Team USA beats dismantles Finland in so many ways I could not begin to list them all.
Deon Thompson: 8 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks in 20 mins.
Next up: South Korea.
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Wins, championships and winning percentage.
And the Heels would have beaten Stanford is it were not for the Cardinal and their freaking rowing team.
Well not really since it was a 270 point deficit. Still, UNC had an excellent year overall.
- The Heels won two national titles: women’s soccer and men’s basketball.
- UNC has two 2nd place finishes: men’s soccer and women’s lacrosse.
- The baseball team made it to the College World Series.
- The football team played in a bowl game.
Add to these team accomplishments the fact UNC put individuals into the first round of the NFL, NBA and MLB drafts. In short the athletic program is rolling which is even better when basketball is as dominant as probably any given point in the past four decades and the football program appears to be on the rise.
Congratulations are in order to the players and coaches in Chapel Hill as well as AD Dick Baddour. I am not sure you can say Baddour is necessarily doing anything other than keeping a steady hand on the wheel and allowing the coaches and players to get the job done. Baddour also keeps a fairly low profile which is ironic considering he has plenty to boast about. Constrast that, if you will, to NC State’s AD Lee Fowler, who loves the sound of his own voice, cannot keep himself out of the limelight and based on the Director’s Cup standings has the 2nd worst athletic program in the ACC, a scant three points ahead of Boston College. Maybe a little less talk and a little more action is in order for the Wolfpack.
In case you were wondering if the Saga of the Foot ended as well as the Saga of the Toe.
Ginyard practiced with the team all the way through the Final Four, though the extent of his participation was limited by the injury and he suffered through difficult soreness after each practice. Once the season ended, however, he was able to take the key step in his recovery.
“We took a couple weeks off after the season and then got back going,” Ginyard said. “I felt like I could play – I could go as hard as I wanted – and afterwards it wasn’t killing me, so the end of April is when I felt like I was good to go.
“It feels very strong right now and we’re continuing to rehab and strengthen my leg, but it feels good. I feel very explosive right now.”
Those who have observed Ginyard in pickup games and workouts thus far this summer affirm that he appears to have returned to form.
While much will be made of Marcus Ginyard needing to seize the mantle of leadership the way David Noel did in 2006, his play on the offensive end could be the lynch pin to the whole season. Ginyard was never a serious offensive threat and part of the reason for that was he never needed to be. When you are on the court with Ty Lawson, Tyler Hansbrough, Wayne Ellington and either Danny Green or Deon Thompson, your work on the offensive end will be in the form of making good passes, grabbing offensive boards and cleaning up garbage around the basket. The absence of experienced guards in 2010 changes what will be asked of Ginyard. His jump shot, especially the ones he takes from beyond the arc are important since the Heels have very little in the way of known three point shooting.
There is no question Ginyard will be the vocal leader on this team. The question is can he have a break-out season of sorts to shore up the Tar Heel offense where it needs it the most.
I was going to say that Deon Thompson is still fighting the Cold War but I think he missed most of it.
Team USA won a typical Bo Ryan coached basketball game 67-63 versus Russia. Only two Americans were in double figures. Corey Fisher had 15 and Deon Thompson had 12 points to go along with nine rebounds.
Based on the stats this game was six kinds of ugly. The teams combined for 38 turnovers(Thompson led USA with five.) Neither team shot over 40% from the floor, like I said, everything you would expect from a game that involved Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan. Still, USA got the win and now moves on to the World University Games beginning on July 3rd versus Finland and then South Korea on July 4th.
The United States World University Games Team played in the Serbia International Invitational over the weekend as a tune up for the World University Games. Team USA split the two meetings beating Canada 85-81 and falling to Serbia 98-92.
Deon Thompson scored 10 points, six rebounds and two blocks in the win over Canada but had a little foul trouble against Serbia. Thompson had 7 points and two rebounds. Based on this excerpt from the game story it sounds like Serbia may have benefited from some home cooking with the refs:
The USA entered the second half with six players showing at least two fouls each, Craig Brackins (Iowa State / Palmdale, Calif.) was whistled for three in the first half, and Serbia wasted no time taking it to the U.S. big men. Trevor Booker (Clemson / Whitmire, S.C.), Lazar Hayward (Marquette / Buffalo, N.Y.) and Deon Thompson (North Carolina / Torrance, Calif.) each picked up their third fouls and Brackins was called for his fourth just 3:13 into the third period. At the 4:07 mark, Thompson collected his fourth and Serbia, which put on a full-court press early in the second half and was a perfect 8-of-8 from the line, was on top 66-55. By the end of the third quarter, the hosts held a 12-point, 76-64, advantage.
