Archive for February, 2006

Mike Krzyzewski: Professional Spinster

Published
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Tar Heel Fan
on February 28, 2006
in ACC Basketball and Local Media/Blogs
. 0 Comments

Following Mike Krzyzewski’s apparent refusal to actually address the referee issue on ESPN Sunday night the N&O sent J.P. Giglio over to Durham to question Coach K on it. In what barely qualifies as an interview(he only asked him four questions) Giglio asks Krzyzewski if (1) a coach can influence a game by talking to the referees and (2) if coaches “work the referees” Giglio also brings up the fact that Krzyzewski is a complete hyporcrite for making accusations against Dean Smith on the same issue 20 years ago then engaging in the very same behavior he once decried.

The answers Krzyzewski gave were laughable. In response to the first question on influencing referees he claims it is not possible though hedges somewhat that a referee might listen to a coach on an issue(paritcularly if that coach is using the F-word repeatedly in his ear). His second response was had even greater comedic value when he demurred the use of the term “working the refs” and then claims that coaches do not “work” the refs but rather talk with them as a means of getting certain explanations on a call.

Poppycock! Then explain to me why all of your responses to referee explanations involve screaming and profanity. Please explain why, if it is true that a referee cannot be worked, you waste the time and breath to verbally abuse them when a call does not go your way. This is ludicrous. Of course coaches work the refes, Krzyzewski does it, Roy does it, all coaches do it. Dean Smith used to do some weird dance on the sideline protesting calls. It borders on stupidity to say otherwise in an on the record interview. Krzyzewski gives that answer like we all listen to ACC games on the radio and no one attends them in person. What Krzyzewski should have said was: “Yes, we do criticize calls we do not like and there are times we get pretty heated about it. If in that course I say things which might be seen as abusive then I apologize. People need to understand that we have players on the floor giving 110% and it is our job to advocate for them when we think a referee makes a bad call.” In fact even if he had skipped the apology part it would have 100 times more credible than the answer he gave.

The sad thing about the N&O, in this case, is they failed to even address this aspect of the issue when they devoted two stories to it last week. However, since the ESPN interviewer had the guts to go after Krzyzewski they had to come back around to it. I do not believe any conspiracy is in place but I do believe Krzyzewski commits ritual verbal abuse of referees. There is no way to know what effect that has on any given referee or game. Referees are humans and as much as Krzyzewski wants to pretend that them being “professionals” turns them into totally objective robots incapable of bias or emotion, the reality of what we see says otherwise. It also should be noted that Krzyzewski’s behavior is no different than many other coaches out there. The unfortunate thing about his answers to these questions is they were intellectually dishonest and an insult to the intelligence of fans everywhere who all know better.

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Heels Beat Maryland

Published
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Tar Heel Fan
on February 26, 2006
in ACC Basketball and UNC Basketball
. 0 Comments

In a game indicative of how well things are going for UNC and how bad it is at Maryland, North Carolina whipped the Terps 81-57 in Chapel Hill.

The win along with Florida State’s anemic loss at Virginia Tech ensure the Heels could slip no lower than fourth if they should lose their final two games. Any hopes Maryland had of going to the NCAA Tournament are history though they do have a good recruiting class on the way. UNC also officially moved into second place today a half game ahead of NC State. A win over Virginia on Wednesday night would ensure at least the #3 seed in the ACC Tournament and moved them out of Duke’s bracket.

The middle of the ACC pack is the most interesting puzzle right now with three schools at 7-7 and no one seemingly interested in making the Big Dance. As mentioned above, Florida State went to Blacksburg and lost, they face Duke at home, Miami on the road. I see the Seminoles dropping to 7-9. Virginia went to Clemson on Saturday and were pretty much blown right back out of the building, they travel to UNC on Wednesday and are home to Maryland to finish the season. Cavs should finish at 8-8. Miami, who broke a four game losing streak against VT last Wednesday has the best chance to get to 9-7 by winning at Maryland and beating FSU at home. Miami and UVa both would need to make it all the way to Saturday to get anywhere close to an NCAA berth however. Florida State at 7-9 would be NIT bound. As it stands now Duke, UNC, BC, and NC State are NCAA locks. A fifth bid is looking very suspect at this point.

Here is how I think the ACC will finish up next Sunday. The tiebreakers have already been applied and NCAA locks in bold.

