Where: Dean Smith Center, Chapel Hill, NC
When: Monday, November 23rd, 7:30 PM
TV: Fox Sports South
Livestats: SCACC Hoops
Records: UNC 4-1, GW 3-0
So the Tar Heels make an effort to climb back on the proverbial horse and shake off the 2nd half meltdown versus Syracuse. Roy Williams’ coached teams do a fairly decent job on the rebound from losses and I expect no less here. My take on Roy after the loss to Syracuse was not one of anger but rather a quiet acknowledgment there is work to be done. No mystery there.
Gardner-Webb probably should be taken with a bit of caution considering this team did score a win over Kentucky at one point and almost beat UNC in the 2006 season opener. That being said, the Heels are still the more talented team the problem is who knows what might happen if turnovers continue to plague UNC and Gardner-Webb lights it up from outside. One advantage UNC does have in this game is size which is a broken record I realize. In this case Auryn MacMillan is the only regular player the Bulldogs have that is 6-8 or taller. GW does have one 6-11 player but he averages 2 mpg. The rest of the roster comprises mostly guard sized players with a few 6-6 guys in the mix. UNC should have no trouble rebounding the basketball or imposing their will on the interior.
In short, I expect the Heels to win and heck it might come a little easily if the Heels take care of the basketball and exploit the interior matchups.
UNC 85 GW 62
Update: Consider this your game thread for the game this evening so comment away. GO HEELS!!!
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Uh oh… Roy did not look too happy with Mr. Petree. He hates when guys race to throw up shots at the buzzer…
McDonald was rated a four star but I never even hear him mentioned. Did he get in tonight?
Why is that William? Was it the dancing?
He played a couple minutes near the end.
Oh no! Leslie McDonald play more and take away precious playing time from Will Graves? He (McDonald) must have an awesomely awful shot if he’s getting such little PT.
Still, good 20-point plus win, considering that GW hit about 43 threes, and the Heels made about three free-throws. Those are fundamentals that will be covered religously by the coaching staff.
Green seemed to really love being a player for UNC, both with the dancing and his style on the court. I also admired the way he dealt with a fair amount of personal adversity, falling behind the new guys in 2007, and below Ginyard in the rotation, and dealing with his father’s situation.
I am afraid that Will Graves may have really hurt his prospects with whatever happened last year. I am not sure that he seems like the same guy from 2008.
Did Graves look significantly better to you last year?
I think he looked much better in 2008 than last year and I can’t comment too much on this year but it doesn’t seem like he is reaching the potential he showed in 2008.
Best speech of all the players at the welcome home celebration was Danny Green:
“We did it ya’ll we did it ya’ll. We did it baby. But the way we did it, did you see how we did it?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l8n1-rAe_LM
As I said earlier in the thread, I don’t think he’s progressed a whole lot either. Granted he hasn’t been on the court a great deal for someone who’s been in the program for four years.
His weight is an issue. His shooting was better in 2008. Last season he did not shoot as well and only had one memorable play, the dunk on MSU off Lawson’s inbounds pass.
Dang, THF, the video made me cry again.
My issue with his play isn’t so much his skill or ability. I realize the weight and the back injury are problems for him, especially on defense, but I’m most disappointed that his on court decision making doesn’t look to have improved much at all either.
I really thought he was going to be another Reyshawn Terry type player from in-state in terms of flying under the radar a couple of years ago so I hope he can progress from here on out.
I agree, William. I think the talent is there for him, and I’m rooting for him. Looks like if it’s going to happen for him he’s gonna have to find a way to accelerate the learning curve, though.
Graves, seems to do well against teams with average talent. He does seem willing to take it inside and just power in though not always with success. I don’t see him dish it out ever though and he’ll put up a shot regardless of how off balance he might be.
Wear twins, starting to get comfortable, they put on some really nice defense and when they come down with the ball it’s solid and they are in charge. Good aggressive play towards the end. Maybe that was after the “you boys are playing for time on the court, get it together” Roy talk.
Zeller – starting to make the shots we expect and put that shooting touch together. He was physical with the hippie and if you thought his hair was long you really need to check his sideburns, some modified thin mutton-chop thing not seen outside of East LA gangs.
Henson – getting comfortable and starting to make plays, I wanted him to stay in the whole game just to get experience. He’s got the skill and it’s just crazy how well he controls that long frame of his.
Drew – nice play, nice play, bad play. Really odd with him, he doesn’t think to push the ball up the court first but he’s getting there, made some really nice assists tonight. Sometimes careless with the ball though. Roy gave it to him during the game on two occasions with a “my face is 4 inches from yours discussion” for about 2 minutes…scary Roy, Angry Roy
McDonald – hit 9 or 10 threes from way way outside the arc in the pregame warm-up. Nothing out of him though in the game other than a few worthless minutes.
Deon – not the force of nature I was expecting but good.
Strickland – Does some things well but is hard of hearing, makes Roy really angry. He does seem to move the ball well and maybe his style is just different enough to cause trouble for the defender. He’s not as smooth as Drew but seems to be faster.
No more discussion on the others, lovin’ Marcus but #4 had him quite a few times. Take a close look at that kids feet, I have no idea how tall he is but his feet are giant. Look at him next to Zeller – same shoe size. Yeah you could hit threes like that too if you had solid footing the size of the football field.
McDonald seems to be the forgotten four star guy, a star designation which has included guys like Deon, Alex Stephens, Danny, Marcus and others, so often we are talking about guys who are contributors fairly early on, if not always the biggest stars like Lawson, Felton, Hansbrough or Wright.