All Aboard the Carolina Express

By


Patrick Kendall


Ahhh, the sweet smell of sixteen...teams that is. The dust has settled from the first week of March Madness and as expected there were plenty of close games, some upsets and a lot of great basketball match ups between historically significant programs (Kansas v. Kentucky anyone?).


But before we dive into the deep end of this great time of year, let's take a moment to bow our heads at the supreme "averageness" that was the ACC this year. I can't remember a time where only one ACC team emerged from the field of 64 through the FIRST weekend and now I must face facts: the ACC was NOT the best conference in the country. In fact, they weren't close.


Let's consider: Virginia is picked to finish 8th in the conference pre-season yet winds up tied for first. Underrated? I don't necessarily think so. Great guards can put you in a position to win games but a solid big man is what wins games in March, and there UVA was woefully undermanned. Virginia Tech was a potent offensive team the could run with any of the team's in the conference...of course, they could also get run out of the gym by those same opponents – and of all the upper echelon ACC teams, they had the worst losses if measured by the points they got beat by. And where the hell was their offense in the tournament?


Maryland was probably the most experienced team coming out of the ACC but when faced with the prospect of playing against a team of smaller players (on average) with less talent who could shoot from the outside, the vaunted Terp 'D' that gave UNC and Duke fits this season just wasn't there. Consider this: Miami actually matched up better with Davidson and Butler for purposes of exploiting strengths and from that standpoint would have made for a better matchup if the focus was to push an ACC team into the Sweet Sixteen.


BC came up against the toughest of the opponents in the opening round and made a game of it until the end where it looked like they just ran out of gas. Georgetown is a team to watch in this tournament though so there was no shame in this loss at all. Georgia Tech made a game of things against a surging UNLV team that just made it into the Sweet Sixteen by taking out a 2 seed (Wisconsin). They look a lot like Georgia Tech, only they executed better down the stretch and so they got the win.


Now we get to Duke, who treated its fans to the most inexcusable loss of all the ACC teams. This was a team that early on beat Georgetown, Gonzaga, Indiana, and BC twice. All of these schools were tournament teams. Granted, the VCU squad was a scary fast, athletic group of kids that were fired UP to play Duke, but they were so small up front that McRoberts should have gone for fifty exploiting his height advantage. Of course, his game isn't built for that kind of output (but it cost them AGAIN!) so we'll take up the call of all the other programs that aren't Duke and as fans we can only collectively say "Wait till next year."


So finally we get to it.


UNC.


The lone warrior left standing. And after a rousing win against a very well-coached Michigan State team people are back to being talked about in terms of possibly winning it all. What I like is that they are riding on the backs of their two best players of the last month (Mansbrough and Lawson) – after all, why break a system that isn't broken. So if the Heels can continue to dictate the pace and pound the ball into the post (remember, Brandon "Generally Does It" Wright is still set to have a big game at some point in the tourney – against Florida in the Championship would be okay with me) then you have to like them against anyone.


The matchup against USC should be interesting. The Trojans (tee hee) are by all accounts a veteran-led team that relies on all the components working together to be successful – plus I read that they are athletic to boot, so they should be a good test for the Heels. But, they said the same thing about Arizona in January and we all remember how that turned out. The most important thing for UNC to remember is play to their strengths. They have body after body after body to throw at the other teams. Now they need to all climb on Mansbrough's giant shoulders and let him carry them all the way to Atlanta.


Then, I'll finally get my chance to watch the girlie, baby-faced, goofy, long-haired, doofus of a big man with the Gator uniform who runs on eternal energy get steam rolled by a horse of a kid from Missouri who runs on nothing but will power and determination. Given those variables, I'll take my chances with the corn fed farm boy every time.


Go Heels!

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The End of the Duke/Carolina Debate

By


Patrick Kendall


Damn.


Now we know. Even Coach K said it.


Carolina is the better team. All the excitement, all the hype, all the taunting and all the conjecture can no longer hide that fact.


Duke vs. Carolina ’07 is in the books and the year belongs to the Heels (though Maryland really has the last laugh from that standpoint — they are the best team in North Carolina -- from Maryland).


