2-4 in the ACC and probably need to finish at 10-6 in the ACC and have a strong showing in the ACC Tournament to stand a chance at making the NCAA Tournament. They do have solid wins against Louisville and Michigan State in their resume and they will have several more opportunities against Top 25 teams.

The Texas Free Throw Massacre

Every one seems to have an answer for the Tsrheels Free Throw shooting woes. 24-47 against Texas in an 86-83 loss to Texas the other night. If they would have hit their season average of slightly over 60% they would have won the game. The fact that the Tarheels got killed on the boards mostly got lost in the shuffle. They were outrebounded 51-42 for the game and 29-15 in the first half. Roy Williams was not happy with the "effort" and scheduled a 5 AM practice the next morning. That should get some players' attention. The Tarheels had 3 players in double figures- Marcus Paige with 23, Leslie McDonald with 15, and James Michael McAdoo with 11. Leslie McDonald got reinstated by the NCAA before the game and came off the bench and hit 4-9 three pointers. The word on the street is that P.J. Hairston will miss the entire season. That is for an entirely different post. The "heels take on an always tough Davidson team on Saturday night.

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.

Where Is The Defense?

The 'Heels 97-63 victory over McNeese State still was not the reaction from the loss at Texas that I was hoping for. Granted they had a 31 point lead at halftime, but McNeese State used the second half as a layup drill. When they weren't driving to the basket for easy shots, they were getting open for 10 foot jumpshots and wide open three-pointers. It seems that Freshman Point Guard Marcus Paige had a sit down with Head Coach Roy Williams yesterday after practice and he responded with 6 points, 9 assists, and 0 turnovers. The 'Heels were on fire from the three point line hitting 13-28, led by P.J. Hairston with 20 points and Reggie Bullock with 17. With the ACC season coming up fast, the 'Heels have problems on defense, their outside shooting is inconsistent, and they still haven't settled on a starter at Center. Desmond Hubert is a liability on offense, Brice Johnson has skills but gets pushed around because of his lack of strength, and Joel James has all of the potential in the world but not much in the way of experience (he has only played for about 4 years). This is going to be one of those seasons where the Tarheels are going to be better at the end of the year than they are at the beginning.

A Win That Feels Like A Loss

UNC's win against East Carolina on December 15th did not exactly leave me with that warm fuzzy feeling that you get when your team wins. The 'Heels blew a big lead late in the second half and only won 93-87. East Carolina had a legitimate chance to pull within one point with under a minute to go. Turnovers, lousy defense, and missed opportunities allowed the comeback to happen. The "heels have Texas coming up and Head Coach Roy Williams sounded almost despondent over the 'Heels performance against East Carolina. They seem to be developing the bad habit of playing down to the level of their competition. I can't say they are playing up to the level of their competition because of the losses to the quality competition they have played this year, Butler and Indiana.

Going To The Beach

It is hard for me to have respect for a college basketball program that calls itself "The Beach". They have it written on the front of their uniforms, and they have have it plastered on the center of their court, adorned by big palm trees. That being said, they have proven themselves a very tough program over the past three or four years, and I was seriously worried about the Tarheels making a stop over here on their way to the Maui Invitational. Thanks to ESPN2 I only got to see the second half. The 'Heels held a 33-32 lead at halftime and just by looking at the stat sheet, it looked like the same old story. Poor three point shooting (3-13) and giving up several easy baskets. They warmed up from the outside in the second half (7-13), including 5 in a row at one point, and James Michael McAdoo heated up on the inside, finishing with 18 points. Coach Roy Williams is still tinkering with his rotations as Brice Johnson got the start in the second half ahead of Desmond Hubert and Joel James. Brice Johnson has the most developed offensive game of the trio but because of his slight build, he seems to get pushed around on the inside defensively. He still manages to get to the basket for offensive rebounds and easy baskets and he runs the floor well. He finished with 10 points in 13 minutes. Joel James ended up with 3 points, 9 rebounds, and 2 blocked shots. P. J. Hairston had 14 points off the bench on the strength of 3-7 three-point shooting and Marcus Paige was the other double figure scorer with 15 points but his assist to turnover ration is still only about 1 to 1. It was a good victory, an important victory as they played well in their first road game and they needed the road experience.

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.

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.