#1-Duke 16-0, 29-1
#2-Boston College 11-5, 24-6
#3-North Carolina 11-5, 20-7
#4-NC State 11-5, 22-7
#5-Miami 9-7, 17-12
#6-Virginia 8-8, 15-12
#7-Florida State 7-9, 17-10
#8-Clemson 7-9, 18-11
#9-Maryland 6-10, 16-13
#10-Virginia Tech 4-12, 14-15
#11-Georgia Tech 4-12, 11-16
#12-Wake Forest 2-14, 14-16

Also, two years ago Georgia Tech was playing for a national title and one year ago knocked UNC out of the ACC semifinals prior to the Tar Heel title run, now they appear to be heading to an 11-16 record. Wake Forest was the pre-season #1 last year, they will hit rock bottom with a likely 14-16 mark.

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It’s All in the Execution

Published
by
Tar Heel Fan
on February 25, 2006
in ACC Basketball
. 0 Comments

Unless you are NC State and Boston College.

Boston College gave a big boost to North Carolina today by knocking off NC State 74-72 in double overtime at the RBC Center in Raleigh. The most intriguing aspect of the game is that it seemed like neither team wanted to win it or was able to execute their offense in clutch situations. NC State had the ball with the game tied and 15 seconds left in regulation. They came out of a timeout and waited 10 seconds before starting any kind of offense towards the basket. They failed to score. Both sessions of overtime saw both teams run the offense in this manner. It should be noted that both teams were playing excellent defense which contributed somewhat to the ineptitude of the respective offenses. However, when it came down to the clutch possessions NC State seemed very lost in executing the necessary plays to win the game. BC did not really win the game as much as NC State lost it.

The implication of the loss favors the Tar Heels. Both NC State and BC have five losses, the Tar Heels have only four. Here is the likely scenario as I see it:

North Carolina: Should win at home against Maryland(Sunday) and Virginia(3/1) and will probably lose at Duke(3/4) putting them at 11-5 in the conference.

NC State: Should win at Wake Forest(3/4) and finish 11-5 in the conference.

Boston College: Plays at home against Wake Forest(2/28) and Virginia Tech(3/4) and they should sweep both those games to finish at 11-5.

So with UNC, NCSU, and BC in a three way tie for second a tiebreaker would be used to decide seeding. My understanding of the tiebreaker procedure is that in the event of three way tie the winning percentage in the matchups between the tied teams is used. In this case BC and UNC are both 2-1 within this group and NC State is 1-3. To break the tie between BC and UNC the head to head result is used in which BC beat UNC in their only meeting. Therefore BC will be the #2 seed, UNC #3, and NC State #4. This is all theoretical based on the results of six games that have yet to be played. I will revisit the issue following the UNC-Virginia game later this week.

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Judging ESPN

Published
by
Tar Heel Fan
on February 24, 2006
in Analysis and ESPN
. 2 Comments

Many people around my age have grown up watching sports through the ESPN prism. The so-called “ESPN era” of sports encompasses a huge chunk of my life and ESPN has been a pioneer in shifting the way sports are reported. Sports used to 5-7 minutes at the end of a local broadcast, but over the past 20+ years it has become 1-2 hours of SportsCenter every night. ESPN has also revolutionized how games are shown and ESPN.com is arguably the foremost sports news website in the world. However, as ESPN has evolved and altered the sports journalism landscape, they have also stretched out their reach from simply broadcasting games and highlights to full blown talk shows, movies, and reality television. Considering the phenomenal changes that have occurred at ESPN, is it possible they have endangered their journalistic integrity and tainted the clear window through which they show the world of sports?

If you watch ESPN and ESPN2 you can see there are some a few different aspects the network broadcasts. There is the news division which includes SportCenter and the investigative show Outside the Lines. ESPN has the game broadcasts for the NBA, NFL, WNBA, and NCAA sports which included several hours of analysis shows such as pre-game and post-game offerings. EOE or ESPN Original Entertainment produces movies and reality TV like “Dream Job” The final area ESPN works in is the talk show arena with daily shows like “Quite Frankly” and “P.T.I.”

Taking all of these together you have a massive conglomerate of progamming which, in my opinion, creates a conflict of interest. If ESPN’s parent company Disney pays the NBA to broadcasts games, then they are looking for a ratings return which results in a revenue return for the corportation. That being considered, how are we sure the news side of ESPN will be totally objective in its presentation of NBA news? During the 2004-2005 NBA season, the infamous “Brawl in Detroit” occurred. The short story was that Indiana and Detroit players began fighting on the court and it spilled into the stands when Indiana’s Ron Artest went 10 rows up to attack a fan who had thrown something at him. The NBA acted forcefully and responsibly with the punishements it handed down. ESPN’s presentation of the matter was far from that. Based on numerous episodes of SportsCenter I watched, the brawl consumed huge chunks of airtime during each broadcast for days following the event. Was this a newsworthy event? Sure, and it deserved intense converage which ESPN took well beyond reason by showing the brawl over and over and over. Then came the startling revelation from ESPN during one broadcast: Following the suspensions ESPN said, on air, that they had sent footage they had over to the NBA in an effort to exonerate one of the Pacer players because they allege the footage showed him to be merely a peacemaker and not an instigator. While some may laud this move as being the same as a person providing evidence to a judge in an effort to prove someone’s innocence, I was frankly appalled. ESPN/Disney has a defined contract with the NBA to broadcast games and devote X number of hours of coverage of the sport. For ESPN to interject itself into a internal disciplinary action by the commissioner of the NBA smacks of conflict of interest. It is one thing if NBA had asked for the tapes and they obliged or even if ESPN felt duty bound to offer the tapes to the NBA as evidence to exonerate a player, they should have done so and said nothing about it. For ESPN to announce to the world that they are attempting to persuade the NBA to lower a player’s punishment illustrates how easily the line between objective journalism and NBA’s broadcast partner with a financial stake in the matter can be skewed.