But that said, I was happy to see that Duke did not go out without a final parting shot. For the whiners out there who cried “cheap shot” at Henderson’s foul on Mansbrough, I can’t deny that it didn’t reek a little bit of frustration on the part of my man Gerald, but anyone who has ever been part of an historic rivalry that dates back to the 1920s (I’m sure that there are a lot of us nodding in experienced understanding right now) is likely to get a little bit frustrated when coming out on the losing end of the rivalry two times in a row. Mansbrough isn’t hurt; Henderson gets a suspension so let’s get over it and move on.


As for my analysis of the game post facto, it’s pretty simple: too much Mansbrough and Lawson (and every one else from Carolina’s side – seemed like everyone contributed yesterday) and not enough Duke defense. Looking at the box score for Duke, their normal guys played well. Paulus and Henderson were great, Scheyer, Nelson good, and McRoberts played a statistically sound game (save for a pile of nasty turnovers that put them in a hole early). What deserted them this Sunday was stops on the defensive end.


Lawson drove at will; Mansbrough was an animal; Terry got free for a couple spot up threes; back door cuts were available; Wright got to the rim whenever he needed to. None of these things were a surprise to Duke and therefore they should have been more ready for them. Coach K has gone against Roy Boy enough times to know what to look for so I contend that Duke’s offense was not the issue (necessarily) and for only about the third time this season, they could not rely on their defense (the sixth man?) to help them control the pace.


That said, you have to give all that credit to UNC, which employed another great game plan and then executed it nearly flawlessly (makes me wonder how they can lose to G. Tech and NC State when they play like this – but I guess that’s water under the bridge at this point). Lawson shredded Duke’s man-to-man and found guys open all around the rim. It’s the easiest way to beat a team (any team) without shot blockers so kudos the Heels.


What I think is such a shame is that they basically backed into a regular season title thanks to UVA's loss, even though I can't imagine anyone outside of Charlottesville (that's a city in Virginia for you Carolina folks who don't keep up with geography beyond the Research Triangle) actually believing UVA is the better team.



Of course that’s just sour grapes on my part. Were this Duke in the same predicament I’d happily take the “back in” method to winning championships.


So, a toast to Roy Boy Williams and his merry band of Tar Heels. Congratulations on a season that was probably a little disappointing considering early season hype and some of the losses incurred (I can’t just hand out compliments – that is my “back hand” method).


The ACC Tourney starts Thursday and Duke will be playing. I predict that they will win that opening game then fall on Friday. UNC doesn’t play until noon on Friday and will most likely line up against Maryland. I NEED UNC to win this game. Bob the Terp is on a nasty roll here at the office and someone needs to slap him down. To Hell with the Shell! Who’s with me?


In conclusion, this was not exactly the year of the Blue Devil and its too early to tell if the Tar Heels can bring the Championship Trophy back to ACC country.


But I’ve got my ticket to Atlanta just in case.

Duke vs. Carolina – the Anti-climax

By


Patrick Kendall


So this is what it all comes down to...nothing but bragging rights in state. No national status is at stake here, no real standings in the ACC, no opportunity to leap frog the other and secure a top seed in the conference. It’s been a long time since, as my good friend just put it, Duke and Carolina were both coming off losses going into both of their conference games creating a more deflated opinion of themselves across the basketball landscape.


All year long you could see that Duke was playing the same way I ski, which is to say, that along the run they were headed for a crash at least four times. The fact that they really only stumbled in two big stretches (so far) simply means they got lucky (wish I could have said the same on the slopes myself). Anyway, most people would agree that somewhere about mid-season, Duke began getting the benefit of their history when it came to rankings, but no one really believed that they were one of the Top 25 for nearly the entire year (though it was the only thing I could hold over Bob the Terp’s head – until the sweep. Now I have a nice drawing of a turtle holding a broom on my whiteboard. The art sucks but the message was still clear. Damn!).


Carolina has also benefited from over hyping and now we’re seeing the true fruits of their over ranking as well. It took longer but for the most part there should be no surprise. They are too young to really be a great basketball team; plus they play piss pour defense and can’t make quality stops at key points in the game; therefore they leave themselves vulnerable in tight games. So, vanity from the UNC and Duke camps this year has led us to eerily similar situations: seasons that fail to meet expectations from either side.


