Look! Actual ACC play.
- Clemson and Miami will likely end up fighting with Virginia Tech in the 4-5-6 area of the standings so the fact the two played each other to open ACC play could carry a lot of weight down the road. Clemson got a huge night from K.C. Rivers who hit four threes and scored 28 points. Miami squandered multiple opportunities at the FT line hitting only 12 of 27 attempts. I am not sure if this legitimizes Clemson or delegitamizes Miami in any way. Most likely the latter. Clemson did play a weak schedule coming(as they always do) but the ACC is stronger this season and if the Tigers are the fourth best team in the league, that is pretty good company.
- Duke blew Xavier out of Madison Square Garden which ought to be impressive except it seems like Duke always blows teams out there(save Pitt last season.) Jon Scheyer and Gerald Henderson combined to be 8-10 from three point range and Duke simply outplayed the Musketeers. At this point Duke still lacks a balanced offense and so much rides on the three point shooting to at least get the Blue Devils offense off on the right foot. When that does not happen things get dicey.
- FSU is not a good team. The Noles play #3 Pitt and get a gift: Pitt shoots 33% from the floor. The problem is FSU shot 29% from the floor and only managed 48 points in losing. Obviously it was a bad game for Pitt but I think it speaks far worse of FSU.
- Wake Forest looked fairly unimpressive against Richmond on Friday night which may be evidence that the Deacs, while talented, are still dealing in some inexperience.
- If I had to rank the ACC right now, here is what it would look like:1. UNC
2. Duke
3. Wake Forest
4. Clemson
5. Maryland
6. NC State
7. Miami
8. Virginia Tech
9. Boston College
10. Georgia Tech
11. Florida State
12. Virginia
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My thinking on Duke is this… fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me. Fool me 5 years in a row… then I need to stop drinking! Duke always looks great through January, but the last 4 years, that hasn’t translated to much from February on. I will reserve judgment on the Dukies until UNC plays them, or they drop a few ACC games, whichever happens first.
I think State is tough to place right now. They depend so much on everyone being on the same page that they don’t have a lot of room for error. If McCauley and Costner play well, then they are a possible tourney team (and a solid choice for middle of the road in the ACC). However, given their poor point guard play, they may struggle once they hit some real competition. They might argue that their game against Davidson showed they can hang with talented teams, but I don’t think Davidson is nearly what they were last year.
I think the rest of the list looks pretty good, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Clemson or Wake slip down a notch in favor of one of the middle teams playing above their heads.
C. Michael – Totally agree. I thought Xavier looked horrible, not Duke looking impressive.
One thing I found interesting Saturday is the inconsistency (good and bad) by the top teams. Louisville gets beaten by Minnesota, a middle-of-the-pack Big 10 team (the Cards may drop out of the top 25 after being touted as a Carolina challenger in the preseason). Xavier gets drilled. UConn all of a sudden looks great after not the whole rest of the season. Mich. State wakes up. But if we’re 35 better than MSU and 15 better than a Notre Dame team that beat Texas, who will challenge us? If we keep getting better, stay committed on the defensive end and check our offensive egos, this could be a year for the ages.
Poor Dave Leito. I guess there’s a reason he always has that terrible look on his face.
All the non-Heels fans I talk to think there’s no way we lose this year. I think we might be more cautious than everybody else, but I guess there’s reason’s for that.
The Clemson-Miami seemed weak to me. Both teams were not playing their best. Well I hope thats not their best. Both teams could be and should be worthy opponents but right now they don’t look that impressive. Anyone have any idea what dooks record is? I would find out myself but I’m not about to go searching for dook.
Wilson, I’ve gotten that from Big East fans, too. I think it makes sense that UNC fans are looking for “warts on a beauty queen.” If you think about what UNC did last year, 30+ wins, and ACC regular season and tourney title, and a trip to the Final 4, and offer that as a scenario to any UNC fan before the start of any season, they take it and run, as by any definition, that is a phenomenal season. However, this season, you almost get the feeling that with all the build up that type of season would be seen as a let down, which is kind of sad.
If anyone wants to take themselves back 18 years, this is a neat read…
http://vault.sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1136055/1/index.htm
Well C, I tell you great opportunities to win a championship do not come along that much, and we are fortunate at UNC to be able to have a decent shot at it year in/year out. I can’t say I’d be dissapointed if we don’t win it all this year, but I sure think we need to take advantage of this great opportunity. They are hard to come by, as even a great team like us only has 5.
That was a nice find C. Michael.
fairly certain Virginia should be #13
I am not sure UVa could win the Big South at this point.
after having watched wake’s sloppy play a few times, i’m surprised that they’re ranked #6 in the nation in both polls. i guess a 11-0 record could do that but the best they’ve played so far is baylor and they struggled against richmond and utep.
i can see them as a legitimate #2 or #3 in the acc at the end of the season but their haphazard guard play is going to be their downfall. against weak competition, wake has averaged 15.6 assists to 17.4 turnovers. that compares to UNC’s 20.5 assists to 12.7 turnovers. now, to the extent that teague (soph) and ish smith (jr) can right the ship, these guys can be extremely dangerous due to their inside presence.
they have a legitimate 9 man rotation (potentially reduced to 8 against stiffer competition) with 5 bigs. two 6-9s, two 6-11s and one 7-0. granted, the 7 footer jr mcfarland plays a lot shorter than his height suggests but that’s 5 bigs to our 3. if anything, that’s 25 fouls to play with. our five bigs? that’d be davis (6-10), hansbrough (6-9), thompson (6-8), copeland (6-7) and green (6-6). they start the two 6-9s and mcfarland, and they like to keep that lineup in there. so, does danny (6-6) spend most of his time guarding a guy 3 inches taller? or does ed play more of danny’s minutes? i guess this is where we miss zeller the most.
i still like our better guard play over their inside depth, but the 1/11/09 matchup at winston salem is fixing to be a great one.
That was a whopping beat down Clemson took to Miami.