Another example of such an overlap was the almost constant coverage of Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summit’s winning her 880th career game which put her ahead of the NCAA men’s all time leader former UNC coach Dean Smith. The coverage of the record was almost suffocating especially considered the false assumption they were operating. It was ESPN’s implication that winning 879 games in women’s college basketball was in some way the same as winning 879 games on the men’s side. Let it be said that I am not a sexist since I would be willing to refer to Smith as the all time men’s leader as long as the same gender label was applied to Summit. The error on ESPN’s part is that it was like comparing apples and oranges. There is far more parity on the men’s side, more competition in recruiting, and the odds are that on the men’s side a team will face another team with a legitmate shot at beating them more often than a women’s team will. Of course none of this was important for ESPN who billed Summit as the all time leader in wins in NCAA history. What was ESPN’s angle? They are sole broadcaster of the NCAA Women’s Tournament. ESPN will make every effort to build up the women’s game since it their greater priority is not presenting an objective story but building ratings for the parent company and if billing Summit’s pursuit garners more viewers then of course they are all for it.

The other problem with ESPN is the development of on air personas such as Stephen A. Smith, Chris Berman, and Dick Vitale. While there are others, these three illuminate a particular problem which is on air personas must inevitabley develop a style or schitck. In the case of Smith, his deal is to be highly opinionated and kind of “straight talker” ignoring unwritten taboos on what one can say about something. Smith made a career during NBA coverage for calling a spade and spade which resulted in popularity and surprise! his own TV show. Not that there is anything wrong with that per se, but Smith has reached a point where staying true to the schitck is often times more important than journalistic integrity. The same is true of Chris Berman, who devleoped a variety of cute things to say during the highlights which earned him a following. If you watch Chris Berman now he has become a sad caricture of himself as he expends a great deal of energy maintaining his persona to the point it is old and tedious. Dick Vitale has also entered this arena where his persona dictates his game analysis more so than the facts at hand. This is the only explanation I have for a man who failed miserably as a college and pro coach, yet everything he utters is regarded as gospel truth. The sad truth about Dick Vitale is people do not watch him for any analysis he provides they watch him because he yells catch phrases and sounds really exciting. The other problem with Vitale is his need to inject highly opinionated and completely biased comments into a game. During the Duke-Georgia Tech game on Feb. 22, Vitale suggested that Indiana should re-hire Bobby Knight and bring in Steve Alford as an assistant. The idea was for Knight to break Dean Smith’s all time win record(which is a contradiction because according to ESPN, Pat Summit is the all time winningest coach and she is still coaching) and then step aside for Alford who should receive a seven year contract. Since when do basketball analysts lobby schools on how they should fill their coaching positions? And any reference on ESPN about Bobby Knight is automatically suspect since they also broadcast a reality show called “Knight School” about 16 students at Texas Tech fighting to fill one walk-on position. If Knight pulls another nutty, can we really expect a honest assessment from ESPN on his behavior considering they are also pulling ratings of his show?

The bottom line is that ESPN has moved into the realm of pure entertainment. While ESPN does engage in a fair amount of reporting which is objective and feature stories that are on the whole very good, there is also a good deal of entertainment value built into the way games are broadcast and the kind of analysis you get from the experts. Of course this does not make them wholly different from any other network that broadcasts games, but in the case of ESPN I think there is a huge conflict of interest when parent corporations are seeking ratings and revenue on a network that is also responsible for presenting sports news on a regular basis. A day’s worth of ESPN broadcasting is fraught with an indistinguishable meshing of objective news/game broadcasts with the need to raise the entertainment value of both. This leaves the viewer with the job of picking through all of the fluff at times to decide what is real, what is true, and what is intended to fill the coffers at Disney. Maybe the true service ESPN offers is forcing viewers to think more about what they see rather than accepting it on face value. Creating entertaining rules the day at ESPN and as a viewer one must be ready to discard tons of sizzle in order to get to that little bit of steak.