Wow. That is officiating that would make a Duke fan blush. Serbia won the FT differential 46-32 despite being called for only three fewer fouls. Hopefully the officiating will be more even handed against Russia today at 12:30 PM EDT.
Jay Wooten split FG kicking duties with Casey Barth last season but handled all of the kickoffs. While no reason was given for the transfer nor has UNC had anything official to say about it I am going to wildly speculate that Wooten had no interest in a similar arrangement next season or he was a clear #2 behind Barth heading into August. The oddity of the news is it comes fairly late in the game. Most transfers happen right after the academic year ends, especially in football. Practice starts in one month, which really does not matter to a transfer since he will sit a season anyway.
I am sure this news will spawn more “waiver wire” talk from our ABC friends.
Like 2005, plenty of Tar Heel interest in this one though not in the “four Heels in the first 14 picks” sort of way.
Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, Wayne Ellington and Danny Freaking Green will be hoping their name will be called. In fact I wish there was some way I could get whichever NBA executive is handling the 2nd Round to say: “And with the 47th pick in the 2009 NBA Draft the Minnesota Timberwolves select Danny Freaking Green, University of North Carolina”
That would be awesome.
At present it appears Tyler Hansbrough and Ty Lawson are certain first round picks. The question is whether they go in the lottery.
Wayne Ellington on the other hand might fall to the 2nd round which is where Danny Green is sure to end up. The scenario that will likely piss off the most Tar Heel fans will be if Gerald Henderson ends up in the lottery and Ellington falls to the 2nd round. The reports coming into the draft are that Henderson is not as highly regarded as he once was while Ellington has picked up some buzz. Still, Draft Express presently has Ellington as the 40th pick overall twenty four spots behind Henderson.
It should be interesting to watch. Roy Williams will be in the Green Room. Hansbrough apparently asked him to come and be there. Marvin Williams did the same thing in 2005.
The NBA Draft begins at 7 PM on ESPN.
Consider this an open thread.
J.P. Giglio has a great rundown on what this means for Duke. In short, the Blue Devils are in a world of hurt now. Without Gerald Henderson Duke could at least turn to a triumvirate of Jon Scheyer, Kyle Singler and Elliott Williams to get the job done. Without Williams the perimeter in Durham is woefully thin and the frontcourt still is not going to scare anyone.
Starters
G Smith
G Scheyer
G/F Singler
F Thomas
F ZoubekBench
G/F Kelly
F Miles Plumlee
F Mason PlumleeOuch. Still good but where are the guards? Without Williams, both Singler and Kelly will have to play the perimeter, which is fine for 3-point shooting purposes, but what about defense? You might actually see Coach K use a lot of 2-3 zone because there are no traditional perimeter reserves.
The one silver lining is Duke should be able to find enough three point shooting. The problem is guarding quicker offensive players as well as pulling someone like Singler away from the basket where he could be grabbing defensive boards.
However, looking at this roster that may not be Duke’s biggest problem. Depth is going to be a major factor. Duke will only have nine scholarship players on the roster out of a possible 13. Only two of those players are listed as guards, Nolan Smith and Jon Scheyer. Giglio is listing Singler and Ryan Kelly has G/F but Singler is 6-8 and Kelly is 6-10 which means at best those two are small forwards. Everyone else is 6-7 or taller and will be playing in the paint. No one can say for sure if Oleg Czyz or either of the Plumlee brothers will be effective enough for quality minutes. The same is also true of Kelly which is to say that Duke could be looking at five quality players and four other guys who are simply not ready to contribute. Needless to say, if you can run on Duke, you should and you can safely bet by mid-February we will likely hear plenty about how tired the Blue Devils are.
What does this mean for UNC? Well it means the Tar Heels are certainly not much worse off on the perimeter. UNC still has a three point shooting question to answer but assuming they can locate at least two guys who can hit 35-40% of their threes, I honestly think it becomes an even match with Duke out there. The frontcourt is not even a contest. Ed Davis and Deon Thompson are going to do what they do best backed up by Tyler Zeller and Wear Squared. UNC will also be plenty deep and while they will not run as much as they did with Ty Lawson, I expect they will still get after it on a regular basis.
In short, if there was a debate of whether UNC or Duke would win the ACC, there is not one now. Krzyzewski is a good enough coach to make chicken salad out of you know what and Duke will still be a tough out. However, the long grind of the season will likely do serious damage to any hopes of an NCAA run.
And if Phil Jackson retires from the Lakers, I imagine the “K leaving for L.A.” rumors will be as hot as the surface of the sun within 15 minutes.
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