Of course, both teams are going to the NCAAs this year but that is somewhat diminished by the lack of importance of this last meeting from a national standpoint. Truthfully, outside of the regular Duke/Carolina faithful who could give a rat’s ass about this one? In a way, I’m more disappointed with UNC only because I still believe that their losses are a result of a deficiency in their execution or preparation. They either don’t rebound well, or they don’t hustle after the ball, or they choose not to play defense – something that could be remedied by every bad basketball player’s greatest weapon – effort.


Duke is easier to diagnose. They will play hard every night (with the exception of the first Maryland game) but just don’t have the legs to compete for a full forty minutes. They are a true middle of the pack ACC team this year (ouch!) but you can’t really overcome talent issues if the other team plays AS hard (or harder, i.e. Maryland – sonsab*tches).


So we roll into Sunday in a kind of pre-post-season malaise on both sides. Carolina’s loss to Georgia Tech is another UNC example the better team allowing the worse team to set the pace and dictate the level of effort while the same can NOT be said of the Maryland/Duke game. There, the painful fact is that Maryland is the better team. They may also be better than UNC and you can chalk it all up to having a handful of upperclassmen that refuse to go out quietly so they play harder. It’s that simple.


The good news is that it still is a Duke/Carolina game and thus we (the true fans) know that the game itself still holds the allure of a possible “great” game. So we’ll all be excited to see if that materializes.


The bad (and shocking) news is that we (the true fans) are the only ones who care about this game at this point because there is no need for the rest of the nation to watch.

Tar Heels, take a step back.

Since the union of the University of North Carolina and basketball, we UNC fans have been a fickle bunch. None of us were conscious during the early struggles of the Coach Smith regime. UNC students and fans wanted little to do with the short, large-nosed, young man who dared to think he could take over the program Frank McGuire built into a national power. They hung him in effigy...twice. They berated him in the student paper. No one outside of his close friends and the Athletic Director supported the no name from Emporia Kansas. Imagine where UNC would be had it listened to its fickle fans then.

During Coach Smith's 36 years of unmatched excellence, we as a fan base became "fat and happy" (to borrow one of Coach Williams' terms). ACC title after ACC title. Final Four after Final Four. National Titles. Collegiate and NBA superstars. Man, its good to be king, huh? Duke went back to back, but we answered and now they are struggling to even challenge Wake Forest. UNC is the dominant program in all of America.

Then came the summer of 1997. The end of an era. The saddest day in my entire life. On that day, Dean Smith stepped down and handed the reigns over to his longtime assistant and friend, Bill Gutheridge. Now, in interests of space, I will selectively skip the Gutheridge and Doherty eras as its impossible for UNC fans to agree on who's to blame. Regardless, the IBM of the college basketball world tumbled into mediocrity. The proudest and most arrogant fan base in the land was smacked with the ultimate insult: irrelevance.

Coach Williams' arrival changed all of that. He taught his first team how not to lose. In 2005, he tought UNC how to win. Oh, how quickly we arrogant Heels forget our lessons.

Was that 2005 team not comprised of the same characters who blew lead after lead in the '03-'04 season? Was that not the same team that squandered a 20+ point lead at halftime against FSU and ended up getting embarassed? The very same team who had its heart, will, and desire questioned game after game, week after week? The team loaded with talent, yet never quite doing what we expect?

Its amazing what a national title will do for our memories, isn't it? All people seem to remember is the great leader and game breaker Felton became, not the horrendous shooter and turnover machine he was the previous years. We remember how Sean May became an animal in '05, a double-double machine. We forgot all about the soft as Charmin May of '04. The do-all-the-small-things mentality of Jackie Manuel and Jawad Williams is adored by Tar Heels the world over. They never seem to mention Jackie's terrible shooting, bad free throws and turnovers. Or Jawad's shying away from the hoop.

That 2003-04 team was comprised of mainly sophomores and juniors. Not just that, but they were learning a new system under a new coach. They might as well have all been freshmen. They were a young team who's bandwagon emptied as much as it was filled. They were a team that everyone became convinced would never allow the team concept to penetrate their talent and ego riddled minds.

What happend? Time. Practice. LEARNING.

Roy Williams took a group of kids that had never won anything of significance at the collegiate level and in 2 years turned them into national champions.

So, the next time UNC blows a lead they shouldn't, the next time Brandon bricks a free throw, the next time Lawson attempts a pass he shouldn't or the next time the Heels look lost during an end-game possession, remember one thing.

The 2003-04 Heels looked even worse. And how did they turn out?