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Why I Like Tiger Woods

Published
by
Tar Heel Fan
on February 23, 2006
in PGA Golf
. 0 Comments

Tiger Woods opened up play in the Match Play Championships with a record 9&8 win over Stephen Ames. Now, if you are unfamiliar with how match play is scored, two golfers play 18 holes. Each hole can be won with the lowest score or if they end up with the same score it is “halved” If Woods birdies and Ames has a par, Woods wins the hole. Whoever wins the most holes wins the match and if a player is leading by a deficit greater than the number of holes left to play the match ends. This was the case yesterday between Woods and Ames. Woods won the match 9&8 which means he won nine holes and the match ended with eight holes left which is also the fastest a match can be won mathematically speaking. The real story to the match was what Ames said about Tiger beforehand. Ames was asked about his chances of beating the world’s #1 golfer. His (stupid)response was:

“Anything can happen, especially where he’s hitting the ball.”

Ames was alluding to Woods last tournament, The Nissan Open, where he sprayed the ball all over the course. Woods has a tendancy to miss a lot of fairways at times and it can only be assumed that Ames was banking on a wild day from Tiger to keep him in the match. Obviously the last thing you want to do when going head to head with Tiger Woods is say something that will tick him off. In the press conference Woods was asked about the comment by Ames and if he had any reaction. Woods response?

“Nine and eight”

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Isiah Thomas is Insane

Published
by
Tar Heel Fan
on February 23, 2006
in NBA
. 1 Comment

I am beginning to wonder if Isiah Thomas is doing an NBA version of the movie “Brewster’s Millions” In “Brewster’s Millions” Richard Pryor played a minor league pitcher who inherited $30 million. The catch was he had 30 days to spend the money and have nothing to show for. He also had to do so without telling anyone what he was doing. If he succeeded he would then inherit $300 million. Yesterday Thomas traded two also-rans to Orlando for Steve Francis who had a huge salary and the kind of attitude that defines pro basketball players: arrogant. He is now teamed with Stephon Marbury who has the same affliction.

I must confess I do not understand everything about how NBA teams work, how trades are made, or even the salary structure. That being said, even I know that every move Isiah Thomas has made with New York has been horrible. It is honestly like he making a concious effort to run the Knicks into the ground and when that is done someone is going to step up and give him $300 million. I also get the feel sometimes that Thomas is like an ordinary person who is playing a video game he makes trades for players just for the fun of it because in a video game it does not matter because you can jack up all the settings on your players to make them immensely better than the computer’s team.

ESPN.com asks the question:

How does bringing Francis to NYC fit into Isiah Thomas’ master plan?

I think a better question to ask is: Does Isiah Thomas have a master plan?

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The ACC Coach of the Year Debate

Published
by
Tar Heel Fan
on February 22, 2006
in ACC Basketball
. 1 Comment

As the end of the regular season approaches the debate over who will receive what accolades from the media. In the ACC the dominance of Duke’s J.J. Redick and UNC freshman Tyler Hansbrough have essentially silenced any debate on Player and Freshman of the Year. Coach of the Year is a different story. The debate has settled, more or less, on three coaches. Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski, North Carolina’s Roy Williams, and Virginia’s Dave Leitao.

Leitao is getting his due credit for pulling Virginia from their predicted 12th place finish to the middle of the ACC pack. Much like Virginia Tech’s Seth Greenburg last season who exceeded expectations, Leitao has taken what the media though would happen and turned it around into a 7-6 conference mark thus far with a real chance to get to 8-8 or even 9-7.

Roy Williams won a national title last season and proceeded to lose his seven top players to graduation and the NBA draft. No one, including perhaps Williams himself, would have thought that two walk on seniors, a little used junior, and a bunch of freshman would go be at 18-6 and 9-4 in the ACC at this point in the season. UNC was picked sixth, presently they are tied in the loss column for second with NC State whom they swept.

It seems as though Mike Krzyzewski is always considered for this award which is not entirely out of bounds because Duke is always near the top of the league. The chief argument in favor of Krzyzewski for Coach of the Year is if Duke goes 16-0. The logic is that if a team can run the table their coach must be the best coach that year.

While I think what Leitao has done at Virginia is incredible, I am not sure you simply reward him just because the media did not expect UVa to beat anyone. Obviously Pete Gillen was a horrible coach and Leitao has been able to harnass the talent which was there last season to create a winner in Charlottesville. Is this COY material? Somewhat, but not to the threshold the award was intended.

