Pound for Pound – UNC is the Nation’s BEST in 2006-07

Pound for Pound – UNC is the Nation’s BEST in 2006-07
For those of you who have been waiting anxiously for a pro-UNC blog (and my partner is the worst offender of this), the time has come to answer your call. First of all, let me state upfront that I am a die-hard Duke fan – even watching before Johnny Dawkins signed his letter of intent in 1982 and Bill Foster was at the reins. At the time THE poster boy for the program was a gentle giant named Mike Gminski.
History now refers to that period as Pre-K. Of course even before Duke, there was a program just down the road that had had some modest success of its own and it is about that program that I will aim my keyboard strokes. Let’s talk about UNC.
Anyone with any interest in collegiate basketball already knows that the ‘Heels boast one of the best, in not THE best, recruiting classes in recent memory (not quite Michigan’s Fab Five but REALLY talented nonetheless) and about the only question on most experts’ minds is whether Coach Williams can get the group to share the toys in the sandbox nicely. Of course ole Roy is no stranger to getting his guys to work together. At Kansas Roy Boy had as many MacDonald All-Americans as his mentor Dean Smith or Coach K and for the record currently boasts the highest winning percentage in among active Division 1 coaches so there is no questioning his credentials.
For the rest of the country, the cold hard fact is that the Heels go fourteen deep. What I’m saying is that they could conceivably put together three QUALITY Division 1 programs from their current roster alone! But to paraphrase Peter Parker, “With great firepower comes great expectations.” This team has more talent on it than UConn last year, than Duke in 2001, than UCLA in 1975. Pam Anderson isn’t stacked like this team and she had her own TV show called ‘Stacked.’
Brandan Wright is a stud; Ty Lawson is a stud; Wayne Ellington is stud; and least known Deon Thompson may be the biggest stud on the team. Oh yeah, some kid named Hansbrough, the hardest working kid in college (maybe pro) sports is an All-American already and may be better this year than last. Reyshawn Terry is senior “do everything” guy that kind of reminds me of Shane Battier (of Duke renown, naturally); Bobby Frasor is as tough a competitor as the ACC has seen at point since Steve Blake from Maryland; nobody hits the open three ball better than Wes Miller; Danny Green is a defensive ball of energy who pales in energy to his teammate Quentin Thomas who is so fast that he actually goes back in time when he runs; and don’t forget Marcus Ginyard, a reliable contributor who could start on seventy-five percent of the schools in the country. And that’s only eleven of the guys who have seen time on this team so far this year because I can’t remember all the damn names.
At any rate, IF UNC can work together toward a common goal (a championship), then come March I see the Tourney as nothing more than a formality because with a group this strong, running this deep, there are no discernable weaknesses. Sure, sure, on any given night blah, blah, blah, but when you factor in Roy Williams as the head that makes this body move, you’re talking about one of the three best coaches working in the business today. Sadly for us Duke fans, for all fans not attached to UNC, it all adds up to Carolina cutting down the nets come April 2. But didn’t I tell you, when I’m not rooting for Duke I’m a Heels fan and I’ve already got my plane reservations and tickets for Atlanta so “GO HEELS.!”