All the talent in the world is great. I wouldn't trade UNC's future for anyone else's. It is common for young teams to be really, really good. They are, however, seldom great. We are being treated to a great season. And you know what the best part is?

Its only going to get better.


- "UNC" Charles

The Heels Can’t Find Their “Way”

Photo by ROBERT WILLETT - (Raleigh) News & Observer


By


Patrick Kendall


You have no idea how much that title hurts to write. The Tar Heels have no idea how difficult they made my Monday (what with Bob the Terp and all). Now, Virginia Tech and Maryland have both given losses to the two top ACC programs of the past twenty-five years and I’m left speechless at the fact.


Duke is easier to explain. They don’t have the talent. Carolina is harder to explain. They have the talent. They just don’t have the “Way.”


What is the Way, you ask?


Prepare yourselves for a journey to the Far East (of Basketball anyway) as we head to the streets of DC and NYC where the Way is sought, studied, and in some cases – attained. The Way is a mythical experience that provides guidance and calm to competitor warriors during pressure situations. Like “chi” (and the Force), the Way binds all things sports related; it surrounds athletes; it protects them. But in order to achieve Way, one must believe.


What the Heels have done instead of believing, is buying into their own hype. They believe that talent alone will be enough. They believe that by throwing bodies at the other team and trying to run them out of the gym, they will succeed. They believe that intensity is a switch that can be thrown any time, and that momentum (Uncle Mo in my house growing up) only matters when going downhill. The Heels can’t find their Way, and they will not win the Championship without it.


In 2005 Sean May was the Way. He became a force of nature on the floor; unstoppable, unyielding. Heels ’07 needs the same beacon to come to light now. Hansbrough could be the Way, but he still misses free throws at game’s end, or turns it over critically in situations that require doing the opposite. That is not the Way. Reyshawn Terry would like to be the Way because of his senior status, but he is a guy who unfortunately is only good enough to play for the Heels AFTER all the talent leaves the team.


Ty Lawson is learning his Way but he’s not ready. Freshmen rarely are. Carmelo Anthony and Pervis Ellison leap out at me as freshmen who were the Way but those guys are few and far between (17 years in fact). Brandon “I’m Still Learning How To” Wright is a little slight, a little young, and a lot deferential.


So, who can this young team turn to in its time of desperation and need?


I submit that Roy Williams must become the Way.


Think about it. In 1991, when Duke was again faced with that juggernaut of an opponent, UNLV, just one year after getting waxed in the most lopsided Championship game ever by this same exact team, Coach K had to become the Way in order for those guys to succeed. His certainty (not belief, for you must believe in the Way, but it must be done with certainty) in his players showed them the Way, and their belief brought them victory. It’s time for Roy “Where There’s a Williams, There’s a Way” Williams to follow that same path.


Now is the time for Roy Boy to pick up the torch of his forecoaches and pursue his destiny. It will not be an easy journey. His faith will be tested (by Maryland and another Williams no less!). His answers questioned. His leadership challenged.


But in the end, the journey will pay for itself because it will teach him the Way and in return he will show a young, talented group the same.


Then UNC can go out and rip Florida a new one in the Championship game and all will be balanced in the Universe.

It's Hard to Like and Dislike this Duke Team

Unpredictable


What I like about this Duke team is the exact same thing I dislike about this Duke team: they are unpredictable. I can’t think of any other K-coached team that has gone through the (pardon the cliché) “ups and downs” this team has. They’re like a Maryland team – start off hot; fall apart; regroup; then wilt like daisies (can’t wait for that to happen – I’ll get to watch Bob the Terp’s heart literally explode from the experience). So when I chart the progress and decline of these Devils it’s difficult for me not to get excited. They play a smothering brand of defense (albeit not always for a full forty minutes) that of late has allowed them to build up leads then withstand furious rallies for the win.


But what is also apparent to me is that Duke IS getting better. Their offense is beginning to catch up to their defense. They CAN score 80 points if they have to, but the pace of their weave offense (for lack of a better word) sets them firmly in the high 60s and low 70s for a comfort level. They continue to be plagued by quick, slashing, scorers (Thornton and Singletary come to mind immediately, as does Dowdell from Tech) but they aren’t the only team in America that gets pasted by that kind of player. They still lack a firm “go to” guy at the end of the game, though McRoberts showed some good court sense to take the ball all the way down the court last night and score an uncontested layup. He took what the defense gave him and capitalized. Personally, I’d like to see more of that kind of play because he still, in my mind anyway, is a tremendous matchup problem.