Duke’s perfection seems to be an awfully thin standard to use to give someone COY. In considering Krzyzewski there are two key issues: The first is the fact that Duke almost lost to Va Tech to being the conference season. Why does almost losing matter? Because it required a 40 foot buzzer beater from Sean Dockery against the 10th placed team in the league to avoid a huge upset. It is not as though Krzyzewski’s genius won the game, quite frankly they got lucky. Also, it is not as though Krzyzewski had to rebuild his team either. He had J.J. Redick, the reigning Player of he Year and Shelden Williams. Both were preseason All Americans and both were expected to be the best players in the ACC at their respective positions. It tends to contradict what everyone says about Redick and Williams to assume that Krzyzewski needed to perform a miracle coaching job to get to 16-0 in the ACC. Yes, Duke does have a young point guard and a freshman at forward, but with Williams and Redick, it is difficult to assume that this was some kind of extraordinary coaching job. Also, there is a historical element to this. During the course of ACC history a team has gone undefeated 3 times: UNC twice in 1984 and 1987 and Duke once in 1999. Only in 1999 was the coach of the undefeated team named COY and that year it was well deserved because Duke ran through the conference without so much as a close game. Dean Smith, while winner of the award on other occasions was never awarded for going undefeated in the ACC.

The case for Roy Williams is simple and it is not based on an expected finish but rather on rebuilding a program which had lost everything. David Noel averaged 3.9 points a game in 2004-2005. Junior forward Reyshawn Terry rarely saw the floor, Quintein Thomas was suspect at point guard, and the rest of the roster was made up of unproven and inexperienced freshman. He has managed to get huge numbers from Tyler Hansbrough, senior leadership from David Noel, fairly consistent performances from Reyshawn Terry. He has leaned heavily on a walk on guard name Wes Miller and freshman Bobby Frasor is not a true point guard nor do either one of them have the speed to keep pace with a lot of other guards in the ACC. UNC is 18-6 despite multiple 20+ turnover games and if there is one defining moment that attests to Williams prowess it was the moment in the Duke game with UNC trailing by 17 in which he pulled the starters in favor of his second string. The subs reeled off a 6-0 run to cut the lead to 11. Williams was seen on the bench working his starters over for their lack of effort and when they returned they rallied to take a five point lead on Duke. UNC went on to lose the game but a gutsy call like that is indicative of the stellar job Williams has done pulling a bunch of unknown components together and put on their way to 20 wins.

No disrespect to Dave Leitao and Mike Krzyzewski who are successful coaches, but Roy Williams is the ACC Coach of the Year. He took a team in tatters and made them a serious contender.

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ACC Wrap Up

Published
by
Tar Heel Fan
on February 22, 2006
in ACC Basketball
. 0 Comments

Duke found out tonight what happens if J.J. Redick has a bad night. Fortunately for them they were playing Georgia Tech and they won 73-66. If Redick lays an egg like that in the Sweet Sixteen against someone who can actually hold it together for 40 minutes, Duke will be taking the quick flight back to RDU.

UNC thrashes NC State, 95-71 in what many thought would be a closer game. UNC took control with a little under 5 minutes to go in the first half. NC State made a couple of second half runs to get down to as low as 9 points but David Noel hit big shot after big shot to seal the deal. NC State has to face BC on Saturday in an effort to stay in second place even if it is a tie.

Miami took care of Va Tech, 70-59 to get to 7-7 and based on Maryland’s current level of play the Hurricanes could get to 9-7 by knocking off the Terps and then beating Florida State at home.

Wake Forest got their second conference win by beating Clemson in OT, 74-68. Of course the game had absolutely no meaning.

Florida State took care of business on their home floor beating Maryland 71-60. The Seminoles got out fast and Maryland was never really in the game. FSU moves to 7-6 in the league with a trip to Va Tech before their titantic battle with Duke in Tallahassee.

My record for the evening: 4-1. I know, I should have never doubted by beloved Heels.

Updated Standings

1. Duke 14-0, 26-1
2. NC State 10-4, 21-6
3. UNC 9-4, 18-6
4. Boston College 8-5, 21-6
5. Florida State 7-6, 17-7(wins tiebreaker with UVa)
6. Virginia 7-6, 14-10
7. Miami 7-7, 15-12
8. Maryland 6-7, 16-10
9. Clemson 4-9, 15-11
10. Va Tech 3-10, 13-13
11. Ga Tech 3-11, 10-15
12. Wake Forest 2-11, 14-13

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UNC vs NC State: Live Blog(2/22/2006)

Published
by
Tar Heel Fan
on February 22, 2006
in UNC Basketball
. 0 Comments

Click here for tonight’s live blog of NC State at UNC 

Welcome to the RBC Center for a key ACC battle between North Carolina and NC State.

9:04 PM
Tim Brant and Billy Packer with the call. Tip off!

