Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
When: December 31st, 3:00 PM
TV: Fox Sports Net
Records: UNC 11-1, Dayton 10-2
Oh yeah…another game against a school who is probably totall disinterested in running with UNC. On the other hand Dayton is 10-2 but one of those losses was a 30 point drubbing from Pittsburgh. Dayton also lost to Matt Doherty and SMU earlier in the season. Just a quick perusal of the Flyers schedule tells me they are not a powerful offense because (1) they have broken 70 exactly three times against schools who may be some of the worst in the nation and (2) the margin of victory against said schools is not impressive. So I think we can expect Dayton to attempt to play at a slower pace since they lack the depth to challenge UNC nor do they have the offensive weapons. Dayton also lacks any kind of interior presence which would give Hansbrough and Wright too much trouble. So for the Heels this is a game about maintianing focus, imposing their will on Dayton for a full forty minutes, and continuing the improvements on defense as well as the offensive balance we saw versus Rutgers.
UNC 91 Dayton 60
As the year ends, we are now almost two months into the basketball season and on the cusp of the conference season being the bulk of the schedule going forward. Having seen the 12 ACC schools play we can obviously start asking serious questions about each team and consider whether or not the things we all thought were true before the ball was tipped are true now.
Continue reading ‘Five Questions About the ACC’
In case you didn’t know it there were other games being played besides the one Texas Tech was in.
- Boston College continues to be a total enigma losing to Duquesne of all people 98-93. Duquesne presently has a losing record which included a seven game losing streak. So the only thing we know about BC is that we really do not know anything about BC nor can we reasonably ascertain which version will show up any given night.
- Clemson continued to make their case for Top 25 legitimacy by beating Georgia 75-60. The Tigers are looking more and more like the real deal. The Tigers should clear Georgia State without too much trouble before playing three of their first four ACC games on the road.
- NC State had enjoyed some early season success but now the warts seem to be showing, even in a 64-57 win over an East Carolina team that should have not been in the game. Right now the biggest problem for NC State is the lack of depth though the 13 turnovers tonight was 1/3 of what the Pack committed on Saturday.
- North Carolina, Georgia Tech, Virginia, and Maryland all won big over significantly lesser opponents.
Now that’s what I am talking about.
Several things I saw tonight which seems to show that this team may have arrived at the level we all expected them to be when the season started. Ty Lawson racked up nine assists with zero turnovers which included an incredible bounce pass over his head while laying on his back. Having Lawson fully in charge of the offense at point can only mean the offense is close to being fully gelled. Brandan Wright is sick, sick, sick. Wright is smooth as glass and grabbed some incredible rebounds with that wingspan he has. Tyler Hansbrough was his usual bullish self in the lane and hit that sweet hook show a couple of times. Wayne Ellington was on fire from behind the arc hitting five of six threes. This was an utterly balanced offensive attack and if UNC can come out running the physical/slashing tandem of Hansbrough and Wright in the paint with Lawson breaking down defense and distributing the ball along with Ellington opening up the lane by shredding the zone from the perimeter. Add to these efforts the supporting cast for UNC hitting shots when needed and it will make slowing down the UNC offense very tough.
Another aspect of the defense which stuck out to me was the how intense the pressure defense was tonight. There was an expectation UNC would bring serious pressure defense as a part of their extended depth. So far this season that did not appear to be the case until tonight when it seems like Roy Williams flipped a switch and had the Heels play that vaunted jump pressure more often in this game as in the first 11 of the season. The defense had been a bit of a bugaboo early on but now it seems like the players are getting a handle on the defensive schemes as well as the idea of playing with high intensity. Also, for the second straight game, UNC worked it’s way through first half but came out in the second half to impose it’s will and style on it’s opponent to completely dominate the rest of the game.
Aside from all of that, this is a fun team to watch on so many levels. Then again winning is always fun but I would venture to say this is far more entertaning than the winning going on in Durham right now.
