Tar Heel Fan

Where: Scotttrade Center, St. Louis, MO
When: December 22nd, 7:00 PM
TV: ESPNU
Records: UNC 9-1, St. Louis 9-2

Road trip to Tyler’s house!

This is the second half of a home and home with the Billikens.  It has been a UNC tradition to play a game near the home of every player on the team at some point in their tenure.  This also is the first true road game for the Heels since the four games in the NIT were all neutral court affairs.  In one respect it will be a test for the freshmen who have not played in a hostile environment although accordin the Jones Angell this morning on 620 AM about 1/3 of Poplar Bluff have tickets.  This is also a game of contrasting styles and Tyler Hansbrough who is intently focused on impressing the hometown folks will be facing the type of center who has given him trouble in the past.  Ian Vouyoukas is 6-10 and averaging 1.9 blocks per game.  The real test here will be how well Hansbrough handles this type of defense.  The Billikens will also look to play a more deliberate pace, probably because they do not go much beyond six people with the seventh abd eighth guys on the depth chart logging about 10 minutes a game.  UNC will look to take advantage of their depth and push a tempo to wear the home team down.  I expect somewhat of a struggle early with UNC asserting itself and it’s superior talent as the game wears on.

UNC 87 SLU 77

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Now you know why Matt Doherty thought SMU would be a better job.

UNC was up an astounding 65-18 at halftime and with 11 minutes to go in the second half UNC was leading 90-28.  At that point I can assume Roy decided not to run the score up on his former player, FAU coach Rex Walters.  Now, bear in mind this is an FAU team which is quite frankly a horrible team so take the Tar Heel performance for what it is worth.  That being said, if you were wondering what happened if these talented Tar Heels were firing on all cylinders, tonight was an example.  Tyler Hansbrough had 20 points, Brandan Wright had 15 points and 8 rebounds, and Ty Lawson had 11 points, 8 assists, and four steals.  UNC also played an extremely balanced rotation which included only three Heels playing more than 20 minutes.  UNC shot 66% from the field and may have broken a school record with a 47 point halftime lead.  It was utter and complete domination which does not mean as much as it would had they actually played a good team.  I think this game is a great indicator this team is working themselves up to that level we all expected them to be at when the season began.

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As I mentioned, I was in attendance at the UNC-Asheville game which marked the first time in 15 years I had seen the Heels live. Here are some observations:

1. Brandan Wright is absolutely the real deal.  Yes it was UNC-A but everything about the way he plays is intuitive.  He has an incredible touch from about eight feet in and his moves are exceptionally smooth.
2. Tyler Hansbrough had a quiet 15 points but the two things that struck me were (A) his ability to take contact and still hit shots.  In fact I am convinced because he gets shots off the refs do not call fouls on opposing players as much as they would if he simply lost the ball and (B) he can handle the ball and dribble the ball extremely well to the point he is not limited to stop and find a ball handler on a break, he can bring it up himself and then pass when needed.
3. Ty Lawson is scary fast which I already knew but watching it live is highly recommended. Lawson also has great court vision making passes I would not think were there.  He is also learning when to push the issue and not which also leads to silly turnovers.
4. UNC is young and while I am sure this has happened before this season for some reason it struck me more starkly when I looked down to see four freshman and a sophomore on the floor at the same time.
5. Speaking of which, UNC has three freshman in the starting lineup and are they ever good.
6. Roy Williams nearly got a standing ovation when he came out during pre-game warmups. It must be nice to have that kind of love coming from the fan base.
7. Speaking of Williams, it was fun to be able to watch him.  He is animated and intense as well as in a constant teaching mode with the players who come out of the game.
8. Those four national title banners(five if you count the Helms Foundation title which is somewhat debatable) look really nice in the rafters.  In fact the Smith Center is one of only four arenas in the nation that has at least four NCAA Championship banners hanging up.  Only UCLA, Kentucky, and Indiana have more.
9. On the other end are the retired and honored jersies which was interesting because in the long, illustrious history of UNC basketball only seven are retired.  That says something about those seven given the players UNC has had in it’s history.
10. The Smith Center is 20 years old this year and that does show.  When it was built it was quite the arena but now lacking amenities like luxury boxes or a nice large scoreboard over the court it shows it’s age.  The four screens in the corners is a nice addition.

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Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
When: December 16th, 2:00 PM
TV: Fox Sports Net
Records: UNC-CH 7-1, UNC-A 4-5

Here is a dirty little secret from Tar Heel Fan. It has been 15 years since I have been to an actual regular season game UNC was playing in and 13 years since attending any kind of game at the Dean Smith Center. Yeah, you’d think a guy who blog this much about UNC basketball would actually be going to more games. That however will change today when I will be at the game against UNC Asheville. Of course this is going to be a pure slaughter but it will be fun to see the Heels in action live, especially to get a better feel for how guys like Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson, and Brandan Wright play up close. So I will blog my observations upon my return from the Smith Center.

UNC-CH 110 UNC-A 75

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