9:05 PM
Quick pass inside for NC State, foul on David Noel. Illian Estimov is in uniform. NC State up 2-0

9:07 PM
First lead for UNC on a Noel jumper, 4-2.

9:08 PM
Double team on Tyler Hansbrough’s first touch might be an indication on how State plans to cover him early. Three from Wes Miller gives UNC a 7-6 lead.

9:11 PM
Reyshawn Terry drives and dunks over Andrew Brackman, no call from the official. UNC up 10-8. Cam Betterman misses a dunk and is fouled. 1st TV timeout. Both teams seem in sync early and running very deliberate offenses. Only one touch for Hansbrough on the post so far.

9:14 PM
Illian Estimov is in the game. It will be insteresting to see how well he plays with the injured ankle. 10-10 tie.

9:15 PM
Hansbrough fouled and the basket. Free throw is good, UNC up three.

9:17 PM
A lot of back and forth without any scoring. A couple of long threes missed by NC State including a wide open look for Bethel. Dry spell for both teams–scratch that 3 point basket from Betterman ties the game at 13.

9:19 PM
Terry makes 1 of 2 free throws, UNC leads 14-13.

Full court pressure from UNC opens up the lane for a Atsur layup, NC State leads 15-14.

9:20 PM
A lot of missed perimeter shots for UNC with Hansbrough out of the game.

Three from NC State to open the lead to four.

9:22 PM
Marcus Ginyard for three to cut the lead to one at 18-17. 2nd TV timeout. Both teams look cautious. NC State is doing a great job of denying entry passes to the post. Hansbrough has not had many touches. NC State is getting some good looks from the perimeter and has had some success penetrating to the lane.

9:25 PM
UNC retakes the lead on a Noel jumper at 19-18.

Atsur hits a leaning three with the shot clock winding down, Pack up 21-19.

9:26 PM
Hansbrough ties the game for sixth time at 21.

9:27 PM
NC State commits its 7th team foul and puts UNC in the bonus. Noel hits 1 of 2, Hansbrough rebounds, pass to Noel for three. Good! UNC up 25-21.

9:28 PM
Steal by Hansbrough, pass down to a wide open Noel for the slam! UNC opens its biggest lead at 27-21. 3rd TV timeout.

9:31 PM
Solid defensive effort from both teams so far. UNC was giving up more cuts to the basket but seem to be more wary of those now. Key stat so far: UNC has 7 offensive rebounds for 6 second chance points.

9:33 PM

Shocker: UNC commits its 1st turnover at the 7 minute mark. Bethel for three…in and out. Pass into Hansbrough, fouled and the basket! Free throw missed, NC State loses it out of bounds. 10-0 UNC run for a 29-21 advantage.

9:35 PM
Brackman hits a three. UNC 29 NCSU 24.

9:37 PM
Good interior pass to Cedric Simmons puts NC State within two.

Another offensive rebound for UNC, Noel lays it in for a 31-26 lead.

NC State is now in the bonus. Brackman misses front end of the 1 and 1.

9:38 PM
Noel hits another jumper for 15 first half points. UNC leads 33-26.

9:39 PM
Another three from Brackman pulls the Pack within four at 33-29.

Wes Miller for three…good! UNC back up by seven.

9:40 PM
Drive and layup for Terry, UNC moves the lead out to nine.

Missed three for State, rebound UNC.

Noel for three….YES! UNC opens up a 12 point lead!

Timeout NC State. UNC 41 NCSU 29

9:42 PM
The final TV timeout of the half. I guess it is necessary to have five straight minutes of commercials.

I love the Alltel video phone commercial where the guys get the ball blocked in his face. Classic physical comedy.

9:44 PM
Noel is having a monster game so far. 18 points and his 8th rebound off another free throw miss.

Terry with another jumper, UNC now up by 14!

9:45 PM
UNC goes to zone and Atsur makes them pay with a three.

Terry for three…YES! UNC 46 NC State 32.

9:46 PM
NC State moves the ball through the UNC zone for an easy basket.

Timeout UNC, Roy Williams probably wants to set the play and change the defense.

9:47 PM
Three missed shots and three offensive rebounds for UNC. Jump ball, arrow to UNC.

9:48 PM
Three seconds and UNC inbounding the ball. Danny Green from 25 feet at the buzzer is off the rim to the right and we are at halftime with UNC leading NC State, 46-34.

HALFTIME ANALYSIS
David Noel and Reyshawn Terry have 18 and 12 points respectively. UNC has out rebounded NCSU 18-9 in the first half. Hansbrough has 7 points. Three point shooting has been even with both teams hitting six apiece. NC State is not known for a high octane offense so three point shooting is going to be key for them to get back in it. Another problem for NC State is I cannot imagine that Hansbrough will continue to be as quiet as he has been. However, I do not think that David Noel will be able to keep up his pace.