Obviously many Tar Heel fans have a vested in interest in Dean Smith’s record being broken by Bobby Knight. My own personal opinion is that it was inevitable the record would be passed and as time passed Dean would be relegated further down the list. So getting to terribly upset over the record being broken is simply not a constructive exercise. Am I a little agitated that Knight is the one to break it first? Yes, simply because for all of Knight’s accomplishment on the court which included one more national championship than Dean, Knight is also a bully. This is obviously an individual who lacks the self control to refrain from kicking his own son, throwing a chair on the court, assaulting a police officer in Puerto Rico, treating journalists paid to ask questions as though they are beneath contempt, and being a general jerk for the sake of being a jerk. Whereas Dean was one to step aside and eschew the attention of the moment, Knight has been one to bring negative attention to himself. It also should be noted Dean was far more consistent over the course of his final 27 seasons with 20 wins seasons in each of them and 23 straight NCAA Tournament appearance. UNC also went to 13 straight Sweet Sixteens during that span. By and large UNC teams were consistently better from season to season under Dean than Indiana teams were under Knight. So as far as I am concerned Knight can have the record, I’ll take Dean Smith with all of his class and upstanding behavior as well as the consistent winning which aside from the number of NCAA titles exceeds what Knight did over the same span. Besides it took Knight five more seasons to get to the mark than it did Dean. Sounds like Dean was far more successful on average than “the General.”
I also would like to mention that ESPN’s hypocrisy in covering the record being broken is beyond the pale. First of all they use the label “winningest men’s Division I coach” in reference to the record when two years ago they practically foamed at the mouth when Tennessee women’s coach Pat Summit passed Dean Smith’s total to become the “all time winningest coach in college basketball” Here is my confusion. If Knight is set to become only the all time “men’s” leader then isn’t Pat Summit the all time “women’s” leader? Wouldn’t that mean she did not actually break a record when she hit 880? The point is ESPN is willing to use the gender specific designation when referring to this record but when it suited their own marketing campaign for women’s basketball they abandoned it to create an absolutely false milestone.
Secondly, ESPN was so busy telling us two months ago that Knight was the epitome of all evil for tapping the chin of a player to force him to pay attention and now they are so busy being over backwards to spin his career as being one of the greatest in history. Of course based on win total it is but in reference to the various controversies they fall silent opting to promote any and every accomplishment, including a 1979 NIT title which Rick Majerus talked about during two different segments as though it was another NCAA title. I was under the impression that the NIT was where those who could not make the NCAA Tournament went to play. And if that was not bad enought during the UNC-Rutgers game Terry Gannon and Len Elmore spent 80% of the game talking about Knight. It think it is apparent these talking points came from Bristol since Gannon and Elmore are primarily ACC based announcers and would not normally be so caught up referring to another coach so often during an ACC broadcast unless told to do so. It was downright disgusting the degree to which ESPN is plugging the record even to the point they spend so much time during a different game talking about it.
Obviously the hype machine at ESPN cannot be quelled which can only mean that when Mike Krzyzewski gets ready to pass Knight some of use may actually take our own lives before it actually happens.
Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
When: December 28th, 7:00 PM
TV: ESPN2
Records: UNC 10-1, Rutgers 6-5
According to the News and Observer, Bobby Frasor’s foot is the biggest storyline here as UNC should easily handle the Scarlet Knights. My question is how long will Frasor stay out and at what point is there a concern his absence and subsequent return will disrupt the progress we have seen in how this team is coming together. The other issue is that of rust after being off nearly a week and being home for the holidays. That alone usually lends itself to a slow start for both teams. This is another one of those building block games and one of three at home out of conference before UNC welcomes Florida State on Jan. 7 for the ACC opener.
UNC 96 Rutgers 62
Yeah I was too busy eating Christmas cookies and turkey to get this out earlier…
Saturday
- Clemson is 12-0 after smacking Western Carolina 103-60. I am not sure what to make of the Tigers. The diet so far has been fairly sweet but the 43 point win over a lower-middle tier school does cause you to take notice. The early ACC schedule with Florida State and Georgia Tech will be a good measure of whether this team is legitimate.
- NC State had done well to avoid any bad losses…until now. Well, losing to Cincinnati 80-71 does not look that bad however the 32 turnovers they committed illustrates some serious weaknesses for the Pack, the foremost being taking care of the basketball. Needless to say the sooner Engin Atsur gets back at point, the better for the Wolfpack.
- Boston College never really showed up against Kansas and lost 84-66. It was not a good showing for a BC team which has been hot and cold depending the point in the season.
- In other action: Virginia Tech, Maryland, and Florida State all won easily while Miami fell way short against Louisville.
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