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.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
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.
Thursday, January 19, 2012
The Will To Win
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.
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.
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.
Saturday, December 3, 2011
The Kentucky Game
North Carolina had their chances at Kentucky and did not finish the game. The 'Heels missed 9 straight field goals late in the second half and turnovers once again killed them. UNC had their best three-point shooting game of the season (11-18) and it was a great game. Its a shame that the 'Heels lost.
The Tarheels can take alot from this game. Freshman P.J. Hairston came up huge in this game hitting 3 out of 4 three-pointers. He showed he is not shy about putting up a big shot in a hostile environment. Reggie Bullock also hit a few big shots and I thought played some solid defense.
There were also some negatives to this game. I do not think that Tyler Zeller did a real good job of handling the double team as evidenced by his 4 turnovers. Dexter Strickland couldn't seem to hang onto the ball. The 'Heels also had a bad shooting game as well as being outrebounded for the 4th time in 8 games.
The Tarheels can take alot from this game. Freshman P.J. Hairston came up huge in this game hitting 3 out of 4 three-pointers. He showed he is not shy about putting up a big shot in a hostile environment. Reggie Bullock also hit a few big shots and I thought played some solid defense.
There were also some negatives to this game. I do not think that Tyler Zeller did a real good job of handling the double team as evidenced by his 4 turnovers. Dexter Strickland couldn't seem to hang onto the ball. The 'Heels also had a bad shooting game as well as being outrebounded for the 4th time in 8 games.
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