There were games this season where UNC turned the ball over 25 times and still won. In the first half alone: 2 turnovers. NC State has 4 turnovers seeming to indicate that either the defensive pressure is not that great from either side or both teams are doing a great job of taking care of the ball. In UNC’s case this particular issue was a major problem. During the past three games their turnovers have been down siginificantly and that can only translate into better play.

10:05 PM
2nd half is underway, NC State has the ball trailing by 12.

Brackman rebounds a Atsur miss to cut the lead to 10.

10:06 PM
Noel picks up where he left off and extends the lead back to 12. UNC 48 NCSU 36.

10:07 PM
Two quick fouls on UNC including the third foul on Terry.

Simmons backs Hansbrough in and scores. Fouls is on Noel which is his third.

Foul trouble could play a role for UNC. Missed free throw from Simmons, rebound UNC.

Referees seem to be calling lots of quick fouls as opposed to the first half.

Side Note: This raises an issue which I haveheard before which is different officiating from one half to the next. There were 16 fouls in the first half. Through 2 minutes they have called four fouls.

10:09 PM
A Noel tip in and goal tending on NC State extends the UNC lead to 52-38.

Another foul called, the second on Byron Sanders. We are not even to the first TV timeout and the referees have called 4 fouls on UNC and 2 fouls on NC State. In my opinion that seems to be a drastic change from the first half where the seemed to let them play a little more.

10:11 PM
Dunk from Hansbrough puts UNC up by 14.

NC State with a put back to cut it back to 12

Hansbrough with a layup and the foul. 1st TV timeout of the 2nd half, UNC 56 NCSU 42 with Hansbrough going to the line.

10:14 PM
While we wait, I think the foul calling is much tighter now than it was in the first half. Foul trouble for UNC could turn this game significantly in State’s favor.

Hansbrough hits the free throw for a 15 point UNC lead.

10:15 PM
Stupid fact of the game: Herb Sendek is 2-2 when playing on his birthday which is today.

Atsur cuts the lead to 13, UNC turns it over but NC State cannot convert.

Bethel leaves the game and appears to really be struggling.

Simmons picks up his third foul eveing the foul trouble out a bit.

10:17 PM
Wes Miller for three….good! UNC up 60-44

Gavin Grant his a runner to cut the lead back to 14.

10:18 PM
Crowd is booing a no call on contact between Miller and Grant as Grant stepped out of bounds with the ball. Best picture of the night: A aged Tom Burleson pointing his finger at the referees and yelling. Chris Corchiani and David Thompson are also at the game.

A pair of NC State free throws brings the lead down to 12, crowd is getting into.

UNC miss. Cedric Simmons is fouled whiling hiting a jumper over Sanders. Simmons on the line to cut the lead down to 9 and he does.

Gut check time for UNC.

10:21 PM
David Noel for three…BIG SHOT! The leads is back to 12 and the crowd is quieter now.

Simmons fouls Hansbrough and that is his fourth foul with 12:26 left in the game.

1 for 2 for Hansbrough. UNC 64 NCSU 51.

10:23 PM
Drive and layup by Atsur, he is the only State player doing anything tonight.

10:24 PM
UNC is getting every offensive rebound. Miller passes to Hansbrough for a dunk and a 66-53 lead.

Bethel gets the layup on the give and go. Basket is good and he is fouled. 2nd TV Timeout.

NC State reeled off seven straight to cut the lead to nine but Noel answered with a three and the Hansbrough dunk on the last play effectively quieted the crowd which was getting back into the game.

Key Stat: UNC is outrebounding NCSU 28-16.

10:28 PM
Free throw for Bethel cuts the lead back to 10.

Turnover UNC, NC State with a chance to close it to eight but lsoes the ball to Noel.

10:29 PM
Roy Williams is resting key players for the stretch run.

Ginyard with the runner puts UNC back up by 12.

Ginyard goes coast to coast following an Atsur miss. UNC leads 70-56.

10:30 PM
Miss by Noel and a sprinting Green tips the ball in to extend the UNC lead to 72-56.

Herb Sendek wants a timeout to see if he can find a way to keep from having a losing record on his birthday.

10:33 PM
Simmons returns with 8:40 to go and four fouls.

Another State miss, Noel rebound, Ginyard dunk on the other end. UNC 74 NC State 56

3rd TV Timeout.

I think UNC domination of NC State if shocking. State has struck me as a better team than what they are showing tonight. Of course this is also the same team that laid a huge egg against Seton Hall at home so maybe it is not that surprising. At this point in the game NC State looks defeated. UNC has answered their runs and now extended the lead to 18 with under eight minutes to go. This is not an impossible deficit but it would take some hot shooting from State and ice cold offense from UNC.

