Now that Deon Thompson has finished up his stint playing for the U19 team we can focus on Wayne Ellington who is on the 12 man roster for the Pan Am games. Play opens for the US in Brazil on Wednesday night. Fox Sports had some commentary on the players during their training in Washington, D.C.
Wayne Ellington, North Carolina - “He’s really been knocking down shots. I knew he could shoot it, but when you leave him open, it’s a wrap. It’s going in. His defense has been improving.”
Of course we heard the same thing last summer from Quentin Thomas concerning Ellington’s jump shot. I can only hope it is true when the college basketball season starts.
The US U19 team ended up winning the silver medal in the World Championships following a 74-69 loss to Serbia. Deon Thompson once again played big when it counted most going for 16 points on 8-12 shooting in 30 minutes. Deon also had four boards, two blocks, one steal and three turnovers in the losing effort.
Overall, this looks to have been a great experience for Deon who will be stepping into Brandan Wright’s spot and playing off Tyler Hansbrough on the interior. Performances, like the ones Deon had during the past two games, especially given the pressure associated with the contests in question simply raises the anticipation for the upcoming season as well as the expectations.
Congratulations Deon on a great summer of play with the U19 team.
Yeah, French surrender jokes are very cliche.
There has been a lively discussion on the 850 the Buzz blog about whether UNC is overrated next season because they lost Brandan Wright and Reyshawn Terry. To those folks I give you Deon Thompson’s line from the U19 semifinal in the World Championships where the US rallied to beat France 78-75:
30 mins, 18 points, 9-12 FGs, 13 rebounds(7 def, 6 off), 2 steals, 1 block, 0 TOs
I was actually keeping tabs on the game using the FIBA web site which has live stats and Deon had 10 of USA’s 25 fourth quarter points and collected seven of his 13 boards in the final 10 minutes of play. In fact Deon scored six of the final eight points and gave USA the lead for good on a two pointer with 1:41 remaining in the game.
The more compelling aspect of his performance is that this is another huge game where Deon has stepped up his play when the team needed him. Arizona and Georgetown were examples during his freshman season and in U19 play he did so in the warm-up tournament. In this game it was more of the same.
Thompson is ready to step in for Wright and I cannot be more excited about what he is going to bring to the table.
Deon Thompson had four points and 10 rebounds as the USA U19 team moved into the semifinals of the FIBA World Championships with a 112-86 win over Argentina. USA gets a rematch with France who they dispatched 87-82 on Thursday. The winner plays for the gold.
A scant week after Wake Forest landed a big recruit, Roy Williams and UNC locked up a verbal commitment from Scout.com’s #2 high school senior, Ed Davis. Davis is out of Richmond, VA and is listed as a 6-8, 215 lb power forward. Davis’ final list included Virginia and UConn.
Obviously this is a huge catch during a recruiting cycle which had been viewed as somewhat disappointing by some and led to your garden variety message board panic in Tar Heel Nation. That being said, Davis and Larry Drew could be the only recruits during this cycle. According to Scout.com, UNC has only one scholarship offer out there and that to 6-11 power forward Tyler Zeller(#18 according to Scout.com) whose interest is listed as medium.
Then again, somewhere Roy is saying, “I told ya so.”
Roy faced the media yesterday and among the usual discussion of the upcoming season was the revelation that Roy was suffering from a bout of vertigo(i.e. dizziness.) Apparently it has been an issue for a few years and the last attack in 2005. On actual basketball issues, Roy has stated the primary focus for the Heels coming back in October will be defense. Continue reading ‘Roy Williams Press Conference’
Deon Thompson has six points and six rebounds as the US U19 team took down the French 87-82. The US advances to the quarterfinals where they will face Argentina on Friday.
The N&O is reporting that the iPhone may be responsible for brief outages on the wireless network at Duke University. Apparently the iPhone overwhelms wireless access points in it’s vicinity in an attempt to acquire a network connection. NC State and UNC have not reported such problems. In fact, based on a quick Google search, no one is registering complaints about iPhone’s disabling wireless networks anywhere else. This lends itself to an interesting theory. Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ wife, Melinda is a Duke graduate and the Gates family has poured millions of dollars into Duke through their foundation. Now the iPhone, made by chief competitor Apple, is released and when it hits Duke’s campus it effectively cripples their wireless network.
Coincidence? Most likely. But very interesting all the same.
The US U19 team thrashed Brazil today by 104-65 count. Deon Thompson continues to show up with solid performances joining seven other US players in double figures in the rout. Thompson had 10 points(5-9 shooting), five rebounds, three steals and two turnovers in 14 minutes of play. Undoubtedly this whole experience is going to serve Thompson well and build his confidence going into the season.
The next game is tomorrow versus France. Insert you own derogatory French jokes in the comment space below.
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