Let me be honest for a minute: I don’t see Duke winning the ACC Tourney, nor do I see them making it to the Sweet Sixteen this year. But as I watch them, I see a true team concept playing out there. It reminds me of the mid-major programs that always sneak up on the power conferences come March. Of course, having DUKE across your jersey doesn’t allow you to sneak up on anybody, but they do play the kind of basketball that will give teams fits in March.


Historically, you prepare for Duke in two ways: 1) you must be ready to withstand Duke’s high powered offense and not wilt from the pace of it, and 2) your defense has to key on the offensive focal points with superior athleticism. Those aren’t the easiest things to do. It’s not like you can run out to Dick’s Sporting Goods and pick those things up off the end cap, so Duke has always had a statistical advantage over most teams they face.


That’s not the case for this team.


This team is only going to beat you if all seven players in the rotation show up and work together. They won’t beat you with talent, and it’s obvious they won’t beat you with fear. I haven’t even seen the same heart that Duke Teams are famous for, but that doesn’t matter. This is a dangerous team to play anytime and anywhere because you as the opposition don’t know who to focus on, and you have to stand up to the pressure of their half court defense, which still (for the most part) holds teams in the sixties and below.


Drawing up a game plan for this squad means you have to consider everyone – even down to Hocius Pocius (when he magically appears in the games anyway). Ignoring Paulus’s outside shot puts you at risk of him going for a surprising twenty; give Nelson the lane and his slashing game, and he’ll go for sixteen.


McRoberts is not the player I hoped he would be, but he IS one of the most versatile players in the country because of his ball handling and passing skills. And Scheyer would have to be considered on the short list of freshmen who have had an immediate impact on their respective teams, though he is not ready to beat you night in and night out (sorry for another cliché).


The point is… who do you trust on this team? Who do you fear? Who do you zone in on and who you concede shots to?


If I’m playing against Duke, I hate each and every one of those questions because this team is unpredictable.


And like I said earlier, that’s not always a bad thing.

"Chemistry For A Carolina Fan"

written by Hooper

"Chemistry For A Carolina Fan"

Did you see it? Did you see him? Jay Bilas said he's like Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle.

Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle is "a mathematical limit on the accuracy with which it is possible to measure everything there is to know about a physical system." It basically says, that by the time you are able to predict where a particle is in an atom at a given moment, it is already gone (that's as far as the chemistry goes... I promise). I'm sure Heisenberg spent countless hours in a lab figuring this out, when all he had to do was watch Ty Lawson play basketball.

When I watched Ty Lawson on Youtube before the season started, I was ecstatic. I could not wait to see this kid in uniform. When he got on the floor in the beginning I saw flashes of Raymond Felton. But that's only what they were. Flashes. Some games he would completely disappear in games. Against Tenessee, he had me singing his praises to everybody I knew. Then against Kentucky, I wondered if he got more than 10 minutes.

After the Georgia Tech game, Roy Williams told Ty Lawson that he needs to use his uncanny ability to create for himself as much as he does for his teammates. It's been very noticeable that someone lit a spark under the McDonald's All-American. Since the remark, Lawson is averaging 14 points per game and about 6 assists per game. The thing that amazes me when I watch him is his sudden confidence to take big shots. His play has been phenomenal as of late (Duke and Arizona come to mind). Every time that Boston College made a run tonight, by the time they accounted for him on defense, he was reversing in mid-air finishing a beautiful layup. He only had 11 points, but I can remember just about every time he scored. Once, it was hitting a deep three with the shot clock about to expire. Second was after a nice take by Rice to cut the game to three or four. Lawson went coast to coast in (no lie) about 2 seconds. It got to the point where I was wondering why he didn't just fly down the court every time and score from 3 feet. And the third that comes to mind, were the two game clinching free throws he hit at the end of the game.

We know about Hansbrough. We know about Wright. We know Roy can coach. It seemed like, that with Bobby Frasor sitting with a nagging foot injury, the Heels really just needed someone to be a catalyst for their offense. I don't think there is a better suited point guard for this team than Ty. Bilas said he made Heisenberg proud, and he gets no argument from this Chemistry major. This kid is going to be a stud.