10:37 PM
Atsur on the line, hits to free throws to cut the lead to 16.

Nice block from Simmons, UNC ball out of bounds.

Hansbrough pass to Terry, UNC leads 76-58.

10:38 PM
Brackman dunk cuts the lead back to 16.

Packer is regaling us with how the 1979 State team rallied from 21 down at half to take the lead against UNC only to lose.

Another basket for Terry, UNC up 18.

Another miss for NC State, Wes Miller for three…YES! UNC now up by 21.

Timeout NC State.

10:39 PM
Wolfpack Nation has officially gone out to lunch.

Packer tries to give Hansbrough his fourth foul, it is actually his third.

Simmons hits two free throws to cut the lead to 19.

10:42 PM
Approaching 5 minutes to go, UNC is content to run the clock down.

Pass down to Hansbrough for a layup, UNC 83 NCSU 62

Simmons layup cuts the lead back to 19.

10:43 PM
Terry hits a runner off the State turnover extending the lead back to 21.

I think it is safe to say that UNC is well on its way to its 18th win of the season.

A pair of Pack free throws cuts the lead to 19.

10:45 PM
Green drives to the basket for a 87-66 UNC lead.

4th TV timeout.

10:46 PM
Florida State is cleaning Maryland’s clock right now leading 55-38.

10:48 PM
One free throw for Bethel. UNC shooting 55% from the floor. Brant and Packer debate the ACC Coach of the Year between Roy and K. I think that even if Duke goes 16-0 they only did that because Sean Dockery tossed in a 40 foot shot at the buzzer to bear Va Tech.

Two free throws from Green makes the UNC lead 89-67.

10:50 PM
Basket by State puts the lead back to 20.

Frasor air balls a three and hears it from the crowd. Perhaps the crowd should take a look at the scoreboard.

The crowd continues the airball chant even though they are getting throttled by the Heels.

10:52 PM
A minute and half to go and the RBC is now emptying out.

Wes Miller three extends the lead to 23.

10:53 PM
Atsur hits a pair of free throws to cut the lead to 21.

10:55
Scrub time for UNC.

Will Robinson scores perhaps for the first time in his college career.

A free throw by someone I have never seen before. Oh his name is Dewey Burke.

The final horn sounds and UNC in a surprising win blows NC State out of the RBC Center by a score of 95-71.

David Noel caught a lot of flak for calling out the NC State fans but then he walked onto State’s home floor and drops 25 points and pulls down 10 rebounds.

Wrap Up Analysis

This was a big win for UNC. It showed that they were capable of going into a extremely hostile environment and thrash a higher ranked opponent. UNC won the game on two fronts: The first is the rebounding edge which was huge and the offensive rebounds were incredible. UNC also seems to have figured out how to take care of the basketball. I thought NC State did a good job of defending UNC early on but the turnover total seems to indicate that they simply did not put enough pressure on the Heels. UNC is now 9-4 in the ACC with two home games before their showdown with Duke. If their level of play continues they should handled UVa and Maryland. Duke has by no means been invincible at home as Va Tech and Florida State have proven. However, playing Duke on senior day is not a great situation. If UNC plays as well has they have been then they should at least finish 11-5 and after losing seven top scorers is incredible.

As for Wolfpack Nation, this must be tatmount to torture. All signs seemed to indicate that NC State had the superior squad this year and that this season would constitute a turning point for the Pack closing the gap between them and the 15-501 schools. NC State is now 0-3 against Duke and UNC this season. And not only was this simply a loss, UNC dominated the Pack on their home floor as though it was 1993 all over again. Pack fans should take heart though, a ACC Tournament rematch could be in the offing and at that point all bets are off. Of course I also thought NC State would win tonight.

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Duke Holds Off Ga Tech

Published
by
Tar Heel Fan
on February 22, 2006
in ACC Basketball
. 0 Comments

With 5:22 to go in the game Duke is protecting a scant two point lead at Georgia Tech. J.J. Redick has been awful. Redick presently has 14 points on 4-20 shooting. Georgia Tech has had leads of eleven and six in the second half only to give up runs of 11-0 and 14-0.

Update
Looking bleak for GT with 3 minutes to go and trailing 65-58. This is clearly the one that got away for the Yellow Jackets failing to take advantage of a horrible shooting performance from J.J. Redick.

Update #2
Duke is now up by ten with a little over a minute to go. Duke appears to be cruising towards 14-0.

Update #3
Duke holds on 73-66. Big win for Duke considering how badly Redick played but got a monster game from Shelden Williams.

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